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Austin Macauley Publishers - Gillian Leggat

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74 pages

English

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In an abandoned mining town in Namibia, Julia and her friends unexpectedly encounter the evil Livedia. When Tanya, Thabo and Kyle fall prey to her enticing temptations, they are taken to her headquarters on the Skeleton Coast.But this is not the only problem. Where are Sean's parents? Has the evil witch taken them too?Julia and Sean set out on a dangerous journey across Namibia. Their mission: to find six vital weapons without which they cannot hope to conquer their powerful enemy.Will they defeat her a second time? Will they get to the weapons before she does? Will these weapons be enough? Julia and Sean are about to face their greatest challenge yet.

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Adventure (Guyana)

Adventure

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Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers
Date de parution	14 novembre 2018
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781788480802
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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The Diamond Pathway
Gillian Leggat
Austin Macauley Publishers
2018-11-14
The Diamond Pathway About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Chapter One The Viper’s Head Chapter Two Tempted Chapter Three Hosea to the Rescue Chapter Four The White Lady Chapter Five Diamond Eye DeLux Chapter Six Delivered to the Foot of Dune 45 Chapter Seven A Beautiful Song Chapter Eight The Unexpected Treasure Chapter Nine The Morfluwas Attack Chapter Ten Habakkuk to the Rescue Chapter Eleven In-Fighting Saves the Day Chapter Twelve Disagreement Chapter Thirteen Weapon Number One Chapter Fourteen The Dru-Fluor Army Chapter Fifteen The Enemy Brews a Battle Chapter Sixteen The Chase Chapter Seventeen Delivery from the Air Chapter Eighteen A Dangerous Test Chapter Nineteen A Long, Bumpy Ride Chapter Twenty The Last Weapon Chapter Twenty-One Straight into the Witch’s Den Chapter Twenty-Two The Final Battle
About the Author
Gillian Leggat is the author of more than sixty books. She has a particular interest in writing young adult novels and picture books for children. Because of her passion for books and writing, she loves to attend book festivals. She has taught English to senior students for more than thirty years, and has designed and presented numerous writing courses for adults and young people. She lives in Cape Town where she is continuing her writing and teaching career. She has three children and one granddaughter.
Dedication
For Jennie, Robert, Susan and Clara
Copyright Information ©
Gillian Leggat (2018)
The right of Gillian Leggat to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788235419 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781788235426(Hardback)
ISBN 9781788235433(E-Book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2018)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Chapter One

