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Lily continued. He believes one should read a lot wider than deportment manuals if one plans to get an exceptional education. Don’t you agree? Well, all right then. Lily examined the row of iron bedsteads, thinking. I know, she said, why don’t we use your dyed sheets on the bottom of the beds, then we can use the old white ones as top sheets to hide them? Lily’s father had chosen to send her to the school after she’d frustrated a number of governesses. His main criterion: it was out of the way and no one there would ask questions about her. He’d even given her a false surname: Grantham – a combination of G for Grace (from her mother), and Hartman – their real surname. He never explained why, or what he was trying to hide her from, but since the time of Mama’s death he’d become preoccupied with keeping Lily’s whereabouts a secret, even moving them from London to deep in the countryside. Lily suspected he was just a natural born worrier, though he still insisted she have the life of a normal well-bred Victorian young lady.
Cogheart - Peter Bunzl - Google Books Cogheart - Peter Bunzl - Google Books
And no thinking either. The Kraken folded her arms across her chest. She’d turned a most putrid shade of puce; it perfectly matched her purple dress. Perhaps it was her tight corsets that made her face flush so? Oh, no need, Lily said. I’m not supposed to be here either. She pulled a grubby handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it to Molly, who blew her nose with a sound as loud as a steamhorn. Molly held up a bright pink sheet from a pile behind her. I put these in the washer with the school blazers and they all changed colour. Miss Scrimshaw’s going to kill me when she finds out. She’ll have me sent down the cog-and-bone merchants. Or worse, she’ll strip me parts and melt me down like poor old Elsie. Molly burst into more inconsolable tears.
And I you, old friend. John shut the door. With a clatter and hum the pod bay doors opened and in a jolt, the pod was free. A delightfully badly behaved heroine, enthralling mechanicals and a stormer of a plot." Abi Elphinstone Listen, you pair of simpering, fat-headed dolts, she said, if you ever speak to Molly that way again I’ll…I’ll…
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You may go, the Kraken said, waving them off with a hand, and the crocodile of young ladies filed out, whispering maliciously to one another. Lily dusted down her tights and stood to join them. And what young lady needs to know that? The Kraken took a deep breath. No. I’m afraid, Miss Grantham, I have to confiscate it. And if you’ve any similar stories, you’d better hand them over right away. They passed the main entrance, and Lily glanced at the Academy’s motto carved in the granite lintel. Vincit Omnia Veritas – Truth Conquers All. The silver airship shrunk away, but within seconds she’d swung around to follow. She began closing in once more; her propellers chopping through the clouds, throwing dark shadows across their stern. When the two airships broke into a patch of blue, she fired. Creakily, Molly rubbed her head. She bent down and gathered her dropped sheets and stepped to the servants’ door. Please, Misses, don’t fight on my account. I am sorry, but I must go, I’ve work to do.I said I was sorry, Lily protested as the Kraken dragged her down the corridor, pulling her along by the scruff of her blouse. Besides, she hit me first. Lily had her pencil poised to mark up the gruesomest passages of the magazine, so she could reread them later at her leisure. Another dubious volume, balanced on the crown of her head, wobbled with each step, but she didn’t let it distract her from Varney. Lily bit her lip and thought better of her reply. Alice broke into a horsey smile. See, you snotty little runt? You won’t do anything – and that’s the truth. Just because you’re a mech-lover you think you can boss us around. Well, you can’t. Now, apologize immediately and we’ll forget the whole thing. She glanced about. It seemed the dorm wasn’t empty after all. Through a thin dividing curtain at the end of the row of beds, Lily glimpsed the silhouette of a hunched figure sitting on the corner of a mattress. She walked over and peered round the edge of the drape to find Molly Tarnish, the mechanical maid, sitting softly crying to herself, her metal shoulders shaking beneath her starched white pinny. Beyond her, the door to the servants’ staircase stood ajar. Stop, the Kraken yelled and one by one the girls stopped in a neat line behind her. All except Lily who, having failed to notice her untied shoelaces, tripped, stepped on Gemma’s foot, and fell.
Cogheart - Resources for Teachers Upper KS2 Resource Cogheart - Resources for Teachers
Miss Gemma Ruddle was next. She had four precarious copies of The Ladies’ Manual of Politeness balanced and would stop after each step and pretend to scratch her ear so she could adjust her leaning tower of literature. Which was why, after her run-in with the Kraken, she decided to skip French conversation class and hide her remaining stash of penny dreadfuls before they were confiscated or worse, destroyed – like every other vaguely interesting or illicit thing in this institution. She? SHE? Lucretia folded her arms across her chest and gave a disdainful laugh. It’s not alive, Lily. Mechs aren’t living." Working together, it didn’t take them long to change the majority of the beds, and once the blankets were on you could hardly tell the bottom sheets had been dyed the wrong colour. They’d nearly finished, and were making up the last mattress at the top of the dormitory, when a noise made them both whirl round.
Finally, Lily could take it no more – there was not causing trouble, and then there was standing up for what was right. Because mechanicals deserved to be treated like anyone else. Lily's life is in mortal peril. Her father is missing and now silver-eyed men stalk her through the shadows. What could they want from her? Go then, mech, Lucretia spat. Run along, before you’re thrown on the scrap heap. She smiled triumphantly at Alice. Molly raised her head and snuffled away an oily tear. Sorry, Miss. I didn’t hear you come in. I should probably go.
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl | Waterstones
The bell rang and the other girls scrabbled across the floor, grabbing their books and slamming them shut. They piled the volumes on the Kraken’s desk and lined up against the wall, waiting for the signal to leave. Not in this case, Lily reflected, as the Kraken manhandled her down a flight of stone steps, and out into the courtyard. I don’t see why not, Lily replied. Come on. She unfolded a pink sheet and pulled the covers off the nearest bed. Molly watched her for a moment, then stood to help. I’m not coming, Lily told her. I don’t feel like it. Anyway, Madame wouldn’t know polite conversation if it bit her on the behind. She threw a sideways glance at Molly, who bowed her head and stifled a wheezing laugh. How dare you! Lucretia grabbed the last of the sheets from Molly, and threw them on the floor. Look what you’ve done, you stupid mech, you’ve dyed them pink!The Kraken was somewhat obsessed with posture. As for Lily, she barely gave it a second thought. In her opinion it was better to read books than balance them. That’s what they were designed for, after all. And if you wanted to wear something on your head there was a perfectly good item designed for that too: it was called a hat. Ouch! Gemma staggered forward, clutching at Alice to try and keep her balance, but in vain; her four copies of The Ladies’ Manual of Politeness slipped from her head. The Kraken weighed the magazine in her hand. No, she said. I don’t. Besides, this sort of bunkum is not approved of by the academy. It has no educational value. The fox gave a whimper of disapproval. No. It should be you, John. Humans over mechanicals. It’s the law. The first in the bestselling Cogheart Adventures series, where mayhem, murder and mystery meet in a gripping Victorian world of fantastical imagination.
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