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  “Master Woolstenbury has taken my adapted GODAR, so there will be no more name discovery for now.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me. At least I got to find out my real name first.”

  “And she had some news for us,” said Prue. She paused and turned back to face the factorium. She glanced at Edwin. “She’s taking us on as apprentices!”

  Edwin laughed. “What? Are you serious?”

  “She’s going to tell you herself, but, yes!”

  “That, I didn’t expect!”

  Agapantha appeared from the nearby transport hut. She waved and jumped through the snow towards them. “Ed!” She picked him up and hugged him, then grabbed Prue and pulled her in too. “What did Master Woolstenbury say?”

  “Well, we’ve not been thrown out of the Guild. And it seems we have ourselves a new mentor.”

  “Craftsman Shad? Oh, is it Master Tinubu? She’ll be brilliant… No wait – it’s not Sollentude, is it?” Agapantha grimaced.

  “It’s Master Woolstenbury.”

  Her mouth opened wide. “No way! Wow!”

  “On the condition that I let go of my plans to bring back memory.”

  “Are you all right about that? What with Francis and everything.”

  Prue nodded. Even though it still compressed her throat to think about it, the moment she’d decided to press the button, she’d known it had to be that way.

  More apprentices began emerging from the transport hut.

  “Come on,” said Prue, tapping her shoulder for Edwin to jump back up and hooking Agapantha’s arm. “We’d better get to this meeting.”

  Subdued light filtered through the snow-specked glass ceiling, high above the central atrium. Below was packed with members of the Guild, and every personifate who worked there – Prue spotted Phineas and Zareen chatting together. They looked across and smiled. Edwin nudged Prue and gestured to Thackery the thunderbird personifate who was perched on an iron railing not far away, talking with Queen Adelaide.

  “It wouldn’t surprise me if I was royalty too,” Thackery said. “Did I mention I was the fastest in the messenger tower?” He ruffled his feathers.

  “Four times,” Queen Adelaide said snootily.

  The three apprentices stood in the spot they had been in the first morning at the Guild. Soon Master Woolstenbury appeared and silence fell. She recounted the events, leaving some of the details out that she’d given Prue. She impressed how pulling together and solidarity would be vital in the coming times and how the events must stay within their walls. Zareen appeared and passed a note to Master Woolstenbury. She read it quickly then spoke.

  “Governor Watson-Wentworth thanks you all for your discretion in this incident. He would also like me to iterate that he knows about the use of the unlicensed personifate and he’s agreed to overlook it, just this once.”

  “Just this once? After we prevented the downfall of the Guild and his Sovereign Chancellery?” Prue whispered to Edwin. He shook his head.

  “Now, I would like to personally thank the people without whom the events of yesterday could have had dire consequences for all of us. Apprentices Haywood, Snow-Moon and Young.”

  Heads turned in their direction. Prue could almost feel the warmth of Agapantha’s burning cheeks beside her.

  “These three apprentices showed great initiative and courage against a terrible foe. And we thank them for their service to the Guild.” Master Woolstenbury started clapping and everyone joined in.

  “It was more luck than judgement,” Cora whispered from behind. “And I don’t care if you saved the Guild, you three are still weird.” She shook her head.

  “If that’s what we are, I’m pretty proud of it,” said Prue.

  *

  The snow continued to fall for the following week and Master Woolstenbury declared the winter break early. The great lawns in front of the factorium became everyone’s favourite place for sledging and snow fights.

  “My parents’ letter said the snow is so deep that all the mechanicarts between Batterthwaite and North Owlcot are out of action, so I’m going to stay here for Yule. What are you all doing?” said Prue.

  Agapantha was scribbling calculations on a notepad. “Mine are off on some jaunt to New Mercia – I think word is out about the stag-men, and they’re keen to find out more about the ancient myths and customs. They think they might hold the key to transferring frequency across qwortzite in a sustainable way. So, I’m staying here,” she said.

  “Well, this is my home, so I’m staying put,” said Edwin.

