Goodly and Grave in A Bad Case of Kidnap
An archly funny, classic mystery adventure with a magic twist!Lucy Goodly is the new boot girl at Grave Hall, working for the cold, aloof Lord Grave. The other staff – Vonk the Butler, Mrs Crawley the cook and Violet the scullery maid – all seem friendly but Lucy soon notices that strange things are afoot in her new home – and not just Mrs Crawley’s experimental anchovy omelettes. There are moving statues, magical books and Lord Grave has a secret. Meanwhile, all over the country, children are vanishing. Could the mystery of the missing children be linked to the strange goings-on? Lucy is determined to find out…
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First published in Great Britain by
HarperCollins Childrenâs Books in 2017
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Text copyright © Justine Windsor 2017
Illustrations copyright © Becka Moor 2017
All rights reserved.
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017
Justine Windsor and Becka Moor assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780008183530
Ebook Edition © 2017 ISBN: 9780008183547
Version: 2017-02-07
For my parents, who read me stories.
And for Charlie, who said I should write my own.
Contents
Chapter Four: Portrait of a Lady
Chapter Five: Hiding Behind a Rhinoceros
Chapter Six: Everlasting Soup and Chicken-With-More-Body-Parts-Than-Might-Be-Reasonably-Expected
Chapter Seven: Tickling Lord Graveâs Great-Grandmotherâs Chins
Chapter Nine: The Library Without Books
Chapter Eleven: The Smell of a Spy
Chapter Twelve: Enough is Enough
Chapter Thirteen: The Eyes of Caruthers
Chapter Fourteen: Lucyâs Exploding Brain
Chapter Sixteen: Havoc Created
Chapter Seventeen: A Complete Disaster
Chapter Nineteen: New Friends and Old Friends
Chapter Twenty: Spinning a Yarn
Chapter Twenty-One: The Tear Catcher
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Truth About Bertie
Chapter Twenty-Three: Unravelling the Yarns
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Snowmanâs Smile
Chapter Twenty-Five: The End for Lucy
Chapter Twenty-Six: Slamming the Door
Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Hole Lot of Trouble
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Eyebrows Have It
Chapter Thirty: Goodly and Grave
Midnight in Mrs Milliganâs Gambling Den.
Lord Grave puffed on his cigar, blowing smoke into Lucy Goodlyâs face. She coughed and spluttered and gave Lord Grave her filthiest stare. Heâd be less full of himself once sheâd relieved him of all the gold in his pockets.
âFinest cigars in the world,â Lord Grave said, waving his about.
âYou shouldnât smoke in front of me,â Lucy said. âIt stunts the growth, you know.â
A hush fell over Mrs Milliganâs Gambling Den. Dice stopped rolling, roulette wheels stopped turning and everyone held their breath. Lord Grave was the most important customer whoâd ever visited Mrs Milliganâs. No one else dared complain about his smelly cigar. Lucyâs parents, who were sitting at the poker table with Lucy and the eminent Lord, stiffened.
âFair point,â said Lord Grave and stubbed his cigar out on the coat tails of a passing waiter. The waiter bowed, thanked his Lordship and then ran for the kitchens where he sat in a pail of cold water to quench the smouldering embers.
Lord Grave turned back to the Goodlys. âSo youâve run out of money? No chance of another game?â
âIâm afraid not, your Lordship,â said Mrs Goodly. She fiddled with the frayed edge of her shawl, which was more fray than shawl. Lucyâs mother had a whole cupboard full of very fine shawls at home, but she always wore her frayed one on poker nights. Lucy herself wore a pair of her fatherâs cut-down breeches and a boyâs jacket. And unlike most girls, who favoured curls and ringlets, Lucy liked to keep her straight, shiny black hair short. She found it far more practical.
âNothing left at all to bet with? Come, now. You must at least have a house?â
âNo, sir. We rent a couple of rooms from a Mr Grimes. We share them with three hundred cockroaches, a family of rats and eight slugs. Weâre very fortunate.â Mrs Goodly smiled at Lord Grave in a pathetic way.
Lucy shivered at the idea of sharing a room with three hundred cockroaches, a family of rats and eight slugs. What her mother said wasnât a complete lie. They had once lived in a place like that. But, thanks to Lucy, not any more. Lucy thought of her large, light, clean bedroom in Leafy Ridge, the Goodlysâ cottage deep in the country, hundreds of miles away from London and Mrs Milliganâs Gambling Den. It was her favourite place in the world. But for the plan to work, the Goodlys had to pretend they still lived in squalor.
