House Of The Scorpion - WPMU DEV

1 House Of The ScorpionNancy FarmerATHENEUM HC (2002)the House of thescorpionALSO BY THEAUTHORA Girl Named DisasterThe Warm PlaceThe Ear, the Eye and the ArmDo You Know MeAtheneum Books for Young ReadersAn imprint of Simon & SchusterChildren s Publishing Division1230 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, New York book is a work of , characters, places, and incidentsare either products of the author simagination or are used fictitiously. Anyresemblance to actual events or localesor persons, living or dead, is 2002 by Nancy FarmerAll rights reserved, including the rightof reproduction in whole or in part inany design by O Lanso GabbidonThe text for this book is set in in the United States ofAmerica10 9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataFarmer, House of the Scorpion / NancyFarmer. 1st : In a future where humansdespise clones, Matt enjoys specialstatus as the young clone of El Patr n,the 140-year-old leader of a corruptdrug empire nestled between Mexicoand the United 0-689-85222-3eISBN 978-1-439-10655-6 ISBN 978-0-689-85222-0[1.]

2 Cloning Fiction. 2. Sciencefiction.] I. Mat 2002[Fic] dc21 2001056594To Harold for his unfailing love andsupport, and to Daniel, our son. To mybrother, Dr. Elmon Lee Coe, and mysister, Mary Marimon Stout. Lastly, andno less importantly, to Richard Jackson,il capo di tutti capi of children s : 0 TO 61. In the Beginning2. The Little House in the Poppy Fields3. Property of the Alacr n Estate4. Mar a5. PrisonMIDDLE AGE: 7 TO 116. El Patr n7. Teacher8. The Eejit in the Dry Field9. The Secret Passage10. A Cat with Nine Lives11. The Giving and Taking of Gifts12. The Thing on the Bed13. The Lotus Pond14. Celia s StoryOLD AGE: 12 TO 1415. A Starved Bird16. Brother Wolf17. The Eejit Pens18. The Dragon Hoard19. Coming-of-Age20. Esperanza21. Blood Wedding22. BetrayalAGE 1423. Death24. A Final Good-bye25. The Farm PatrolLA VIDA NUEVA26. The Lost Boys27. A Five-legged Horse28. The Plankton Factory29. Washing a Dusty Mind30. When the Whales Lost Their Legs31. Ton-Ton32.

3 Found Out33. The Boneyard34. The Shrimp Harvester35. El D a de los Muertos36. The Castle on the Hill37. Homecoming38. The House of EternityCAST OFCHARACTERSTHE ALACR N FAMILYMatt: Matteo Alacr n, the cloneEl Patron: The originalMatteo Alacr n; a powerful drug lordFelipe: El Patr n s son; diedlong agoEl Viejo: El Patr n s grandsonand Mr. Alacr n s father; a very old manMr. Alacr n: El Patr n sgreat-grandson; husband of Felicia,father of Benito and StevenFelicia: Mr. Alacr n s wife;mother of Benito, Steven, and TomBenito: Oldest son of n and FeliciaSteven: Second son of n and FeliciaTom: Son of Felicia and : Benito s wifeVISITORS AND ASSOCIATES OFTHE ALACR NSSenator Mendoza: Apowerful politician in the United States;father of Emilia and Mar a; also calledDadaEmilia: Oldest daughter ofSenator MendozaMar a: Younger daughter ofSenator MendozaEsperanza: Emilia s andMar a s mother; disappeared whenMar a was fiveMr.

4 MacGregor: A druglordSLAVES AND SERVANTSC elia: Chief cook and MattscaregiverTam Lin: Bodyguard for bothEl Patron and MattDaft Donald: Bodyguard forEl PatronRosa: Housekeeper; Matt s jailerWillum: Chief doctor for theAlacr n household; Rosa s loverMr. Ortega: Matt s musicteacherTeacher: An eejitHugh, Ralf, and WeeWullie: Members of the FarmPatrolPEOPLE IN AZTL NRa l: A KeeperCarlos: A KeeperJorge: A KeeperChacho: A Lost BoyFidelito: A Lost Boy; eightyears oldTon-Ton: A Lost Boy; driverof the shrimp harvesterFlaco: Oldest of the Lost BoysLuna: Lost Boy in charge of theinfirmaryGuapo: Old man celebrating ElD a de los MuertosConsuela: Old womancelebrating El D a de los MuertosSister In z: A nurse at theConvent of Santa ClaraMISCELLANEOUS CHARACTERSF urball: Mar a s dogEl L tigo Negro: TheBlack Whip, an old TV characterDon SegundoSombra: Sir Second Shadow, anold TV characterEl Sacerdote Volante:The Flying Priest, an old TV characterEejits: People with computerchips in their brains; also known aszombiesLa Llorona: The WeepingWoman; mythical woman who searchesin the night for her lost childrenChupacabras: The goatsucker.

