The Chupacabra
Page 12
Mysteriously, the school of veterinary science in Mexico City has said that the tooth does not belong to any known creature in existence.
Vanessa laughed out loud. There were times since she returned home that she had wondered if she had imagined the whole thing. She had only told her dad and her brothers a very skinned-down version—no naguals or Chupacabras—but she had told Lee everything.
Vanessa read the newspaper article again. It was a relief to think that she had been right all along. Pablo had stolen the tooth from her room. It was the tooth that had first alerted her to the existence of naguals and led her to the discovery that they could transform into the Chupacabra. And no wonder Pablo had gone to such lengths to steal it back. A nagual himself, he certainly wouldn’t have wanted her to have evidence like that!
But Frida had been right too—Lechusa had come for Pablo that night.
Vanessa wondered how many other naguals were still out there, and a quick shiver ran down through her body. At least there was one less Chupacabra in the world.
NOTE
In Mexico, the terms nagual and nahual mean the same thing and are both pronounced na’wal. They come from a Nahuatl word meaning “disguise” and are human beings who can turn themselves into animal forms. I chose to use the word nagual in this book as it was less easily confused with Nahua and Nahuatl, which refer to the people and their language.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Lots of people helped me in so many different ways with this book.
Siobhan Parkinson and Elaina O’Neill in Little Island have once again been the stars—guiding, pruning, nurturing, and making the whole publishing process a fantastic experience and my book a better book. Thank you so much.
Thanks again to my writing buddies Paula, Gemma, Una, and Geoff for their much needed encouragement. To Jenny for her help with the Spanish words in this book, but really for the years of friendship, and Debs for always being at the other end of a phone for me.
But none of it would have happened without my children, Callum, Myles, and Oliver, my mother, Mers, and husband, Ian, who are my number one fans.
REFERENCES
I am indebted to a wide range of books and Internet sites that I used when I researched and wrote this book. I cannot possibly list them all but the following are a great source of information about the Chupacabra, naguals, and Mexican myths and legends.
Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Ness Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras and Others by Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark
Blood Sucking Witch Craft by Hugo G. Nutini and John M. Roberts
Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture, Volume 2, edited by Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman
www.cryptomundo.com
paranormal.lovetoknow.com
www.cryptozoo.monstrous.com
www.paranormal.about.com
www.themystica.com
www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Nagual
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagual
www.britannica.com
www.lasculturas.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jean Flitcroft started her career as a script writer for medical and scientific films and later became a travel writer when her obsession with travel won out. It was on these journeys around the world that she started writing books for children. She lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her husband and three sons. Learn more at www.jeanflitcroft.com.