When the sun sets more than once a day and the world's diamonds are stolen, a small brave girl, struggling to belong, has secrets to discover.
Marigold leaves her lonely life to join extraordinary thieves, Bert and Bob. Who is their Mistress? What i...
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'28th July. I, Professor Ethel Augustine Bloom, begin to record the following events for three reasons. First and foremost: they concern the work of a meddler who must be stopped. If I do not survive this ordeal, it is my hope that somehow these words will – and that they will be acted upon.
Second: they are extraordinary events.
Third: I cannot complain about the wonderful efforts of my companions, the moles. However, at the end of a hard day's tunnelling, they are not the best of company. Trapped professors of zoology need something to do in the evenings.'
Marigold broke off for a moment and smiled at the Professor. The woman gave her a nod. Marigold read on.
'Out on the moors, I was about to note the sighting of a stunning peacock butterfly in this very pad. I found a rock to sit on. Seconds before my posterior made contact with the rock, I spotted a family of garden spiders crawling across it. Of course I was most relieved not to have crushed them. After carefully examining them for injury, I let them scuttle away underground. It was then that I noticed something brown and hairy dart through the heather. It whimpered with pain. I hurried to the creature's side. It was an Alsatian dog with a small piece of glass stuck in his nose'
Marigold looked up from the pad. 'It was you!' she exclaimed, touching Jet's side.
'Aye, flower. It were. That was when I was allowed out by me'sen.'
'What happen?' called Bert from his shelf.
'You'll have to keep listening, lad.' Jet indicated the Professor with a paw. 'I'm sure she tells it better than I could.'
Marigold watched Professor Bloom shrug modestly. She looked back at the page.
'The glass was from a broken bottle. (No doubt discarded by a careless visitor). I gently removed it and soothed the cut with some cream. Experience has taught me never to leave home without antiseptic in one's pocket. I remember saying to the dog something like – "That feels better, doesn't it".
In the next moment, the world that I had known and studied for decades was turned upside down. The creature opened its mouth and said "Thanks, Mrs."
"You spoke..." I finally managed to utter.
"No, I didn't", he replied. Then he covered his mouth with a paw. "Oops!" he exclaimed.'
Marigold couldn't help laughing. She looked up and saw Jet and Bert were grinning too. 'That's our Jet', she said to the Professor.
'Get on with it!' snapped Bob. 'None of this explains the diamond light.'
Marigold was as eager to understand as Bob. 'Let's find out then!' she shouted back at him.
