Land of Legend

BY:

Davy DeGreeff ILLUSTRATED BY:

Sam Brookins

Land of Legend Book 2

BY:

Davy DeGreeff

visit us at www.abdopublishing.com To Tom. A thousand thank-yous for helping me shape these stories into something worth being proud of —DD

Published by Magic Wagon, a division of the ABDO Group, 8000 West 78th Street, Edina, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2010 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International copyrights reserved in all countries. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Calico Chapter Books™ is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon. Printed in the United States. Text by Davy DeGreeff Cover illustration and chapter art by Sam Brookins Edited by Stephanie Hedlund and Rochelle Baltzer Cover and interior design by Jaime Martens

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data DeGreeff, Davy, 1984Tommy Bomani : land of legend / by Davy DeGreeff ; illustrated by Sam Brookins. p. cm. -- (Tommy Bomani, teen warrior ; bk. 2) Summary: Tired of warrior training, overconfident Tommy Bomani uses his newly acquired shape-shifting power to battle Marcellus Fisk, evil wizard Badru’s henchman. ISBN 978-1-60270-698-9 [1. Supernatural--Fiction. 2. Human-animal relationships--Fiction. 3. Magic--Fiction. 4. Egyptian Americans--Fiction. 5. Youths’ writings. 6. Youths’ art.] I. Brookins, Sam, 1984- ill. II. Title. III. Title: Land of legend. PZ7.D36385To 2009 [Fic]--dc22 2009009459

Contents CHAPTER 0: Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CHAPTER 1: Vacation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 CHAPTER 2: Related Strangers . . . . . . . . . . 13 CHAPTER 3: A Wet Lap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 CHAPTER 4: Cabin Fever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 CHAPTER 5: Reversed Image . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 CHAPTER 6: An Old Friend . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 CHAPTER 7: It’s a Deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 CHAPTER 8: Foreign Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . 46 CHAPTER 9: On Their Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 CHAPTER 10: Stolen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 CHAPTER 11: More Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 CHAPTER 12: Land of Legend . . . . . . . . . . . 75 CHAPTER 13: Surprise Visitor . . . . . . . . . . . 82 CHAPTER 14: An Important Decision . . . . . 91 CHAPTER 15: Confessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 CHAPTER 16: Family Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . 100 CHAPTER 17: Business Time . . . . . . . . . . . 108

CHAPTER 0

Discovery

T

he dark-haired girl took a deep breath of sticky air and stepped farther into the jungle. A stream of light trickled a few feet from her flashlight before being swallowed by an enveloping blanket of trees and plants. She didn’t need the flashlight to see through the darkness, but the weight in her hand lent a sense of security. Suddenly, a large bird screamed as it jumped from a high branch and swooped off into the night. She followed its path. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and tied her hair into a ponytail. She had been in the forest longer than she had expected, and her long march had begun to take a toll. This was farther into the forest than she’d ever been. Her throat itched with thirst. She had finished her water supply more than an hour ago, and for the first time in days it wasn’t raining. She stopped and sat with her back against a gnarled cypress tree. She pulled a folded piece of paper covered with symbols and lines out of her 4

pocket. She held it to the beam of her flashlight and tried to concentrate through the sounds of crickets, bullfrogs, and other creatures of the night she’d rather not think about. She looked down at the paper, scanned her surroundings, then corrected her course toward what she hoped was north. Taking a last glance at the paper, she stood up and moved from the tree, now following a slightly different course. Each tree she passed looked the same as the one before it, and each minute passed like an hour. The more exhausted she got, the more frustrated she became. She swung the flashlight like a club, knocking branches out of her way and cracking crisp green leaves into pieces. A sharp growl stopped the girl in her tracks. She looked to her left and froze in the glare of two glittering eyes. Her heart skipped. She’d woken a panther. A large one, easily twice her size. She could see the white of its jagged teeth shining through the dark. The cat gave one more warning growl, then it faded back into the jungle. The girl let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. She rubbed her temples and scolded herself, then quietly pushed forward. After only three 5

steps, she once again stopped and held her breath. She had broken through the tree line, and in front of her was the most beautiful lake she had ever seen. Light from the full moon danced on the surface, painting the water a dark, rich blue. Birds glided from one side to the other, and bats darted low, picking from the insects that hovered over lily pads. Sleeping alligators floated lazily by, comfortably disguised as leathery logs. Only one way to know, she thought. She moved cautiously to the bank, careful to keep a good distance between her and the alligators. At the edge, she skimmed her hand slowly through the shimmering water. At first she felt nothing. Then a tingle began at her fingertips, rose through her arm, and worked back toward her heart. All her exhaustion was washed away like it had never been there. The girl smiled. The map had been right. She’d found it. She’d found the Fountain of Youth.

6

CHAPTER 1

Vacation “

M

y turn.” Tommy’s eyes fluttered open and he looked around, slightly confused. With a sharp breath Tommy realized where he was. He shook his head and chuckled. “Sorry, I zoned out. Didn’t you just go?” Tommy put his hands over his face in frustration. A game of backgammon sat between him and his best friend, Burt Miller. Tommy was losing. Badly. “Yes, but now I get to go again, because your piece is on the bar, and all of your entrance points are blocked. And how did I block them?” “Do we have to assess every move in detail, buddy? We’re on vacation.” Tommy was sitting sideways and cross-legged in his seat onboard an airplane bound for Florida. The boys had balanced the board on top of a pillow and had been playing since takeoff. Tommy sat comfortably, but Burt’s 7

large body blocked every bit of light that tried to sneak through the window behind him. “Asim said that you had to keep training—” “I know what Asim said, but Asim isn’t here.” “You think Asim is the only one you have to worry about?” teased a voice from behind Tommy. He turned and looked at his mother, who was seated next to them reading a trashy romance novel. “Asim may be calling the shots, buddy-boy, but when he isn’t here, Burt and I are enforcing them. Do you really want to spend your entire time in Florida studying? Or are you going to do your training now so you can have fun when we get there?” Tommy grunted stubbornly and handed the dice to Burt. His mother smiled and went back to her book. Since Tommy had stopped Marcellus Fisk from stealing a mystical golden statue from the history museum, Asim had been training him after school and on weekends. Tommy was learning how to defeat the “enemies of Egypt,” as Asim called them. The enemies worked for Badru, the evil brother of Egypt’s greatest pharaoh. They would do 8

anything to help Badru locate and steal the divided pieces of a statue carved by the sun god Ra. Badru had been using the pieces he possessed to cling to life for thousands of years. He wanted the rest to gain true immortality and power. Tommy had the ability to change into a large jungle cat at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately for Tommy, he and Asim had different views on how his training should be applied. To him, practicing shape-shifting seemed to be the best route for training. That way he could become faster and stronger, and he could just fight any enemy who tried to get in his way. Asim, however, believed the best way to become a warrior was to think like a warrior. So only a portion of their time together was used to develop Tommy’s cat-type abilities. The majority of training was spent on what Asim liked to call “readying.” “Readying” consisted almost entirely of studying strategy, history, the history of strategy, strategic applications in history, and historic strategists. The phrase “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it” was spoken so often Tommy had begun to hear it in his dreams. 9

In addition to his schoolwork, Tommy was given regular reading assignments. He had been reading books on everything from World War II to Alexander the Great to the birth of civilization. Games of backgammon had also become a regular sight during training sessions. Tommy had long ago written off the game as a semi-interesting way to pass time. But it had reemerged in his life as Asim’s favorite tool of basic strategy. His mentor claimed that although simple, backgammon had been used for thousands of years by Egyptians to strengthen their minds. Tommy didn’t know if he believed that. After all, he had won the only fight he had ever been in, but he had yet to beat Asim in a single game of backgammon. Still, Tommy found the reading interesting and was pretty sure he was getting better at backgammon. But, he found himself starting to resent his training. He felt smothered by the constant pressure to be working on something. He missed the explosive excitement he’d experienced when he’d saved the golden piece. Tommy almost wished another would surface just so he could feel the rush of being back in action. “Your turn, Tom,” Burt said. 10

One thing that made his training easier to bear was the presence of Burt. After giving Burt a test that neither of them would tell Tommy about, Asim had announced that Burt was to be Tommy’s mentor-in-training. “As I was for your father, long ago,” he said. So far, all this had meant was that Burt played backgammon with Tommy and made sure he did his reading. But, gradually Burt’s role had been growing. “Are you boys excited to see Florida for the first time?” Tommy’s mom asked. “Are you kidding me?” Tommy smiled. “Oh man, this time off is going to be sweet. We already decided we’re gonna try bodysurfing when we go to the ocean.” “Well, you decided you’re going to try it, and I’ll think about it,” Burt said dryly. “Whatever, bud. You’re gonna see me out there cruising those waves, and there’s no way you won’t come join me. This is an awesome idea, Mom. Thanks.” Tommy’s mom lowered her voice. “It’s not every kid who has to keep up good grades and train against ancient forces of evil. I think you boys 11

deserve a little break.” “I think you’re right.” Tommy rolled the die and held his hand up to make a move, reading the board with as much concentration as he could muster. He reached for a piece but was interrupted by a soft ding from the plane. “This is your captain speaking. We have reached our destination and are preparing to land. Please fasten your seat belts, place all bags under your seats or in the overhead compartment, and prepare for a gentle landing. Thank you, and enjoy your time in beautiful Florida.” “I guess that’s it for backgammon,” Tommy said, smiling. “For now.” Burt carefully collected all the pieces and placed them with the board inside of a sturdy rectangular case. Tommy took an excited breath and let it all out at once. “Good-bye school and good-bye training. Winter break and hot Florida sun, here we come!”

12

CHAPTER 2

Related Strangers

L

ightning burst across the sky. The three vacationers stood at the airport’s entrance and watched rain pound to the ground. A dark green car flashed its lights and honked twice. The window facing them rolled down and a woman’s voice yelled out. “Gloria! Over here!” They sprinted through the rain, bags in hand, and jumped inside the car as quickly as possible. Tommy watched as his mother and her sister hugged awkwardly. “It’s so . . . good to see you again, Kirsten,” Mrs. Bomani said. “It has been a long time,” Tommy’s aunt responded. Silence passed between them, and then was gone. 13

“How was the flight?” “As good as could be expected, I guess,” Tommy’s mom said as they drove down the long, rain-soaked highway. “I’m glad you were able to pick us up. I wasn’t looking forward to a long cab ride.” Aunt Kirsten just nodded. Tommy squirmed uncomfortably in the awkward silence that followed. He had never met his aunt or the cousin he was now squished next to. He barely recognized them from pictures. His aunt looked just like his mom, except she was about five inches taller. Tommy’s cousin was thirteen, a year older than him with dark hair and long, slender limbs. Her arms and legs had grown faster than her torso on their way to matching her mother’s willowy frame. Tommy may have been short, but he was at least happy that all his body parts were the right size. Whenever he asked why they’d never met, his mom would change the subject. This interested him since there was very little she ever kept from him. Why she had chosen now to introduce them, he also had no idea. “You’re short, huh?” Tommy’s cousin looked him over, then glanced at Burt. “And he’s gigantic. 14

Are you two friends as, like, some sort of a joke? So that when you stand next to each other he looks even bigger and you look even smaller?” “No!” Tommy barked back. “Annie!” Tommy’s aunt said, glaring at her daughter in the rearview mirror. “Watch what you say. He’s your cousin, and he’s company for the week. Be friendly. Or else.” “Jeez, I was just kidding around.” Annie held her mother’s gaze, then jabbed an elbow in Tommy’s ribs as soon as she was done being watched. Tommy gasped, and made a mental note: sometimes it’s good to never meet your cousins. Tommy looked to see if Burt would offer any help, and then he realized what a futile idea that was. Burt was too busy taking up half of the backseat the three of them had to share. And he had his nose buried a book Asim had assigned him to read over vacation. He had assigned Tommy the same book, but Tommy figured he’d settle into it after he’d gotten sick of running around the sunbaked beach for a few days. The way the weather was looking now, though, he’d be reading sooner than he’d expected. It had 15

been raining nonstop since their plane had touched down. It didn’t show any sign of letting up. “Is it supposed to keep raining like this?” Tommy’s mom tried for conversation. “Has been for three weeks. Don’t know why it would stop now.” The car ride continued in silence.

