The Amulet of Hath_SAMPLE

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For all explorers of words and stories

Published by Barrington Stoke An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 Robroyston Gate, Glasgow, G33 1JN www.barringtonstoke.co.uk HarperCollinsPublishers Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper, Dublin 1, DO1 C9W8, Ireland First published in 2025 Text © 2025 Vashti Hardy Illustrations © 2025 Rebecca Sheerin Cover design © 2025 HarperCollinsPublishers Limited The moral right of Vashti Hardy and Rebecca Sheerin to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 ISBN 978‑0-00-868072-5 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in whole or in any part in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher and copyright owners Without limiting the exclusive rights of any author, contributor or the publisher, any unauthorised use of this publication to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is expressly prohibited. HarperCollins also exercise their rights under Article 4(3) of the Digital Single Market Directive 2019/790 and expressly reserve this publication from the text and data mining exception A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd.

Contents 1. A Picture in the Post

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2. The Chase Begins

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3. Dunara

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4. The Sand Fox

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5. Sirocco

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6. The Eye

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7. Cogsworth’s Plan

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8. Hath

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9. The True Treasure

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10. Justice

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CHAPTER 1

A Picture in the Post

Mabel Greystone heard Aunt Lucy arrive before she saw her.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Aunt Lucy called from the street outside.

Mabel leaned out of her bedroom window and saw Aunt Lucy waving a large brown envelope. She looked up at Mabel, beaming.

Mabel’s heart skipped a beat. She hoped that the envelope held evidence that the amulet of Hath had been found. They’d been waiting for this news ever since their last trip.

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The Greystone family had a history of being relic hunters, which meant they searched the world for special ancient objects.

Mum and Dad were history professors now, so didn’t travel very much. But Aunt Lucy had taken Mabel and her younger brother Will on their first relic hunt several months ago. They’d had the adventure of a lifetime in Marvolia, when they’d discovered the lost city of Umber and a clockwork princess that was a form of rare ancient technology.

The thought of finding more lost treasures made Mabel giddy with excitement. Dad’s research into the amulet of Hath suggested it held the clues to a hidden stash of treasure in the country of Zephra.

Mabel ran out of her room and collided with Will. He must have heard Aunt Lucy too.

“She must have found out something about the amulet!” Will said, his eyes shining.

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They ran side by side down the stairs to the front door and whipped it open. There stood Aunt Lucy in her baggy beige trousers, dark green shirt and fedora hat, a red silk bandana tied at her neck. She looked expedition‑ready.

Mabel’s heart skipped another beat. She guessed the information in the envelope meant Aunt Lucy would be going on a trip. There was a good chance Mum and Dad would let Mabel and Will go with Aunt Lucy too as they were busy with their work at the university this summer.

Mabel, Will and Aunt Lucy hurried to the kitchen, where Mum and Dad were drinking coffee and making breakfast before work.

“The post came early,” Aunt Lucy said. “I couldn’t wait to show you all!” Her cheeks were flushed red. She pulled a photograph from the envelope and laid it on the table. “Here it is.

The key to finding the lost gold of ancient Hath!”

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The whole family peered at the photo on the table.

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“My friend Albert works in record‑keeping at Ravenlock Natural History Museum,” said Aunt Lucy. “He promised to send me a picture as soon as it came in.”

The photograph showed a gold disc the size of a palm with different symbols around the edge and a red gem in the centre.

Mabel gazed at the strange markings and noticed the gem was shaped like an eye. She also noted some strange scratch lines within it.

“Who found it and where?” Mabel asked.

“A man called Sam Groot discovered it while clearing his grandfather’s attic in north Greenhaven,” said Aunt Lucy.

“The amulet hasn’t been seen for over sixty years,” said Mum. Dad offered some pastries to everyone.

“I’m betting Sam Groot’s grandfather was

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Billy Groot,” he said. “Billy went to prison for stealing the priceless Queen Anne painting.”

“It seems the painting wasn’t the only thing he stole,” said Will.

