Out from the pack came a greenish bottle, full of greenish liquid. Benedick held it like a green duck egg, like a handful of precious emeralds. "This medicine," he said, "will cure coughs and colds and collywobbles. This medicine will heal hives, hiccups and whooping cough!"

Despite a magical medicine of fabulous price, Benedick's father died of the purple plague. Now Benedick travels from town to town selling cures and potions - a dangerous business in a doubting world. His moatwater marvels seem doomed to end in disaster - until he meets a canny princess and someone he recognises...

 

There are 112 pages in this book. This book was published 2003 by Hachette Children's Group .

Ross Collins was born in Glasgow in 1972. In his last year at college, he won the Macmillan children's book prize. He lives in Glasgow and is now an established picture book illustrator. Geraldine McCaughrean is the author of The Odyssey and other titles in the acclaimed Oxford Illustrated Classics series.