Dicing with Death (10 page)

‘It's Larry's dog!' Max said in surprise. ‘What's he doing down here?' Then he noticed that the dog had the same opaque shimmering outline as Tom. ‘He's dead?' He looked up in shock. ‘How? I thought the elixir brought him back to life?'

‘As I said,' the Grim Reaper intoned. ‘Death cannot be cheated.' He let his hand rest briefly on the dog's head. ‘And I rather fancied a one-headed dog to keep me company.'

He stepped towards Liah. Her eyes widened as he stretched out his hands. ‘Take them.' He nodded at the robes.

‘You want me to p-p-put them back in the catacombs?' she stammered.

‘I want you to put them on. I'm in need of a new assistant. Mopsus has decided he has something of a knack for haute cuisine and will take over the kitchen. He has resigned as my personal assistant.'

Liah's mouth opened. ‘You want me to be your assistant? I thought…'

‘I know what you thought. Would you prefer to join your fiancé?'

‘Ex-fiancé.' Liah tossed her hair over her shoulder.

‘Ah yes, your ex-fiancé. Your second task will
be to extricate him from the broom cupboard and escort him back to where he belongs.'

‘And my first task?' Liah asked.

Death glanced at Max. ‘To take this young man back to where
he
belongs.'

* * *

Max looked at the light spilling from the living room window. Through a chink in the curtains he could see his mother kneeling by the Christmas tree. She took a brightly wrapped parcel and handed it to Amy who was sitting alongside David on the sofa.

It's Christmas Day!
He longed to be in there with them, to be a part of it all, rather than an outsider with his nose pressed up against a pane of freezing glass.

‘Well, I guess this is goodbye,' Liah said.

Max nodded. ‘So, Death's assistant huh?'

‘Yeah.' Liah plucked at her robes. ‘Although these are going to have to go. I don't care if wearing them gives me authority in the Underworld. They clash with my hair and do nothing for my figure.'

Max grinned. ‘I'm glad you're not dead.'

‘Thanks to you.' Liah suddenly threw her arms around him. ‘I hope I don't see you in a very long time,' she whispered. Her eyes looked suspiciously bright as she stepped back and withdrew the key from her pocket. She inserted it into the front door, turned it and stepped through without a backward glance.

The door clicked shut. Max waited a moment before inserting his own key and stepping into the hall. ‘I'm back,' he shouted out. ‘Mum, Amy, Dav… Dad. I'm home!'

Paul Mason

“The castle had a secret. They were not alone.”

Two abandoned children make their home in
a castle – which is haunted by the Duke of
Wellington! The spook helps them hide from the
castle's caretaker. But when developers want to turn
their home into a spa, everyone who loves the castle
must band together to save the day.

£4.99 ISBN 9781408176269

Emma Fischel

“We're not safe. Not in here. Not anywhere.”

Finn didn't want, to move to the spooky old house in the
first place. And then he sees the THING in the wardrobe.
It's a Gorgle. A ten-foot tall nightmare.
It's awake. It's hungry.
And nobody else believes it exists …

£4.99 ISBN 9781408174135

This electronic edition published in August 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing

Copyright © 2013 A & C Black
Text copyright © 2013 Beth Chambers
Illustrations copyright © Warwick Johnson Cadwell 2013

First published 2013 by A & C Black,
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square,
London, WC1B 3DP
www.bloomsbury.com

The right of Beth Chambers and Warwick Johnson Cadwell to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

eISBN: 978-1-4081-8042-6

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