The Traitor’s Gate, by Avi
The Huffman family lives a respectable life in 1849 London. The father, Wesley John Louis Huffman, works for the Naval Ordinance department as a clerk and earns 100 pounds a year. Mr. Huffman thinks of himself as an actor on the world’s stage.
One day, fourteen-year-old John Huffman’s entire world turns upside down. The family’s servant, Brigit, collects him from school because of a family emergency. John arrives home to find two men taking all of the family’s possessions out of the house.
Someone made a claim against John’s father for 300 pounds of gambling debt. Their property has been seized as security, and Mr. Huffman has three days to pay the debt or go to debtor’s prison.
It doesn’t take long before John distrusts everyone. His father may have committed treason by selling a transcription of a new, top-secret military ordinance. He can’t or won’t acknowledge that he is in serious trouble. The family’s trusted servant seems to be related to the very person who brought the debt to court in the first place. John’s schoolmaster, Sergeant Muldspoon, is somehow caught up in the whole confusing affair. And, John’s sister’s suitor seems to have an ulterior motive for asking for her hand in marriage. Even John’s new friend and ally, Sary the Sneak, may be using their friendship for her own ends.
Who can John trust and how will he find the truth?
(Additional Information: Traitor’s Gate was an entrance to the Tower of London through which traitors to the crown passed.)
