“We rebuild,” said Herro Dan. “With a bit of work, the walls of the museum’ll be strong enough to hold for another five hundred years.” He nodded toward the other keepers. “And we’ll have plenty of help. Here, lass, I’ll do that.” And he lifted Olga Ciavolga’s feet onto his lap.
Everything was so different—and yet so ordinary—that Goldie found herself smiling.
Someone draped a casual arm around her neck. It was Toadspit, with Morg on his shoulder and a makeshift crutch holding him upright. “So who are you now?” he said. “A princess? A mad wolf-girl? Queen of the idle-cats?”
Goldie laughed. “I’m me, that’s all.”
As she said it, she realized it was true. The feeling of emptiness was gone and she was completely herself, more so than she had ever been in her life.
She heard a yip, and Broo, back in his little-white-dog shape, raced toward her with his curly tail held high and the cat gamboling at his side.
Goldie scooped them both up in her arms and kissed them. Broo wagged his tail. The cat scowled at her, just for the sake of it, then began to purr so loudly that Goldie could feel it from her scalp to her toes.
She could feel too, that something had changed in Jewel. Hardly anyone knew it yet. Not the prisoners in the House of Repentance, who had just found their cell doors mysteriously open and their guards gone; nor the children who had been saved from the Silver Lining and who were only now trickling back to their homes; nor their heartbroken parents, shuffling to answer an unexpected knock on the door.
None of them knew that the Fugleman was dead. None of them knew that there was something rising up through the cobblestones like the first wildflower of spring.
But it was there. Goldie could sense it.
She wasn’t entirely sure what it was. All she knew was that it carried with it the promise of vacant blocks, and dogs and cats and birds. And secret places for children to hide when they wanted to escape from the eyes of adults. And the freedom for those same children to become who they really were.
Even the ones like Goldie Roth, and Toadspit and Bonnie Hahn, who were impatient. And bold.
Discover how it all began
MUSEUM of THIEVES
BOOK I in the Keepers Trilogy
Like every child in the city of Jewel, Goldie wears a silver guardchain and is forced to obey the dreaded Blessed Guardians until Separation Day. But when Separation Day is canceled, Goldie runs away, risking her life and the lives of those she has left behind. In the chaos that follows, she is lured to the mysterious Museum of Dunt, where she meets the boy Toadspit and discovers terrible secrets.
Continue reading with
CITY of LIES
Goldie and Toadspit are now supposed to be Keepers of the mysterious Museum of Dunt. But when Toad spit’s sister is kidnapped, the pair follows the child stealers to the neighboring city of Spoke. Along the way, Toadspit is also captured, and Goldie is caught up in the Festival of Lies, where every word she says means something else and no one can be trusted.
Acknowledgements
I continue to be blessed with wonderful editors, who have pushed me to make this book (and this trilogy) far better than it would have been without them. Many, many thanks to Michelle Poploff at Delacorte Press (who also came up with the perfect title for Book 3), and to Eva Mills and Susannah Chambers at Allen & Unwin.
Still at Delacorte, I’d like to thank designer Kenny Holcomb and publicist Dominique Cimina for their hard work on my behalf. Jon Foster’s exquisite book covers are adored by everyone who sees them, as are Sebastian Ciaffaglione’s drawings of the characters.
I remain indebted to Peter Matheson for his insight and feedback on the various drafts, and to my two most excellent agents—Jill Grinberg in the United States and Margaret Connolly in Australia.
And finally, I’d like to thank the ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu, whose book The Art of War was the inspiration for Princess Frisia’s military wisdom.
LIAN TANNER is a children’s author and playwright. She has worked as a teacher in Australia and Papua New Guinea, as well as a tourist bus driver, a freelance journalist, a juggler, a community arts worker, an editor, and a professional actor. It took her a while to realize that all of these jobs were really just preparation for being a writer. Nowadays she lives in southern Tasmania with a small tabby cat and lots of friendly neighborhood dogs. She has not yet mastered the art of Concealment by the Imitation of Nothingness, but she is quite good at Camouflage.
Lian Tanner’s Museum of Thieves and City of Lies, the first two books in the Keepers Trilogy, are available from Delacorte Press.
Table of Contents
Path of Beasts
Contents
Cast of Characters
Prologue
The captive city
A parcel of rubbish
Princess Frisia
Mortal enemies
Reunion and parting
A fine contraption
First strike
The promise
First and only line of defense
Second strike
The fortune
A few carefully placed rumors
Third strike
The Fugleman makes an offer
Ominous days
Bloodred sails
Old Lady Skint
Betrayal
The trap
Double
Great Wooden save us!
Bold Auntie Praise
Bombardment
Native and stranger
A timeless place . . .
The Beast Road
Salvation
The final battle
Salvation is a double-edged sword
Discover how it all began
MUSEUM of THIEVES
CITY of LIES
Acknowledgements
About the author