My deepest thanks, as always, to my agent, Kelly Sonnack; to my wife and partner, Janet Marshall Watkins; and to my editor, Jody Corbett, who’s been as much coauthor as editor on this one. My thanks also to John Prados for his time and invaluable suggestions while this book was still in manuscript form, and to Professor Jim Gaines for his help with the French dialogue. And finally thanks to a host of terrific folks at Scholastic: Nina Goffi, Rachel Gluckstern, Jana Haussmann, and the rest of the sales, marketing, and publicity departments. Shakespeare said he hated ingratitude more “than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness, or any taint of vice whose strong corruption inhabits our frail blood.” No worries about that here, as these folks will always have my deep and abiding gratitude for all their hard and talented work helping to bring On Blood Road into the world.