Escape from Castle Cant

K.P. Bath
Little, Brown Young Readers (2006)
ISBN 9780316108577
Reviewed by Casey Holt (age 13) for Reader Views (12/07)

There's a war going on!  The nobles want their chewing gum, but the rebels insist it's hurting the barony.  Pauline von Cant is the rightful heiress, according to the loyalists, but Lucy Wickwright is the rightful heiress according to the rebels.  On Lord Cant's deathbed he admits that Pauline's maidservant, Lucy Wickwright, is his daughter!  With the war going on, the girls cling tightly to each other, and not knowing what else to do, decide to run away to the outlands to find the gum plant and destroy it to bring peace to the Barony once again.

But Vladimir Orloff, the Postal Commissioner and the person controlling the chewing gum, is chasing them. He killed Lucy's family when she was a young girl, and now he wants to put Pauline on the throne.

Lucy and Pauline are just taking a break and trying to find something to eat when a swineherd puts them at spear point and threatens to kill Lucy if they don't come with him, because he says he knows that they are Pauline von Cant and Lucy Wickwright. They pretend they are not, but he doesn't fall for it.  He explains that he doesn't care if Pauline comes or not, it's Lucy who he wants. Who's he?  Vladimir Orloff. So off they go, to the swineherd's hut.  Pauline asks Lucy what the plan is, but she has none.  When they approach the hut, they realize that “Vladimir Orloff” is no other than Blaise Delagrassie, the underfoot man from the castle. The swineherd gives them bacon off of a huge piece of meat, and they have a feast, and talk amongst each other. Suddenly, horsemen are riding up the hill, and tell the swineherd that they are on business of the Barony, and would like that piece of meat. He tells them it's for his guests, the “rebel girl, and the little baroness too,” and that they should just be gone, because HE got to them first, and he is getting the reward.  Orloff forces his way inside, and tells Lucy to surrender. She grabs a sword, and they escape, stealing the horses. They gallop off, but Pauline decides that she is going to go back, spear the meat, and then continue. She goes, gets the meat, and gallops off again, only to find that she cannot find Blaise and Lucy.

This is my favorite adventure of Pauline and Lucy's in this book, but they have MANY more. The first book is called “The Secret of Castle Cant.” I liked “Escape from Castle Cant” much better. I would recommend this book to anyone, any age.

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