16

CHAPTER 3

A Wet Lap “

B

ut I don’t want to stay for dinner!” “Well, you didn’t want to go to the airport, either, and you still had to do that, didn’t you? When you get to choose what you’re doing next, I’ll let you know. Now set the table. The food’s almost ready.” Annie rolled her eyes and began grabbing drinking glasses out of a cupboard. “I’ve got stuff to do, you know.” “Oh, did you have plans tonight, sweetie?” Tommy’s mom asked. “What were you going to do?” “Uh, well . . . ,” Annie stammered. She dropped eye contact and concentrated a bit too hard on setting the table. “She doesn’t have anything planned. She just thinks she’s too cool to hang out with the family she hasn’t seen since she was an infant. Hey, Tommy, Burt, why don’t you two start helping 17

Annie set the table. You’d better not think men don’t do housework around here.” “We don’t think that, Ms. Wolfe, not at all,” Burt blurted out. He blushed and grabbed the nearest dish—a butter plate—and rushed it to the table as quickly as he could. “It’s not like you’re being much help, Kirsten,” Mrs. Bomani stated as she stirred a bubbling pot. Aunt Kirsten was the only one not lending a hand. Instead she was supervising from a seat at the table. “Kitchen work has never been for me. I need a bit more action than boiling water and noodles can provide.” “That must be why we order pizza so often. It’s way more exciting,” Annie said dryly. “Tommy helps with housework all the time, don’t you, Tom?” his mom said. Tommy grabbed a stack of dinner plates. “Yeah, I guess.” He struggled for only a second, but it was enough time for his cousin to notice. She forced the dishes from his grasp. “Maybe you should grab something a bit lighter, little man.” Tommy huffed and bulged his eyes. He’d known Annie for all of an hour, and already he 18

wanted to throw her off a bridge. He grabbed a pair of pot holders and slammed them onto the middle of the dinner table. Burt noticed and gave him a questioning look. Tommy shook his head and took a seat at the table. A painful flick of his ear caught his attention and spun him around. “What’s your problem?” Annie stood towering over him. “My problem is that you’re in my chair. Now move it or lose it!” Tommy flailed his arms in exasperation, then got up and moved to another chair. Everyone settled into a seat. Mrs. Bomani placed a steaming pot of pasta on the table and took her chair, then began dishing up. “So, Annie,” Tommy’s mom started, grabbing some baked cheesy bread, “how’s school going this year? You’re in junior high, right? Have any boyfriends?” Annie rolled her eyes. “Hardly.” “What?” Mrs. Bomani said. “Tommy’s got a girlfriend. Right, Tommy? Lily Walker?” “Mom!” Tommy gasped. Even Burt’s eyes went wide. Tommy and Burt had, much to their surprise, been talking to Lily a lot more at school since the 19

museum break-in. Somehow the prettiest girl in their class had proven to be much funnier and nicer than they had imagined. He almost felt comfortable calling her his friend, but there was no way she could be called his girlfriend. “Ha!” Aunt Kirsten said. “Annie has no time for boys. She thinks running around the jungle by herself is more important.” “Really, Annie? What do you do out there?” Tommy’s mom asked. “Nothin’.” “Nothing? So you skip school to just hang out by yourself and get bit by mosquitoes? Sounds awesome,” Tommy smirked. “What I do out there is none of your business, short stuff.” Burt was clearly frightened by the idea of being alone in the swampy wilderness. “This is Florida, so aren’t there alligators and stuff? Don’t you get scared?” “What’s there to be scared about? I’ve been in the forest tons of times, nothing’s ever bothered me. Why? Is a guy as big as you really that scared of some trees and swamp?” “Annie, please don’t speak to Burt like that. He was only asking a question,” Tommy’s mom said. 20

“Thank you, Gloria, but I can yell at my own daughter.” “Yelling? I wasn’t yelling at all, I just—” “I know what you were doing, and you can stop it.” Tommy’s mom’s mouth opened like she was going to say something. Then she stopped and instead took a drink from her glass. She made a puzzled face, took a deep breath, and continued with her meal. “So,” Burt started, his voice cracking, “I sure wish we could see that famous Florida sun.” No one responded. Burt put his head down awkwardly and reached for a piece of bread. “Annie, any chance you’ve read The Art of War by—” “Aaaauugh!” Annie shrieked. “Look what you did!” “Oh no! I’m so sorry!” Burt had accidentally tipped Annie’s milk glass over while reaching for the bread. A wide pool drained over and off the table, directly into Annie’s lap. “Napkins! We need napkins!” Burt hollered. “Burt, you’re holding a napkin!” Tommy said, jumping forward to help with his own. “Right! In my hand!” 21

Annie sat immobile with her hands in the air like a surprised football referee signaling a field goal. Burt began mashing his napkin onto the table puddle. Without thinking, he grabbed Annie’s napkin and reached toward her soaked blue jeans. “Don’t touch me!” Annie jumped backward out of her seat, tripped on her chair, and tumbled to the ground. She stood back up and yelled, “I’m outta here!” She pounded up the stairs, and disappeared behind the sound of a slamming door. Tommy’s mom sat frozen. “Well,” Tommy said. “That could have gone better.”

22

CHAPTER 4

Cabin Fever

T

ommy pressed his face to the rain-streaked window and dramatically exhaled. His breath left a large circle of misty glass in front of his mouth. “This bites.” He turned from his seat on the couch and looked over at Burt. Burt was lying in his sleeping bag on the floor, reading a thick book. Tommy knew Burt had brought the largest sleeping bag he could find, but even that looked like a children’s blanket trying to contain his gigantic body. “You wouldn’t be so upset if you’d stop staring at the rain. You should read. You need to get through the stuff Asim assigned us, and it’ll take your mind off the weather.” “What did Asim say when you talked to him?” “He said you should read.” Burt smiled. “Funny. Really, what did he say?” “You know I can’t tell you. Besides, it wasn’t anything important.”

23

“Of course it wasn’t. Why would I, a boy who can turn into a panther, want to be involved with anything important?” Tommy sighed. He was itching to get back into action. “I don’t mean to pry, but what’s up with your aunt and cousin?” Burt peeked up from his book. “As if I have a clue. I don’t know why they agreed to let us come stay with them if they were just planning on yelling at us the whole time. My aunt might look like my mom, but they are complete opposites.” “Yeah, it’s strange.” “Oh well. I’m sure once the sun comes out and we get to start having some fun, they’ll come around.” “I hope so.” “You and me both. I don’t know if we could handle being stuck inside with those two arguing all the time. They’d probably drive us so nutty we’d have to run out to the swamp to hide!”

Later that afternoon, Burt studied the game before him in deep concentration. His breathing 24

slowed and his eyes flicked back and forth over the length of the board. He slowly measured and calculated dozens of possibilities, just as Asim had taught him. Burt grabbed one of his pieces, known in backgammon as a soldier. He slid it three spots to the left, where one of Tommy’s soldiers had been left undefended. He nodded to himself and removed Tommy’s defeated piece from the board, placing it on the dividing bar. “Your turn, Tommy.” Silence. Burt looked up. Tommy was staring out the window, just as he’d been doing all morning. “Tommy! Pay attention.” Tommy sighed and turned back toward the board, a look of boredom painted on his face. “Tom, would you please quit worrying about the rain for just a minute? Asim is going to kill me if I tell him you weren’t doing your strategy training.” “Then don’t tell him. Problem solved.” “You know that’s not going to happen. Besides, this stuff is important. I know it just seems like we’re playing a game, but we’re also readying your mind to think beyond just attacking. Some day 25

you’re going to run into something or someone stronger than you, and you’re going to need to think your way past them.” Tommy shrugged. “I know that’s what Asim says, but I don’t buy it. If anything, I need this stuff less than I did last time. I mean, when I’m a cat I’m way faster and stronger.” That much was true. In the small amount of time he was allowed to prowl around, he almost scared Burt with how naturally he had adapted to his feline form. Burt doubted even real jungle cats would be able to compete with Tommy. “Okay, if Asim is right and somehow board games are the key to battle strategy,” Tommy rolled his eyes, “does it have to be backgammon? Aren’t there other games we could play to, you know, keep things fresh?” Burt considered the idea. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” “Really?” “Yeah. As long as we play something that requires you to think. How about chess?” “Boooo-ring.” “Well, then why don’t we look at what else they have here. Any idea where the games are?” 26

“I’ve been here as many times as you have. Maybe in the attic?” “It’s worth a look.” The attic was old, moldy, and cramped. Nearly every inch was filled with cardboard boxes holding some odd forgotten item or another. In one corner was a fake Christmas tree, half its branches broken, and in another was a faded half-mannequin. Spiderwebs hung from the rafters in silky patches, and Burt stayed as close to Tommy as he comfortably could. He had never been good with bugs. Tommy wandered from box to box, sifting and pulling out whatever caught his eye. They had yet to find any board games. “What’s in that one?” Burt asked. “Just a bunch of pictures. Nothing cool.” Tommy pushed on to the next box, but Burt stayed. He took a stack from the middle of the loose pile and began to flip through them. Images of people he’d never met from decades ago stared back at him. “Hey Burt, check it out.” Tommy pulled up an old acoustic guitar, wood worn and missing strings. He strummed it furiously while posing like a rock star. “Hello, Florida! Are you ready to rock?” 27

Burt laughed as he put a stack of pictures back and pulled out another. The first picture made him stop and crinkle his eyebrows in confusion. He looked closer, making sure he saw what he thought he saw. “Hey, Tom?” “What are you doing?!” Annie screamed, half her body peeking up through the attic door. “Why are you up here?” Tommy spoke up. “Relax, Annie, we’re just looking for a board game.” Annie barged up the rest of the ladder stairs and began checking every box she thought they had touched. She grabbed the photos from Burt’s hands and shoved them back into the box, then gave him a disgusted look. “Who said you could come up here?” “You weren’t here, and we needed a game, so we—” “So you went sifting through all of our stuff? And what do you even need a game for? You have that backgammon board. What were you really looking for?” Annie’s eyes burned like a crazy person’s, but Tommy and Burt just looked back in confusion. 28

“Annie, what’s the big deal?” “The big deal is: get out! Now!” She grabbed Tommy by the back of his neck and shoved him toward the stairs. She put her hands on Burt’s back and did as much as she could to force him back to the rest of the house. She had more success than Burt would have expected from such skinny arms. Tommy climbed down the ladder stairs into the main hallway, and Burt followed. Annie stayed behind. “Jeez! What a psycho!” “Tom, come with me.” “What?” Burt dropped down from the last step and made his way immediately toward the den they had slept in the night before. “Come on. I need to show you something.”

