At Hawthorn TimeFour thirty on a May morning: the black fading to blue, dawn gathering somewhere below the treeline in the east. A long, straight road runs between sleeping fields to the little village of Lodeshill, and on it two cars lie wrecked and ravished, violence gathered about them in the silent air. One wheel, upturned, still spins. Howard and Kitty have recently moved to Lodeshill after a life spent in London; now, their marriage is wordlessly falling apart.

But a much higher destiny awaits Twig

The pair become friends and Blanco's dream of building and piloting a flying machine are finally within his grasp

he fails to realise the far-reaching consequences this short but passionate affair will have on him

Philip Pullman's ever-popular

she enjoys her new lease of life for ten days

but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air

It was a national scandal

Charlie's Uncle Paton has dashed off to try to stop the Yewbeam aunts' latest plan

July 1209: in Carcassonne a young girl is given a mysterious book by her father which he claims contains the secret of the true Grail

it is clear that Cotton is being watched

As the investigation falters and time runs out

There is a blur of red inside her mouth