by Lynne Ewing
The Secret Scroll, The Sacrifice, and The Lost One copyright © 2001 by Lynne Ewing
All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Hyperion Books, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011-5690.
ISBN 978-1-4231-4742-8
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Table of Contents
The Secret Scroll - Prologue
The Secret Scoll - Chapter One
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Two
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Three
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Four
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Five
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Six
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Seven
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Eight
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Nine
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Ten
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Eleven
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twelve
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Thirteen
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Fourteen
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Fifteen
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Sixteen
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Seventeen
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Eighteen
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Nineteen
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-One
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-Two
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-Three
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-Four
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-Five
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-Six
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Secret Scoll - Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Sacrifice - Prologue
The Sacrifice - Chapter One
The Sacrifice - Chapter Two
The Sacrifice - Chapter Three
The Sacrifice - Chapter Four
The Sacrifice - Chapter Five
The Sacrifice - Chapter Six
The Sacrifice - Chapter Seven
The Sacrifice - Chapter Eight
The Sacrifice - Chapter Nine
The Sacrifice - Chapter Ten
The Sacrifice - Chapter Eleven
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twelve
The Sacrifice - Chapter Thirteen
The Sacrifice - Chapter Fourteen
The Sacrifice - Chapter Fifteen
The Sacrifice - Chapter Sixteen
The Sacrifice - Chapter Seventeen
The Sacrifice - Chapter Eighteen
The Sacrifice - Chapter Nineteen
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-One
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-Two
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-Three
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-Four
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-Five
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-Six
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Sacrifice - Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Lost One - Prologue
The Lost One - Chapter One
The Lost One - Chapter Two
The Lost One - Chapter Three
The Lost One - Chapter Four
The Lost One - Chapter Five
The Lost One - Chapter Six
The Lost One - Chapter Seven
The Lost One - Chapter Eight
The Lost One - Chapter Nine
The Lost One - Chapter Ten
The Lost One - Chapter Eleven
The Lost One - Chapter Twelve
The Lost One - Chapter Thirteen
The Lost One - Chapter Fouteen
The Lost One - Chapter Fifteen
The Lost One - Chapter Sixteen
The Lost One - Chapter Seventeen
The Lost One - Chapter Eighteen
The Lost One - Chapter Nineteen
The Lost One - Chapter Twenty
The Lost One - Chapter Twenty-One
The Lost One - Chapter Twenty-Two
The Lost One - Chapter Twenty-Three
The Lost One - Chapter Twenty-Four
The Lost One - Chapter Twenty-Five
The Lost One - Chapter Twenty-Six
Lynne Ewing
For Lyla, Lyandra, Maitea, and Camila
PROLOGUE
Long ago, darkness reigned over the night. People were afraid and remained inside their shelters from sundown until sunrise. The goddess Selene saw their fear and gave light to their nocturnal world by driving her moon chariot across the starry sky. She followed her brother Helios, who rode the sun and caught his shining rays on her magnificent silver chariot, then cast them down to earth as moonbeams. She felt pride in the way the earthlings were comforted by her light.
But one night when she had abandoned her chariot to walk upon the earth, she noticed that in times of trouble many people lost all hope. Their despair bewildered her. After considering their plight, she knew how she could make her moon the greatest gift from the gods.
From then on she drove around the earth and each night caught her brother’s rays from a different angle. This way the face of the moon was everchanging. People watched the moon decrease in light every night, until it could no longer be seen from the earth. Then after three nights of darkness, a crescent sliver returned and the moon increased in light until it was fully illuminated as before. Selene did this to remind people that their darkest times can lead them to their brightest.
The ancients understood Selene’s gift in the lunar phases. Each night when they gazed at the moon, they knew Selene was telling them to never give up hope.
CHAPTER ONE
CATTY STOPPED ON the cement step and stared at the lettering on the side of the building. She wanted to turn and run, but Kendra took her hand to reassure her. The traffic from the nearby freeway filled the hot afternoon with a constant drone like surf rushing to shore. She wished she were at the beach. Anyplace but here.
It had been the most terrible day ever even before the phone call. She had laughingly told Kendra that the only good thing about it was that it couldn’t get any worse. Then the phone rang. Now all her problems at school suddenly seemed unimportant.
“We better go in,” Kendra coaxed. She pressed her lips tightly together, resolute, and adjusted her purse over her shoulder. The phone call had upset her, too, but her way to handle anything bad was to take action.
Catty nodded and started toward the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.
Kendra gently touched her arm. “It’s probably not your mother anyway.”
Catty looked down at the brown envelope on which she had scrawled the woman’s name. Zoe Reese. Was that her mother? She whispered the name again, hoping it would jog a memory. It didn’t.