  Something flew through the air close by – Abel was launching snowballs with a spade.

  “Excellent!” said Edwin, leaping and gathering a handful of snow to launch back.

  Lavender emerged from the factorium with Phineas bearing a tray full of steaming cups of cocoa and spicy gingerbread.

  “Brilliant, I’m ravenous!” said Agapantha running towards them.

  Prue stood for a moment and watched her friends.

  “Francis, you can’t launch a snowball from a hoppity wrench!”

  “An adapted hoppity wrench, Prudence Haywood.”

  “Let’s see then.” She folded her arms.

  “I’ve added the super hop. Just clip the arms back like so, place the snowball here, then release the restrainer, and…”

  The snowball hurtled through the air and smacked Prue in the chest.

  “Hey!” she laughed, grabbing great handfuls of snow.

  “Ed, Ag!” she called. “Wait for me!”

  Prue’s mum was wrong when she’d said time flowed like the river and there’s not a thing you can do about it. Yes, time flowed, but you could swim in different parts of the river if you wanted, you could swing over it, even change its course if you really wanted to.

  Things hadn’t worked out as she’d planned. Prue had come to the Guild looking for Francis and it wasn’t at all what she had expected. She understood that some things couldn’t be fixed, but she could make a difference. Time was ever-moving and so was the world around her. She didn’t know what that meant for first and second lifers, and the rights of the personifates, but she was certain that whatever that future was, she was going to put herself right at the heart of finding the best way.

  And she would have two extraordinary friends beside her.

  Acknowledgements

  This story blossomed from seed to fully realized world faster than the Gigantrak racing to Medlock, and I couldn’t have done it without two incredible people. For me they are the best in the business and both deserving of a ruby jacket. The guidance from my lovely agent, Kate Shaw, set me on track at an early stage – she really is a one-in-a-million (and I’m never letting go!). My editor, Linas Alsenas, is a gem of a human and also someone I adore working with – a story wizard of the very highest level. This book really wouldn’t be what it is without you, and I hope I get to work with you on many, many more stories! My heartfelt and endless thanks to you both.

  The whole team at Scholastic are simply wonderful, and a huge thank you to every shining cog in the wheel there, especially Tanya Harris-Brown, Eishar Brar, Harriet Dunlea, Peter Matthews, Jenna Mackintosh, and when it comes to book design, Scholastic’s Jamie Gregory is without doubt a complete master. His stunning eye for what works and attention to detail utterly wows me, and I couldn’t have hoped for a better design. George Ermos, the cover illustrator, is also a marvel, injecting his creative magic into creating a scene that exceeds my hopes and dreams.

  Continued thanks to the many booksellers, book bloggers, educators, librarians, reviewers, and fellow writers out there, championing stories with your hearts and souls. You are utter marvels. A special shout out to the teachers who have used Brightstorm so creatively – your support is so appreciated, and I hope Wildspark gives you a world to run with too! Thanks to my friends and family for continued support while writing this, especially Darren, Meg, Sammy, Poppy, Mum, James, Lorraine, Jen, Sinéad, Lucy, Ness, the Golden Egg crew and Kate Gieler o
f my patron of reading school – you rock, Glebies!

  Lastly, and of course most importantly, I’m looking at you, the reader, holding this book in your hands right now. Thank you for running away to Medlock with Prue (you rebel!). Now go and dream big. Invent the incredible.

  Vashti Hardy is the author of Brightstorm, the Bookseller Association’s Children’s Book of the Season (Spring 2018). An active member of the Golden Egg Academy, she lives near Brighton with her family.

  Follow Vashti on Twitter @vashti_hardy

  Scholastic Children’s Books

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  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2019

  This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd, 2019

  Text copyright © Vashti Hardy, 2019

  Cover illustration by George Ermos

  Map illustration by Jamie Gregory

  The right of Vashti Hardy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her.

  eISBN 978 1407 18985 7

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

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Scholastic Limited.

  Produced in India by Newgen

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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