The Key (22 page)
Authors: Michael Grant
“Let's hope not,” Mack said. He took an empty seat and poured himself a cup of hot chocolate. “So, does anyone know if there really is a place called Punjab?”
MICHAEL GRANT
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of the Gone series. He has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact he became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn't tie him down. His fondest dream is to spend a year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. Yes, even Antarctica. He lives in California with his wife, Katherine Applegate, and their two children. Visit him online at www.themichaelgrant.com.
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Also by Michael Grant
Gone
Hunger
Lies
Plague
Fear
The Magnificent 12: The Call
The Magnificent 12: The Trap
Cover art © 2012 by David McClellan
Logo by Jason Cook
Cover design by Amy Ryan
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
The Magnificent 12: The Key
Copyright © 2012 by Michael Grant
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grant, Michael.
The key / Michael Grant.â1st ed.
p.    cm.â(The Magnificent 12 ; [3])
Summary: Twelve-year-old Mack MacAvoy and a team of other twelve-year-olds travel to Europe to find a special Key that will help them defeat the Pale Queen and save the world from destruction.
ISBN 978-0-06-183370-0 (hardback)
EPub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN 9780062190215
[1. Fantasy. 2. Adventure and adventurersâFiction. 3. Good and evilâFiction. 4. Humorous stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.G7671Key 2012 | 2012012715 |
[Fic]âdc23 | CIP |
 | AC |
12Â Â Â 13Â Â Â 14Â Â Â 15Â Â Â 16Â Â Â LP/RRDHÂ Â Â 10Â Â Â 9Â Â Â 8Â Â Â 7Â Â Â 6Â Â Â 5Â Â Â 4Â Â Â 3Â Â Â 2Â Â Â 1
First Edition
The author wishes to acknowledge the usefulness of www.scotranslate.com in rendering decent, proper English into a version of Scots.
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1
Okay, call it a kilt if you want; it still looks like a skirt.
2
The moral of that story is: it's fun to play games on your phone! Wait, that can't be right.
3
GBP means Great British Pounds. It's like money, but with pictures of the queen.
4
Probably about 20 dollars. Give or take.
5
If you're reading this aloud, you may want to try that again.
6
Two hundred and seventy-six. It would have been two hundred and seventy-seven, but they overlooked the Intentional Infliction of Ignominy at Inverness.
7
Go, Fighting Pupfish!
8
Go, Fighting Pupfish!
9
This is a helpful hint for when you go to build your own golem.
10
Heck yeah, we're doing it: Go, Fighting Pupfish!
11
All his thoughts were fleeting.
12
A language so difficult even the Portuguese don't speak it.
13
No, no idea why you would want to.
14
Actually, the Fighting Pupfish are 0 and 78. But
Go, Fighting Pupfish!
anyway.
15
Yes, that's absolutely a real thing, Google it if you don'tâOkay, don't Google it; I made it up.
16
With a capital
D
.
17
With a capital
R
.
18
Thermals are strong updrafts of warm air, and birds ride them like elevators. Seriously.
19
Also, the Magnificent Five would like to extend their apologies to the cow.
20
Yes, that's kind of a lot in real money.
21
Ha! Tricked you. Made you look at the footnote even though it doesn't say, “Go, Fighting Pupfish.” Oh, wait, now it kind of does.
22
Definitely not a minivan. This was Sedona, after all.
23
National Health Service.
24
They got hosed on last-minute tickets. And that's not even first class. Ouch.
25
Go, Fighting Pupfish!
26
Pretty much every year in medieval and Renaissance times.
27
Also a type of money, but less so.
28
10.2 euros. They could have gotten a
carnet
of ten tickets for just 12.50, but what good would that do?
29
This is known as “understatement.”
30
No one knows why the beets.
31
Okay, if you giggled when you read
sperm whale
, go sit in the corner.
32
That's right: perorations. Drop that word on your teacher someday. Instant A+.
33
Yes, that's absolutely a saying. What, you've never heard
stunned as a slapped catfish
? Well, now you have.
34
Yes, they're still Pupfish and they're still Fighting.
35
Don't tell anyone: it's a secret.
36
This may not be 100 percent true.
37
No! There's no time for that!
38
I hardly think this is the time to ⦠Oh, all right: Go, Fighting Pupfish!
39
Don't go checking Google: they haven't updated yet.
40
Go, Fighting Pupfish! Why not?