29

CHAPTER 5

Reversed Image “

30

W

hat is it?” Tommy asked. “Shut the door,” Burt replied. Tommy did as Burt told him, then followed his friend to the middle of the room. Burt pulled something from his pocket and handed it to him. It was a picture. “Did you take that from the attic?” “Just look at it,” Burt replied. The picture was faded and a little bent. It showed three people, two women and a man, standing on a sunlit beach at dusk. The man was Tommy’s dad. “Oh, wow.” “Look closer.” Standing with his dad were Aunt Kirsten and Tommy’s mom. All three were smiling, and they seemed to be genuinely happy, not just posing for a photographer. But something was wrong, or at least it was different than it should have been.

Tommy’s mom was standing slightly to the side, and his dad’s arm was held firmly around Kirsten’s waist, pulling her close. “What?” Tommy wondered aloud in his confusion. “I don’t know. It was in that box of photos. I slipped it in my pocket without your cousin noticing.” “What’s he doing? He’s supposed to be hugging my mom, not my aunt.” “What do you think?” Burt asked. “I mean, it seems strange, but I’m sure there’s an explanation.” “Well, there’s only one way to know, isn’t there?” Tommy walked out the door, the photo gripped in his hand. Burt followed. They heard Tommy’s mom before they had even made it to the kitchen. She was talking in a sharp whisper to his aunt. “Look, I know we were supposed to go to the water park, but I don’t know why you’re getting angry with me. I didn’t make it rain.” “Obviously you didn’t, Gloria,” Kirsten hissed back. “Don’t talk to me like I’m some stupid kid sister.” “That’s hardly fair.” “I don’t think fair is something you want to talk 31

to me about. You’re not the only one who wants this to be a fun vacation, you know.” Tommy stopped outside the kitchen and gave the photo back to Burt. Burt gently put it in his back pocket. “I’m guessing we picked a bad time,” Tommy said quietly. “Sounds like it. What do you think set them off this time?” “I don’t know, but I’m sure not going to walk in there and ask,” Tommy said, glancing out the living room window. “Hey, the rain slowed down. Wanna head outside for a bit?” “Yeah, I could use some fresh air.” “You aren’t the only one. I need to prowl around cat-style, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Being locked inside is driving me crazy.”

32

CHAPTER 6

An Old Friend “

D

o you think it’s safe to go in the jungle?” Burt had stopped at the tree line in the backyard. He watched Tommy sidestep his way over plants and rocks farther into the leafy darkness. “Buddy, I was made for the jungle. Come on, we’ll be fine.” Tommy motioned his friend forward. Burt moved to a huge boulder a few feet from the trees and planted himself on top of it. “Sorry, Tommy,” Burt replied. “I’m just kinda freaked out by, you know, jungle stuff.” “For real? Are you sure you don’t wanna come?” “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll just stay here until you get back. But hey, that doesn’t mean you can just roam around. Who knows when the rain will let up and give you another chance to practice. Why don’t you, um, sprint and maneuver, scale two trees, and . . .” “Do some stealth work?” Tommy smiled. “My pleasure. Check you later.” “Be safe.”

33

“I always am.” Tommy took a few more steps into the trees, then melted into a silver house cat. Because his necklace was still inside the house he wasn’t quite strong enough to take on his usual panther form, but he didn’t care. He loved the freedom of turning into a cat no matter what size it was. In a couple of seconds, he was gone. Burt whispered under his breath, “And please, try to not get into any trouble.”

Tommy delighted in the moss under his paws and the sweet, foreign air. He was overwhelmed with new and wonderful scents of orchids and swamp water. He always loved how different and complex a place could become when he experienced it with a cat’s nose. He ran as hard and as fast as he could, waiting until the last second to dodge around whatever happened into his path. After a few minutes, he slowed his pace and ducked low to weave between the large green plants that hid his body almost entirely. 34

Aside from general combat training, stealth work was probably Tommy’s favorite type of readying. He loved when Asim gave him a starting point, usually a corner of the musty warehouse, and challenged him to get to the other end of the building without being spotted. Burt was fairly easy to sneak by, but Asim made sure Tommy had to work harder and harder every time. Still, he was becoming increasingly capable of moving soundlessly through shadows and around barriers. Tommy looked up through the trees. The sky had begun to darken and the humidity weighed on him like a lead vest. He’d been moving for almost fifteen minutes straight and was probably a few miles from his starting point. I’d better get my climbing done then head back in before the rain starts again, he thought. He looked at a thick cypress choked with green vines just off to the right. That’s as good as any, I guess. Tommy scaled the tough tree bark to the first branch, nearly twenty feet from the ground. He peered over into what looked to be an open clearing about fifty yards away.

35

A crude path led up and into the clearing. Two men stood next to a mud-spattered sports utility vehicle. They were both pointing at a map spread out on the hood and yelling at each other. Hidden from the men in a thick cluster of plants crouched a long-legged, skinny brown dog. It looked toward the truck with its ears perked. The taller of the two men was dressed in a familiar dark business suit not exactly fit for the jungle. He began yelling louder, clearly angry. He slammed his fist on the map. Then, he marched around the truck, pulled himself into the passenger seat, and slammed the door shut. The other man grumbled, sloppily folded the map, and climbed into the driver’s seat. The SUV pulled to the side, turned around, and sped out of the jungle. Tommy’s heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. He had recognized the man in the passenger seat. It was Marcellus Fisk. Tommy dropped out of the tree and bolted back to Burt with the confusing news.

36

CHAPTER 7

It’s a Deal “

W

hat do you mean you saw Fisk?” “He was in the jungle with another guy. They were on some old dirt path, then they got into an argument and drove away.” The boys were back in the den, the door shut once more. Tommy was pacing the room frantically, but Burt was plopped down on the couch with his hands in his hair. “But Tommy, Fisk is in jail. It couldn’t have been him.” “It was. I know it was. I recognized him the second I saw him,” Tommy insisted. “But you were so far away—” “You’ve just got to trust me on this. The way he moved, the suit he was wearing, the scary temper. Dude, it was him. I just know it.” “But why is he here?” Burt asked. “I have no idea. They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying.” 37

“What are we going to do?” “For starters, to get this out of the way, I don’t think we should call Asim.” Burt’s shoulders sagged. “But Tom—” “Right now we’ve got the drop on Fisk. We know he’s here, but I don’t think he knows that we are.” “How can you tell?” “He only had one guy with him. Fisk has every reason in the world to be afraid if he thinks I’m anywhere near. But he didn’t have any protection. He must think we’re still back home.” “Just like we thought he was still in jail,” Burt swallowed. “Exactly. If we call Asim, he’ll probably have a great idea for what we should do next. But we’re probably never going to have a better chance of stopping Fisk before he even knows what’s hit him. And if we do that on our own, Asim will see that we’re ready to take our training to the next level.” “Tommy—” “No, Burt, I’m serious. He barely even let us go on this trip because he thought we’d get into something we couldn’t handle.” 38

“You mean like going on our own against Fisk when we have no idea what he’s up to?” Tommy quit pacing. Burt continued his staring contest with the floor. “We can do this. I know we can. How about we poke around and see what we can figure out? If it looks like this is too big for us, we’ll call Asim. How’s that sound?” Tommy asked. “It sounds fine, as long as you mean it.” “Have I ever lied to you?” He looked Burt in the eye. “Fine. But I’m the one who decides when we call him.” “It’s a deal.” Tommy walked over with his hand outstretched. Burt stood up, took a deep breath, and shook it. “Awesome. Now let’s figure out what our buddy Fisk is up to in sunny Florida.”

Annie put down her book and raised an eyebrow at the gentle knocking on her door. She was sitting on her bed propped against a pile of 39

pillows, thick books scattered in careful piles around her. “Who is it?” The door creaked open. Tommy poked his head in and smiled. “Um, hey, Cuz. What’s up?” “What do you want? You didn’t bring any milk with, did you?” Annie asked. “Ha. Ha. Um, no. And Burt’s really, really sorry about that.” “Could have been something worse that milk, I guess. Now what do you want? I’m kinda busy,” Annie said. “I just have a quick question for you.” Tommy stepped in the room, followed closely by Burt, who shut the door behind them. “Well, it’s more like a favor.” “What could you possibly want me to do for you?” Annie asked sarcastically. “Nothing. I mean, we don’t actually need you to do anything yourself. We just need to borrow your computer.” “Well, you can’t take it anywhere. It’s pretty much stuck to the desk.” Tommy laughed. He was faking it, and he wasn’t doing a good job. 40

Annie crossed her gangly arms and gave them a curious look. “What do you need it for? Going to e-mail your girlfriend?” “No, no, we don’t need e-mail. We actually just have to do some research.” “For homework,” Burt added. “You’re doing homework? While you’re on vacation?” “‘Why wait for tomorrow when you could be done today’, I always say.” Tommy fake-chuckled, again doing a poor job. He flashed a grin that wouldn’t have fooled a blind man. Annie pondered the idea, and looked them over. Burt began to sweat. Somehow it seemed like Annie was interrogating them. “Okay, you can use my computer.” Tommy and Burt looked at each other. This seemed too easy. “Of course, I’ll need to ask a favor of you.” The boys nodded and smiled to themselves. There it was. That’s what was missing. “Sure thing. What do you need?” Tommy asked. “Our moms want us to go out for dinner tonight. I can’t go.” “Why not?” Burt blurted. 41

“I have . . . things to do.” She glanced down at the books she was reading. Burt took notice. “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you help me convince my mom to let me stay behind. “That’s it?” Tommy asked. “You want to do more?” Tommy shook his head. “That’s what I thought. So, we have a deal?” “Yeah, we have a deal.” “Then the computer’s yours.” Annie pointed to the wall opposite the door and went back to reading. Burt started for the computer, but Tommy walked toward his cousin. “Hey, Annie?” “What?” “Have you ever seen this picture before?” Tommy handed her the photo of the three people on the beach. “So you were snooping!” “Sorry, we didn’t go there looking for anything like that! We just found it, and I was a little confused.” “Confused? So your mom hasn’t told you about this?” Tommy and Burt shook their heads. 42

