The Death-Defying Pepper Roux (18 page)

Let me thank, in England, Ron for liking it, Liz for taking it, Kate for checking it, Ailsa for sharing it, and John for the bits about boats.

As to the crew in America, I must especially thank Renée for doing more with a pencil than even Pepper could have dreamed…and Catherine for being everlastingly fourteen.

GERALDINE McCAUGHREAN
is the Printz Award–winning author of
THE WHITE DARKNESS
. She has been honored with England’s most prestigious children’s book award, the Carnegie Medal, for
A PACK OF LIES
. She is the first-ever three-time winner of the Whitbread Children’s Book Award, most recently for
NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
. She also wrote
PETER PAN IN SCARLET
, the first official sequel to the treasured masterpiece
PETER PAN
, in 2006. Ms. McCaughrean lives in Berkshire, England. You can visit her online at www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

THE KITE RIDER

NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

PETER PAN IN SCARLET

THE STONES ARE HATCHING

STOP THE TRAIN!

THE WHITE DARKNESS

Jacket art © 2010 by Scott Altman
Jacket design by Ray Shappell

THE DEATH-DEFYING PEPPER ROUX
. Copyright © 2009 by Geraldine McCaughrean. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McCaughrean, Geraldine.

The death-defying Pepper Roux/Geraldine McCaughrean.

p.  cm.

Summary: Having been raised believing he will die before he reaches the age of fourteen, Pepper Roux runs away on his fourteenth birthday in an attempt to elude his fate, assumes another identity, and continues to try to outrun death, no matter the consequences.

ISBN 978-0-06-183665-7 (trade bdg.)—ISBN 978-0-06-183666-4 (lib. bdg.)

[1. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Disguise—Fiction. 3. Survival—Fiction. 4. Fate and fatalism—Fiction. 5. France—History—20th century—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.M4784133De  2010      2009039665

[Fic]—dc22      CIP

AC

EPub Edition © December 2009 ISBN: 978-0-06-199190-5

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)

Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900

Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand

HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

P.O. Box 1

Auckland, New Zealand

http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

77-85 Fulham Palace Road

London, W6 8JB, UK

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

10 East 53rd Street

New York, NY 10022

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com