13 Treasures (35 page)

“We can’t change what happened,” Tanya said slowly. “And we can’t change what the people think. But maybe there
is
something we can do for Amos.”

There is a place where rosemary grows freely by a stream that flows uphill. The domain of the piskies. Heathen creatures. Unpredictable, dangerous, some say. The rosemary, renowned for its aid to memory, grows tainted. The properties are reversed.

Yet even piskie-tainted rosemary has its uses. In the correct quantities it has the power to extract a memory from a mortal head forever.

Such as the memory of an old sweetheart.

Thanks to my family, friends, and loved ones—my first readers especially: Darren, Mum, Theresa, Janet, Tanya, Rachel, and Lucy. Also to Lauren for all the fairy dust.

A big thank you to Madeleine Buston at the Darley Anderson Agency, and to Nancy Conescu and the entire children’s team at Little, Brown and Company.