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  BRUCE COVILLE

  THE ENCHANTED FILES

  Cursed

  Hatched

  Aliens Ate My Homework

  Always October

  The Dragonslayers

  The Ghost in the Third Row

  Goblins in the Castle

  I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X

  Into the Land of the Unicorns

  I Was a Sixth Grade Alien

  Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

  The Monsters of Morley Manor

  The Monster’s Ring

  My Teacher Is an Alien

  The Prince of Butterflies

  AND DOZENS MORE!

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2016 by Bruce Coville

  Cover art copyright © 2016 by Andrew Bannecker

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2016 by Paul Kidby

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Excerpt from “Ragged John” copyright © 1987 by Bruce Coville, writing under the pseudonym Beatrice Farrington. Originally published in The Unicorn Treasury, Doubleday, 1988.

  Visit us on the Web! randomhousekids.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 9780385392556 (trade) — ISBN 9780385392563 (lib. bdg.) — ebook ISBN 9780385392570

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

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  Contents

  Cover

  Favorites By Bruce Coville

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Gentle Reader

  The Code of the Griffins

  Reader

  Friday, June 19

  Encyclopedia Enchantica

  Friday, June 19 (Continued)

  Letter from Delia Ashango

  Sunday, June 21

  Washington Irving Preparatory School

  Tuesday, June 23

  Abelard Chronicus

  Enchanted Realm

  Wednesday, June 24

  Regarding the Acquisition and Maintenance of a Griffin Hoard

  Thursday, June 25

  From the Journal of Bradley Ashango (6/26)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (6/26)

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus

  Friday, June 26

  The Lost City of Batavia

  Enchanted Realm

  Saturday, June 27

  The Treasures of Gerald Overflight

  Alexander and the Griffins

  Sunday, June 28

  Ways to Pass from the Enchanted Realm to the Human Realm

  Sunday, June 28 (Continued)

  From the Journal of Bradley Ashango (6/29)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (6/29)

  The Charter of the Gnome Protective Association

  Monday, June 29

  The Griffinagria of Josiah Cloudclaws

  Tuesday, June 30

  Tuesday, June 30 (Continued)

  From: Huntsline Airfield

  Tuesday, June 30 (Continued)

  From the Journal of Bradley Ashango (6/30)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (6/30)

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus

  Tuesday, June 30 (Continued)

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus (Continued)

  Tuesday, June 30 (Early Evening)

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus (Evening)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/1)

  Letter and photo from Bradley Ashango’s desk drawer

  Wednesday, July 1

  From Brad’s Real Journal

  Wednesday, July 1 (Continued)

  New Batavia Town Crier

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/1)

  Wednesday, July 1 (Later)

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus (7/1)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  Wednesday, July 1 (Even Later)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  Wednesday, July 1 (Late Afternoon)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Evening)

  Wednesday, July 1 (Early Evening)

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus (Later)

  Wednesday, July 1 (Late Evening)

  From the Journal of Bradley Ashango (7/2)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/2)

  The Legend of Vande Velde’s Landing

  Thursday, July 2

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  Friday, July 3

  Dear Gerald

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/3)

  Friday, July 3 (Late Evening)

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus (7/3)

  Friday, July 3 (Night)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/4)

  Saturday, July 4

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  Saturday, July 4 (Continued)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  The Rebellion of the Batavian Gnomes

  Sunday, July 5

  Report to the City Elders from Eduard Chronicus

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/5)

  Excerpt from speech by Pieter de Muis

  Monday, July 6

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/6)

  Excerpt from remarks at memorial service for Dr. Arthur Ashango

  Monday, July 6 (Continued)

  ALERT

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/8)

  Wednesday, July 8

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  Wednesday, July 8 (Continued)

  The Overflight Bunny Hunt

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  Wednesday, July 8 (Continued)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (Continued)

  Wednesday, July 8 (Continued)

  New Batavia Town Crier

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/9)

  Selections from the minutes of the New Batavia City Council

  Friday, July 10

  Notice of Banishment

  From the Notebook of Abelard Chronicus

  From the Journal of Bradley Ashango (7/14)

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/14)

  The New York Times

  Tuesday, July 14

  You Are Invited!

