Amelia Dee and the Peacock Lamp by Odo Hirsch Page A

The Grand Palace in Ervahan, parts of which were more than a thousand years old, was burned to the ground.
    Eventually the army seized control and restored order, leading to a kind of military government. The Shan himself continued to create trouble from exile, living on money he had illegally put away in foreign banks and encouraging people in Irafia to rebel so he could reclaim his throne. But he never succeeded in returning, and died eighteen years later. His wife, the Shanna, lived on another fourteen years. As for the six children, the book didn’t say what happened to them.
    Amelia told all of this to Kevin and Eugenie when they were in the café at the cinema, waiting to see a film. There were about a hundred other kids in there, noisily waiting as well.
    Kevin frowned, toying with the straw in the milkshake he had just finished. ‘That’s amazing,’ he murmured.
    Eugenie nodded. ‘Poor Princess.’
    Yes, thought Amelia. Poor Princess. She was just a child when she was driven from the palace, chased out by an angry mob. Probably no older than Amelia herself.
    ‘And the lamp in your house was from the palace,’ said Kevin.
    ‘I didn’t know that before,’ said Amelia.
    ‘Then why did you tell her about it?’
    ‘I just mentioned it when I met her.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.’
    ‘Yes, it does,’ said Eugenie.
    Amelia glanced at her. Eugenie had that look in her eyes again. She knew Amelia was hiding something.
    ‘Tell us exactly what you said.’
    ‘It was nothing.’ Amelia turned back to Kevin. ‘They must have looted it before the palace burned down. The book said there was looting.’
    ‘But how does it get here? All the way from Irafia to your house?’
    Amelia shrugged. ‘No one knows who installed it.’ ‘It’s amazing.’
    ‘No, it’s not,’ said Eugenie impatiently. ‘Someone loots it. Then they sell it. Then they sell it to someone else.’
    ‘All the way from Irafia?’
    ‘What’s so surprising?’ Eugenie’s uncle had an antiques shop which was full of things from other countries. ‘People bring my uncle all kinds of stuff.’
    ‘How does he knew it isn’t stolen?’
    ‘When someone brings him something he always asks for proof they bought it or inherited it. I’ve asked him. He won’t take it if they can’t show him. But he admits there’s no way of knowing whether whoever they bought it or inherited it from didn’t steal it themselves. According to Uncle Randolph, somewhere along the line, maybe even hundreds of years ago, a lot of stuff in antiques shops has been stolen, but there’s nothing anyone can do about it.’
    ‘I suppose that explains how the lamp got to my house,’ said Amelia.
    ‘But it still doesn’t explain how you came to mention it to the Princess,’ said Eugenie, which was what she was really interested in.
    Amelia sighed. ‘It’s not important, Eugenie.’
    Eugenie looked at her knowingly, then stuck her nose in the air.
    Behind them, people were coming out of the cinema into the lobby. The first session was finished. Kids around them in the café were already getting up to go in for the next session.
    Eugenie frowned. ‘Imagine losing everything like that. One minute you’re living in the lap of luxury, the next minute you’re running away with nothing but what you can carry.’
    ‘True,’ said Kevin, ‘but look at it from the other perspective. One minute you’re a poor person with some Shan and Shanna controlling you’re life, the next minute you’re free.’
    Eugenie shook her head.
    ‘Eugenie, think about it. If the people revolted, they couldn’t have been happy. I bet the Shan and Shanna made life pretty hard for everyone.’
    ‘That wasn’t the Princess’s fault. She was just a child.’
    ‘I’m not saying it was her fault. But the only reason she could live in luxury was because of that.’
    ‘So you’re saying they had the right to take everything she had? To take her palace? Even her