“The glass tells all!” she cried triumphantly, elevating her crystal. The sunlight struck through the glass and it seemed to give off crimson rays. “The glass tells all,” she repeated.
“Yeah, sure!” said Ellis. “Oh, well! Roll on, Christmas!”
“See you!” she said, waving the red glass at him as he climbed on to his bicycle.
“See you!” Ellis replied, waving, and wobbling just a little.
“Not yet!” she called, running beside his bike as he pedalled towards the gateway. “You don’t see me yet! But you will! You’ll see me in my true wonder.”
Ellis waved again, pedalling more confidently as he got going, a man sorting though a whole lifetime’s experience as he set out once more into the dangerous world.
“Ellis in Wonderland!” Fox shouted after him, dancing, and laughing raucously. “Ellis in Wonderland!”
Echoes leaped back from rusting corrugated iron, subsiding walls, perhaps even from the painted Phipps spying on them. Ellis rode off down Garden Lane, the sound of Fox’s laughter following him all the way.
About the Author
MARGARET MAHY
Margaret Mahy was born in New Zealand and has loved telling stories all her life. She has published well over a hundred titles and won several major prizes and awards, including The Order of New Zealand, for her internationally-acclaimed contribution to children’s literature. She has twice won the prestigious Carnegie Medal, (The Haunting, 1982, and The Changeover, 1984). Margaret lives in the South Island of New Zealand, in a house which she partially built herself, overlooking Governors Bay.
Also by the Author
The Tricksters
The Catalogue of the Universe
Alchemy
Memory
And for younger readers
The Riddle of the Frozen Phantom
The Gargling Gorilla
Copyright
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2001
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers
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Hammersmith, London, W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
Text copyright © Margaret Mahy 2000
Margaret Mahy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.
A Vanessa Hamilton book
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Source ISBN: 9780006755418
Version: 2013-12-05
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