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Authors: Nancy Farmer

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The House of the Scorpion

BOOK: The House of the Scorpion
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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 Children’s 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 author’s 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 O’Lanso 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 Patrón, 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. Cloning—Fiction. 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 children’s book editors.

CONTENTS

YOUTH:
0
TO
6

1. In the Beginning

2. The Little House in the Poppy Fields

3. Property of the Alacrán Estate

4. María

5. Prison

MIDDLE AGE:
7
TO
11

6. El Patrón

7. Teacher

8. The Eejit in the Dry Field

9. The Secret Passage

10. A Cat with Nine Lives

11. The Giving and Taking of Gifts

12. The Thing on the Bed

13. The Lotus Pond

14. Celia’s Story

OLD AGE:
12
TO
14

15. A Starved Bird

16. Brother Wolf

17. The Eejit Pens

18. The Dragon Hoard

19. Coming-of-Age

20. Esperanza

21. Blood Wedding

22. Betrayal

AGE
14

23. Death

24. A Final Good-bye

25. The Farm Patrol

LA VIDA NUEVA

26. The Lost Boys

27. A Five-legged Horse

28. The Plankton Factory

29. Washing a Dusty Mind

30. When the Whales Lost Their Legs

31. Ton-Ton

32. Found Out

33. The Boneyard

34. The Shrimp Harvester

35.
El Día de los Muertos

36. The Castle on the Hill

37. Homecoming

38. The House of Eternity

CAST OF CHARACTERS

THE ALACRÁN FAMILY

Matt:
Matteo Alacrán, the clone

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

Felipe:
El Patrón’s son; died long ago

El Viejo:
El Patrón’s grandson and Mr. Alacrán’s father; a very old man

Mr. Alacrán:
El Patrón’s great-grandson; husband of Felicia, father of Benito and Steven

Felicia:
Mr. Alacrán’s wife; mother of Benito, Steven, and Tom

Benito:
Oldest son of Mr. Alacrán and Felicia

Steven:
Second son of Mr. Alacrán and Felicia

Tom:
Son of Felicia and Mr. MacGregor

Fani:
Benito’s wife

VISITORS AND ASSOCIATES OF THE ALACRÁNS

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

Emilia:
Oldest daughter of Senator Mendoza

María:
Younger daughter of Senator Mendoza

Esperanza:
Emilia’s and María’s mother; disappeared when María 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; Matt’s jailer

Willum:
Chief doctor for the Alacrán household; Rosa’s lover

Mr. Ortega:
Matt’s music teacher

Teacher:
An eejit

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

PEOPLE IN AZTLÁN

Raúl:
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 Día de los Muertos

Consuela:
Old woman celebrating
El Día de los Muertos

Sister Inéz:
A nurse at the Convent of Santa Clara

MISCELLANEOUS CHARACTERS

Furball:
María’s dog

El Látigo 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

ALACRÁN FAMILY HISTORY

the house of the scorpion

1
I
N
T
HE
B
EGINNING

BOOK: The House of the Scorpion
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