The Crystal Wand

Sally and James Moffat are appalled when Mum and Dad decide to move from the bustle of the city to the quiet country village of Kirby Langton. However, their protests go unheeded and soon they are exploring their new home, Mortlake Cottage, a house with a long history and a strange, disturbing secret. Beneath a paving slab in the dark, forbidding cellar, they discover a battered old leather case placed there more than 400 years before by the Elizabethan scientist and magician John Dee. From that point on Sally and James find themselves embroiled in a magical adventure that takes them backwards through time, pitting them against an evil that spans the centuries, bridging the gap between past and present with its malign and awful presence. Helped by their friends Alex and Alison, and by the great John Dee himself, Sally and James perform a great and courageous deed for the old magician - saving innocent lives and, in the end, solving one of history’s most enduring mysteries. (Recommended ages 10 to adult).