The Blackthorn Key (34 page)

Needless to say, these differences could lead to quite a bit of confusion. For example, a traveler could take a four-day sea voyage from Rotterdam to London, departing the Netherlands on (Gregorian) March 28, 1665, and arriving in England on (Julian) March 22, 1664—more than a year before he left! To avoid any such confusion, and to match our current calendar, all dates in this book are reported according to the modern Gregorian system.

A lot of magic happens behind the curtain. I'd like to say thank you to the following wizards:

To my agent, Dan “The Lion” Lazar, and to Cecilia de la Campa and Torie Doherty-Munro.

To my editor at Aladdin, Liesa “Batgirl” Abrams, and to Mara Anastas, Mary Marotta, Jon Anderson, Katherine Devendorf, Karin Paprocki, Julie Doebler, Emma Sector, Jodie Hockensmith, Michael Selleck, Gary Urda, Christina Pecorale and the entire champion sales team, Lucille Rettino, Carolyn Swerdloff, Michelle Leo, and Stephanie Voros.

To my editor at Puffin UK, Ben “Temple Raider” Horslen, and to Francesca Dow, Wendy Shakespeare,
Jacqui McDonough, Hannah Maloco, Carolyn McGlone, and all of Puffin's fine purveyors of adventure.

To my compatriots at Simon & Schuster Canada, on the job and off: Kevin Hanson, Shara Alexa, Michelle Blackwell, Amy Cormier, Amy Jacobson, Lorraine Kelly, Brendan May, David Millar, Nancy Purcell, Felicia Quon, Andrea Seto, Martha Sharpe, and Rita Silva.

To all the publishers around the world who have embraced
The Blackthorn Key
.

To the friendly folks at the Latin Discussion Forum, especially Pacis puella; and to Terry Bailey and to Alma for their help in further translation. Any errors remaining are my own.

And finally, most of all, to you, dear reader, for whom this story was told. Thank you for giving Christopher a home.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

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www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Aladdin hardcover edition September 2015

Text copyright © 2015 by Kevin Sands

Front jacket illustration copyright © 2015 by Antonio Javier Caparo

Back jacket, jacket spine, jacket front flap, and case spine icon illustrations

designed by James Fraser copyright © 2015 by Puffin Books

Jacket photographs (used in icon illustrations) copyright © 2015 by Hermann Mock/cultura/Corbis

Author photograph by Thomas Zitna

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Interior design by Karin Paprocki

The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond Pro.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sands, Kevin.

The blackthorn key / by Kevin Sands.

p. cm.

Summary: In 1665 London, fourteen-year-old Christopher Rowe, apprentice to an apothecary, and his best friend, Tom, try to uncover the truth behind a mysterious cult, following a trail of puzzles, codes, pranks, and danger toward an unearthly secret with the power to tear the world apart.

[1. Apprentices—Fiction. 2. Supernatural—Fiction. 3. Pharmacists—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Secret societies—Fiction. 6. London—History—17th century—Fiction. 7. Great Britain—History—Charles II, 1660–1685—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.1.S26Bl 2015   [Fic]—dc23   2014048032

ISBN 978-1-4814-4651-8 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4814-4653-2 (eBook)