Tracy Harding, The Alchemist’s Key - Fiction

Traci Harding – Intro with Reading Cues

Every old house carries a memory. (pause; reflective) Some wear it lightly, like dust on a windowsill. (soft emphasis) Others hold it close, stone walls keeping secrets as tightly as a clenched fist. (slightly dramatic; pause)

Ashby Manor is one of the latter. (pause; weight on “latter”)

And perhaps that is why Traci Harding chose it. (slightly mysterious; pause)

Born in Australia in 1964, Harding began her career writing for television before turning to fiction, where she quickly found her voice in stories that dissolve the boundaries between science, mysticism, history, and the human spirit. (pause after each; reflective)

Since the early 1990s, with her acclaimed Ancient Future trilogy, she has drawn readers into worlds where time folds, consciousness expands, and ordinary lives collide with the extraordinary. (slightly slower; emphasis on “extraordinary”; pause)

The Alchemist’s Key, published in 1999, reflects both her literary roots and her recurring fascination with what lies beyond the veil of the visible world. (pause) Beneath its puzzles and apparitions beats a question that threads through much of Harding’s work: What is the cost of knowledge? (slightly dramatic; slow)

The novel begins when Wade Ashby, an ordinary man from Australia, inherits a centuries-old English estate from a grandfather he barely knew. (pause; soft emphasis) At first, it seems like a dream: wealth, legacy, a new life among the aristocracy. (slightly slower) But the manor is alive with secrets. (pause; mysterious tone) Its corridors lead not only into the past but into dangers written into its very walls. (slightly dramatic)

Alchemical symbols whisper promises of power. (pause; soft emphasis) Ghostly animals vanish through locked doors. Time itself seems unstable, as though the house resents the silence imposed upon it. (slightly eerie; pause)

As in so many of Harding’s novels, the story invites us to look beyond the surface: (slight pause) to see curiosity not simply as a thirst for discovery but as a force that can awaken wonders—or unleash perils we are not ready to face. (emphasize “awaken wonders…perils”; pause)

Because for Harding, mystery is never just entertainment. (pause; reflective) It is a meditation. (slight emphasis) It asks who we are when confronted with truths that cannot be unlearned, with legacies that demand courage as much as they promise inheritance. (pause; soft tone)

And when we open the door, she reminds us, we may find that some knowledge carries a price we are not ready to pay. (slightly dramatic; slow finish)

Traci Harding – Reading Script with Cues and Bolding

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First Reading (Part 2)

Reading Script – Part 2 with Cues

Hugh hauled his luggage from the trunk of the taxi, (pause; emphasize “hauled”) disturbed to note that the tiny inner-city terrace was in total darkness. (slightly dramatic pause) He closed the boot, considering whether he should ask the driver to wait, but the vehicle took off down the street before he was given a chance. (pause; soft sigh)

‘Back to plan A, then,’ said Hugh, deciding to have a little more faith in the word of his best friend. (emphasize “faith”; reflective tone; pause)

Wade had been acting a little strange since Hugh had been accepted into Oxford. (slightly puzzled tone) Hugh had always been open about his aspirations to study there. (pause)

Yet now that he had been accepted, Wade was finding it a little difficult to be happy about it. (emphasize “difficult”; pause) They’d been mates for some twenty years; their families had arrived in Australia on the same boat from England. (slightly slower; reflective) However, since Wade had lost his parents a couple of years ago, and he was an only child, Hugh had become his family. (pause; emphasize “his family”) So it was no wonder that their imminent separation was troubling him. (slightly heavy; pause) This had led to a couple of ugly moments of late, about which Hugh had endeavoured to be patient and civil. (soft tone; pause) But if Wade’s offer of a lift to the airport in the morning turned out to be a farce he would not be so understanding. (slightly dramatic; pause)

With all his baggage piled high on the porch, Hugh rapped on the front door a few times and pressed the buzzer. (pause; soft emphasis)

Wade answered the door holding a candle that cast creepy shadows across his face. (pause; slightly eerie tone) ‘You rang?’ (slow)

Hugh breathed a sigh of relief. (pause; gentle) ‘What happened to the power?’ (curious; slight pause)

‘Cut off.’ Wade broke from his pose to assist with the bags. (slightly annoyed tone)

‘What?’ Hugh was stunned. ‘Surely, my ears deceive me!’ (dramatic; pause)

Wade was computer-crazy. (emphasize; pause) He went nuts without power — it was one of his priorities in life. (softly amused)

‘Sad, but true.’ Wade tossed a few pieces of luggage into the hall, and Hugh struggled in with the rest. (slightly heavier pause) ‘Unfortunately, I’m a bit strapped for cash at present.’ (pause; dry humor) He closed the door behind them.

