Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse (45 page)
The judge stared at him. Mr. Rat stared back.
"You…did all this," the judge said, blinking, "and then you slid down the drainpipe?"
"Yes, sir, that’s what," Mr. Rat assured him. "’Twas not till later when I was addin’ how much the two forks and spoon I’d taken from the kitchen was worth that I found what the papers did."
"Hmm…" the judge said. "So
you
didn’t make the papers magic?"
"No, sir, I didn’t!" Mr. Rat said assuredly. "But I know, I knows for sure who it was. Sure as day, I always know who owns the house before I break in."
"And who, pray tell," the judge waved his fingers, "did this house of the magic papers belong to?"
Mr. Rat swallowed. He looked about the room, and he could feel them all leaning forward, waiting to hear what he was about to say.
"It was…" he began, and he swallowed again. "It was
Adi Copplestone’s
house!"
All of a sudden, the entire room burst out in a roar of laughter. The police, the audience, even Mr. Rat’s own lawyer. The judge was laughing so hard, he started to pound his fist on the desk.
"That’s the best one I’ve heard in years!" The judge chuckled. "Adi Copplestone! The most respectable woman in all of Dunce, a
mage!
" He took a deep breath. "Obviously,
you
are not a mage, but simply stupid: and in return for this rotten comedy, I hereby sentence you to a fortnight of community service, scrubbing the walls of the Dunce Sewer System!" He beat his gavel on the desk like a drum. "It is so ordered!" he said, and he stumbled away as the crowd continued to laugh.
Mr. Rat trembled and shook. Two officers approached him and something was shoved into his hands. He jerked his gaze down to see what they had given him.
In one hand was a bucket of soapy water. In the other, a sponge.
"Oh, no…" he moaned, but the officers gave a tug on his arm, and Mr. Rat was hauled from the courtroom.
Acknowledgments
In writing this book, many people have helped tremendously, and without each of them it would never have been possible.
Dad: still the Great Idea Giver.
Mom: for forcing me to write one page a week when I was nine, in spite of my protests.
Jaden, Maddi, Blaise, and Avery: for being the first to read any of it, and for not disowning me when I took Mrs. Tubtom out.
Carol Teltschick-Fall: for actually suffering through editing my first drafts, again and again and again.
Brendan Forsling: for ripping my story to bits so we could sew it back together without any holes.
Sarah Brown, Catherine and Anna Biewer, Mr. and Mrs. Forsling, and everyone else who read the endless stream of drafts.
Rachul Gensburg, Becka Grapsy, and Lauren Suero: for being my pro-bono publicists, and my brains after one a.m.
Michael Gaudet: for helping polish my grungy rock of a story into something shiny.
Lyron Bennett: for believing in a new teenage writer and the story I had to tell.
Daniel Ehrenhaft and the Sourcebooks team: for all your hard work and dedication to making this book the best it could be.
And last but certainly not least, thanks to my agent, Richard Curtis: for making my dreams a reality.
About the Author
Kaleb Nation
On the third night of the third month of 2003, fourteen-yearold Kaleb Nation suddenly imagined a boy and a banker on a roof, waiting for a burglar to come. From that original idea was born the story of Bran Hambric, a novel that would take most of Kaleb’s teenage years to write.
Aside from writing, Kaleb is a blogger and a former radio host. He turned twenty in 2008 and currently lives in Texas.
Visit Kaleb online at www.kalebnation.com.
About the Illustrator
Brandon Dorman
Brandon currently lives near Mt. Rainier with his wonderful wife, Emily, and their two boys. He loves to eat nachos, string cheese, and once ate a pig’s eyeball. Since graduating from Brigham Young University–Idaho in 2005, Brandon has created over 400 illustrations for books and magazines. Please visit him at www.brandondorman.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Strange Happenings on Bolton Road
Chapter 2 - Chasing Shadows In the Dark
Chapter 3 - The Creature and His Master
Chapter 4 - The Note in the Grass
Chapter 5 - The Man, the Van, and Dan
Chapter 7 - Sewey Wilomas Versus the Oncoming Train
Chapter 8 - The Duncelander Fair
Chapter 9 - The Box in the Bookstore
Chapter 10 - Inside the Hidden Room
Chapter 12 - The Telephone Call
Chapter 13 - Burglars on Third Street
Chapter 14 - The man at the Tavern
Chapter 15 - The Name on the Necklace
Chapter 16 - A Path in the Woods
Chapter 17 - Noises in the Kitchen
Chapter 18 - The Man beneath the House
Chapter 19 - The House on Hadnet Lane
Chapter 20 - The Gnome in the Home
Chapter 21 - A Room behind the Bookshelf
Chapter 23 - The Face in the Mirrors
Chapter 24 - The Girl from the Alley
Chapter 27 - The Escape of Rosie Tuttle
Chapter 29 - Inside the Black Van
Chapter 32 - The Spirit Awakens
Chapter 33 - The Farfield Curse
Chapter 34 - The Battle on Farfield Tower