Mabel took a chocolate croissant and waved it while she thought. “It certainly explains why the amulet disappeared. But why didn’t Billy use it to find the gold of Hath?”

Mum poured some juice for everyone. “Sixty years ago, little was known about the writing of Hath. No one could work out the symbols.”

Mabel slumped in her seat. “Then how will we?”

Dad grinned. He was an expert in ancient languages. “Twenty years ago, an old book was discovered in Zephra, the land where the desert area of Hath is located. The book helped us to work out what most of the symbols meant.

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“Zephra is a fascinating area, famous for the way kings and queens long ago created technology to protect their realm. They loved making cryptic symbols and puzzling objects.

That way, only the wisest could make it past their riddles and be worthy of any treasures.

“One king, Veros, adored treasure, and it’s said he made the amulet to protect the location of his city, Hath. According to legend, he also created one special piece of technology called the Face of Wisdom, but nobody knows what it is or why the land of Hath disappeared.”

Mabel stared at the symbols on the amulet, grinning as she imagined finding more forgotten technology and unknown treasure.

A few of the symbols looked like animals of some sort. “What do they mean?” Mabel asked.

Aunt Lucy pointed to the three animal symbols as she replied, “The book helped us realise the ancient people of Zephra worshipped

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three main gods: Yor the falcon, Veraphis the snake and Sirocco the sand fox.”

“What about the other symbols between them?” asked Mabel.

Aunt Lucy paused and frowned. “I think they might mean ‘begin’, ‘follow’ and this one is something like ‘look’.”

As Mabel traced the symbols on the photograph, she said, “So the amulet tells us to begin at Yor, follow Veraphis and to look for Sirocco?”

“Indeed. But I don’t think that’s the entire code,” said Aunt Lucy.

“Where’s the rest? Is there a missing piece?” asked Mabel. She thought the amulet looked complete as it was.

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“A photograph can only tell part of the story,” said Will, who always had a camera around his neck.

“Exactly!” Aunt Lucy smiled. “I bet there are more symbols on the reverse side of the amulet.

King Veros would have made it very difficult to find the gold.”

“Then can we go to the museum today to see it?” asked Mabel, leaping out of her seat.

Aunt Lucy smiled at Mabel. “We can do better than that. My friend Albert says in his note that he’s arranged for me to borrow the amulet before it goes on display.”

“We can work out the rest of the code!” said Will.

“And set off for Zephra!” Mabel added.

Mum coughed.

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“I mean, can we go, Mum? Dad?” Mabel asked. “Aunt Lucy will look after us,” she added, putting her hands together. She was willing to beg her parents if she had to.

Will adjusted his blue silk bow tie. “We did do rather well in Marvolia with finding Umber.”

Mum and Dad exchanged a glance. “Any new discoveries would be brilliant for my research,” said Dad. “But Zephra does has dangerous desert areas.”

“We’ll take great care,” Aunt Lucy said, giving Mabel and Will a smile. “And we’ll bring Grimm to keep us in check.”

Grimm was Aunt Lucy’s stuffed cat, who was always cautious.

Mum and Dad nodded.

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“All right,” said Mum. “It’ll certainly be more interesting than being stuck at home while we work!”

* Mabel, Will and Aunt Lucy arrived at Ravenlock Natural History Museum at midday.

They were met at the help desk by a lady with a tight bun and semicircle glasses. “Albert Smith isn’t working today,” she said when Aunt Lucy asked for him.

“Then perhaps you could help,” Aunt Lucy replied, leaning in. “I’m Dr Lucy Greystone.”

“Of the famous Greystone relic hunters,” Mabel added.

“Albert arranged for me to borrow the amulet of Hath,” said Aunt Lucy. “Would you be able to fetch it for us, please?”

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The lady shook her head. “I know who you are, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

Aunt Lucy let out a frustrated huff. “Why in all of Greenhaven not?”

“Because your assistant left with the amulet just an hour ago.”

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