“Sorry fellas, but I doubt that’s something Aunt Gloria would want me telling you. Something personal like that, she’ll want to tell you herself.” “Personal? Come on, you have to tell me. Is this why they’re disagreeing all the time?” Tommy tried. “I said I’m not going to say. But I can’t believe she hasn’t told you yet. Kinda makes you wonder what else she’s not saying.” “Yeah, sure does . . . ,” Tommy muttered as he walked over to Burt. The boys sat themselves at the computer with Burt at the controls. He clicked on the Internet icon and worked his way to a search engine. He typed in history museum Florida. The first few links led to history museums in the area. He clicked through their pages. None of them made reference to housing anything that resembled another piece of the golden sun statue. Burt changed the search words, this time to Egyptian Florida. This got them links to Web sites for restaurants and themed hotels, but nothing that seemed likely to draw Fisk hundreds of miles south. “I can’t find anything,” Burt crinkled his forehead in frustration. 43

“Try typing Egypt and prophecy,” Tommy whispered. “Prophecy?” “Yeah, remember? Fisk said something about a prophecy when we were in the museum.” “What are you whispering about over there? Are you doing secret homework?” Annie butted in. “No, I just didn’t want to disrupt your reading.” “Hmm, how thoughtful of you. And did I hear you say prophecy? Are you doing homework or reading your horoscopes?” “Ha, ha, really funny. And, no, I didn’t say prophecy, I said, um,” Tommy froze, and his jaw went slack. “Uh . . .” “Apostrophe. He said apostrophe. When we do research, sometimes Tommy says his grammatical marks out loud,” Burt said in a rush. Tommy looked at Burt in disbelief, who shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, really. Is that right, Tommy?” “Yes, um, comma, it sure is.” Burt urged him to finish with his eyes. “Oh. Um, period.” They both stared at Annie hoping she believe the garbage they had just spit out. 44

“Well, that’s a really strange habit you have there, cousin.” “Yeah, no kidding,” Burt added. “I don’t believe you. So you can get off my computer now and go back to whatever it is you dorks do.” Tommy stared at her in disbelief. “What are you talking about? We made a deal.” “I know. And you got to go on the computer, so I held up my end. We never discussed how long you would get to be on there.” “That’s unfair!” “I disagree. I did what I said I would do. Now it’s your turn.” “Guess we should have seen that one coming,” Burt muttered as he stood up. Tommy followed behind him, still arguing with his cousin inside of his head. “Oh, and squirt? If you two don’t somehow manage to convince my mom to let me skip dinner tonight, you’re going to pay for it when we get back. Big time.” Tommy thought he saw her eyes flash in the dim of the room, but he shook off the illusion. “Whatever.” 45

CHAPTER 8

Foreign Exchange

“

46

T

hat was Darla, live from the Orlando Zoo. Now, how about those Miami Dolphins, Jake?” The chiseled, blond news anchor beamed, his teeth sparkling. The boys were back in the den. Tommy was glued to the TV, constantly flipping back and forth between channels, trying to find any clue as to why Fisk would have migrated south for the winter. Burt tried to distract himself with reading, but he had read the same page six times without noticing. He had actually turned a page backward at one point. “Why is he here? Tommy, let’s just call Asim. He’ll know.” “No! Burt, we can figure this out. As soon as the rain lets up, we’ll go back to where I saw him. We’ll track him down.” “And then what?” “I dunno. We’ll follow him, or something. We’ll figure out what he’s up to.” “Tom—”

“No, Burt, we made a deal!” Tommy burst out. “We only call Asim if we’re in over our heads, and we’re not there yet. We’re just, I don’t what.” Tommy stared straight ahead, pounding his thumb against the television remote like a jackhammer. “ . . . and it looks like the forecast calls for juuuust a bit more rain,” cooed the sorry-faced weatherman. “Aaah!” Tommy barked in frustration. “I hate this! I should be out there, doing something! But—” “But what? Cats hate water?” “No. I can’t pick up his trail if I can’t smell him. Plus, the rain will make it too tough to follow any tire tracks they might have left.” Tommy walked over to his bag and pulled out an old, beautiful wood box. He felt more relaxed just holding it. Tommy sat on the couch, opened the lid, and stared at the gold sliver of statue inside. “Warriors don’t sit around, Burt. Warriors have to take action. It’s the way we’re built.” “I think you’re a little ways off until you can include yourself in that class, Tom. But I know what you’re saying. And this is exactly what Asim has been talking about. You don’t have any 47

patience. You think of something and you think you have to do it immediately, no matter what anyone else says.” “Yeah, well that impatience served me pretty well when we stopped Fisk last time, didn’t it?” Burt sighed. This was not a new argument. “Yeah, it did, Tom, that one time. But remember, you won’t always just be going against someone like Fisk, even though he’s scary enough.” He tried to look Tommy in the eyes, but they were glued to the item in the box before him. “Eventually you’ll have to face Badru.” Tommy closed the box and stared at the lid. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t like to even consider having to someday try to defeat his ancestors’ enemy. The mere thought of going toe-to-toe with someone who had used black magic to stay alive for thousands of years made him feel inadequate. How could he even hope to defeat someone who had been obsessing over one goal since the dawn of civilization? “We should be using this time to plan, Tommy. To figure out a strategy.” “A strategy for what? We can’t even figure out why Fisk is here. And even if we knew that much, 48

we don’t know where he is, so it wouldn’t matter!” “What’s all the yelling about in here, boys? Are you arguing about your apostrophe research?” Annie grinned devilishly from the doorway. “Hey, get outta here!” Tommy said. “Quit eavesdropping.” “I wasn’t eavesdropping, the door was open. Besides, it’s my house, so I can go wherever I want.” Here eyes glittered with interest at Tommy. “Say, what’s in the box? Looks old.” “None of your business,” Tommy growled. The sudden instinct to give his cousin a scare of the shape-shifting variety flew over him defensively, but he forced it back down. Instead he shoved the box back in his bag. “Whatever.” She smiled. “But look, I just came to remind you—” “Hey, kids!” Tommy’s mom bounded into the room past Annie, looking more excited than they had seen her all day. “Perfect timing . . . ,” Annie said. “What sweetie?” “Nothing, Aunt Gloria. What were you going to say?” “I was going to say that I have some good news.” 49

“Did it stop raining?” Burt’s head whipped toward the window. He turned back to her, looking disappointed. “Um, no. I think the rain’s gonna stay for a couple more days, Burt. Sorry. The good news is that we’re going to go to Florida Wok tonight for dinner.” “What’s that, Mrs. B?” “It’s a Chinese restaurant that Kirsten and I used to go to all the time when we first moved to the United States. Plus, they have the greatest egg rolls in the world. I’ve been waiting for them for fifteen years.” Aunt Kirsten came into the room. “Are we ready to go?” “I think so. Boys, Annie, grab your rain jackets, let’s go.” “Actually, Mom,” Annie said. “I didn’t know we were planning anything for dinner tonight, so I made plans. With Ashley.” “Oh baloney, Annie, you knew that we were going to do this. You just don’t want to come.” Annie glared at her cousin, and made a quick hand gesture her mother couldn’t see. Tommy rolled his eyes. 50

“Actually, Aunt Kirsten, I heard her talking to her friend on the phone earlier.” Annie smiled. Tommy continued, “What did I hear you saying you two are going to do? Braid each other’s hair and talk about how dreamy boys can be?” Annie’s smile disappeared. “Yup. That’s it,” she said through gritted teeth. “Oh, it’s fine, Kirsten. Let her play with her friend.” Kirsten stared at her sister. “Fine. Annie, you don’t have to come, but I’m calling Ashley’s parents when we get home. If I find out that you went out into that swamp instead of doing something with her, I’ll—well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but you won’t like it.” “Fine by me.” Annie winked slyly to Tommy and Burt. Then, she darted out of the den up the stairs to her room. “Let’s go. I’m hungry,” Kirsten snarled and moved out of the room. Tommy quickly wondered if he’d seen her smile once the whole time they’d been there. His mom remained in the doorway, looking defeated. “You okay, Mom?” 51

She offered a weak smile. “I’m fine, honey. You two get ready. I want to see you at the front door in two minutes.” She followed her sister out. Burt stood staring at the ground, also looking defeated. “It’s okay. Sisters are like that sometimes. It’s normal.” Tommy put a hand on Burt’s shoulder. Burt looked back at him and the anguish in his face intensified. “It’s not that, Tommy. It’s just . . . I hate egg rolls.” Despite himself, Tommy laughed. “I know you do, Burt. You’re just going to have to take one for the team tonight.”

52

CHAPTER 9

On Their Own

T

he restaurant’s neon sign lit hazily through the rain, spelling Flor da Wok, and reading more like a command than a name. The building looked worn and out of place between the modern fast-food joints and twenty-story hotels surrounding it. But something made Tommy like it immediately. Tommy followed his mom in through the creaky front door, Burt walking close behind him. Aunt Kirsten had basically jumped out of the car before it had stopped rolling and was at the counter waiting for them. A teenage boy led them through a maze of tables to a booth in the back corner. Tommy and Burt made a few short stops along the way to check out the displays of Chinese culture. One section of the wall held ancientlooking swords and daggers, their edges long since dulled. The boys approached the gigantic fish tank and even through thick glass, the fish knew there was something they didn’t like about Tommy. The 53

boys laughed when the fish stayed as far away from him as they could. When they got to the booth, Tommy sat on the inside across from his mom. She was glancing around the restaurant, smiling when her eyes rested on something that reminded her of a happy memory. Her sister was having the exact opposite experience. She gripped her menu like a vise clamp, leaving the edges bent. “Can we order already?” Aunt Kirsten said. Tommy’s mom looked relaxed and too happy with being back at the Florida Wok to let her sister ruin the evening. “Come on, Kirsten, remember why we came here. Try to have a good time.” She turned to the boys and missed Kirsten rolling her eyes, which made her look even more like her daughter. “I don’t think I’ll be able to eat a whole order of egg rolls as an appetizer, boys. Who’s going to help me?” Tommy elbowed Burt in the side. Burt smiled weakly. A waitress approached with a tray of water glasses and a huge smile. “Hello everyone, welcome to the Florida Wok. Are you ready to order?” 54

“Yes we are. I’ll have—,” Aunt Kirsten started, but was interrupted by Tommy’s mom. “Actually, I’m having a little bit of trouble deciding. Could we have another minute?” “Of course.” The waitress walked over to one of the few other occupied tables, and Aunt Kirsten slammed her menu down. “Fine, take all the time you want. I’m going to the bathroom.” Without waiting for a response she slid out of the booth and stomped toward the entrance. Tommy’s mom sighed and set down her menu. She seemed very tired suddenly. “I’m sorry for choosing such a terrible vacation, boys.” “No, Mom, it’s fine. It’s—” “Tommy, can it.” She smiled slightly at his attempt, then went back to staring at the tabletop. “The truth is, I haven’t been honest with you about why I wanted us to come down here. There’s a reason I haven’t spoken with my sister in so long. Or rather, why she hasn’t spoken with me.” “We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to, Mrs. B.”

