“Here?” Mama’s voice rose several octaves. “A million miles from good society? A season with the urchins and vagabonds of the street, perhaps?”
Papa deflated further. “No, my dear. Um. In Tharsis City?”
Mama’s eyes sparkled suddenly. “Ah! Tharsis! You’ll love it, Jane. I’ll show you the scenes of all my greatest triumphs. They called me the Crystal Rose of Tharsis, you know. Come. We must plan. It will be very grand.”
“And very expensive,” Olivia murmured.
“Can I keep the dragon’s egg?” Putty interjected.
“An egg?” Freddie said. “Well, if it goes to the museum, they’ll just cut it open.” He smiled at her. “No, I think you can keep it as a souvenir, as long as you don’t tell anyone about it.”
“And you?” Olivia asked quietly. Her eyes were focused firmly on the floor.
“I…” Freddie wet his lips. His face grew determined. “I have to report to the British-Martian Intelligence Service, and take Sir Titus to Tharsis City to face justice. Then I must track down his partners in crime, Dr. Octavius Blood and Apprentice.” He straightened. “I may be gone some months.”
“Oh,” Olivia whispered.
“Some months,” Freddie repeated. “It is … Dash it all!” He glanced around at the rest of us, then turned back to Olivia. “There is something particular that I want to ask you, but I can’t. It wouldn’t be fair. I’ll be gone too long. I can’t expect you to—”
“Yes,” Olivia said, and smiled. Even though she was covered in dirt and sand, she looked more beautiful than Jane at her finest.
Freddie blinked through his mask of red dust. “Ah—er—I—That is—Yes?”
“Yes,” Olivia said. “Of course. Always.”
They took each other’s hands and grinned like idiots.
“I have no idea what you two are talking about,” I said. Just like I had no idea why Mama and Jane burst into tears at that moment, or why Papa clapped Freddie on the shoulder.
I shook my head, while Putty grinned strangely up at me. Sometimes, I don’t understand my family at all. But I wouldn’t have them any other way.
I turned away from them to face the sunlight streaming through the shattered entrance to the dragon tomb. So, we would stay here, in Lunae City, while Papa immersed himself in his wondrous discoveries, and Jane and Mama planned Jane’s season in Tharsis City, and Putty found no end of trouble surrounded by dragon tombs. But for once, I wasn’t worried. My family could look after themselves, far better than I ever would have guessed.
And as for me? Well, maybe there would be something here for me, too, something that wasn’t just looking after my family. Somewhere, someone might even have the latest copy of Thrilling Martian Tales. It was time to find out.
The End
Get ready for Book Two in the
Secrets of the Dragon Tomb series:
The Emperor of Mars!
A missing Martian. A sinister plot. A French spy.
If Edward thinks life is going to be easy in Lunae City, he is very, very wrong. The moment he intercepts a thief escaping from Lord Harleston’s town house, he is caught up in a terrible scheme that threatens the whole of Mars.
Soon he’s fighting off vicious sea serpents, battling a small army of heavily armored thugs, and trying to unpick an impossible mystery. Meanwhile, Putty has declared war on her new governess, a war that, for the first time in her life, Putty may be in danger of losing.
Edward doesn’t know who he can trust. Will he make the right choice? Or will his family—and his entire planet—fall victim to the treacherous Emperor of Mars?
Acknowledgments
When you publish your first book, there are so many people who have helped you over the years that it’s impossible to thank them all. From teachers to critique partners to those who have offered support and encouragement, the list would be absolutely endless. But you know who you are, and thank you! Every one of you has contributed something.
First and foremost I want to thank my wife, Stephanie Burgis, who read this book more times than anyone should ever have to and had something helpful to say every time. I couldn’t have done this without you. I’d also like to thank those who critiqued various versions of the book: Tiffany Trent, Eugene Myers, Ari Goelman, Tricia Sullivan, Renee Sweet, and Nadia Williams. This book wouldn’t be half as good without the dedication and insights of my agent, Jennifer Laughran, and my editor, Christy Ottaviano. Thanks to both of you. Thank you, too, to designer Eileen Savage, editorial assistant Jessica Anderson, and the rest of the team at Macmillan who work so hard behind the scenes. I am truly grateful for everything you do. Thank you (again!) to Tiffany Trent, who was so enthusiastic about my first draft that she recommended me to her agent.
I probably learned more about being a writer at the Clarion West workshop than at any time before or since, so I’d like to give special thanks to my instructors Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, Bradley Denton, Connie Willis, Ellen Datlow, and Jack Womack, and a special shout-out to my incredibly talented classmates.
My high school English teacher, Mrs. Mapes, encouraged me to write when I had lots of enthusiasm but absolutely no talent. There should be more teachers like you.
I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my parents-in-law, Kathy and Rich Burgis, for vast amounts of baby- and child-sitting when I wrote the second draft of this book. If they hadn’t been there, I think I’d still be working on it.
My journey toward being a writer started when my dad, Adrian Samphire, read me The Lord of the Rings as a child, and it’s been going on ever since. Thank you, Dad, for introducing me to that world, and to my mum, Beth Samphire, for being supportive, interested, and enthusiastic, even though I know these are not your kind of books! Thank you, too, to my brothers, Martin and Ben, for all your support.
And finally, I want to thank my two sons for their smiles and games, and for being so patient when I had to work on this. You inspire me to write books that I hope you will love.
About the Author
Patrick Samphire has been charged at by a buffalo in Africa, been lost in a rain forest in South America, and been scared by a camel in Egypt. He has worked as a physicist, a teacher, an editor, and a web designer. He now lives with wife and two sons in Wales. He has not yet gotten to Mars, but he’s still trying. This is his first novel. You can find out more at patricksamphire.com. Or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Map
The Sullivan Family
Part One: Uninvited Guests
Chapter One: A Complete Disaster
Chapter Two: A Wet Landing
Chapter Four: Caught!
Chapter Five: The Great Sir Titus Dane
Chapter Six: The Worst Party Ever
Chapter Seven: Sneaking About
Chapter Eight: Destroyed
Part Two: Into the Wilds
Chapter Nine: The Chase Begins
Chapter Ten: Secrets and Spies
Chapter Eleven: Interesting Facts About Rocks
Chapter Twelve: A Suspect
Chapter Thirteen: Attack of the Killer Crabs
Chapter Fourteen: Slime
Chapter Fifteen: Lost in the Wilderness
Chapter Sixteen: Hunted
Part Three: The Dragon Tombs of Mars
Chapter Seventeen: Lunae City
Chapter Eighteen: The Museum of Martian Antiquities
Chapter Nineteen: Prisoners
C
hapter Twenty: Into the Desert
Chapter Twenty-One: Swords on the Sand
Chapter Twenty-Two: Retreat
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Secret of the Dragon Tomb
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
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mackids.com
All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Samphire, Patrick.
Secrets of the dragon tomb / Patrick Samphire. — First edition.
pages; cm
“Christy Ottaviano Books.”
Summary: While dreaming of being a spy like those in his favorite magazine, twelve-year-old Edward has been stuck holding his eccentric family together but when his parents are kidnapped, he leads his sisters and cousin in an effort to rescue them across the danger-filled landscape of nineteenth-century Mars.
ISBN 978-0-8050-9906-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-8050-9907-2 (e-book)
[1. Eccentrics and eccentricities—Fiction. 2. Family life—Fiction. 3. Kidnapping—Fiction. 4. Mars—Fiction. 5. Science fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.1.S255Sec 2016 Fic—dc23 2015004517
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First hardcover edition 2016
eBook edition January 2016
eISBN 9780805099072