Big Change for Stuart (31 page)

‘He
disappeared
? What do you mean he disappeared?'

‘I mean that he went away and never came back to Beeton.'

‘Oh.' Stuart felt disappointed. For a second or two he'd imagined a puff of smoke and an empty stage and an audience gasping. ‘So why's the house all wrecked, then?' he asked.

‘Because there was a probate dispute.'

‘You said that, but what's probate?'

‘The legal enforcement of the will. Uncle Tony left the house to his fiancée, but apparently they had an argument. She ran off after the fire and nobody could ever trace her. My goodness, it does look a mess.'

Stuart stared at the front door. Several pieces of wood had been nailed right across it, but between them he could just glimpse an oval of stained glass, the multicoloured pieces forming some sort of picture. A hat, was it? And a stick? And a word that he couldn't quite read?

‘But I was in bed …' came his father's voice from the distance.

Stuart looked round. His father was walking away up the road, having failed to notice that Stuart hadn't moved. ‘So he left a present for me,' explained Stuart's father to the empty patch of pavement next to him.

‘Who did?' shouted Stuart, running to catch up.

‘Your great-uncle Tony. He came to visit my house one Christmas Eve when I was a small child, but I was already asleep.'

‘And what was the present?'

‘A box.'

‘What sort of box? A magic box?'

‘No, a money box. I still have it, as a matter of fact – it's the one that I keep paperclips in.'

About the Author

This is Lissa's second fiction book for Random House Children's Books, following
Small Change for Stuart
, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Costa Children's Book Award and long-listed for the Guardian Children's Book Award. Lissa has also written books for adults and younger children. After a brief career in medicine, and then in stand-up comedy, Lissa became a comedy producer, first for radio and then in television. She lives with her family in north London.

Also by Lissa Evans

Small Change for Stuart

‘A book full of warmth, sharp humour and clever puzzles' Patrick Ness,
Time Out

‘Perfect reading for children aged 7–10 … This is [Lissa Evans's] first children's novel. It ought not to be the last'
Achuka

For younger readers:

Smudger the Dog Saves Christmas

For adult readers:

Their Finest Hour and a Half

Spencer's List

Odd One Out

BIG CHANGE FOR STUART
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 02696 9

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children's Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company

This ebook edition published 2012

Copyright © Lissa Evans, 2012
Illustrations copyright © Temujin Doran, 2012

First Published in Great Britain

Doubleday Childrens 9780385618281 2012

The right of Lissa Evans to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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