Take Your Last Breath

Take Your Last Breath
Lauren Child

Hey, buster! Normal life is a total yawn. So break out boredom with multi-million-copy bestselling author Lauren Child, and meet your new favourite heroine… Ruby Redfort: detective, secret agent, thirteen-year-old kid.Everyone’s favourite kid detective is back for a second mind-blowing instalment, packed with all the off-the-wall humour, action and friendship of the first book. This time, though, it’s an adventure on the wide open ocean, and Ruby is all at sea…Can she crack the case of the Twinford pirates while evading the clutches of a vile sea monster as well as the evil Count von Viscount?]Well, you wouldn’t want to bet against her…

Copyright (#ulink_7d2ea654-b411-5082-9721-b4590165ed99)

First published in hardback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2012First published in paperback by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2013This electronic edition published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2015HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge StreetLondon SE1 9GFThe HarperCollins Children’s Books website address iswww.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Visit Lauren Child on the web atwww.milkmonitor.com (http://www.milkmonitor.com)www.rubyredfort.com (http://www.rubyredfort.com)

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Text copyright © Lauren Child 2012Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2015, Cover photography © Sandro Sodano

Lauren Child asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Based on an original series design by David Mackintosh

Inside illustrations by David Mackintosh

Find out more about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/green)

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Source ISBN: 9780007334094

eBook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780007487509

Version: 2015-06-05

Rave Reviews for Ruby Redfort

“Redfort is one of the best things to happen to ten-plus British fiction… these are modern classics.” The Times

“Lauren Child has put imagination and fun back into the real worlds of childhood.” Julia Eccleshare, Guardian

“Clues, gadgets, secret HQs, a heist, explosions… T-shirts with cool slogans and a supply of jelly doughnuts. What more could adventure-loving girls want?” Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times

“Cool, punchy, stylish.” Sun

“I like the way Ruby is not a girlie girl and has lots of adventures.” Amazon

“Totally amazing… a book you can’t put down!” www.goodreads.com (http://www.goodreads.com)

Contents

Cover (#u84c5224d-fb90-5993-898c-5625ef60441f)

Title Page (#u66d6b823-7f5c-53c7-9799-08b6540162bb)

Copyright (#ulink_99d36cbe-36f9-5d8c-bb28-3178458acf04)

Dedication (#u141bea2e-84dc-5fcc-b207-754db2dfc45f)

Coming up for air (#u14a62dec-d2c1-5110-8ee5-aff8ff3b713d)

An Ordinary Kid (#u5d827252-def8-59ec-a951-9b309a42746b)

Chapter 1. Don’t back away or they will see you as prey (#uf6ef8649-6110-5150-8ecf-9e38341328fe)

Chapter 2. One drop could save your life (#u749e38e4-062b-5126-8ad4-3f0e5c13f019)

Chapter 3. Plankton and sea cucumbers (#u573a4a61-4c47-548b-9871-e3952553b0dd)

Chapter 4. The recurring dream (#u93eb4d9b-c785-5c58-895a-c0930f54dae2)

Chapter 5. The shape of a condor (#ua261f8ce-2a3d-561d-875a-51f06d6e9c98)

Chapter 6. An ocean of fear (#u73fc69b2-715a-55a3-a800-951b9569a4c3)

Chapter 7. Dolphins, sharks - they’re all the same (#ud6630538-f9ac-5aab-b237-13e08250bee9)

Chapter 8. D for detention (#uc9c3ef4f-559a-5305-b8bf-5bd05d2be56c)

Chapter 9. All out of fish (#u9d7b1772-74a0-51e6-9c3b-a974eacf27f9)

Chapter 10. Sea Division (#u087b5a67-9b58-5a0b-af51-d2116533d8bb)

Chapter 11. Seriously strange (#u318cb0aa-21c2-5056-9fc6-ddb04f81c4e8)

Chapter 12. Consequences (#u327a4f3f-ef6d-5ad8-aef5-82d6cd3990f2)

Chapter 13. -... . .- - / .. - --..-- / -. --- ... -.-- / .--. .- .-. -.- . .-. (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14. Another Twinford Bay casualty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15. Clutching at straws (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16. Don’t look back (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17. Something fearsome this way comes (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18. White noise (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19. Strange and old-fashioned (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20. A real potato head (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21. Get Zuko (#litres_trial_promo)