Lottie Luna and the Bloom Garden. Vivian French
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2019 Published in this ebook edition in 2019 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
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Text copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019 Illustrations copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019 Cover design copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780008342982
Ebook Edition © September 2019 ISBN: 9780008342999
Version: 2019-09-27
For the real Lottie,
with much love
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About the Author
About the Publisher
KING Lupo jumped and looked up at the ceiling. Water was oozing through a zigzag crack and splashing on his head.
‘I did warn you, dear,’ said Queen Mila. ‘If you will insist on sitting at the head of the table, you’ll get dripped on.’ She passed the king a napkin and he wiped his ears.
‘A king should always be kingly,’ he announced. ‘I may not have been king for long, but I do know how to behave. A king is head of his people, so he should sit at the head of the table – drips or no drips! And talking about behaving, ‘WHERE is Lottie? She’s late for breakfast!’
‘I think she’s getting ready,’ Queen Mila told him. ‘Do remember, dear – it’s her first day at her new school, so she’s bound to be a little nervous.’
‘Nervous? Why would she be nervous?’ King Lupo dodged another drip and took a bite of his toast. Finding it was soggy, he made a face and put it back on his plate.
Queen Mila sighed. ‘You know how happy she was at her last school, dear. She had lots of friends and was popular with the teachers too. She doesn’t know anyone at Shadow Academy. She’s starting all over again.’
‘But she’s the daughter of a king now!’ Lupo raised his whiskery eyebrows. ‘She’ll find that she’s treated with the greatest respect!’
‘I don’t think—’ Queen Mila had been about to say that she didn’t think that would make any difference, but she was interrupted by the door being flung open with a crash, and Lottie appeared. She was clutching her school bag in one hand and a bunch of pencils in the other, which she waved wildly at her mother.
‘Ma! I can’t find my pencil sharpener anywhere. It’s hopeless! Ever since we moved, everything’s been upside down. Nothing’s where it should be – and there are ZILLIONS of spiders in the bathroom! Do we have to live here?’
Boris, Lottie’s older brother, stopped admiring himself in the cracked old mirror by the fireplace and joined in. ‘But we’re royalty now, Lottie! Pa’s a king, and kings live in castles – even if they are a bit crumbly and falling down.’
‘Well said, Boris my lad!’ King Lupo beamed at his son. ‘Dracon Castle is our home. I’m sure once we’ve done a few repairs we’ll be extremely comfortable here. Now, Lottie, sit down and eat your breakfast.’
‘Hmmmph…’ Lottie sighed thoughtfully as she remembered her old home. Although it had been small and cramped, it had been warm and very cosy. The castle they had inherited had so many rooms she couldn’t count them all, and every single one was freezing cold.
‘I’m not hungry,’ she said. ‘Honestly, Pa, I couldn’t eat a thing.’ She looked at her mother. ‘Ma – do you think it’ll be okay at Shadow Academy? It’s awful being new in the middle of a term.’
Her mother hugged her. ‘I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends in no time at all.’
‘Huh!’ Boris looked down his nose. ‘Who’d want to be friends with her? Not me!’
Lottie made a face at him, then stuffed her blunt pencils into her bag. ‘I’ll be off now,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be late, not on my first day. See you later, darling Ma. Remember I won’t be back until after moonrise! Bye, Pa!’ And she whisked out of the dining hall, banging the door behind her. Jaws, her pet bat, was waiting for her on the other side, and together they hurried along the cold, dark corridor. With a heave and a tug, Lottie managed to open the creaking front door… and then they were out in the morning sunshine.