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Flooded England, 2216 ...

England has changed for ever: most of it is under water. Worse, bloodthirsty pirates prowl the shores, and when they kidnap the Prime Minister’s daughter it looks like war.

But out of this drowning world comes Lilly Melkun, a girl determined to put things right, with the help of a pirate boy – and an extraordinary treasure from the past, with the power to change the future ...

The winner of the 2008 Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. 

Picked for the 2009 Booked Up list, reaching 700,000 Year 7 children. Originally published as Reavers’ Ransom, this book has a stunning new title and cover.

Sold to thirteen countries worldwide. Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2009.

Reviews:

'… brilliant debut fantasy adventure … ' GLASGOW HERALD

'A funny, clever, towering adventure. Diamand is a genuine 24-carat writer.' AMANDA CRAIG, THE TIMES

'… an amazing, accomplished story…' MALORIE BLACKMAN

'An inventive adventure, full of the unexpected.' SUNDAY TIMES

Lunden!

It stinks, like old cabbage and pig droppings. Every street that ain’t underwater is covered in the thick oozing mud dumped by the Temz. It slimes about everywhere. In and out of the old buildings. Stone and brick buildings, and high as the sky! But they ain’t so much now, and every one of them’s broken: windows smashed; holes in walls; roof fallen in.

‘Watch where you’re going Zeph! You’ll end up in the slop!’

Ims laughs and nods at the mud underneath the wooden walkway.

Lunden is buzzing!

The great wide river Temz is full of sails: red, blue, green, purple of the Families; gleaming silver of the Scottish sunships; even the odd white sail, though any English would be mad to show their faces now.  And the banks are lined with piers, poking into the water, every one loading and unloading something different – fish, wool, hay, sides of mutton, wood, people, pigs, bales of cloth, barrels of beer, rounds of cheese, anything you can think of, seems like. And where there ain’t traders, there’s warriors.

From every family, in every colour leathers you can think of. And all of them looking fierce as you like; ready to draw weapons, bristling to start a fight. Even after four days here, I ain’t used to all these people! They’re everywhere - pushing along the walkways, wading through the mud with parcels and pots and bales and every kind of thing on their heads.

‘Be careful,’ says Ims, ‘Word’s out about our raid. Every warrior in Lunden’s on edge. Kill you same as spit on you.’

He pulls me to one side of the wooden walkway, and a gang of warriors, all wearing green, which means Chell Sea, comes walking by. Chell Sea’s where my mother came from, so I’m half Chell Sea too. I open my mouth, but I don’t know the right words to say to them. Ims catches my look, shakes his head.

‘Don’t speak to them. They’ll only see your colours, and before you know it, you’ll end up dead. Stick around, you’ll see warriors from every Family you’ve ever heard of – Kensing, Dogs, Tottnam, Stokey, Brixt, Chell Sea – and all of them are wanting a piece of Angel Isling.’

‘I thought Lunden was safe meeting, like Norwich?’

‘It usually is, but things is different now. Your father thinks forward, he wants the Families to unite against the English. But there’s plenty of other bosses who want to keep the old ways, and plenty of warriors who’d kill every Angel Isling to keep them. And Lunden’s where we all started out from, so they get all nostalgic and want to show how tradition-proud they are. Which means they’re even more likely to pick a fight with us.’