The Dark Hills Divide
The Dark Hills Divide is a (2005) children's fantasy and mystery novel by Patrick Carman. It is the first book in The Land of Elyon series, which focuses on the adventures of Alexa Daley, who is the daughter of Mr. Daley, the mayor of fictional Lathbury. Summary 12-year-old Alexa Daley is spending another summer in Bridewell with her father, the Mayor of Lathbury. The book starts by Alexa going on a walk through the streets of Bridewell with her adventurer friend Thomas Warvold. During the stroll, Warvold tells Alexa a fable that he heard on one of his far-off journeys. When the fable is finished, Alexa finds that Warvold is dead. The following chapter turns to an event that happened before Warvold's death. Alexa and her father, James Daley, are on the road to Bridewell from their hometown of Lathbury. During the ride, Alexa insists that the story of the walls that surround Bridewell and the cities around it be told to her. The story is of an orphan named Thomas Warvold who wandered off from his hometown on his thirteenth birthday. For years, no one knew or cared where he'd gone. After twenty years, he eventually persuaded others to join him in a place most everyone believed was haunted, dark and dangerous. But, after some time, more and more people became convinced that the place was safe to live in. The valley where Warvold settled, which is now called Lunenburg, filled up to capacity and provided no room for growth. One end of the valley was the already established town of Ainsworth. Because of the problem, Warvold decided to expand. He would build a walled road out into the unknown, and at the end of it, he would build a new town. Only, who would build the wall? People of Lunenburg were afraid of the dangers outside. So Warvold decided to borrow convicts from Ainsworth, branded with a C for criminal, to do the hard labor. There was but one condition: After ten years, Warvold could return the convicts to Ainsworth, no questions asked. In three years, the convicts built the wall to what is now Bridewell and two more walled roads were started. Over the next several years the walled roads to Turlock and Lathbury were finished, completing the kingdom. In the middle of the story, Alexa and her father have a race with a mailman named Silas Hardy whom they meet on the road. Upon arriving at the Renny Lodge (Named after Warvold's wife Renny Warvold), Alexa is greeted by Ganesh, the mayor of Turlock and by Warvold himself. After going up to her room, Alexa uses a spyglass, stolen from her mother, to look over the walls from her window. She is interrupted by Pervis Kotcher, head guard of the Turlock gate, who takes the spyglass from her. Fortunately, Warvold comes just then (Pervis hides the spyglass) and takes Alexa for a walk which, as shown in the beginning of the book, ends in his death.