Nancy Farmer - The house of the scorpion

ALSO BY THE AUTHOR

A Girl Named Disaster

The Warm Place

The Ear, the Eye and the Arm

Do You Know Me

Atheneum Books for Young Readers
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2002 by Nancy Farmer

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Book design by OLanso Gabbidon

The text for this book is set in Bembo.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Farmer, Nancy.

The house of the scorpion / Nancy Farmer.1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrn, the 140-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

ISBN 0-689-85222-3

eISBN 978-1-439-10655-6

ISBN 978-0-689-85222-0

[1. CloningFiction. 2. Science fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.F23814 Mat 2002

[Fic]dc21 2001056594

To Harold for his unfailing love and support, and to Daniel, our son. To my brother, Dr. Elmon Lee Coe, and my sister, Mary Marimon Stout. Lastly, and no less importantly, to Richard Jackson, il capo di tutti capi of childrens book editors.

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Farmer has written two Newbery Honor Books, The Ear, the Eye and the Arm and A Girl Named Disaster. Other books include Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, and three young picture books for young children.

She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border in the landscape she evokes so strongly in this novel. She lives with her family in Menlo Park, California.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

THE ALACRN FAMILY

Matt: Matteo Alacrn, the clone

El Patron: The original Matteo Alacrn; a powerful drug lord

Felipe: El Patrns son; died long ago

El Viejo: El Patrns grandson and Mr. Alacrns father; a very old man

Mr. Alacrn: El Patrns great-grandson; husband of Felicia, father of Benito and Steven

Felicia: Mr. Alacrns wife; mother of Benito, Steven, and Tom

Benito: Oldest son of Mr. Alacrn and Felicia

Steven: Second son of Mr. Alacrn and Felicia

Tom: Son of Felicia and Mr. MacGregor

Fani: Benitos wife

VISITORS AND ASSOCIATES OF THE ALACRNS

Senator Mendoza: A powerful politician in the United States; father of Emilia and Mara; also called Dada

Emilia: Oldest daughter of Senator Mendoza

Mara: Younger daughter of Senator Mendoza

Esperanza: Emilias and Maras mother; disappeared when Mara was five

Mr. MacGregor: A drug lord

SLAVES AND SERVANTS

Celia: Chief cook and Matts caregiver

Tam Lin: Bodyguard for both El Patron and Matt

Daft Donald: Bodyguard for El Patron

Rosa: Housekeeper; Matts jailer

Willum: Chief doctor for the Alacrn household; Rosas lover

Mr. Ortega: Matts music teacher

Teacher: An eejit

Hugh, Ralf, and Wee Wullie: Members of the Farm Patrol

PEOPLE IN AZTLN

Ral: A Keeper

Carlos: A Keeper

Jorge: A Keeper

Chacho: A Lost Boy

Fidelito: A Lost Boy; eight years old

Ton-Ton: A Lost Boy; driver of the shrimp harvester

Flaco: Oldest of the Lost Boys

Luna: Lost Boy in charge of the infirmary

Guapo: Old man celebrating El Da de los Muertos

Consuela: Old woman celebrating El Da de los Muertos

Sister Inz: A nurse at the Convent of Santa Clara

MISCELLANEOUS CHARACTERS

Furball: Maras dog

El Ltigo Negro: The Black Whip, an old TV character

Don Segundo Sombra: Sir Second Shadow, an old TV character

El Sacerdote Volante: The Flying Priest, an old TV character

Eejits: People with computer chips in their brains; also known as zombies

La Llorona: The Weeping Woman; mythical woman who searches in the night for her lost children

Chupacabras: The goat sucker; mythical creature that sucks the blood out of goats, chickens, and, occasionally, people

ALACRN FAMILY HISTORY

the house of the scorpion

YOUTH: 0 TO 6

1

IN THE BEGINNING

In the beginning there were thirty-six of them, thirty-six droplets of life so tiny that Eduardo could see them only under a microscope. He studied them anxiously in the darkened room.

Water bubbled through tubes that snaked around the warm, humid walls. Air was sucked into growth chambers. A dull, red light shone on the faces of the workers as they watched their own arrays of little glass dishes. Each one contained a drop of life.

Eduardo moved his dishes, one after the other, under the lens of the microscope. The cells were perfector so it seemed. Each was furnished with all it needed to grow. So much knowledge was hidden in that tiny world! Even Eduardo, who understood the process very well, was awed. The cell already understood what color hair it was to have, how tall it would become, and even whether it preferred spinach to broccoli. It might even have a hazy desire for music or crossword puzzles. All that was hidden in the droplet.

Finally the round outlines quivered and lines appeared, dividing the cells in two. Eduardo sighed. It was going to be all right. He watched the samples grow, and then he carefully moved them to the incubator.