‘But — you can’t be?’ Hugh dropped all his bags except the one hanging on his back that housed his laptop. (pause) ‘What about your big win? You couldn’t have spent a grand in two days!’ (surprised; slight emphasis)

Wade nodded guiltlessly. (pause; soft smirk)

‘On what?’ Hugh cried, but was startled as the lights came on and everyone yelled, ‘Bon voyage!’ (slightly dramatic; pause)

Hugh’s parents and sisters were among those gathered at the farewell, hence the celebrations remained fairly tame until they left. (soft pause) The volume of the music jumped considerably at this point, and the room was suddenly filled with the smell of dope smoke. (slightly amused; pause)

Fortunately, Hugh had managed to steer Wade clear of chemical drugs. (soft emphasis) Both of them only drank on the odd occasion, and with all his study Hugh rarely indulged in anything. (pause) But pot was sacred to Wade, more important than food; (slow; emphasis) the smoking inevitably gave his friend an appetite, however, so Wade remained well-fed nevertheless. (pause; slight humor)

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Third Reading (Part 4)

John went on to describe various experiments pertaining to the separation and distillation of the unnamed metal’s elements. (slow; reflective) Most of his dabbling had been unsuccessful, and had resulted in explosions due to the very flammable and volatile solutions with which he toyed. (pause; emphasize “explosions”)

After a seemingly endless string of mishaps and observations that went way over Wade’s head, John finally wrote of a breakthrough. (slightly faster; pause)

Thus, having found my two principles, Mercury and Sulphur, I mixed them in exact quantities with the dead, black body of metal in a sealed crystal structure. (slow; emphasis; pause) This I heated at an exact temperature, whereby the black colour of the metal diminished. (pause) Colour after colour came and went, until the mixture turned to a white and shiny powder. (soft pause) These sparkling particles floated about inside the crystal housing, defying gravity whilst emitting their own light, just as I had hoped. (slightly awe-filled; pause)

However, this amazing substance has proven impossible to remove from the sealed housing for further investigation, (slightly slower) as, once it is exposed to air, the strange powder is immediately squandered. (pause; soft emphasis)

In view of this information, Wade thought it fortunate that he’d refused Hugh’s request to have the sparkling powder analyzed. (slightly amused; pause) He had to grin as he read on, knowing Hugh would be annoyed to discover that Wade’s hunch had been correct. (pause)

Still, I have found my energy source, (soft, reflective) as this exotic white powder gold has proven to be the powerful electrical conductor that I have been searching for. (pause; slow emphasis)

‘I am so sorry to disturb you at this hour, Sir,’ Talbot interrupted Wade’s reading. (slightly tense; pause)

‘That’s all right.’ Wade closed his eyes and squeezed the top of his nose tightly. (pause) ‘It was starting to bore me anyway.’ (slightly amused; slow)

As he’d managed to release the pressure build-up in his forehead from reading in bad light, Wade opened his eyes to note the time and Talbot’s distressed state. (pause; reflective) ‘What are you doing up and about at this hour, Talbot? You look troubled?’ Wade wondered, (slightly slower; concerned tone)

‘I’m afraid I must beg your leave, Sir,’ the butler explained. ‘A rather embarrassing situation has arisen, that requires my immediate attention.’ (slight pause)

‘Well, of course you may go.’ Wade stood, placing the diary aside. (pause) ‘Is it anything I should know about?’ (slightly worried; slow)

‘No, no,’ Talbot insisted. ‘I’m afraid my son has got himself in a spot of bother—’ (pause; reflective)

‘Andy?’ Now Wade was really worried, (pause) perhaps he’d got Grace pregnant? ‘What’s happened? Can I help in any way?’ (slightly faster; tense)

‘It’s nothing that should concern you, my Lord.’ Talbot was reluctant, (pause) though he suspected the Baron could have something to do with his son’s predicament.

‘Talbot!’ Wade insisted, (slightly sharp) ‘Andrew is my friend. If he’s in trouble, I want to know.’ (pause)

‘What’s happened?’ Hannah emerged from the bedroom, tying on her wrap-around. (soft; reflective) ‘I thought I just heard you say Andrew is in trouble?’ She too feared that the young lovers had been found out. (pause)

Talbot was now twice as reluctant to make the situation known. (soft pause) Still, as he was eager to get moving and there seemed no way he was going to be excused before he confessed, he just came right out with it. (pause; slightly dramatic) ‘It would seem that Andrew has been arrested for the possession of an illegal substance.’ (pause; slow)

‘Pot?’ Wade clarified in horror, knowing that Andrew was probably scoring on his behalf, (pause) as he always did.