55

“No, Tommy has a right to know. So, here goes.” She took a deep breath, forced a smile, and began, “When I first moved here with your aunt, Tommy, I didn’t start dating your father right away, like I told you I did. Kirsten dated him first. “They were together for about six months, and she thought they were going to get married. But she couldn’t see that they weren’t right for each other. “When your father broke up with her, she was devastated. And when he told her that he was in love with me, she was absolutely heartbroken. “When she saw there was nothing she could do to separate us, she turned around and moved back to Germany. We didn’t see her for two years. When we found out she was about to have your cousin, we flew back to see her in the hospital. We saw Annie just after she was born, but Kirsten wouldn’t speak with us. “When I found out a few months ago that she was living in Florida, I called her. I hoped that enough time had passed for her to forgive me. She agreed to let us come down, but I guess it’s been more difficult for her to forget the past.” The booth had suddenly become very uncomfortable. Tommy squirmed in his seat and 56

nervously tapped on the table. He cleared his throat. “But, are you sorry? I mean, do you wish that you had just let Dad marry Aunt Kirsten instead? So she wouldn’t be mad at you?” His mom had tears at the corners of her eyes, but they stayed there. “Not a chance. Those few years I spent with your father were the best years of my life. But I am sorry for hurting your aunt.” Burt nodded. “What can we do to help?” She smiled. “Thank you, Burt, that’s very sweet. But I think this is a problem between sisters that I’m going to have to fix.” “What if we gave you some time alone?” Burt suggested. “You two used to come here all the time before any of this happened. Maybe this would be a good place to talk. We could take a cab back to Kirsten’s house.” “Yeah, Mom, for real. That’s a good idea.” “What about your dinner?” “We’ll find something at the house. Besides,” Burt said, shrugging, “I’m sorry I lied to you, but I hate egg rolls. Like, a lot.” Tommy’s mom let out a single burst of laughter. She was smiling now, even though her eyes still looked kind of sad. “Thank you, boys, that would 57

be really nice. Here’s some money for a cab. If things are like they were when I lived here, there should be some parked on the corner just outside the restaurant.” She paused and looked at them with watery eyes. “You two are really good kids. Thank you.” “I’m just glad we could help. Good luck.” Tommy leaned across the table and gave his mother a hug. “Yeah, good luck, Mom.” “Thanks.” The boys squeezed out of the booth and made their way through the maze of tables. They walked past a confused-looking Aunt Kirsten, pulled the hoods up on their jackets, and pushed back out into the rain.

58

CHAPTER 10

Stolen

A

fter a quick cab ride, Tommy and Burt jumped out of the car and bolted for the front door. The rain had begun to pour down in slanting sheets, and lightning lit the sky. They stopped for a second to try to wring out their clothes under the protection of the porch roof. Burt pointed to the front door. “Annie must have forgotten to close it when she left for her friend’s house.” The old, heavy door stood open about a foot from the frame, occasionally swaying back and forth. Tommy pushed it all the way open and stepped through. The house looked like a disaster area. Every piece of furniture was flipped over or torn apart, and stuffing was scattered across the living room. Cupboards were left open in the kitchen, and shattered glass littered the floor and counter. Holes had been punched in random places through every wall. Even pictures had been tossed from their hanging places. In the hour they had been gone, 59

someone had broken in and done more damage than Tommy would have thought possible. “Who could have done this?” Burt asked with a quiver in his voice. “Annie? Are you here?” Tommy bellowed. Then, he lowered his voice and said, “Burt we have to find her. If she was here, whoever did this could have hurt her.” “But what if someone else is still here?” Burt asked as he followed his friend. They ran up the stairs, stepping over and around books, lamps, and clothing that had been thrown around. Annie’s room looked much the same as the rest of the house, but she wasn’t there. They moved from room to room calling her name, but they got no response. They moved back down the stairs in search of any clue as to where the destruction had begun or ended. Tommy stopped by the back door and held up a hand for Burt to be quiet. He took a deep breath, then he shook his head. Tommy morphed so suddenly he startled Burt. He immediately moved to the door and pawed at the handle. Burt cautiously twisted it open and stepped back. Tommy slipped out. 60

Tommy took a few steps into the backyard and stopped at a rustling from the edge of the forest. The same long-legged dog he had seen next to Fisk’s car leaped over a bush and into the open yard. It halted so quickly at the sight of Tommy that its rear end slammed into the ground. The dog’s hair spiked and it began barking, baring all its teeth. Tommy growled in response and crouched even lower, ready to pounce. They stared at each other like angry statues. Each was unsure what to do next but neither was willing to back off. Burt burst out the door and stood behind Tommy. “Tom, what are you doing? It’s just a dog.” Tommy continued growling, but the dog ceased barking and turned its head. Suddenly the dog disappeared, and in its place stood Annie. “Burt, what are you doing!?” she shouted. “Get away from that cat!” “Cat? What are you—,” Burt stammered, so distracted by what he had just seen that he forgot Tommy was right next to him. “Oh, you mean . . . Tommy, change back!” When he did, both Tommy and Burt stared at Annie, blinking in disbelief. Annie mirrored their reactions. 61

“How about we talk about this inside?” Burt yelled. The wind and rain drowned his words, but Annie nodded and slowly began to walk toward them. The boys let her pass between them and then followed her into the house. Once inside, Annie turned around and stared at them without speaking. She measured Tommy carefully with her eyes and nodded, as if just looking at him confirmed whatever guesses she was making in her head. “How long?” she finally asked. “Have I been shifting?” She nodded once. “About six months.” She stared some more, then shrugged. “Hard to believe. A pipsqueak like you.” “Well, what about you? I mean, I thought it was my dad’s side of the family that let me do this.” “A few years. But don’t go confusing what you do with what I do. Dogs are majestic creatures. You just turn into a cat.” She said with a look of distaste. “I get it from my mom. Besides, don’t you need some kind of necklace to change or something?” Burt and Tommy looked at each other in confusion. 62

“What necklace?” “You know, that thing your dad always had on. My mom told me about it. That gold thing.” Tommy screamed in horror. “My dad’s piece of the statue! Oh no! That’s what they were stealing!” “Stealing? What are you talking about?” Annie asked the empty air where Tommy and Burt had just been standing. They had bolted out of the room and toward the den. Annie raced after them. “Guys? What’s going . . . oh no! What happened to my house?” She stopped to sift through the wreckage. Tommy exploded into the den and over everything in front of him until he reached his bag. The top flap had been unzipped and was hanging open. He reached his hands inside, panting and sweating, his heart beating cracks into his ribs. Burt knelt beside him with his hands pressed together in a simple prayer. Half-folded clothing flew through the air as Tommy’s arms whipped frantically until they found the old T-shirt wrapped around the most precious wooden box he had ever known. He pressed his eyes together, made a wish, took a quick breath, and flipped up the lid. The 63

necklace was safe, chain and all. Tommy sighed in relief. Burt fell to the ground, just happy to be breathing again. “They couldn’t find it,” Tommy said, taking the heavy chain from the box and placing it around his neck. There would be no more letting this precious item out of his sight in the foreseeable future. “Or it wasn’t what they came here to find,” Burt responded. “What are you talking about?” Annie spoke up from the doorway, her face ashen. “Burt’s right. They weren’t looking for your necklace. They probably didn’t even know it was here. But I know what they were here for.”

64

CHAPTER 11

More Secrets

A

“

nnie, what are you talking about?” Burt

asked. Annie was clutching an old model globe tightly to her chest, breathing deeply. “They were after my map.” “Map? Who are you talking about?” “I don’t know their names. They’ve been down here trying to find me. I followed them the other day when they made it into the jungle. I thought they’d give up since it didn’t look like they even knew where to start.” “Fisk,” Tommy whispered to himself. “Annie, was one of these guys tall with long, black hair? A crazy, angry guy?” “Yeah. I think he was the leader.” Burt had walked over and was standing behind Tommy. “This is really important. What is on your map? Why do you think these guys are the ones who tried to take it?” “You won’t believe me.” 65

“Cousin, about five minutes ago you were a big hairy dog and I was a house cat. I’ve extended what I’m willing to believe lately.” “I know. I know, that’s true. And I guess you probably would believe what’s on there, since you have a lot to do with it.” She slowly turned the globe upside down and began unscrewing the circular base. It creaked off after a few twists. She pulled a tightly coiled piece of ancient, yellowed paper bound with brown string out of the hollow core. “This map shows a path to the Fountain of Youth.” Tommy took a shocked step back and bumped into Burt. “The Fountain of Youth? That doesn’t exist. How do I have anything to do with something that doesn’t exist?” “Because of what you’re wearing under that shirt.” Tommy put his hand on the necklace. “Of course!” Burt yelled. “The fountain—or lake, or pond, or whatever—must have a piece of the statue in it! The water probably absorbed some of that energy. If people went there, they thought the water had the power to grant extended life.” “Well, it heals people more than actually making people live forever. But yeah, that’s basically it,” Annie said. 66

“Annie, how do you know so much about the statue pieces? And what are you doing with that map?” Annie gave Tommy a slightly puzzled look, as if she had heard him wrong. She realized she hadn’t when she saw Burt giving her the same waiting stare. “What do you mean? You don’t know?” “Know what? That you like to collect maps leading to mythological places?” “Hasn’t your mom told you anything?” “You mean the whole thing with how her and my dad started dating? Yeah, she told me. I mean, she just told me tonight, but she told me. But what does that have to do with the Fountain of Youth?” “That’s it? That’s all she said?” “Well, what else is there for her to say?” Tommy’s voice was rising. He didn’t like guessing games, and he hated when something was kept from him. “For starters, she could tell you that she comes from a family of werewolves.” That sentence slammed into Tommy like a forty-pound hammer. Suddenly he felt as if all the air had been let from his chest. Everything seemed to be swimming before him. 67

Annie continued. “I mean, hello? Where do you think I got my ability to change?” “But I thought werewolves were monsters that hunted after helpless children,” Burt mumbled. Annie rolled her eyes. “That’s just what scared villagers said hundreds of years ago. Those stories didn’t have anything to do with us. Every Wolfe family werewolf has been a hero. They’ve been warriors dedicated to protecting the people of Germany. Sound familiar, Tommy?” He nodded. “That’s why your dad and my mom were partners,” Annie said. “Two heroes defending the people work better than one, you know? So they both moved to America. Some people thought the Egyptian pharaoh had sent a piece of the statue here. People said it might have been put in the safekeeping of a tribe of Native Americans. “Turns out they were right, and my mom and your dad figured out it was with a tribe in Florida. The tribe kept it in a cave on the edge of a pond, where it was guarded and protected. It was forgotten as the tribe dwindled. Over the next couple thousand years, the water levels rose up over the cave and trapped the statue inside.” 68

