Table Of Content'Don't let go of the rope, right?' said Jake.
I felt as if my head was going to burst right
out of my personalized safety helmet.
This couldn't be real. It couldn't be
happening to me. If I closed my eyes
maybe it would all turn into a nightmare
and then I'd wake up in bed at home with
Walter Bear.
'Tim?' said Jake. 'Open your eyes! Come
on. Start backing towards the edge.'
I backed one step. Then another. Then I
stopped.
'I can't!'
'Yes you can,' said Jake. 'You'll see. Over
you go. Don't worry. You can't fall. You just
have to remember, you don't let go of the
rope.'
I stared at him and started backing some
more. Then my heels suddenly lost contact
with the ground. I slipped backwards and
suddenly . . . there I was! Suspended. In
mid-air. . .
Cliffhanger is adapted from the author's
original scripts for a two-part Channel 4
Schools TV programme.
Also available by Jacqueline Wilson
Published in Corgi Pups, for beginner readers:
THE DINOSAUR'S PACKED LUNCH
THE MONSTER STORY-TELLER
Published in Young Corgi, for newly confident readers:
LIZZIE ZIPMOUTH
SLEEPOVERS
Available from Doubleday /Corgi Yearling Books:
BAD GIRLS
THE BED & BREAKFAST STAR
BEST FRIENDS
BURIED ALIVE!
CANDY FLOSS
THE CAT MUMMY
CLIFFHANGER
CLEAN BREAK
THE DARE GAME
DOUBLE ACT
GLUBBSLYME
THE ILLUSTRATED MUM
THE LOTTIE PROJECT
MIDNIGHT
THE MUM-MINDER
SECRETS
THE STORY OF TRACY BEAKER
THE SUITCASE KID
VICKY ANGEL
THE WORRY WEBSITE
Available from Doubleday /Corgi Books, for older readers:
THE DIAMOND GIRLS
DUSTBIN BABY
GIRLS IN LOVE
GIRLS UNDER PRESSURE
GIRLS OUT LATE
GIRLS IN TEARS
LOLA ROSE
LOVE LESSONS
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Adobe ISBN: 9781407045917
Version 1.0
www.randomhouse.co.uk
CLIFFHANGER
A CORGI YEARLING BOOK : 9780440863380
First published in Great Britain
PRINTING HISTORY
Corgi Yearling edition published 1995
19 20 18
CLIFFHANGER was orignally written as a two-part drama
for the Channel 4 Schools series Talk, Write and Read.
Cliffhanger was produced by Central Television for Channel 4
Schools, first broadcast January 1995.
Text copyright © 1995 by Jacqueline Wilson
Illustrations copyright © 1995 by Nick Sharratt
The right of Jacqueline Wilson to be identified as the author of
this work has been asserted in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Condition of Sale
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,
by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or
otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any
form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published
and without a similar condition including this condition being
imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Set in 14/16pt Linotype New Century Schoolbook by
Phoenix Typesetting, Ilkley, West Yorkshire
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61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA,
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www.kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire
For Tim and Joanna
Chapter One
I knew I'd hate it. I kept telling and
telling Dad. But he wouldn't listen to
me. He never does.
'I like the sound of this adventure
holiday for children,' said Dad, point
ing to the advert in the paper.
'Abseiling, canoeing, archery, moun
tain biking. . .'
'Sounds a bit dangerous to me,' said
Mum.
I didn't say anything. I went on
watching telly.
'How about it, Tim?' said Dad.
'What about an adventure holiday,
eh?'
'You can't be serious! Tim's much
too young,' said Mum.
I still didn't say anything. I went on
7
watching telly. But my heart had
started thumping under my T-shirt.
'He's nine, for goodness sake!' said
Dad.
'But he's young for his age,' said
Mum.
I still didn't say anything. I went on
watching telly. I stared hard at the
screen, wishing there was some way I
could step inside.
'Tim?' said Dad.
I didn't look round quickly enough.
'Tim! Stop watching television!'
Dad shouted.
I jumped.
'Don't shout at him like that,' said
Mum.
'I'm not shouting,' Dad shouted. He
took a deep breath. He turned his lips
up into a big smile. 'Now, Tim – you'd
like to go on an adventure holiday,
wouldn't you?'
8
