Gold

John Wilson

Description

Sam and Annabel are on vacation with Annabel's parents in Italy.

While visiting the small hilltop town of Civita, they hear rumors of looted gold from World War II buried somewhere in the town's network of underground tunnels and caves. Once again the two friends cross paths with their old nemesis, Humphrey Battleford, but he is not the only one in pursuit of the gold. An intimidating man named Kurt, the grandson of a ruthless Nazi, is also snooping around. After Annabel is kidnapped, Sam must solve the mystery of the hidden treasure to save his friend.

This is the fourth mystery featuring Sam and Annabel, after Stolen, Bones and Lost.

Sujets

• Fiction Jeunesse
• Seconde Guerre mondiale
• Action
• Estonian Air
• Civita
• Electronic Sports League
• EAL
• Adventure
• Nazisme
• My Last Duchess
• Italy
• World War II
• English as a foreign or second language
• Teaching English as a foreign language
• ELL
• Nazism
• Segunda Guerra Mundial
• Nazismo
• Juvenilee Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Orca Book Publishers
• Date de parution: 24 octobre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781459814820
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Adventure seems to înd Sam and Annabel wherever they go. While visiting a small hilltop town in Italy, they hear rumors that looted gold from World War II is buried somewhere in the town’s network of underground tunnels and caves. Their old nemesis, Humphrey Battleford, is digging around too, and so is the grandson of a ruthless Nazi. Now it’s a race to the înish, because whoever înds the gold îrst will determine whether a piece of history is lost forever.

Gold

John Wilson

Gold

Gold

John Wilson

Copyright ©2017John Wilson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Wilson, John, author Gold / John Wilson. (Orca currents)

Issued in print and electronic formats. isbn 978-1-4598-1481-3(softcover).—isbn 978-1-4598-1482-0(pdf).— isbn 978-1-4598-1483-7(epub)

I. Title. II. Series: Orca currents ps8595.i5834g65 2017jc813'.54 c2017-900852-8 c2017-900853-6

First published in the United States,2017 Library of Congress Control Number:2017933018

Summary:In this highinterest novel for middle readers, Sam and Annabel are on vacation in Italy and discover a hidden stash of gold.

FPO

Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has ® printed this book on Forest Stewardship Council certified paper.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts,and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Edited by Tanya Trafford Cover photography by iStock.com Author photo by Katherine Gordon

orca book publishers www.orcabook.com

Printed and bound in Canada.

20 19 18 17 • 4 3 2 1

For Caroline, with thanks for introducing me to Civita di Bagnoregio

C h a p t e r O n e

“Foe I have. A crook collector Of relics, books and bones. Visiting Humphrey’s mansion— Discovers Sam in ice. Recovers from clutch of Battle Ford.” “What?” I ask.

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John W ilson

Annabel and I are sitting at an outdoor café in the main square in Orvieto, Italy. I’ve been staring in awe at the ornate entrance to the city’s cathe- dral while Annabel scribbles on the back of a napkin. “It’s a piem,” she says, as if that’s supposed to mean something to me. “Don’t you mean a poem?” “A piem is a poem written in Pilish.” Annabel has told me about Pilish, so this gives me a clue. “You mean the language where the number of letters in each word matches the numbers of Pi?” “Exactly.” Annabel puts on a wicked smile and goes on. “The language that Greg and I shared when we visited your mom in Canada.” Annabel hasn’t stopped teasing me ever since we visited the dinosaur dig in Alberta. I’d gotten upset that this guy, who knew almost as much about the number Pi as she did, was hitting on her.

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Gold

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” “I think it’s cute that you were jealous,” she says. Her smile broadens. “And a little bit dumb that you thought I would dump you for someone like Greg.” “Okay,” I say. “Enough about him. Let’s see your piem.” Annabel turns her napkin around so I can read what she’s written. I don’t know Pi to thousands of numbers like she does, but I’ve learned enough to know that the number of letters in the words of her piem are the same as the beginning of Pi—3.14159265358979323846264… “Very clever,” I agree, “but it just goes to show how weird you are.” “But you’ve always known about my small obsession with Pi.” “Two things,” I say. “One, it’snota small obsession, and two, we’re sitting in the sun in Italy, across the square from a

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John W ilson

seven-hundred-year-old building that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and you are doodling. And what’s this bit about me in ice?” “Nothing personal. I needed a three- letter word. Don’t you think it’d be neat to visit one of Humphrey Battleford’s mansions and see some of the unique things he’s collected?” “Stolen, you mean, but yes, it would be cool. However, I doubt that he’ll invite us any time soon.” “Oh, I don’t know. He seems to like us. He even said he enjoys matching wits with us. He did set up that Arctic cruise so we would be a part of his scheme.” “And we have outfoxed him so far,” I say, “but that doesn’t mean he won’t win if there’s ever a next time. He has unlimited money.” “But we have brains,” Annabel points out with a smile. “Okay, I have

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Gold

most of them, but you do help a little bit.” “Thanks very much,” I say. Then I point at the piem. “At least I’m smart enough to notice that you made a mistake.Battlefordis one word.” “Poetic license. I broke it up into six and four so it would work.” She looks up. “Here’s Mom and Dad.” I can see Annabel’s parents winding their way between tour groups and pairs of scruffy backpackers. Even in the crowd, they stand out. For a start, Annabel’s dad, Jack, is even taller than she is, and towers above everyone. He’s wearing his usual uniform— hiking boots, khaki cargo pants and shirt covered in bulging pockets, and a wide-brimmed, beat-up bush hat. His long face is never clean-shaven, unruly tufts of red hair stick out from beneath his hat, and his piercing blue eyes are continually on the move, taking in

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