Banished (39 page)

‘Wow,’ I breathe. ‘That’s pretty harsh.’

He smiles at me, but there’s no real humour behind it. ‘Not really. Your parents were the same. They were working one more case, and had wanted out after you came along. Andrew was
happy for them to walk away, to stop working for the family. But your dad had worked for the Spook Squad previously; he wanted to go back, and your mum was thinking of joining him.’ He draws
on the cigarette. ‘Of course that pissed the family off no end.’

‘I had no idea.’ And I really meant that. I had no idea about any of it – my mum wanting to leave the family cause behind, my dad working for the government.

‘Oh yeah. There was a blazing row about it. The whole family: all the aunts and uncles and cousins. It was war, I tell you. But a civilized one. Votes were taken, things were discussed,
there was some shouting, but mostly lots of talking. Eventually it was decided that your mum could assist your father in his role but she couldn’t join him as a Spook. The family
wouldn’t stand for it.’

‘And then the accident happened?’

‘Yeah, just before your first birthday.’ He shifts next to me and digs something out of his pocket. ‘Here, I thought you’d like this. I found it while I was clearing out
my wardrobe at home. I actually meant to give it to you the last time I saw you but I forgot. I thought it would suit you.’

I hold my hand out and he drops something into my palm. I close my fingers around it. It feels like a pendant.

‘Your mum gave me that after my first solo job. I thought you’d like it.’

‘Thanks.’ It’s too dark to see so I put it in my pocket and stand up. ‘It’s almost dawn,’ I say. ‘Want a lift?’

‘You don’t even know where I’m going.’

I shrug at him. ‘With no Manor to go back to and nowhere else really to stay apart from a hotel, I’m not really heading anywhere myself. Besides, I feel the need to keep
busy.’

‘How about a trip to Windsor?’ Jamie says. ‘We’ve had reports in that the Wild Hunt’s been seen in the countryside and we’ve been asked to
investigate.’

‘Sounds like fun,’ I say. ‘But I’m driving.’

‘Great, it means I can catch up on some sleep.’

We climb over the fence just as the sun breaks over the horizon. I point Lolita’s nose north-west and drive out of the small village just as the milkman rattles down the road on his
float.

While writing her debut novel,
Banished
, Liz de Jager fostered her love of YA and genre fiction by developing the popular
My Favourite Books
review blog. This ran
for seven years and enabled her to gain a unique insight into the publishing industry. She grew up in South Africa and now lives and works in the UK with her husband, Mark.

You can find out more about Liz here:

www.lizdejager.co.uk

Or follow her on Twitter:

@LizUK

A huge debt of gratitude to my best friend Sarah Bryars who has an overabundance of enthusiasm for Kit and who helped me make sense of this world I’ve created. With
Sarah, the third aspect to our triptych is Sharon Jones who helped me with esoteric Merrily questions and found me research books that would make a vicar go pale. And high-fives to Jenni Nock who
stood by the core characters and told me things would work out: you are wise!

A big thanks to Sue Hyams, Mo O’Hara and Paolo Romeo (all whom I met through SCBWI British Isles), for all those late nights at the Southbank and for pushing me to write Kit’s story.
Where would I be without you all bossing me around?!

A huge debt of thanks goes to Juliet Mushens, my agent, who decided that she loved Kit’s voice enough to take a chance on me and worked so hard with me to sell The Blackhart Legacy. An
equal measure of thanks goes to Bella Pagan, my editor, who’s held my hand, kept me sane and explained the intricacies of ‘what’s next?’ in the publishing process.

There’s a swathe of other people to acknowledge, too; authors and fellow bloggers I’ve known through blogging and Twitter and who gave constant and great advice, specifically Zoe
Marriott and Luisa Playa, amongst so many others. I truly get the impression that debut authors in genre have the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants; my deepest gratitude to those
authors who keep playing it forward. A shout out, too, to Tanya Byrne and her circle of trust; a girl couldn’t ask for a more kick-ass advice-giver.

A huge thanks to my family in South Africa who were so excited when I told them about the book deal. You guys may all be very far away but I carry you in my heart every day. Thank you for
believing and for being smug and saying: we told you so.

And last but not least, a huge thanks to Mark who started all of this in the middle of a bookshop with that damn question:
what if?
Your support means so much to me; I can’t express
it in words. I hope the dedication at the front of the book goes some way towards that!

First published 2014 by Tor

This electronic edition published 2014 by Tor

an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

Basingstoke and Oxford

Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-4472-4766-1

Copyright © Liz de Jager, 2014

The right of Liz de Jager to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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