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179 pages

English

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In book two of the Time out of Time series, the excitement and mystery continue as Timothy; his sister, Sarah; and their friend, Jessica, journey to Edinburgh, Scotland, where they seek the Four Treasures, especially the Telling Stone. They must keep the treasures from falling into the hands of Balor, who will use them to deprive the world of good. The children pass through Time out of Time as they undertake their quest, encountering mythic and folkloric characters, including the Tuatha De Danann, Gwydon, and Cerridwyn.A code hidden in an ancient map is the key to finding the Telling Stone. The book includes a four-color map and concludes with a glossary of the many historical, literary, and folkloric references mentioned in both this and the first Time out of Time volume.

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Publié par	ABRAMS BOOKS
Date de parution	12 mai 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781613127643
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0372€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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PUBLISHER S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McQuerry, Maureen, 1955- The telling stone / by Maureen Doyle McQuerry. pages cm. - (Time out of time ; book 2) Summary: Timothy James, his sister Sarah, and their friend Jessica race against time and an ancient Evil to save their mother and restore peace and harmony to the Travelers Market. Includes glossary and a map with a code for readers to decipher. ISBN 978-1-4197-1494-8 [1. Adventure and adventurers-Fiction. 2. Brothers and sisters-Fiction. 3. Mythology, Celtic-Fiction. 4. Space and time-Fiction. 5. Magic-Fiction. 6. Animals, Mythical-Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.M24715Tim 2015 [Fic]-dc23 2014019618
Text copyright 2015 Maureen Doyle McQuerry Book design by Jessie Gang
Published in 2015 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Amulet Books and Amulet Paperbacks are registered trademarks of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.

115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com
FOR THE BOYS FROM THE BASEMENT WHO INSPIRED ME SO LONG AGO: BRENNAN, JOHN, THE MICHAELS, BEN, AND BRENT
SEE THIS PAGE TO LEARN ABOUT THE TREE CODE USED IN THIS BOOK.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
PART 1 THE BATTLE OF THE TREES
1 THE GOOSE WOMAN
2 ERMINES AND FERRETS
3 THE RUBY NECKLACE
4 GATHERING
5 THE PIPES OF WAR
6 THE HEALER
7 THE BIRDS
8 PETER S RETURN
9 THE ROAD HOME
10 SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT
11 AT MR. TWIG S HOUSE
12 THE MAGICIAN S TRICK
13 SCOTLAND!
14 SILVER DUST
15 ELECTRA
16 PROFESSOR TWIG
17 THE S DHE
PART 2 WHEN MYTHS WALK
18 EDINBURGH
19 THE CASTLE
20 THE STONE OF DESTINY
21 THE CARTOGRAPHER S SHOP
22 CODE CRACKING
23 COMPASS POINTS
24 A HORN IN THE NIGHT
25 ICE STORM, DECEMBER 23
26 THE MAP AND THE HILL
27 CHRISTMAS EVE
28 THE BIRD
29 FINULA
30 CHRISTMAS DAY
31 DUNSINANE
32 BOXING DAY
33 THE BULL
34 THE CUPPED STONES
35 STONEWORK
36 THE SPEAR OF LUGH
37 MORGAN S KISS
38 THE HUNT RETURNS
39 THE FILIDH RETURNS
40 PARTINGS
41 BALOR
42 A NEW CHAPTER
EPILOGUE
THE TREE CODE
MYTHIC GLOSSARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE
NSIDE A BRIGHTLY painted caravan, Balor stared into the cracking flames of a woodstove and wondered whether the rat had killed the woman. His long golden curls fell forward, almost covering his face. Around him silver cages were stacked among traps and elegant snares. He warmed his hands close to the flames. The night was cold and strangely silent, the only noise the hiss and pop of the burning logs. After leaving the Market, he had traveled deep into the surrounding woods. Here nothing would disturb him except the hoot of owls or the rustle of night predators hunting for food.
He reached into the pocket of his tapestry vest and withdrew a small cobalt-blue bottle. Unstopping the lid, he sprinkled a fine gray powder into the fire. The flames leapt higher. Yes, he could see things quite clearly now. The boy, Timothy James Maxwell, was home tending to his mother. Somehow she had survived. Timothy had found a cure for the toxin that had entered her system when she was bitten by the rat. Rat-bite fever wasn t usually fatal, but this had been no ordinary rat. It had been sent as a warning to Timothy and a reminder of the Dark s power. The Dark didn t like to have its warnings ignored.
Balor blew into the fire. The flames shivered. He had done everything he could to bind the boy to him. He d appealed to Timothy s sense of pride by offering to make him his assistant Animal Tamer. He had sickened the boy s mother and imprisoned his sister, Sarah Marie. Now he would use their friend, the curly-haired Jessica Church, as bait. When Timothy returned, Balor would own him. But first the Travelers Market must be destroyed.
He opened the caravan door and walked down the folding steps. The sharp air bit at his face. He would search Timothy out just as he hunted his exotic animals. He was the Animal Tamer; he would catch Timothy, the Filidh by birth, a keeper of memories and wisdom. Timothy would have no choice but to lead him to the map he needed to find the Stone of Destiny. Once he had the map and the stone, he would have no further use for Timothy and his companions. If he eliminated the boy and his sister, no one else would remain of the true line of Filidhean. He, Balor, would rule without contest! The old stories would be forgotten. He would establish his own truth, and that truth would become the memories of the people.
An animal mewled. One of the snow leopard cubs was restless, its cries only a minor distraction from his plan. The Light wouldn t easily give up the Market and its Filidh. A defeat at the Market would tip the balance of power. It would put other worlds at risk. If it came to a battle, he would need allies. The sound of murmuring voices made Balor pause. But it was only the wind stirring up the leaves.