  Wednesday, July 15

  From Brad’s Real Journal (7/18)

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  For Alice Horner,

  who knows a thing or two about taking someone under her wing

  Gentle Reader—

  I am pleased, but nervous, to present this account of my adventures in the human world and what happened to me there.

  To give you the story completely, I have woven into my diary (which was originally intended to be quite personal!) many documents and papers that I hope will help you fully understand the terror and the drama of it all.

  Gaaah! That sounds a little over the top, doesn’t it? Well, my teacher, Master Abelard (whom you will meet later in these pages), has occasionally called me a drama queen.

  I will not demean myself by explaining what that means, but I sometimes fear it is true.

  On the other wing, I did indeed experience a great deal of terror on this jo
urney. So that is also true.

  In addition to my diary, you will find many pages from the journal of a human boy named Bradley Ashango, as well as photographs he took with a strange device called a cell phone. He swears the thing is not magical, merely scientific. I am not entirely convinced of this. It certainly seems magical to me.

  Many times Brad and I had written about the same experience, so I trimmed some of our entries to avoid unnecessary repetition. However, nothing has been added! We want you to experience this as we did.

  Well, not entirely as we did. I suffered a great deal of fear, doubt, and emotional agony during these events. Though I hope you will read with a sympathetic heart, I also hope that the emotional effects will not be as overwhelming for you as they were for me.

  One last note: Please excuse my poetry. Master Abelard tells me it is not very good. But it is part of who I am, so I felt it was important to leave it in place.

  Yours very sincerely,

  Gerald Overflight, Griffin

  The Code of the Griffins

  I. A griffin is brave and fierce in all situations. The heart quails not, and the beak and talons are ever ready to strike in the name of truth and freedom.

  II. Now that Great Alexander has left the human world, and the divine Dante has gone to the Fields of the Blessed, griffins are no more to be seen by humans.

  III. We are guardians of treasure, and any item of value placed in a griffin’s care, whether it be glittering diamond or hope of heaven, will be protected unto the death. A griffin who fails in this regard is no griffin at all.

  IV. The Enchanted Realm is our home and haven, and we go no more to the human world.

  V. We live in a state of joy and gratitude that we have been given the gift of the sky. And we are ever thankful for these treasures: the power of wings, the ferocity of heart, the strength of limb, and the purity of intent that make us, now and evermore…GRIFFINS!

  This is the Code of the Griffins, as given to us by Izzikiah Wildbeak and written down by Josiah Cloudclaws in The Griffinagria.

  Reader—

  I put in the Code so you would understand the kind of pressure I was facing. We grifflings (“grifflings” is the word for young griffins) are given a copy of this document on our seventh Hatchday and ordered to memorize it. Our elders expect that within two weeks we will be able to recite word for word any item on the list when asked.

  “Gerald, give me number three,” some grown-up will demand, and I have to be ready to spew it back.

  Anyway, now that you’ve seen the Code, it’s time to show you my actual diary, which starts on the next page. You will always be able to tell when it’s me writing, because I begin my entries with the full day and date. (Brad claims this is overly fussy, but I think it’s the proper way to do it.)

  For ease of reading, I have converted the dates of events in the Enchanted Realm to match corresponding days in the human world.

  You’re welcome.

  —G.O.

  Friday, June 19

  This was a bad day, mostly due to the continued teasing from my rotten siblings, who claim I am not a true griffin.

  This wounds me.

  In fact, today it made me so mad that I wrote a poem about Cyril:

  Higgledy-piggledy,

  Berries and tarts,

  Cyril’s the king

  Of huge stinky farts!

  That made me feel better.

  I’m going to try to write a poem every day. They seem to help me get my feelings out.

  To check the claims of the SS (Stupid Siblings) that I am not a true griffin, I looked up “griffins” in our family’s copy of the Encyclopedia Enchantica.

