We only have to wait a tiny bit longer… The Elsewhere Emporium is reappearing 13 September 2018! In the carnival-tastic sequel to Ross MacKenzie’s The Nowhere Emporium, we meet some new faces and catch up with our favourites too.

Read the extract below for a first glimpse of one of the new characters. Who is he? And what does he have to do with the Emporium?

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Mayfair, London, 1967

When the man approached Number 120 he stopped at the foot of the steps and cast his eye over the building. There he stood for some time, examining every brick, every pane of glass in every window. When he was satisfied, he climbed the steps. He put his ear to the fine black door, listening intently. Then he pulled his head away, removed one of his gloves, reached out and traced an invisible shape on the door with his finger. He popped the finger in his mouth and rolled the taste around.

Only when all of this was done did the man in the crimson scarf at last reach into the pocket of his coat, bring out a key, open the door and enter the house.

He closed the front door behind him softly and took off his coat and scarf. He hung them on an iron coat stand by the door, and turned to observe the hallway, painted in shades of shadow and dust. Inhaling deeply, the man smelled the cold emptiness of the tall house, the stale carpets and fabrics, the rotting wood, the dampness.

The man’s mouth twitched very slightly at the corners. Not quite a smile, but almost. He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and brought out a small, plain-looking book with black-edged pages and a black cover. When he held the book, it was small enough to sit comfortably in his palm, and it fell open at a particular passage. The book opened here because this text had been used many, many times before. The man in the crimson scarf himself had read these words countless times, and the fingerprints of his predecessors spanning generations were imprinted on those pages.

He ran a finger down the page, shook his head in appreciation of the craftsmanship. Every time he came upon a piece of magic such as this, which was rare to say the least, a part of him would sadden, because magicians these days just couldn’t create magic this special any more. The art had gone out of it. This enchantment – and that’s what it was, an enchantment – came from a rich era in the history of magic.

He read the enchantment aloud, his lips curling around the crisp words, and as he spoke the house filled with crackling energy. When he reached the final few words, he slowed and closed his eyes, relishing every syllable.

Silence.

Eyes still shut, he breathed in and found that the smells of the empty house, the damp and dust, were gone, replaced by a cocktail of aromas: burning oil lamps and lush, thick carpet, polished wood and a crackling coal fire.

“Hem hem.”

The man in the scarf opened his eyes. He smiled, as he did every time he witnessed the results of the enchantment.

The house had transformed.

Where there had been shadow, there was now golden lamplight. Where there had been dust and torn wallpaper, broken mirrors, fallen paintings, everything was now spick and span, rich and gleaming.

“Welcome back to the Bureau, Mr Ivy, sir. How was the journey?”

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More about The Elsewhere Emporium

Discover the highly anticipated sequel to Ross MacKenzie’s Blue Peter Best Story Award Winner The Nowhere Emporium. In The Elsewhere Emporium, an invisible criminal has stolen the legendary ‘shop from nowhere’. Can Daniel and Ellie save it before the mysterious culprit succeeds in their quest for revenge?

Haven’t had time to read The Nowhere Emporium yet? Don’t worry! You can pick it up here.

#ReturnToTheEmporium with @discoverkelpies on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Remember to tell us who you think Mr Ivy is!