The Bone Quill (30 page)

Council of Guardians

A
body of Guardians who enforce the Five Rules for Animare. Council members do not always agree about how Animare should be guided. When hybrid children are created, for example, some Guardians believe that their talents should be nurtured, while others believe that binding (see below) is the only safe course of action.

Binding

Binding
is a kind of suspended animation. Animare are bound into a work of art as a last resort when they lose control of their powers or endanger the secret of their existence. Binding an Animare can only be authorized by the Council of Guardians, and can only take place when both a Guardian and a second Animare are present.

There are five secure vaults all over the world containing bound paintings. One lies at the Abbey on Auchinmurn Isle.

Hollow Earth

The supernatural place where all monsters, demons, devils and creatures from the dangerous, magical past have been trapped by the medieval monks of the Order of Era Mina (see below).

The Hollow Earth Society

Founded
by Duncan Fox in 1848, the original Hollow Earth Society was designed to prevent the world from knowing about the monsters and imagined creatures locked away in Hollow Earth. The reformed Hollow Earth Society has a very different outlook: to retrieve the monsters, control them and unleash them on the world.

The Order of Era Mina

The
monks in medieval Auchinmurn belonged to the Order of Era Mina, which had a particular mission: locking away the monsters of the superstitious past by drawing them into a bestiary called
The Book of Beasts
, thereby reinventing the world as a modern place of enlightenment and learning.

Our favourite story as kids was one that our dad would tell us usually on holiday and usually as rain and wind pummelled our caravan. The characters never stayed the same, but the story always ended with a scary chase through the woods and the line, ‘Give me back my bone.’ In a roundabout way, this book was imagined from that line. So first we need to thank our dad and mum, John and Marion, for always finding time for stories.

To the significant men in our lives, Kevin and Scott, whose unconditional love and unswerving support make our work together possible. We couldn’t do this writing stuff without you. To Turner and Clare (Casey too), we miss having you around all the time but love that you’re creating your own stories now.

To Lucy Courtenay our amazing editor, whose sharp eye and keen insights helped hone a complicated plot and made this a better book – a huge round of applause.

To the crew at Michael O’Mara Books a big thank you, especially Lesley O’Mara, Alison Parker, Philippa Wingate, Justine Smith, Bryony Jones, Ana McLaughlin and Jessica Barratt.

Special thanks to Gavin Barker of Gavin Barker Associates, Georgina Capel and Anita Land of Capel and Land Ltd and Team Barrowman’s Rhys Livesy, Teresa Marsh, Carole Gordon and Gillian Nuttall.

We’re thrilled that the island of Cumbrae has embraced this series and welcomed the Calder twins as their own, but we still have to say that Auchinmurn and its inhabitants (past and present) are creations of our imaginations. Any changes in geography are deliberate and any errors are ours alone.

Finally, we are truly grateful for public art galleries like London’s National Gallery, Tate Britain and the Milwaukee Art Museum who have inspired the art in these pages. And we are especially thankful for all who continue to create art and for those who teach us to appreciate it.

Carole & John

2012

ISBN: 978-1-907151-64-4
ePub: 978-1-78055-084-8
ePub enhanced: 978-1-78055-196-8
Mobi: 978-1-78055-085-5