“How do you know all of this?” Burt asked. “My mom told me all the werewolf stuff once I started figuring out I could change. That got me interested in Ra’s statue. Mom stopped looking for it after I was born, since in our family the power is passed from a parent to their first child. Once that happens, the parent loses the ability. One-shot kinda thing, I guess. “Anyway, one day I started going through all her stuff in the attic. I found a map packed in the pages of a really old book. I don’t think she even knew it was there. It was in a different language and had a mix of symbols, but somehow I knew that it showed where the statue was. And I knew it was close.” Burt cleared his throat. He was clinging to Annie’s every word. “You could read what it said?” “Well, no.” Her face went dark red. “That’s what got me in this mess. I mean, look at it, it’s impossible.” She handed it to Burt, but neither boy had an idea where to begin trying to read it. “I posted images from the map, just pieces, never the whole thing, on the Internet hoping someone could help me translate. But somehow those men figured out what the map leads to and 69

where I live. They probably think they can buy that land and then charge a million dollars a person to go into the Fountain or something. I just don’t get how they knew what it was.” “Badru has eyes and ears everywhere,” Burt said. Annie nearly swallowed her tongue. “Those guys work for Badru?” She slapped her hand to her forehead. “Oh no! That means they probably know what’s powering the Fountain!” Suddenly she looked like she was going to cry. “My mother was the first born,” Tommy spoke, his voice raspy. “What are you talking about?” Annie asked. “You said that shape-shifting is passed from a parent to the firstborn child. My mom is older than your mom.” “Yeah, I know.” Annie was nearly yelling. “Why else do you think my mom was so upset about your dad not marrying her? She was worried about the prophecy.” “Annie—,” Burt began, but Tommy cut him off. “What prophecy? Fisk talked about a prophecy in the museum before he was arrested.” “A few hundred years ago, word got out that Badru had made a prophecy. He said that a son 70

made by the Ungifted Firstborn and the Descendant of Gods would . . .” “Annie, stop,” Burt tried again. “ . . . start a final battle against . . .” “Stop! Now!” Burt roared, and for once he suddenly seemed every bit as large as he truly was. He took a few heaving breaths and began speaking again, quietly this time. “Please, Annie. Don’t say any more.” Tommy nearly exploded. “What are you talking about?” “Asim was going to tell you all of this. He just needs to know that you’ll be ready to hear it. He doesn’t want you overreacting.” “Well, I’m ready. Tell me now.” “I can’t, Tom. And Annie can’t, either. It isn’t our right. And I’m going to guess your mom doesn’t even think it’s her right, or she probably would have told you by now.” “Burt, I don’t care whose right it is! I don’t like all these secrets! I thought Asim was telling me everything.” “He’s told you all you’ve needed to know so far. But what you don’t know yet . . . is a bit strange.” “Apparently you’re doing okay with it,” Tommy said. 71

“He wasn’t going to tell me either. But he figured that if I knew ahead of time, I’d be able to help you figure out how to process the information.” “So you really aren’t going to tell me?” “I can’t. I’m sorry.” Tommy shook his head in disbelief and muttered to himself with his back to the others. He turned around. “You know what? That’s fine. For now. But after we find the Fountain and stop Fisk, I’m getting some answers. And there’s no arguing about it.” Burt’s face looked pained, but he held strong. He didn’t like fighting with Tommy. “That seems fair to me.” Annie decided to step in, sorry for having unleashed all of this. “Tommy, we can’t go after them now. It’s raining too hard. There’s no way those guys are going out in this either. Besides, they didn’t get the map, so they don’t know where to look.” “She’s right. We should call Asim and come up with a plan until the rain lets up a little. The only way we’re going to beat Fisk is by outthinking him.” “No,” Tommy said. “That’s not what we agreed, 72

Burt. We can handle this! Annie, could you get us there before Fisk figures out he’s as close as he is?” “Probably. But . . .” “Great. We’ll get in there, grab the piece, and get back here before Fisk has any idea. It’s not going to be easy, Burt, but we’ve got to do it.” “I’m coming,” Annie stated. “You don’t steal from me and get away with it.” Burt looked at the ground. “I just think we should call Asim first.” As if on cue, every light in the house went dark. Tommy stepped confidently through the thick blackness, grabbed a telephone, and pushed the on button. Nothing happened. He walked back and pushed it into Burt’s hands. “Annie, do you have a cell phone?” Burt asked. “Mom says not until I’m sixteen.” “Burt, calling Asim isn’t an option now. You know as well as I do that rain is not going to stop Fisk from trying to get his hands on the statue. Badru would probably kill him if he found out there was even a minute’s hesitation. We have to move now.” “We’re already behind them if they decided to try searching without the map, or if they were able 73

to figure it out from what Annie put online. All we can hope is that they have trouble reading the parts of the map that they have and take a wrong turn or something, to give us time to catch up. Buddy, I couldn’t stop Fisk without you last time. I know I’m gonna need you this time.” Somewhere in the dark, Burt nodded. “Yeah, I’ll come.” “Good. Thank you. It wouldn’t feel right without you. Okay, let’s get going. Annie, you lead the way. Burt, you grab a flashlight and carry the map. I’ll bring up the rear. We’ve got work to do.”

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CHAPTER 12

Land of Legend

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he rain continued to fall. Burt flipped up the hood of his thick rain jacket. Annie and Tommy went even further, shifting into their animal forms. Their natural coats kept them warmer, and also made them feel much safer. If they crossed paths with the would-be thieves, they wouldn’t have to worry about changing, they could just react. They had been in the forest for nearly an hour. The first few times Annie had tried following the map she’d had to figure out certain fuzzy details and directions through trial and error. The map was hardly drawn to exact scale, and there were a number of small swampy ponds in the area that threw her off. The trail they were following now was the one she had taken when she had finally made it to the Fountain. Luckily that trip had been recent enough to leave every rock and tree fresh in her mind, despite the rain. 75

The more he thought about it, the more Tommy believed he was right. They had to take any advantage they could get and just hope that the imperfect map or the weather slowed Fisk down. Fisk would be too determined to grab the statue to wait out the weather. This had turned into a race, and Tommy hoped that he and his friends were winning. Tommy watched Burt trip over a hidden tree root and catch himself on the rough bark of an oak tree. He knew his friend must be exhausted. Of their group, only Burt couldn’t see in the dark. Tommy was somewhat upset with Burt, but he felt that his anger was better set with Asim. He couldn’t believe that Asim had kept more secrets from him. He had made Tommy promise to keep no secrets from him, and yet Tommy wasn’t given the same respect. After they got this statue piece out of the jungle and back where it belonged, he planned on having a long talk with Asim. Suddenly a bright light burst around them. A loud crack stole their breath. Tommy leaped into the bushes as a large branch, still sizzling where the lightning had struck it, crashed to the ground in the spot he had just been standing. 76

Tommy changed back into his normal form and stared at his cousin, his mouth hanging open with shock. “How much farther do we have to go? The weather isn’t exactly working with us.” Annie stopped and transformed. “We’re here.” They gathered around Burt’s flashlight, three kids by themselves in the middle of the wild Florida swampland. Annie was smiling. “Check it out,” Annie said. “The Fountain is just through those bushes.” Annie walked over first and poked her head out to make sure no one was waiting for them on the other side. She turned back and beckoned the boys forward. In single file, they followed each other through the tree line and into the legendary clearing that people had been searching for for hundreds of years. Annie had done in months what famous explorers had wasted lifetimes trying to achieve. Even amidst a downpour, the pond was gorgeous. The water glistened with a radiant blue despite the fact that the moon cast barely a sliver of light. Tommy could feel the familiar energy of Ra’s statue. He knew there was no better goal than keeping that power away from those who wished to abuse it. 77

“Where is it? Where’s the cave?” Tommy asked Annie. Burt handed her the map and used his arms to create a shield from the rain so she could unroll it. “There.” She pointed to a cluster of tall, thin trees growing only inches apart from each other. They were wrapped in green vines of ivy. “The map says the cave should be under those trees. I’d guess it’s probably under about ten feet of water by now.” “By now?” “This area is below sea level. Thousands of years ago most of this was dry land, but over time water crept in and kept rising. I’d guess the water’s a bit deeper than when the map was made.” “I thought your mom said you never went to school? How did you learn something like that?” Tommy laughed through the rain. “I’m pretty good at paying attention when something interests me.” “How are we going to get it out?” Burt asked. “We’re not.” Tommy hit him in the arm, playfully. His good spirits had returned. “I am.” “How? We didn’t think to bring any scuba gear, snorkels, or anything like that.” “Lucky for us, I happen to know a cat that likes to swim.” 78

“You can’t be serious.” “Why not?” “Can cats even swim underwater? It seems like it would make more sense to have Annie do it. Or, now that we know where it is, to have you and me guard it until Annie can bring someone back to help us.” “No. No way. It’s now or never. I’m not going to risk Fisk sneaking up behind us and ruining everything when we had a perfectly good chance to do this right away. I’m going in and that’s final.” “Tommy, Burt’s right. I’m more familiar with what to expect down there, and I’m a really strong swimmer. If anyone’s going down there it should be me.” Tommy backed toward the water and crossed his hands through the air. “It has to be like this. I have to do it. We can’t both go. You have to stay up here and protect Burt. Getting the statue is my job.” Tommy couldn’t see Burt through the dark rain, and he worried what his expression might be. “Good luck, Tom,” he finally yelled. “We’ll be here when you get back, Tommy,” added Annie. “Hurry up, though. Who knows how close behind those guys are.” 79

“Thanks for understanding. See you in a bit.” Tommy turned to the water’s edge and changed forms. In a moment, his sleek rain jacket was replaced by a glistening coat of silver. He placed a paw toward the water and stopped when a harsh smell like rotting meat caught his nose. Floating in the middle were three large alligators, posing as logs. Tommy didn’t think gators usually grew that large. He had no doubt the powers of the stone had more than a little something to do with their outstanding size. Luckily, they didn’t seem to be paying him any attention. Tommy made a mental note to keep a sharp eye on those dangerous logs. The water was much warmer than he expected, like a comfortable bath. The slope of the shore dropped off quickly, and within a few steps he was swimming. He had never actually swum while he was in this form, but he found it came just as easily as the large cats on nature shows made it look. In the water, he felt like anything but a large cat. He doggy-paddled with his tail skimmed along the surface like a winding snake. Rain pounded from the sky and winds whipped over his head, but the pond stayed remarkably still. 80

As he moved closer to the clump of trees, Tommy peeked at their roots through the clear water and saw a circle of darkness break away from the wall of rock and mud that formed the bank. There it is, he thought. Tommy reached the trees and swam in small circles. The cave looked like it could be a lot deeper than he had first thought. He wondered if he would be able to hold his breath long enough to find and retrieve the statue. What if it was farther than he could go? Or what if he couldn’t see once he got down there? What if he got lost? Tommy looked over to where he had left Annie and Burt. The rain made it difficult to see much beyond the edge of the bank. He was on his own. Tommy took a deep breath and dove.