5 Mythical creature that sucks theblood out of goats, chickens, and,occasionally, peopleALACR N FAMILYHISTORYthe House of thescorpion1 IN THE BEGINNINGIn the beginning there were thirty-six ofthem, thirty-six droplets of life so tinythat Eduardo could see them only undera microscope. He studied them anxiouslyin the darkened bubbled through tubes thatsnaked around the warm, humid was sucked into growth chambers. Adull, red light shone on the faces of theworkers as they watched their ownarrays of little glass dishes. Each onecontained a drop of moved his dishes, one afterthe other, under the lens of themicroscope. The cells were perfect orso it seemed. Each was furnished withall it needed to grow. So muchknowledge was hidden in that tinyworld! Even Eduardo, who understoodthe process very well, was awed. Thecell already understood what color hairit was to have, how tall it wouldbecome, and even whether it preferredspinach to broccoli.

6 It might even have ahazy desire for music or crosswordpuzzles. All that was hidden in the round outlines quiveredand lines appeared, dividing the cells intwo. Eduardo sighed. It was going to beall right. He watched the samples grow,and then he carefully moved them to it wasn t all right. Somethingabout the food, the heat, the light waswrong, and the man didn t know what itwas. Very quickly over half of themdied. There were only fifteen now, andEduardo felt a cold lump in his he failed, he would be sent to theFarms, and then what would become ofAnna and the children, and his father,who was so old? It s okay, said Lisa, so close by thatEduardo jumped. She was one of thesenior technicians. She had worked forso many years in the dark, her face waschalk white and her blue veins werevisible through her skin. How can it be okay? Eduardo said. The cells were frozen over ahundred years ago.

7 They can t be ashealthy as samples taken yesterday. That long, the man marveled. But some of them should grow, Lisasaid Eduardo began to worry for a month everything went day came when he implanted thetiny embryos in the brood cows. Thecows were lined up, patiently were fed by tubes, and their bodieswere exercised by giant metal arms thatgrasped their legs and flexed them asthough the cows were walking throughan endless field. Now and then ananimal moved its jaws in an attempt tochew they dream of dandelions?Eduardo wondered. Did they feel aphantom wind blowing tall grass againsttheir legs? Their brains were filled withquiet joy from implants in their they aware of the children growingin their wombs?Perhaps the cows hated what had beendone to them, because they certainlyrejected the embryos. One after anotherthe infants, at this point no larger thanminnows, there was only slept badly at night.

8 He criedout in his sleep, and Anna asked whatwas the matter. He couldn t tell her. Hecouldn t say that if this last embryo died,he would be stripped of his job. Hewould be sent to the Farms. And she,Anna, and their children and his fatherwould be cast out to walk the hot, that one embryo grew until it wasclearly a being with arms and legs and asweet, dreaming face. Eduardo watchedit through scanners. You hold my life inyour hands, he told the infant. As thoughit could hear, the infant flexed its tinybody in the womb until it was turnedtoward the man. And Eduardo felt anunreasoning stir of the day came, Eduardo receivedthe newborn into his hands as though itwere his own child. His eyes blurred ashe laid it in a crib and reached for theneedle that would blunt its intelligence. Don t fix that one, said Lisa, hastilycatching his arm. It s a Matteo Alacr re always left intact. Have I done you a favor? thoughtEduardo as he watched the baby turn itshead toward the bustling nurses in theirstarched, white uniforms.

9 Will you thankme for it later?2 THE LITTLE House IN THE POPPY FIELDSMatt stood in front of the door andspread his arms to keep Celia fromleaving. The small, crowded living roomwas still blue with early morning sun had not yet lifted above the hillsmarking the distant horizon. What s this? the woman said. You re a big boy now, almost six. Youknow I have to work. She picked himup to move him out of the way. Take me with you, begged Matt,grabbing her shirt and wadding it up inhis hands. Stop that. Celia gently pried hisfingers from the cloth. You can t come,mi vida. You must stay hidden in the nestlike a good little mouse. There re hawksout there that eat little mice. I m not a mouse! Matt yelled. Heshrieked at the top of his voice in a wayhe knew was irritating. Even keepingCelia home long enough to deliver atongue-lashing was worth it. He couldn tbear being left alone for another thrust him away. Callate!

10 Shut up! Do you want to make me deaf?You re just a little kid with cornmeal forbrains! Matt flopped sullenly into thebig easy immediately knelt down and puther arms around him. Don t cry, mivida. I love you more than anything inthe world. I ll explain things to youwhen you re older. But she wouldn had made the same promise the fight went out of Matt. Hewas too small and weak to fightwhatever drove Celia to abandon himeach day. Will you bring me a present? hesaid, wriggling away from her kiss. Of course! Always! the Matt allowed her to go, but he wasangry at the same time. It was a funnykind of anger, for he felt like crying, House was so lonely without Celiasinging, banging pots, or talking aboutpeople he had never seen and neverwould see. Even when Celia was asleep and she fell asleep easily after longhours cooking at the Big House therooms felt full of her warm Matt was younger, it hadn tseemed to matter.