The Greenman moved through the forest of old trees circling the Market, assessing his troops. The oldest, an oak, Quercus robur , had seen one thousand years. Its thick trunk was muscled like the torso of an aged wrestler. Even six men, arms outstretched, could not circle its girth. While the oak was the eldest, many of the trees in this part of the forest had lived through more than a hundred cycles of life: sap running, leaf budding, green unfurling, and color turning, golds and reds falling to the wind-rattled bare limbs of winter. Soon the trees would be awakened, needed for battle. He scanned the sky; it was a cloudless wash of blue.
There was a time beyond most human memory when the trees had rarely slept. When they had been the guardians of the earth, and humans mere caretakers. That time had long passed, and the Greenman grieved its loss, knowing it would never come again. He stretched, straightening his limbs; a bird flew from his branches.
He moved less stiffly now, though still more tree than man in appearance. In these next days the Market would be at risk. Balor would grow bolder now that Timothy was of an age to claim his title. The Greenman listened to the wind rising. It rustled his leaves as a breeze might lift the hair of a man or woman. The quest had been thrust upon Timothy Maxwell. But Timothy, he knew, was not alone. He, Cerridwyn, and Gwydon had known Filidhean throughout the centuries, and others had known them as well: Mr. Twig and Julian. Sarah and Jessica had their own roles in the story that was unfolding. Still, it would take time for Timothy to grow into his powers. Whatever the outcome, it would be witnessed by Electra, one of the Pleiad sisters come to observe this intersection of history, to bear witness to the events leading to the crowning of a new Filidh.
Timothy had escaped Balor twice, once from his workshop and once from a challenge in the Market. And Timothy had risked himself for Jessica Church even before she was his friend. The Greenman thought of the leaf he had plucked from his own branch. In Timothy s hand it had grown as hard as glass, and its color shaded from cool blue to hot red. It allowed Timothy to measure danger, to gauge whom to trust. The leaf grew warmer to the touch as danger increased. It seemed a small thing against the growing Dark. Yet, the Greenman knew, Timothy kept it with him always. For now the leaf and its ability to warn was his only defense.

THE GOOSE WOMAN
O ONE HAD ever told Jessica Church how to rescue a girl who was enchanted. Yet here she was, alone in a strange market somewhere in time, trying to help her friend Sarah Maxwell, who had been turned into an ermine. Jessica sat on a bench away from the bustle of the Travelers Market. A beautiful white ermine lay curled in her lap. The bench was hidden behind a cartload of apples, and she was glad for the temporary cover because she had stolen the long, sinewy animal from its cage when the Animal Tamer was distracted. Now she had no idea what to do next. As she worried, she absently stroked the animal s lithe body. Don t fret. I ll think of something soon. Did ermines worry? She had no idea. Sarah, can you understand anything I m saying?
A leg twitched. Did that mean anything? Jessica didn t know. She considered the animal s bright brown eyes. She d never had a pet. She didn t particularly like animals; they were smelly, and many of them drooled. If only the Greenman was here to help.
A shout dragged Jessica from her thoughts. She startled, almost dropping Sarah. The ermine squirmed. A man s voice boomed, followed by a steady stream of curses. Jessica s fingers tightened around the ermine s narrow body. She could feel the rapid heartbeat, the small bones beneath the silken fur. The animal twisted in her hands, and Jessica loosened her grip, just a little. She didn t want to get bitten again.
I m sorry, but I don t know what else to do. It felt ridiculous apologizing to an ermine, even when that ermine had once been one of her friends. Jessica shoved the still-squirming Sarah into a burlap sack. The bag bulged and wiggled. Claws scrabbled at the fabric. She eyed the thumb her friend had bitten when she d grabbed her from the cage. In no time at all Sarah would chew or claw her way through the sack. Jessica needed a safe place to hide her friend and f