The Secret of Ferrell Savage (15 page)

At last, Mary and I were alone at the counter, sitting on our stools, drinking our root beers.

“Are you having fun being the Golden Hill Survivor Girl?” I asked.

She smiled. “I'm amused.”

Outside Spinelli's, I could see a few people stopping to admire the Pollypry leaning against the front window.

“And to think, none of this would have happened if it weren't for Polly Pry's quill pen,” I said. “You know, she didn't even actually use a quill pen to write her stories.”

“How do you know?” Mary had a doubtful look in her eye.

“I read it on the Internet. She only used it occasionally, for dramatic effect.”

Mary laughed. “I learn something new from you every day.”

That's when I reached over and put my hand on top of Mary's. She didn't yell at me, she didn't fling me away, and she didn't call me a name. She didn't even seem surprised.

“Do you still have the yellow marble I gave you?” she asked.

I put my free hand on that spot just below my heart and above my stomach. “Yep. I keep it in a safe place.”

Alfred Packer, also known as Alferd Packer, and Polly Pry are true, historical figures. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Lake City, a lovely town nestled in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. The people who live there are warm and friendly and they enjoy sharing what they know about the history of Alferd Packer. Most of the information I used in this story came from the Hinsdale County Museum.

If you'd like to learn more about Alferd Packer and the events took place in 1874 on that winter day near the wild-west town of Lake City, you can find books and articles about them at your local library as well as hundreds of websites on the internet. If you decide to do the research, you may discover that there are contradicting theories about the details of what happened. Some stories will say that Packer murdered his five traveling companions before he ate them, and other stories will have you believe that he was in fact not their murderer.

At any rate, it goes without question that Packer did indeed consume the flesh of the men, which enabled him to survive the seventy-five mile hike to the Los Pinos Indian Agency.

ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Duddy Gill

Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Sonia Chaghatzbanian

Jacket design and illustrations by Sonia Chaghatzbanian

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

A
THENEUM
B
OOKS FOR
Y
OUNG
R
EADERS
is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Atheneum logo is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
www.simonspeakers.com
.

Book design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian

The text for this book is set in ITC Souvenir Std.

The illustrations for this book are rendered digitally.

First Edition

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gill, Jennifer Duddy.

The secret of Ferrell Savage / Jennifer Duddy Gill ; Illustrated by Sonia Chaghatzbanian. — 1st ed.

p. cm

Summary: Just as twelve-year-old Ferrell Savage is beginning to think of Mary Vittles, his life-long friend, as a potential girlfriend, a new boy at school blackmails them with a family secret—that one of Ferrell's ancestors ate one of Mary's.

ISBN 978-1-4424-6017-1 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4424-6019-5 (eBook)

[1. Best friends—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. Secrets—Fiction. 4. Sledding—Fiction. 5. Racing—Fiction. 6. Family life—Colorado—Fiction. 7. Packer, Alferd, 1842–1907—Fiction. 8. Colorado—Fiction.] I. Chaghatzbanian, Sonia, illustrator. II. Title.

PZ7.G39866Sec 2014

[Fic]—dc23

2012051500