  Having read what the EE has to say, my response is “What a lot of unicorn poop!”

  GRIFFINS

  The griffin is a creature of enormous power, blessed with the head and wings of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion. The upper sections of the front legs are also lionlike. However, they taper down to become more birdlike, finally ending in the fierce talons of an eagle.

  The only exception to the eagle/lion mix is the griffin’s ears, which are long and horselike, though they thrust out sideways rather than standing straight up as a horse’s do. This can add an oddly comic touch to a griffin’s otherwise dignified and ferocious appearance.

  As the eagle is the lord of all birds and the lion the king of beasts, the griffin, which combines the two forms, is considered the monarch of all creatures.

  Griffins (also known as “griffons” or “gryphons,” but here we use the preferred spelling) are often guardians of treasure. They have a deep and abiding love for gold, jewels, and all manner of precious things.

  They also guard reputation, a different kind of treasure, one that is uniquely valuable.

  A griffin’s claw is said to have medicinal properties, and a feather from its wings is supposedly able to restore sight to the blind. (It is not clear whether the latter is actually true.)

  Because of its mix of parts, the griffin is seen as having a dual nature. For some it is a symbol of the divine. For others it is ferocity on the wing, the very sight of which terrifies all but the bravest of men.

  Indeed, the griffin community divided over these very matters in the Great Griffin Schism of 1792, which led to the establishment of the American Aerie.

  Heloise Batwing, Dwarf

  Lead Scholar, Guild Hall

  Friday, June 19 (continued)

  All right, I’ll admit the encyclopedia describes what I look like well enough, right down to my silly ears.

  But that whole thing about being ferocious?

  HAH! And again, HAH!

  Okay, I suppose a lot of griffins really are ferocious.

  Okay, maybe most griffins are ferocious.

  Unfortunately, I don’t qualify. Except, of course, when I get really angry. But that never lasts for long and usually ends in tears.

  Mine.

  Good grief! Does what I just wrote mean that my rotten siblings are right when they say I’m not a true griffin? Great Izzikiah, maybe it’s so. Right now I do not feel ferocious.

  Mostly what I feel is frettingly nervous.

  I’d write a poem about it, but I’ve already done one for today.

  The reason I am nervous is simple: In only twenty-four days, my Tenth Hatchday (which is supposed to be a major holiday) will arrive. Alas, for reasons I would rather not discuss, this is not my real Hatchday, simply the one we count as my Hatchday.

  The problem is, I must acquire a True Treasure by then or be declared not a True Griffin…this time not by my stinky sibs but by Artoremus Lashtail, the High Lord of the Griffin Stronghold of the Northern Quarter. And it will happen in front of everyone we know, at the Hatchday Gathering at the Great Cavern.

  I cannot bear to think of Dad’s disappointment if I do not succeed in this. But I have no idea what to get or where to get it. I have been fretting about this, but I have not been thinking about it as I should. This is because treasure does not interest me as much as it is supposed to.

  I really am a very bad griffin.

  The situation is so awful that I am seriously considering running away!

  But where? Pretty much anywhere I go in the Enchanted Realm they would find me. That leaves only the human world.

  But that idea is too horrible to even consider!

  Letter from Delia Ashango, mother of Bradley Ashango, to Bradley’s grandmother, Agatha Riddlehoover

  June 20

  Dear Mom,

  I’m writing to ask if Brad can stay with you again this summer. He had a great time last year, and right now Manhattan looks to be even hotter than it was then. (Global warming…a topic on which we actually agree!)

  To be honest, it’s not just the heat. It’s been a bad year for Brad. He’s had to deal with a fair amount of bullying at school. Not as bad as at the old school, but even so…

  Also, he’s really been missing his dad. It’s been over three years, but sometimes I think it’s e
ven worse for him now than it was when it happened. Maybe it’s just that the older a boy gets, the more he needs to have his dad around. Or at least some man in his life. So I’m thinking maybe your buddy Herb will be good for him.