Twelve-year-old Carmen has a secret: she can talk to her cat Grim. But the powerful Brotherhood has banned pets, and the penalty is death.
Ward is the most wanted boy in the world. The only thing standing between him and the hangman's noose is maste...
Snapper continued to peer at him. Suddenly he appeared to make up his mind, rose from the armchair, and waddled across the room to a camphorwood sea chest. Taking a key from his waistcoat, he unlocked the chest and swung the lid open. The pleasant, foreign scent of camphor filled the room. He reached in, drew something out, and quickly closed and locked the chest again. Then he returned to his armchair.
"The Isle of Demons is a cold and forbidding place," he said mysteriously. "It snows there."
Ward had heard of snow, but had never seen it. In his book about the white creature with the hat it was always snowing. "Are there demons there?"
"Perhaps. Though it's not called the Isle of Demons for that reason, but because it once had a name that sounded like demons." He finally held out the thing in his hand so that Ward could see it. "I found this there. It's very old. I have no idea what it is – who knows what strange beliefs they had in ancient times? Gruesome thing to be honest, but rather fetching all the same, don't you think?"
"Can I hold it?"
"I wouldn't if I were you. Who knows what tremendous curse may be upon it?"
"You're holding it."
"How would you know if I had not already been cursed? Have I been behaving normally?"
Ward wasn't sure how to answer this. Instead, he leaned forward to examine the thing in Snapper's hand.
It looked as if Snapper had polished it in a couple of places, perhaps to confirm that it really was gold. It was a statuette of a man. He was looking up at the sky. He wore a peculiar spiky crown, which made Ward think that he must have been a king or prince. He was leaning against a cross, his arms spread, as if imitating its shape. It took Ward a moment to notice the nails in his hands and feet. He instinctively drew back, shocked and revolted.
"The Brotherhood would have me swinging from The Derricks if they discovered it," Snapper whispered. "You mustn't breathe a word of this to anyone."
"I promise," Ward said. "But – what is it?"
"You know what? I have absolutely no idea." Snapper broke into a wide grin. The grin faded quickly. "But you haven't seen anything of this sort before, have you? Say, something that looked like – like a relic?"
Ward opened his mouth then closed it again. There was a look on Snapper's face he didn't like. "No, never."
Snapper gave him a final piercing look, sighed, got to his feet again, waddled back to the sea chest, and locked the relic inside. By the time he had returned to his armchair Ward's mind had already moved on to a more pressing subject.
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