The Viper’s Head
The imposing wrought-iron gate was wide open. Hanging loosely from the barrel bolt was a very large padlock decorated with a viper’s head. It was almost as if someone had recently unlocked that padlock just for them. As they were approaching the games room, Julia had distinctly heard a click followed by the sound of retreating footsteps.
But then, her friends were always accusing her of having an over-active imagination. Obviously, they hadn’t noticed anything! As soon as they had entered this ten-pin bowling alley, Tanya and Kyle had made a beeline for the weighted balls while Thabo, looking very proud of himself, wasted no time in downing a skittle.
“Come and try your luck mate,” he said to Sean, laughingly pointing to one of the other balls. But Sean, looking seriously preoccupied, wasn’t biting. Julia felt very sorry for him. Everyone wanted to have some fun – except for him. Here they all were at Kolmanskop, a deserted mining town in the middle of the Sperrgebied – the forbidden area of the Namibian diamond belt – where his parents had last been seen.
When she had first heard the news about Sean’s tour-guide parent’s mysterious disappearance, her first thought had been not again! It had been only one year since her own parents had been ‘lost and found’, but now they were off on another one of their digs, this time to uncover the remains of pharaohs in the region of King Senebkay’s tomb near Abydos, which lay three-hundred miles south of Cairo.
She had begged them to take her with them. They had persuaded her, though, that a dusty archaeological site was hardly the place where she could really enjoy herself during her December holiday. Sean, her best friend, had come to the rescue and offered her a trip to Namibia with James, a younger colleague of his dads.
Never having been to this vast country on the west coast of Africa, she had jumped at the chance. She had prepared so well for this trip; collecting glossy brochures and watching DVDs. Before she had even set foot in the place, she had been awed by the grand Fish River canyon with its mighty cliffs, plunging ravines, rich red and golden colours and receding gorges.
And the red dunes, some of the tallest in the world, had just asked for a visit as the DVDs showed them stretching far away into the distance.
Now, they were in the ‘ghost’ diamond-mining town of Kolmanskop, where each new day, the desert encroached more and more upon the few houses that hadn’t already been swallowed up by the relentlessly shifting sands.
Sean’s parents hadn’t been officially declared missing, which accounted for some of the frivolity of their friends, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. Why couldn’t James tell him where they were right now? He knew all the routes they usually took like the back of his hand. In fact, Sean’s dad had been training him up for an equal partnership role in his company. So his light-hearted responses to Sean’s questions were not exactly appreciated.
Seared into her brain was the confrontation she had witnessed the previous night. They had been sitting around the campfire braaiing marshmallows when James had casually remarked: “It’s going to be great owning my own tour company…”
Sean had sharply interrupted him: “Is that why you’re travelling so slowly?”
“What do you mean, dude?” replied James, raising his hands defensively.
“You want my dad to vanish into thin air so you can take over—”
There was a shocked silence.
“We shouldn’t even be here. Tell me…why’d you bring us to Kolmanskop…”
“You know why – to show you all the highlights of this awesome country.”
“Really?” Sean’s tone was bitingly sarcastic.
“Sure. Why else?”
“Wasn’t it so you could slow down the rescue efforts on my folks…?”
“Why do you think they even need rescuing?”
“No-one’s seen them – or even heard from them – for two whole weeks…not since they were here…”
“But they aren’t officially missing. Dude, this is a vast country. Your dad specifically told me he wanted to go to unexplored places; places, he emphasised, with no cell-phone reception. He wants to create a mystery adventure tour to add to his books…”
“Yes, but two weeks…”
“Is not nearly enough time for discovering all the unique destinations in this amazing land. If I were you, I’d just enjoy the ride, relax and—”
“Well I’m not you,” Sean had shouted, “and I can’t relax till I see my folks again.”
He had stomped away from the cosy campfire circle, folded his arms and fumed.
Relations between James and Sean were strained this morning, but at least there hadn’t been any more confrontations – yet.
Tanya, who hadn’t managed to knock down any skittles, was passing the ball restlessly from one hand to the other, glaring at it accusingly, as if this very ball was solely responsible for her miserable performance.
“Want to try mine,” said Thabo, who had just succeeded in flooring yet another skittle.
“This is a stupid game,” was her ungracious reply. “I don’t want to play any more.”
“Don’t be a spoilsport,” accused Kyle as she dropped the ball with a thud on the panelled floor.
“If you like, I’ll show you how it’s done,” said James, who had been hovering around her – much to Sean’s obvious disgust.
But she had already moved off and was approaching that solid gate.
“Hey guys, where do you think this leads?” she said, pointing down what looked like a shimmering pathway on the other side of the gate.
“To more sand,” replied Kyle cynically.
“Want to come in with me?” She gave James one of her coy, little-girly looks. Julia noticed how challengingly he looked at Sean as he steered Tanya through the massively solid gate.
Almost immediately, she gave a shriek of delight.
“This is awesome,” she cried. “Come and see everyone. You won’t believe your eyes.”
“She’s got something guys. Never seen anything like it,” enthused James.
Although Julia was reluctant to follow the two of them – a strong warning was written all over that viper’s head on the giant padlock – her curiosity got the better of her. The minute she stepped through that gate, she was dazzled by the brightness of the wide, diamond-studded pathway. The walls of the long passage were lined with mirrors which reflected the glowing lights that sparkled from the diamonds.
“Hey guys,” said Sean who, alerted by Tanya’s shrieks, had forged ahead of her into the passage, “these diamonds are for real.”
He had dropped to his knees and was carefully examining the glittering stones. “They must be worth a fortune. But why are these incredible diamonds just lying here? Anyone could just pocket them, walk off and become the world’s next trillionaire!” He tried to pick one up, but it obstinately refused to be dislodged. The precious stones appeared to be firmly embedded in the ground.
Just then, an all-too-familiar voice wheedled its way into Julia’s consciousness.
“There’s plenty more where that came from. Just follow the path and you’ll be thunder-struck by what you will see…riches beyond your wildest imaginings.”
Eerily, Julia couldn’t see who was luring them onwards. But she would have recognised that syrupy-smooth voice anywhere: the voice of the arch-temptress, Livedia, the very witch whose trap on the last trip had so nearly led to the torture and death of her parents and all her friends.
Julia made up her mind she wasn’t going to let that happen. Not this time. “Sean,” she called urgently, “did you hear that voice?”
But Sean was much too busy examining the sparkling jewels just below his feet to look up. He gave no indication that he had even heard her