“And what about your letters, Simawoo?” Cassiopeia asked, full of mischief.
Simon shoved his hands into his pockets and shifted bashfully from one foot to the other. “Most of what I wrote’s what I’d call personal, but I did include some thrilling excerpts from my pirate play. It’s quite a tale, if I do say so myself.” He plucked one of his own letters from the towering heap. “Shall I proclaim it aloud in a grand voice and wave my arms too much, like one of Leeds’ Thespians on Demand?”
The children cried, “Yes, yes!” but looked at Penelope for a final decision. She was their governess, after all.
“Please do, Simon.” She settled into her chair, and the Incorrigibles gathered ’round her just as they always had, for they all loved a good story, and that was one thing that would never change. Penelope reached contentedly for her tea. “I would like that very much.”
Finis
Acknowledgments
IT TAKES MANY LOVING HANDS to make a book. I’m grateful to my editor, Donna Bray, and to the countless individuals whose dedicated, skilled work has made it possible for this story of a plucky young governess and three children who were raised by wolves to find its way to readers around the world. As the Incorrigible children would say: Thankawoo, to each of you, from the bottom of my heart.
Many of my readers have come to know the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place books through the wonderful audiobook recordings by Katherine Kellgren, starting with The Mysterious Howling in 2010. As I wrote each book in the series, more and more I came to look forward to “Katy day”: the day that Katy, after devouring her advance copy of the manuscript, would call me, full of boundless enthusiasm and insightful questions. Writing books can be lonely work, but Katy had a superhuman gift of jumping into an imaginary world with both feet and a wide-open heart. I was always so grateful for the company. Over the years we became dear friends.
The last time I spoke with Katy was in late December of 2017, after Christmas, shortly before she died of a difficult illness that she had been bravely fighting for a long time. We spoke of many things, friendship and love and poetry among them. She asked me to read to her, and as I ran to pull a favorite book of poetry off the shelf, she said no, she would like to hear this book, The Long-Lost Home, which she would not be able to record as she had the others. I started from the beginning, and when we reached the spot where the Swanburne school song is sung, she joined in and sang along with me, remembering every note and word.
This book is dedicated to Katy, to the art and music and poetry and people she loved, and to wonderful storytellers everywhere.
About the Author
MARYROSE WOOD is the author of six books about the Incorrigible children and their plucky young governess. Titles in the series have been named among the best children’s books of the year by the Christian Science Monitor, NPR, and others. Maryrose lives in Los Angeles and is the proud mother of two amazing young adults. Visit her online at www.maryrosewood.com.
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Books by Maryrose Wood
THE INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN OF ASHTON PLACE
Book 1: The Mysterious Howling
Book 2: The Hidden Gallery
Book 3: The Unseen Guest
Book 5: The Unmapped Sea
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Copyright
Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN OF ASHTON PLACE BOOK 6: THE LONG-LOST HOME. Text copyright © 2018 by Maryrose Wood. Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Eliza Wheeler. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2017 by Eliza Wheeler
Cover design by Dana Fritts
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Digital Edition JUNE 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-211046-6
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-211044-2
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1819202122CG/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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