The Carpet People

saddle. ‘Did you know the wights think we’re courageous because we can make decisions? They can’t do it! They can’t cope with it! And we thought they were special. Amazing what you learn.’
    ‘Haven’t I always said so?’ said Pismire.
    ‘Well, I want to find out more! And I want to go now , because if I leave it, I’ll never go. I want to seethings you told me about!’ Snibril said. ‘The Chairleg. The Hearth. The Edge.’
    ‘Let me know what they’re like, then,’ said Pismire. ‘I only read about ’em.’
    Snibril stopped. ‘But when I was little, you told me all sorts of stories about the Carpet! You mean they weren’t true?’
    ‘Oh, they were true. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been written down.’ Pismire shrugged. ‘Always wanted to travel, myself. Never had the time, somehow. If you can, you know, ever find the time to jot down a few notes ...’
    ‘Right. Hah. Yes. I will. If I find time. Well, then . . . Goodbye?’
    ‘Goodbye.’
    ‘And say goodbye to—’
    ‘I will.’
    ‘You know how it is.’
    ‘Probably. Goodbye. Come back and tell us about it, some time.’
    This last word was a shout, for Snibril had urged Roland forward. When he was no more than a speck on the road he turned and waved again.
    Pismire walked slowly back to the argument.
    Snibril stopped again, a little way from Ware, and breathed deeply of the Carpet air.
    He felt a little sad. But there would always be somewhere to return to, somewhere. He smiled,and patted Roland’s neck. Then, with rising hope and streaming hair, he urged the white horse into a gallop and they disappeared among the crowding hairs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    TERRY PRATCHETT is one of the most popular authors writing today. He is particularly well known for the phenomenally successful Discworld series, which includes three titles for younger readers – The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky.
    Terry’s books have appeared on a number of children’s award shortlists, and The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents won the 2001 Carnegie Medal.
    Terry Pratchett lives in Wiltshire, and finds his days are rather full.

THE BROMELIAD
    Terry Pratchett
    Truckers
    To the thousands of tiny nomes living under the floorboards of a large department store, there is no Outside. No Day or Night, no Sun or Rain. They’re just daft old legends. Until the devastating news that the Store is to be demolished. Now the nomes have to think. And they have to think BIG . . .
    ISBN 0 552 55100 7
    Diggers
    A Bright New Dawn is just around the corner for the nomes when they move into an abandoned quarry. Or is it? For when humans turn up, they begin to mess everything up again. Now the nomes have two choices: to run, or to hide. Or, maybe, they could . . . fight. But for how long can they keep the humans at bay – even with the help of the monster Jekub?
    ISBN 0 552 55101 5
    Wings
    It’s a ridiculous plan. Impossible. To hitch a ride on a truck with wings – Concorde. And then steal one of those space shuttle things. But home is home, and the nomes want to get there. They don’t mean to cause any trouble. Really . . .
    ISBN 0 552 55102 3
    Hilariously inventive, marvellously witty and highly original, Truckers, Diggers and Wings form a magnificent trilogy of tales about a race of little people struggling to survive in a world full of humans: The Bromeliad Trilogy.

     
THE AMAZING MAURICE
AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS
    Terry Pratchett
    Maurice, a streetwise tomcat, has the perfect money-making scam. Everyone knows the stories about rats and pipers, and Maurice has a stupid-looking kid with a pipe, and his very own plague of rats – strangely educated rats . . .
    But in Bad Blintz, the little con suddenly goes down the drain. For someone there is playing a different tune and now the rats must learn a new word.
    EVIL.
    It’s not a game any more. It’s a rat-eat-rat world. And that might only be the start . . .
    ‘Ethically challenging, beautifully orchestrated, philosophically opposed to the usual plot fixes of fantasy’ Guardian
    ‘Simply gripping story-telling’ The Times
    ISBN 0 552 54693 3

     
THE WEE FREE MEN
    Terry Pratchett
    ‘Crivens! Whut aboot us, ye daftie!’
    There’s trouble on the Aching farm – nightmares spreading down from the hills. And Tiffany Aching’s little brother has been stolen away. To get him back, Tiffany has a weapon (a frying pan), her granny’s magic book (well, Diseases of the