The Book Smugglers by Anna James

Author:Anna James [James, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-09-03T17:00:00+00:00

The Guardian of the Gate was most flustered to see them again.

‘In and out and in and out!’ he said. ‘But I knew you’d be back; the Emerald City is the most beautiful place in all of Oz! Let me put your spectacles back on.’ Tilly and Milo begrudgingly allowed the green glasses to be fixed back round their heads and were ushered through the doors on to the gleaming, winding streets of the Emerald City. It didn’t take them too long to reach the palace, and they weren’t noticed as they entered the outer chamber, where there were still a lot of grandly dressed men and women milling about, watching the doors leading through to the Wizard’s chamber.

‘Excuse me,’ Tilly said, tapping an extravagantly dressed woman on the arm. ‘Do you know where the portrait gallery is?’

‘Why, yes, of course, child,’ the woman said. ‘It’s …’ she stopped and looked confused. ‘It’s … Well, I suppose it’s up there somewhere.’ She gestured vaguely at one end of the hall before turning back to her companions.

‘She sounded like she’d forgotten,’ Milo said.

‘I think it’s because there’s no actual portrait gallery on the page in the book,’ Tilly said. ‘It’s not in the story, so she’s confused. Things that aren’t on the page or aren’t very well described can get a bit fuzzy, I think. Let’s try in this direction – it’s somewhere to start.’

The two of them climbed a stone spiral staircase from the grand hall up to a floor above. They wandered through corridors laid with green tiled floors, up more stone stairs, through echoey chambers and rooms set with gems, but there were no paintings they could see. There were never any people either, and the rooms were always completely devoid of furniture or details beyond green and emeralds.

Just as they were beginning to lose hope of finding anything that wasn’t just a room of emeralds, the corridor made a sharp right turn, and they were no longer in a plain, empty space but a detailed, rich one unlike anything else they’d seen since they’d left the hall. It was furnished properly, with wooden floors, richly embroidered curtains hanging from stained glass windows in different shades of green, and, above all, there were paintings – lots of paintings.

‘I think it’s safe to say this is the portrait gallery,’ Milo said, staring ahead at all the canvases.

‘How on earth will we know which is the right one?’ Tilly said in frustration.

‘What did Theo say?’ Milo asked. ‘Find the painting? Look for the symbol? What symbol do you think that is? The one from the poisoned book?’

‘Yes. And finding it is another challenge,’ Tilly replied. ‘Seeing anything is a nightmare with these stupid glasses on.’ She yanked at them, but they were firmly locked at the back and closely fitted, and, if she tried to pull at them, they only cut painfully into her face.

‘Hang on,’ Milo said, rummaging around in the bottom of his satchel. He pulled out his

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