“I’m sure it’s a mistake.” Kendra frowned behind her dark glasses. She was a large woman with high cheekbones and long brown hair streaked with gray.
Catty loved her. Kendra was the only mother she had ever known. She had often wondered what her life had been before Kendra had found her walking along the highway in the Arizona desert when she was six years old. She hadn’t even known her name when Kendra had stopped the car that day and asked if she was okay. “Catty” was the name Kendra had given her. She only had two memories of the time before that moment: one of a crash, the other of an explosion. None of her real mother. Would she finally have some answers now? She won
dered if she would be able to see herself in her mother’s face.
Maybe now she’d be able to piece together her past and find out where she came from. Then, unexpectedly, a feeling of hurt surged through her, reopening a childhood wound. If her mother had lived in Los Angeles all these years, why had she never contacted her?
Catty followed Kendra across a long cement slab that led to the double glass doors. When they stepped inside the coroner’s office, a rush of cold air and the alcohol smell of antiseptics closed tightly around them. Catty’s hands began to tremble, and she pushed them deep inside her jeans pockets.
Kendra’s shoes squeaked on the highly polished floor as she stepped past the case of citations and plaques to the reception window. She slid her sunglasses on top of her head and pulled on her red-framed reading glasses, then tapped her finger impatiently on the glass partition. Her gold rings flashed and bracelets jangled on her thick wrist.
“Your office called my daughter,” Kendra started.
The receptionist looked up with a practiced expression somewhere between a smile and pity, then she saw Catty and her face changed. “They called her?”
Kendra nodded. “To inform my daughter that her mother had died.”
The receptionist’s pale face went blank.
Kendra cleared her throat. “I’m not her biological mother,” she explained.
“Oh,” the receptionist answered, and that same sad and pleasant expression returned to her face. “You’ll need to contact a funeral home and make arrangements with them to claim the body.”
Kendra pressed her hand against the glass. Her nails were long and painted red. “But I don’t understand what makes you think that woman is her mother. I spoke with the person on the phone and all they gave me was a name and an address—”
“They never call without proof,” the receptionist asserted calmly.
“Maybe if you’d let us see her,” Kendra suggested. “Perhaps we’d be able to see a resemblance.”
Catty started. She didn’t think she had the courage to look at the woman’s face. Tears pressed into her eyes. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry and her tongue made an odd click in the back of her throat. She had always thought about seeing her mother someday, but this was not the way she had imagined it.
“I’m sorry.” The receptionist seemed truly concerned. “We’re not designed to accommodate viewing. You’ll have to make arrangements with a funeral home. They’ll let you view—”
“You’re not understanding.” Kendra tried to keep a smile on her face to hide her frustration. She clasped the beads hanging around her neck, and Catty knew she was mentally reciting her mantra, searching for calm. When she spoke again, her voice seemed more serene. “I have no proof that this woman is my daughter’s biological mother, so why should we make arrangements for her?”
“They had to have had proof.” The receptionist’s voice had taken on a defensive tone. “They wouldn’t randomly call someone.”
“I understand. All I am asking is that you show me that same proof.” Kendra’s arm reached out and pulled Catty tight against her. The scents of sandalwood and heather clung sweetly to Kendra’s dress. “Why don’t you have a seat while I get some answers?” Kendra whispered to her.
Catty nodded and headed for one of the purple chairs lined against the wall. She sat down and tried to concentrate on the day, hoping her problems at school might distract her from the argument Kendra was having with the receptionist.
Her stomach pinched just thinking about her new boyfriend, Chris. She had thought everything was perfect between them, and then today at school he had seemed so distant. She wondered if he had been trying to find the words to break up with her. What had happened to the attentive guy who was so open with her? At lunch he had shrugged and said he couldn’t stay with her. And they always ate in the cafeteria together. After school he had acted indifferent about meeting her at Planet Bang. He told her he would call. But he hadn’t so far.
That alone was enough to make the day a disaster. But even earlier, it had started badly. During first period, Mr. Hall had passed back the last geometry tests. She had received a D.
Then right after class her best friend Vanessa had gotten mad at her because Catty had said some nice things about Michael Saratoga and his band in front of Vanessa’s creepy new boyfriend, Toby. Everyone knew Vanessa still liked Michael, so why was she wasting time with Toby, anyway? There was no way Vanessa could convince Catty that she really liked him. When Vanessa flirted with him her eyes seemed to be looking for someone else, someone like Michael. And when Toby tried to hold her close, she never looked totally comfortable with it. Vanessa had only become more angry when Catty pointed this out to her. Too bad Toby had been standing nearby and listening.
Catty sighed. Before the phone call from the coroner’s office, she had planned to smooth things over with Vanessa tonight at Planet Bang. They had been best friends for a long time, and no way was she going to let a guy come between them.
