Book excerpt: Tom has spent most of his life locked behind the cruel walls of Weatherly Orphanage, but whenhe learns that his parents might still be alive, Tom knows he must do what he can to find them.He can't leave Weatherly without his best friend Sarah, so armed with a single clue to his past,the word Britfield, the two make a darling escape by commandeering a hot air balloon. Nowthey're on the run from a famous Scotland Yard detective and what looks like half the policeofficers in England. Tom and Sarah's journey takes them from Oxford University to WindsorCastle, through London, and finally to Canterbury. Along the way, they discover that Tom maybe the true heir to the British throne, but even with the help of two brilliant professors, it lookslike Tom and Sarah will be captured and sent back to the orphanage before they have a chanceto solve Tom's Royal mystery.