A magical shop and an entrancing adventure
Ross Mackenzie is an acclaimed children’s author. Below is an extract of his new book, The Elsewhere Emporium, about a 12-year-old boy and his exploits as the owner of a magical shop “So? What do you think?”
Daniel Holmes pressed the palms of his hands together and bobbed up and down a little, his eyes fixed on Ellie Silver as she looked around. They were standing in the centre of an enormous fairground, colourful tents of every shape and size stretching off into the distance. The air smelled like toffee apples and candyfloss, and the evening sky was vast and cloudless, paining the city of tents in shades of dusk. All around, carnival workers and performers were busy juggling or stilt walking or doing one of a great many wonderful things.
Daniel had been changing things in the Nowhere Emporium slowly since he’d taken over six months ago. This was partly out of respect for Mr Silver, the former owner of the magical shop of Wonders – and Ellie’s late father – and partly because the place was so unimaginably huge.
Ellie looked around, seemed to take everything in slowly. She sniffed the air, rolled the taste of the place around her mouth as if she was sampling some fine delicacy. She narrowed her eyes and ran a hand through her long black curls. She turned to Daniel. He gulped.
“I like it.”