But then Kendra had surprised her. She wouldn’t relent and take her off restriction. Since Kendra had started teaching the night Latin class at UCLA, she had relied on Catty to watch her bookstore in the evenings and punctuality had suddenly become very important to her. Twice Catty had made Kendra late, and the third time Kendra did the unthinkable and actually put her on restriction. Restriction was something new for Catty. Kendra had always let her do whatever she wanted because she knew Catty wasn’t like other kids.
She glanced at Kendra now and felt a surge of gratitude. Kendra continually tried to help Catty understand her strange ability. She had even encouraged Catty to use what Kendra called her gift. What would have happened to her if someone else had stopped that day at the desert? She hated to imagine what her life could have been. She might have ended up in some sideshow or as an exhibit in the Smithsonian.
From the beginning, Kendra had assumed that Catty was from some distant planet and that her extraordinary power was actually a form of teleportation used by her people. She had cautioned Catty not to tell anyone about her unusual skill. And Catty hadn’t until she met Vanessa. She had known immediately that Vanessa was different, too, when she saw the silver moon amulet hanging around her neck. It was identical to the one Catty wore. Catty looked down at her amulet now and studied the face of the moon etched in the metal. She had been wearing the charm when Kendra found her. Now, sparkling in the fluorescent lights, it didn’t look silver, but opalescent. She never took it off.
Kendra turned and glanced at her, her eyes asking if she was okay. Catty tried to smile back, but her lips curled in a sad imitation of one.
She wished she could find the courage to tell Kendra the truth. She hated keeping any secret from her. But the words never came. It was probably easier to believe in people from outer space than to accept what Catty really was, anyway. She sometimes thought Kendra would feel disappointed if she learned the truth. Kendra was always on the Internet trying to find out more about UFO sightings, Area 51, and Roswell. She seemed to enjoy the research.
Catty studied Kendra now. Her cheeks had taken on an angry red blush and her fingers frantically worked at the beads hanging around her neck. Would Kendra even believe her if she did tell her the truth…that she was a goddess, a Daughter of the Moon, on Earth to protect people from the Followers of an ancient evil called the Atrox?
Who she was had remained a mystery to her until just a few months ago, when she had been kidnapped by Followers, before she even knew what they were. Fortunately, Vanessa and two other Daughters, Jimena and Serena, had rescued her. Vanessa had told her the truth then, but Catty hadn’t believed it until she had met Maggie Craven, a retired schoolteacher.
“Tu es dea, filia lunae,” Maggie had told her in Latin. Catty had been surprised she understood the words, but she had. “You are a Goddess, a Daughter of the Moon.” The words still sent a thrill of excitement through her.
Kendra’s voice pulled her back from her thoughts.
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br /> “What is your proof ?” Kendra raised her voice in exasperation, and the words echoed around the small room.
Catty stood and walked back to Kendra, hoping her presence might calm her.
The receptionist picked up a pencil and began twirling it nervously between her fingers. “The person who called you should have answered all of your questions.”
“We won’t leave until you show us proof.” Kendra’s voice was firm.
Catty rested her hand on Kendra’s arm. The muscles felt tense.
“I’ll call Security,” the receptionist threatened.
Wrong thing to say, Catty thought and shot a warning look at Kendra.
“Call Security.” Kendra smiled broadly. She knew how to make a scene. She relished the opportunity.
The receptionist must have had a lot of experience with the public. She seemed to sense that Kendra’s challenge was not a bluff. Instead of reaching for the phone, she set her pencil down with a sudden snap and stood. She marched from her enclosure to a door marked property release, knocked briefly, then stepped inside.
Kendra gave Catty a questioning look. “Should we follow?” But her shoes were already squeaking across the floor after the receptionist. She caught the door before it closed and propped it open.
Catty followed into the overly cooled room.
The receptionist spoke in whispers to a shorter woman. The smaller woman gathered a brown envelope from a filing cabinet and handed it to the receptionist, who pulled something from deep inside.
“Here.” The receptionist showed Kendra and Catty a worn piece of notebook paper. “This was found in the woman’s pocket.”
Kendra held it in her large hands.
“It’s a geometry test,” Catty muttered. “My geometry test.”
Kendra readjusted her reading glasses and examined the paper closely. Catty looked over her shoulder.
Catty’s name and address were hurriedly written on the back of the paper in Catty’s handwriting. Above that was written in another person’s penmanship, in case of emergency contact my daughter.
Kendra turned the paper over and over.
Catty knew it was her writing, but since when had she gotten an A in geometry? Then she saw the date on the test paper. It was a week away. Her heart started pounding rapidly.