Strange Alchemy

Gwenda Bond

Description

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the Lost Colony and the 114 colonists who vanished without a trace more than four hundred years ago still haunts the town. But that's just a story told for the tourists or it is? When 114 people suddenly disappear from the island in present day, it seems history is repeating itself and an unlikely pair of seventeen year olds might be the only hope of bringing the missing back. Miranda Blackwood, a member of one of island's most infamous families, and Grant Rawling, the sherrif's son, who has demons and secrets of his own, find themselves at the center of the mystery. As the unlikely pair works to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony, they must dodge everyone from the authorities to long dead alchemists as they race against time to save their family and friends before they too are gone for good.

Informations

• Publié par: Capstone Global Library
• Date de parution: 10 août 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781782027973
• Langue: English

Extrait

PRAISE FOR STRANGE ALCHEMY
“With whip-smart, instantly likable characters and a gothic small-town setting, Bond weaves a dark and gorgeous tapestry from America’s oldest mystery.” - Scott Westerfeld, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Uglies series
“Bond takes some reliably great elements - a family curse, the mark of Cain, the old and endlessly fascinating mystery of the Roanoke Colony - and makes them into something delightfully, surprisingly new. How does she do that? I suspect witchcraft.” - Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club
“This haunting, romantic mystery intrigues, chills, and captivates.” - Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times bestselling author of the Tantalize series



For my parents (principals but never fascists) and for Christopher (my partner-in-crime)

For what we sometimes were, we are no more; Fortune hath changed our shape, and destiny Defaced the very form we had before.
- Sir Walter Raleigh, Petition to the Queen

CONTENTS Cover Praise for Strange Alchemy Title Page Dedications Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Author's Note Acknowledgements About the Author Copyright Back Cover

Landmarks Cover Table of Contents Start of Content
List of Pages cover i iii v vii viii 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 325 326 327 328 iv back cover
Chapter 1
MIRANDA
I am a Blackwood, and in this town, on this tiny island, that means taking whatever escapes are offered. I cock my head back and pretend to be in two places at once. Here, in the wings of this outdoor theatre, half-listening for my favourite part of The Lost Colony, and there, as far away as the stars, light-years above it all. The night sky is as familiar as the constellation of calluses that dot my palms. As familiar and set as everything in my life.
I used to think I could get away for real. I was younger then stupider or more innocent, depending on your point of view. The first time I checked the back of my wardrobe for a portal to another world I was eleven. The year Mum died. After the wardrobe, I tried other places. I wandered small patches of woods, seeking doors hidden in the twisted trees, and peered into mirrors searching for reflections that weren’t mine. No wonder the kids at school decided I was a freak. No, that’s not fair. They would’ve decided that anyway. The Blackwoods are cursed, after all - the unluckiest family on the island.
Escape is a romantic notion. I’m too practical to believe in it now. I no longer hope to step over a secret threshold and leave Roanoke Island behind forever.
And yet here I am, staring at the stars.
It’s almost funny that I’m unable to escape a place that’s famous for people vanishing. Roanoke Island, the site of the first English colony in the Americas, where 114 men, women and children went missing without any explanation, save for a single cryptic carving left behind on a tree. Disappearing completely is some trick to pull off, even hundreds of years ago when the country was still almost entirely wild places.
“They’ve survived!”
The bullish voice of the actor who plays Governor John White snaps my attention back to the stage. The line signals his return to the colony after his trip to England. The set’s faux oak tree, hollow boulders and packed dirt floor pass for an abandoned settlement, except for the shining spotlights.
Surrounded by sailors, White gasps - hamming it up - as he points to the oak on the far side of the stage. The simple cloak around his shoulders flies out with the gesture. I can’t see the word from here, but of course it’s the famous CROATOAN carved into the bark in desperate, crooked letters.
White, overacting like mad, shouts: “My granddaughter, I will see her beautiful face!”
I exchange a look with Polly, my boss and the stage manager, the one who lets me stand here in exchange for my intern work. She’s the closest thing I have to a friend - well, apart from my dog, Sidekick.
Polly shakes her head, her prematurely grey ponytail swishing. We both know Director Jack, aka His Royal Majesty, will give John White a scathing note on his over-the-top performance later.
For now, the governor, along with the sailors in the background, freezes. The lights dim. The final reveal is cued up.
It’s sticky humid out here, but a small shiver runs through me. The same one I always feel when I think about the colonists. Every time I watch the show, I wonder how or where they ended up. The standard theories involve bad endings and tragedy. But the reality is, the truth died when they did. We’ll never ever know what happened to them.
A single low spotlight draws my attention back to the stage. The beam fixes on a solemn young blond girl as she wanders, ghost-slow, through the frozen men. Her face is chalk pale.
His Royal Majesty’s biggest change to this year’s show was making Virginia Dare - the first English child born in America - the show’s deadpan narrator. The actress, Caroline, is a local kid, seven, and a holy terror mean-girl-in-training. But the casting works.
I lean forward to see how the scene’s going over for the crowd. We aren’t sold out tonight, but the curving rows of the amphitheatre are still nearly full. Twelve hundred people sit, riveted and silent, as Caroline haunts the stage.
And then I spot something off a shadow at the back of the audience. One moment everything’s normal, the next this giant shadow is there, hovering in the air.
It’s definitely not part of the show.
The floating darkness grows and grows and then resolves into a recognizable shape - an immense, old-fashioned black ship. The kind of ship that was used by colonists or pirates. Odd grey symbols bloom on each of three billowing black sails, the shapes a mix of straight lines and arcs, a half-moon curving above a circle at the top. The sailcloth ripples in a wind I don’t feel on my skin.
I blink. And again.
The ship is still there.
I raise my hand, and my hand is in front of an immense black ship with tall black sails. The ship glides forward, swallowing the audience row after curving row.
In a few seconds, half the audience has disappeared beneath it. No one reacts.
My breath catches in my throat as the ship moves steadily closer.
I turn to Polly, and she smiles with the normal relief of reaching the end of the night. A smile with no hint of concern.
The ship is heading straight for the stage now. Those odd symbols shift on the sails in curving and slashing lines. The black monster gathers speed, faster and faster.
When little Caroline hits her mark at centre stage, there is only a metre separating her from the ship. She gives no sign of seeing it either. She might be a brat, but she’s also only seven years old.
“Look out!” I finally point and stagger forward onto the stage. Caroline opens her mouth to speak, and I throw myself at her, shielding her small body with my arms.
There are a few shocked cries. I close my eyes and wait for the impact.
It never comes.
Murmurs and questions from the crowd reach my ears, but nothing else.
Caroline squirms in my arms. I open my eyes, and the massive curving prow looms above us, unmoving, throwing a heavy shadow over Caroline and me. Then - between one blink and the next - it vanishes.
The spotlight is suddenly blinding in my face, and I squint, not used to the bright heat. I glance over my shoulder as I hold wriggling Caroline tight.
Governor White glares murder at me, but none of the men break character. They’re supposed to remain frozen until the lights go down, and they are.
Caroline says, “Let me go, Blackwood.”
I don’t understand her meaning right away, don’t understand what’s happening. Until Caroline grabs a handful of my hair and pulls hard.
“Ow.”
And that’s when I realize - the show isn’t over.
I interrupted the performance because a giant ship appeared. A giant ship that no one else seems to have noticed.
From the side of the stage, Polly gives a low command. “Miranda! Get. Over. Here.”
That’s what gets through to me. I’ve disappointed Polly. Let her down.
I release my hold on Caroline and hurry from the stage.
Polly takes my arm. “W