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CHAPTER 13

Surprise Visitor

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wimming straight down was more difficult than just swimming across the water. Tommy concentrated on not pushing himself too hard, frightened he would waste all the air in his lungs. Worry overtook him when the cave came closer only slow inches at a time, and he began to flail his legs ferociously. He felt his lungs begin to burn. Frustrated, he shoved himself upward and broke through the surface. He swallowed massive gulps of rainy air and latched onto the bank for support. Slowly he began to calm. Tommy dropped below the water again. He pushed and swatted at the water. The dark cave never seemed to get any closer, like he was caught in a bad dream. His lungs began to burn once more, but he did his best to ignore the pain. Energy drained from his limbs and his head began to feel light and airy. His body stopped working. He told his arms to 82

move, to push him farther under the water, but they didn’t seem to listen. Defeated and heartbroken, he opened his mouth and let out the last of his breath. And then breathed in. He could breathe! He could breathe in this water, and it felt as easy as if he were up on the land! Amazing, he thought. It’s got to be an effect of the statue! Filled with newfound hope, he pushed on. He began swimming back down toward the cave. The mouth of the cave wasn’t large, but it was impressive. It was cut into the bank in a nearperfect half circle, and its edges were completely flat without scratches or chips. Tommy swam inside and the power overwhelmed him. His body immediately felt both powerful and relaxed, like it was capable of anything. The statue was at the back of the cave, about fifteen feet away. He couldn’t see it yet, but he knew it was there. He moved toward it without consciously deciding to. The piece sat by itself in the middle of a flawless square slab of stone that came to the middle of 83

Tommy’s feline chest. It emitted a gentle and unwavering golden light, like a beacon in the dark. Tommy could see ancient carvings of hunting, sacrifices, and warriors on the wall behind the stone. Tommy paused a few feet from his goal and tried to take in everything. He was in a cave that had gone unoccupied for thousands of years, and it felt incredible. They had succeeded. He knew his father would have been proud. In just a few minutes, this piece of the statue would be out of Badru’s grasp. They would be one step closer to completing the statue. Tommy smiled, and swam forward to finish the job. Tommy didn’t know what had made these people leave the cave, or why they didn’t take the statue with them. But, he knew that it was now his duty to put it back with its brothers, where it belonged. He took the statue into his mouth and turned back toward a world that would now never be able to find the Fountain of Youth. He smashed back through the water’s surface like a rising submarine. He looked toward the middle of the pond. Satisfied that the gigantic gators were still uninterested, Tommy swam straight back to his friends. 84

The rain had let up into nothing more than a light drizzle. Tommy could now see where he had first entered the Fountain and the two misty forms that were waiting for him. Tommy padded out of the water and onto the bank. There, he was surprised to see that Annie had changed into her more hairy form and she was facing the forest, as if protecting Burt from the trees. Tommy came up behind them to see what Annie was growling at. He didn’t have to wait long. Marcellus Fisk stepped out from behind a thick white tree. He was surrounded by at least half a dozen men dressed in green camouflage. Fisk, of course, wore a form-fitting dark business suit. His long, dark hair looked as untouched and perfect as it ever did, like he’d just stepped out of the shower instead of a rainy jungle. Tommy quickly weighed his options. He could bolt back into the water and try to wait them out in the cave, but where did that leave Annie and Burt? He would have to fight his way out. With Annie on his side, it couldn’t be that difficult to take down this many men. He’d fought half this many before all on his own, and he was stronger now. He lowered his shoulders, preparing to charge. 85

A man to Fisk’s right pulled out a strangelooking pistol. “Not another step, my young adventure-seeking friend,” smirked Fisk. “This gun is packed with enough tranquilizers to drop a rhino, or a rhinosized boy, if need be.” Burt swallowed through his tight throat. He took a step behind his two protectors, leaving them between him and the immediate source of danger. Tommy joined Annie in growling. His whole body shook with rage, and his tail swung furiously behind him like a bullwhip. Drops of saliva began to stream from between Annie’s teeth. “Oh, there’s no need for such rude behavior. My brief stay in jail gave me time to think about our situation. I’ve decided that you and I are merely competitors in this great search. We must learn to respect each other. Sometimes you win, this time I win.” Fisk danced his hands through the air as he spoke, just as he had in the museum six months ago. “You are obviously stronger, so I had to be smarter. Which, to be honest, wasn’t incredibly difficult. I mean, all we had to do was pretend to try to take her map, and then you led us right to 86

where we needed to go. We didn’t even need to figure out how to read it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to gloat about outthinking a group of idiot children. Still, there is a certain satisfaction to attaining what I set out to get. Speaking of which—” Fisk held out his hand and beckoned for the statue, as if Tommy were expected to walk up and hand it to him. Tommy dropped the piece gently to the ground, then lowered his stance and bared his teeth. He had laid a challenge: if Fisk wanted the statue, he would have to come get it. “Oh please, Bomani. I may have time for your nonsense but Badru certainly doesn’t. Boyle, shoot the fat one.” Not needing to be told again, the man with the gun blasted a muffled-sounding shot that caught Burt in the gut. A red feathery flag jutted out from his jacket, and Burt coughed out a surprised yell before falling backward into the pond with a massive splash. The gun was quickly retrained on Tommy, stopping his immediate urge to pounce at the man stupid enough to hurt his best friend. Annie ran to the edge of the bank and gripped the neck of Burt’s 87

jacket in her teeth. She set her feet in the mud and pulled, but he was just too heavy. “Good. Now Kennedy, grab the statue. I trust the boy won’t be stupid enough to try to stop you.” A man on Fisk’s left crept toward Tommy, who stared at the gun pointed directly at him. With a quick dash, the man shot his hand inches from Tommy’s face. Then the piece was in Fisk’s possession. Fisk smiled. “Very good, Bomani. You’re obviously maturing. I very much doubt your father would have let me take anything from him so easily. But, as you’ve shown a thousand times over, you aren’t nearly the man your father was.” Tommy’s stomach sank. Fisk was right. He had basically done everything he could to make sure the statue was delivered straight into his enemy’s hands. His father never would have been so stupid or given up so easily. “Then again,” Fisk continued, “maybe there are some ways you wouldn’t mind being different than old Husani Bomani. I mean, he’s not exactly here with us right now, is he?” Fisk grabbed the gun from the man next to him and pointed it at Tommy. He had predicted 88

Tommy’s lunge before he even had a chance to make one. “Go ahead and try, Bomani. I can guarantee it would be the last thing you ever do.” Every muscle bunched in Tommy’s body. The blood pounded through his head, clouding his vision with blotches of red. But once again, Tommy stayed put. “Okay men, let’s get moving. We’ve got a long trip back to deliver Badru his prize.” Not all of the men shared Fisk’s confidence. “What if he follows us? Shouldn’t we shoot him before we leave? I mean, I don’t want to get taken down from behind by some magical cat.” “Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem. He can’t leave. He’s got company to worry about.” Fisk pointed toward the water, and Tommy turned to look. The alligators, that only minutes ago could have easily been mistaken for dead, were now moving toward Burt. Annie barked and showed her teeth, but the gators kept on cruising. “The choice is yours, Bomani. I don’t envy you—it isn’t an easy one. It’s time to decide where your priorities lie. I’d wish you luck, but who am 89

I kidding? I hope whatever you decide haunts you forever. Until next time . . . ” Fisk smiled one last time and stepped backward into the trees until even his shadow had disappeared. Tommy gnashed his fangs. Again, Fisk was right. Tommy knew what he had to do, and he just hoped it wasn’t the worst decision he would ever make.

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CHAPTER 14

An Important Decision

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ommy spun around and leaped from the bank into the water, placing himself directly between Burt and the approaching predators. Up close they were even bigger, like scaly half-sized elephants with teeth the size of butcher knives. Tommy couldn’t help but feel a bit overmatched. He landed in water just below his shoulders, on the last bit of land before it dropped off to considerably deeper depths. He faced the alligators and let loose the scream that had been building in his gut since Fisk had first stepped out from the jungle. The three reptiles paused and looked at the new obstacle in their path. Only twenty feet stood between them and their unconscious prey. In their path sat the only animal they had ever seen do 91

anything other than run from them. Amused but not intimidated, they pressed on. Annie was still on the bank, and now in her human form. She lay down on her stomach and reached over the edge to grab Burt by his jacket. But he was just too heavy, and she couldn’t do anything more than pull his head onto dry land. Tommy backed as close to the land as he could while still keeping a cushion of safety for Burt. He looked at the alligators and made a mental calculation. Acting on impulse, he changed back into a boy and helped Annie shove Burt, getting him onto land up to his waist. Tommy spun around and shifted back into a jungle cat. The gators were now only ten feet away, and they were closing in. The monster on the left crept ahead of his brothers, hoping for the first bite. Tommy acted like he was concentrating on the middle gator, then leaped with lightning speed and smashed the left alligator on its snout. By the time it realized that it had been cut open, Tommy was back where he had been standing. The taste of blood in the water confused the other gators and they turned to the third, who had 92

stopped moving. The three turned and stared at each other, unsure what to do. Tommy had the distinct feeling that the two unhurt alligators were now wondering how their friend would taste. In the confusion, Tommy leaped to the right side and slashed that gator under his eye. Now the other two looked at that one with confused interest. Taking their distraction for all it was worth, Tommy turned back into a human. He worked with Annie to force Burt entirely onto the shore. One of the gators hissed. It had noticed that their meal was moving away from them. Tommy shifted back into a cat and bellowed, shaking the surface of the water and frightening birds from their tree branches. The alligators stopped. Hoping to convince them, Tommy leaped at one of the injured predators. He flashed his claws inches from its snout, and then jumped back onto the shore. Angrily, the three gators finally turned away and moved in the opposite direction. When he could no longer see their massive backs cruising through the water, Tommy backed up onto the land. He shifted back into a frightened boy and dropped to the ground, exhausted. 93

Behind him Burt started slowly moving. “Annie? Tommy? Where’s Fisk? What happened?” Tommy put his hands in his hair and didn’t respond.

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CHAPTER 15

Confessions

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hen Tommy walked in the kitchen, Mrs. Bomani shrieked so loud it was amazing no glass shattered. She rushed over to him, but he held her at bay with a silent raised hand. Tommy and Annie shuffled in sync through the room on either side of Burt, each under one of his tree trunk arms. They set him gently into a chair at the table. Then both turned and waved to their mothers to indicate it was okay for the inevitable inspection to begin. Tommy’s mom whipped him around, giving close attention to every cut and fresh bruise. He let her do whatever she needed to do to calm herself down. “Are you okay? What happened to the house?” “I’m fine,” he whispered. Aunt Kirsten, surprisingly, was giving her daughter a similarly thorough inspection. Annie was covered on every bit of open skin with scratches from thorns and branches. 95

“Where were you?” Aunt Kirsten asked, looking each of them in the eye in turn. She looked frightened, and Tommy realized that this fear was the first emotion he had seen her show outside of anger. “What happened?” Tommy tried to look his mother in the eyes, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he sat down in a chair next to Burt. Tommy stared at the kitchen floor. “I’m so sorry,” he finally said. His mother flushed with worry. “Sorry? Honey, for what? What happened?” “Fisk got it, and he got away. He got away, Mom.” “Fisk? Marcellus Fisk? How could he be down here? I thought—” Mrs. Bomani froze. Her eyes went as large as saucers. “Oh no. Tommy, tell me he didn’t . . . was there a piece of the statue down here?” Tommy nodded. Aunt Kirsten lost her footing and backed up into the refrigerator as if she had been shoved. “The Sun of Ra? There was a piece of it here?” “Yeah, Mom. It was in the swamps, just like you thought. I found your old paperwork and started working through it. One of the maps you 96

had showed exactly where it was,” Annie piped in. Then, she pulled the map from her pocket. “But those maps were hundreds of years old and in foreign languages. How did you—” “The Internet. I found people who helped me translate it. After that it was just a matter of spending enough time out there to pinpoint it.” Aunt Kirsten took Annie’s face in her hands. She was shaking her head in amazement. “I spent years trying to find that piece. And now it’s gone?” Tommy spoke. “Fisk took it. He must have known we were here the whole time.” “Who is this Fisk? Is he someone we can negotiate with? Someone who can be made to understand how important the piece is to us?” Tommy’s aunt asked. The room went quiet. “Marcellus Fisk,” Tommy said, “works for Badru. He’s bringing the statue to him right now.” Kirsten didn’t respond immediately. “So now he has three. After all of my and Husani’s work, he has almost half the pieces.” “I’m sorry, Aunt Kirsten.” “Sorry? Do you have any idea how important that sliver of gold was? How much power it holds, and what Badru can do with it?” 97

