Rise of the Jumbies

by Tracey Baptiste

  “I would worry more about Mama D’Leau,” Dru said.

  “She’s not as bad as she seems,” Corinne said.

  “True,” said Bouki.

  “You never told us why she let you go,” Dru said.

  Bouki grinned. “I probably talked too much.”

  Dru giggled, but Corinne caught a look from Bouki that told her he was hiding something.

  “Anyway, I don’t know why you are worried about jumbies in the sea when there is one right here on land causing trouble,” he continued. “Everywhere she goes is trouble!” He slapped Corinne’s shoulder and jogged ahead. Dru and Malik joined him, all of them grinning. “Tag!” he called out as he peeled off.

  Corinne took a deep breath. Maybe they were right. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. “You know I’m faster than you on land or in the water,” she said. They crested the hill and the sea came into view below them. It was deep, and vast, and beautiful. And for all the trouble it hid beneath, she loved it still.

  Acknowledgments

  I like to think of all the many, many people I rely on to produce a story as Team Tracey. Or Team Jumbie. (Which is the same thing, really.) Up first is Darryl Baptiste, who is the MVP of this team, keeping me in chocolates, oysters, and gentle doses of reality as (very often) needed. My mom, Gloria Regis-Hosein, is always there to remind me that if J. K. Rowling can make billions, I CAN TOO. She also makes stellar meals and pulls me back on track when I go off the rails. My dad, Roland Hosein, is ever available for grammar and Trini fact-checking, which he takes on with the enthusiasm of a dog with a bone. I wouldn’t be here without the support of my agent, Marie Lamba, and the entire JDLA team.

  The entire Ghana section was vetted with the help of Nathalie Mvondo, Nana Asare, Godwin Danso, and Kofi Gyasi. Turns out the Twi language is as tricky as any jumbie.

  I’d also like to thank Team Algonquin Young Readers, especially my editors, Elise Howard (who is part fairy godmother and part mythical genius) and Sarah Alpert (who understands about the commas), for making me look good. Eileen Lawrence, Brooke Csuka, and Trevor Ingerson make marketing, publicity, and author-wrangling look like a breeze! (They’re not.) Thank you and virtual hugs to Vivienne To, whose cover art literally made me cry.

  I wouldn’t have the totally stress-free career that this writing-for-children thing is without a guild of brassy, brave, generous women. Thanks especially to my own fleet of mermaids—Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Renée Watson, Ibi Zoboi, Jennifer Baker, and Dhonielle Clayton—for swimming with me in this often-choppy ocean and doing it with grace.

  Finally, I’d like to thank my children, Alyssa and Adam, and also Barkley, for the very useful advice, crazy story ideas, excellent jokes, warm hugs, wet kisses, and the fur and grape jelly in my writing chair. I hope you guys like this one, too. Just remember to hand-sell this book to all your friends or Mommy won’t feed you.

  xo

  About the Author

  Tracey Baptiste lived in Trinidad until she was fifteen; she grew up on jumbie stories and fairy tales. She is a former teacher who works as a writer and editor. Visit her online at traceybaptiste.wordpress.com and on Twitter: @TraceyBaptiste.

  Also by Tracey Baptiste

  The Jumbies

  Published by

  Algonquin Young Readers

  an imprint of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

  Post Office Box 2225

  Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515-2225

  a division of

  Workman Publishing

  225 Varick Street

  New York, New York 10014

  © 2017 by Tracey Baptiste.

  All rights reserved.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

  Design by Carla Weise.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Names: Baptiste, Tracey, author.

  Title: Rise of the jumbies / by Tracey Baptiste.

  Description: First edition. | Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Young Readers, 2017. | Sequel to: The jumbies. | Summary: Suspicion falls on half-jumbie Corinne when local children from her Caribbean island home begin to disappear, and she is forced to go deep into the ocean to seek the help of a dangerous jumbie who rules the waves.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017020557 | ISBN 9781616207649

  Subjects: | CYAC: Spirits—Fiction. | Missing children—Fiction. | Blacks—Caribbean Area—Fiction. | Caribbean Area—Fiction. | Horror stories.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.B229515 Ri 2017 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017020557