“He didn’t have a choice, Mom,” Annie pleaded. Kirsten moved directly in front of Tommy and towered over him. Annie pulled at her mom’s hand, trying to catch her eye. “There were seven of them. And one of them shot Burt with some kind of a tranquilizer dart, and he fell into the water. If we had chased after them to get the statue back, the alligators would have killed him!” “What is that, some kind of excuse? Husani gave his own life before giving over a piece of the statue!” “Kirsten!” Mrs. Bomani shouted in shock. “That’s my husband you’re talking about. You have no right to use his sacrifice to make these kids feel worse than they already do.” “I have all the right in the world. I worked for years to make sure those pieces didn’t fall into the wrong hands. It took your son all of one afternoon to let that work go to waste. Tommy will never be the man Husani was.” Tommy’s mom turned red and her eyes narrowed. “Save it, Kirsten. You were with Husani on some of his adventures, and he told me you saved his life more than once. I’m grateful for all 98

of that. But in the one fight that really mattered, when a piece of the statue that no one had seen in two hundred years surfaced, you weren’t there because of your stupid argument with me. “My husband needed you but you wouldn’t come, so he fought alone and he died. So yes, he gave his life to protect the statue. But he did that because he had no choice. Husani was a great warrior, and Tommy will be too. Don’t you take this out on him just because you’re angry with the mistakes you’ve made.” Kirsten stopped and stared at her sister, her lip trembling. She slowly moved from the room and up the stairs. The group downstairs heard a door close.

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CHAPTER 16

Family Secrets

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he room sat silent for what felt like an eternity. Burt sat more upright, the drugs wearing off and his senses returning, but he still had no urge to stand or speak. He was glad he hadn’t seen the alligators, but more than that, he was glad he hadn’t been able to yell. He would have told Tommy to leave him in the water and chase after Fisk. Tommy stayed perfectly still, unwilling to believe he had just failed so miserably. Mrs. Bomani stood up. She walked to her son’s side and ran her hand through his hair gently, like she used to do when he was little. “Tommy, look at me,” she said, an expression of calm and confidence on her face. Tommy peeked up from his hands. His long, midnight hair covered his face. She pushed it back behind his ears. “What your aunt said was right. You won’t ever be the man your father was.”

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“Aunt Gloria—,” Annie started, but stopped when Mrs. Bomani raised a flat palm in her direction. “The day that Husani died, I thought I would die with him. He was the best man I have ever known. That night in the hospital was the longest, most painful experience I could ever imagine. I couldn’t even make myself feel better thinking that his dying was unavoidable, because really there was no need for him to fight that night. He was only half-sure that a piece of the statue was in those fields. But he knew if he went there pretending to look for it, Badru would follow him. “He knew he would need help, so even though he hadn’t spoken to your Aunt Kirsten in years, he sent her a message. He asked her to come join him for one final battle. When she didn’t answer, he decided to go by himself.” “But how could my mom help? I thought she lost her ability to shape-shift when I was born?” Annie asked. “She did, but that wouldn’t stop her. You’re mom is one of the most resourceful and brave fighters our family has ever produced. Without Kirsten, Husani just wasn’t strong enough. 101

“Badru realized he was being baited and brought extra men along. Your father was outnumbered, and they were just too powerful. When he finally got away he only had enough strength to hide the statue and get to our front lawn. He collapsed a few feet from the front door.” Burt spoke, his words were slightly slower and sloppier than usual with the tranquilizer still working through his system. “But if he got the piece, how can you say he didn’t need to fight?” “Badru had no idea where the piece was, and Husani knew that. But he also knew that if he acted like he was up to something important, Badru would follow him. “Husani became nervous that the longer he waited, the less likely Badru would be to follow him. The day after he died a message came from Kirsten, saying she had changed her mind and would arrive in a day or two. If he had waited one more day, the outcome might have been completely different. Do you see the difference between you and your father?” Tommy shook his head. “He died because he was single-minded and stubborn. He always believed he could take on the world himself. Most of the time he was probably 102

right. But the one time it mattered the most, he was wrong. I loved him, but everyone who knew him knew that if he had one weakness, it was his belief that he could do anything on his own. “You don’t make that mistake. You realize how important it is to keep the people that you trust by your side. You see the value in sacrificing what seems immediately important if it means you protect the people you love. You can always defeat Fisk or Badru and get that piece of the statue back. But if you had made the wrong decision and left Burt in those waters, you never would have been able to get him back, no matter what you did. “You made the most mature, responsible decision you have ever made. I know your father would be beaming with pride if he were here right now. I know I am.” “But I did the same thing Dad did,” Tommy said. “I rushed into a fight when I could have just waited for more help.” “That’s not true, Tommy,” Annie said. “Getting to the Fountain as quickly as possible was the right thing to do. For all we knew, Fisk had figured out the map and was already down in that water. What you did was brave and smart. Burt and I only resisted because—” 103

“We were scared,” Burt finished, and Annie nodded. “And if anyone made a poor strategic decision, it was me. Asim told me how your father died. I should have known Fisk would try something similar. I should have spoken up.” “No!” Tommy’s open hand smashed on the table and everyone else in the room jumped back. “You should have done more than speak up, Burt. You should have told me how my own father died so I wouldn’t be stupid enough to repeat his mistake. What would you have said if that mistake had gotten me killed?” He stared at Burt with an expression of ultimate frustration and then transferred it to his mother. “From now on, I need to know these types of things. I’m the one wearing this necklace and trying stop some thousand-year-old psycho. And I feel like I know less about what I’m doing than anyone else. All these secrets need to go away. If you two and Asim don’t let me know exactly what I’m up against, how can I possibly stand a chance?” He stared at his mother, breathing heavily, waiting for the answers he knew she wouldn’t give him. For whatever reason, it had been decided he couldn’t possibly understand the dangerous facts of his family’s past. 104

“Tommy, I just, we just . . . we can’t.” His mom held her hands out to him, palms up, showing how helpless she felt. “Asim will tell you when it’s time to know. Until then, honey, you have to understand. It isn’t my decision to make.” “What about you, Burt?” His friend kept his head down and said nothing. Tommy sighed. “I thought you two were my family. I thought I could trust you.” “Sweetie, please. Don’t say that.” Burt folded his arms across his chest. “Your family was created by gods.” His words stopped everyone, and they floated in the air like physical objects before slamming into Tommy and knocking him back. For some reason, his eyes kept blinking and fluttering, like he couldn’t see clearly. Burt still sat without moving, without looking up. “Burt, you shouldn’t have done that,” Tommy’s mom whispered. Finally Tommy found his voice. “What are you talking about?” Burt looked up. “In Egypt, thousands of years ago, a goddess named Bastet came down to Earth and fell in love with a human. They had a baby. It was the first Bomani, and that’s where your family 105

tree starts. He was the Bomani that Asim told you about.” Tommy looked at Burt. His mouth was open a crack and he continued to blink at a furious pace. He looked, in a word, overwhelmed. “What . . . what is the prophecy?” A gasp came from Annie, and her voice followed soon after, shrill and rushed. “I’m so, so, so, so sorry Aunt Gloria! I let it slip earlier. I wasn’t thinking, I—” “We can’t tell you that, Tommy. I’m sorry.” Burt continued his eye contact. “But when we get back, I’m going to tell Asim that he should. I agree with you. He’s going to be angry with me for telling you as much as I have, but I think that you have a right to know. It didn’t feel right to hold something like this from you.” “Mom, is this for real? Gods?” Gloria had her arms wrapped tightly across her chest and her lips pressed close together. She had known this moment would come at some point, but she had hoped for more warning. “Afraid so, Lil’ Warrior,” she said. “And I think Burt is right. There have been a million times I wanted to tell you everything. But this thing you’re a part of, whether we like it or not, is huge. It’s 106

thousands of years old and involves people all over the world. It’s probably going to get a whole lot bigger soon. Asim said we had to wait, to take it slow for you. I’m sorry, sweetie.” “Then I’m a god?” “Not quite, no.” Burt shook his head. “But you sure aren’t a normal dude. What you’ve got in your blood, Tommy, it’s just special.” “And that’s all you’re going to tell me for now? The rest I have to hear from Asim?” “Yes.” “Then how soon can we get on a flight home?”

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CHAPTER 17

Business Time

T

ommy sat in the backseat of the cab and watched his mother and Burt give teary hugs to Annie and Kirsten. His aunt had come back down the stairs while they waited for the cab to arrive and had apologized. The sisters cried and comforted each other and healed a wound that had kept them apart for over a decade. Kirsten had also apologized to Tommy for the way she had acted toward him. Though he was still hurt, he had no choice but to forgive her. She was family after all. After they had made up, Kirsten begged Gloria and Tommy to stay in Florida for an extra week. Tommy wanted to let his mom spend time with her sister, but he knew they couldn’t stay. Tommy still had work to do. First, Tommy needed to speak with Asim and find out exactly what had been hidden from him. He couldn’t help but think that just a bit more honesty from the beginning would have kept the statue out of Badru’s hands.

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Tommy wasn’t angry with Asim anymore. In fact, he felt more excited than he had in months. When he had woken up this morning, he’d had no idea why he could do these amazing things. Now he knew the reason, and it was more incredible than anything he could have ever imagined. Tommy wasn’t surprised to look outside at that moment and see that the rain had stopped. The sun had come out for the first time in weeks. The taxi driver beeped the horn twice, and Tommy’s mom waved. She gave her sister one last firm hug, and then she and Burt began walking. Tommy opened the backgammon case on the seat next to him and began setting up the pieces for a new game. He gripped the final smooth, circular stone in his palm and then placed it on the board. Fisk had beaten him, and Tommy didn’t plan on letting that happen again. His enemies had three pieces of the statue to his two, and he knew that he couldn’t afford to let them get any more. Who knew how much more powerful just that one additional piece had made Badru? Tommy was ready to do whatever it took to give himself the best shot at victory, no matter the cost or effort. 109

The car door opened, and Burt slid in. He looked at the board, and then at Tommy. Tommy looked back at him. “Your move, Burt. We’ve got work to do.” Burt grinned and grabbed the dice.

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CONTINUE THE ADVENTURE WITH

Tommy Bomani: Teen Warrior

BOOK 1:

Shape-Shifter BOOK 2:

Land of Legend BOOK 3:

Badru Rising BOOK 4:

Prophecy Fulfilled