“We have to find the tule vieja,” I tell Abuela. “She’ll be even more powerful after the eclipse is over. Then we’ll never be able to stop her.”
“Of course, mi niño,” Abuela says, still unable to catch her breath. She’s in no condition to fight a witch.
I turn to Brandon’s dad. “Mister … um, Brandon’s dad. Do you think you could take care of my abuela? I don’t think she’s up for a fight.”
Brandon’s dad reaches out to Abuela, and she takes his arm. I notice a tattoo below the crook of his elbow reading USMC.
“I know she’ll be in good hands with a Marine,” I tell him. Brandon’s dad lowers his head and smiles.
“You sure you kids got this?” Brandon’s dad asks. He stretches his back and winces, rubbing an old scar at the base of his neck. “You don’t need any help from a worn-out Marine?”
I shake my head. “We can do it, sir. But my abuela really needs someone with her right now.”
Brandon’s dad straightens his shoulders. “I’ll get her home. Don’t worry. And you kids be careful. That witch is one mean lady.”
“Dale un chancletazo para mi, niño,” Abuela says, letting Brandon’s dad lead her up and out of the quarry. “Chao, pescao.”
“Y a la vuelta, picadillo,” I call after her.
Maria Carmen, Talib, Brandon, and I crouch behind a pile of rocks on the quarry floor. The bear that was holding off the tule vieja is nowhere in sight.
“Are you really going to smack the tule vieja with a sandal, like your abuela said?” Maria Carmen asks, chuckling.
“Nah,” I tell her. “I left my smacking sandals at home.”
A squirrel runs up to us, panting and scratching at the ground. “We’ve got her cornered up at the edge of the quarry. Hurry.”
Maria Carmen, Talib, and Brandon look at me, waiting for a squirrel translation. “She’s up there,” I say, pointing above us to the woods.
“Let’s get this over with,” Talib says, pushing himself up from behind the rocks.
Brandon grabs his arm. “Wait. We shouldn’t all come at her from the same direction. We should, um … What’s the word, Nestor?”
“Flank her?”
“Yep, that’s it. Flank her.”
“Good plan,” I tell him. “Talib, you and Brandon go through the woods and come at the tule vieja from behind. Maria Carmen and I will come at her from here, right up out of the quarry.”
“I’ll show them the way,” the squirrel says.
I point to our furry friend and tell Talib and Brandon, “Just follow the squirrel.”
Talib shakes his head. “Just when you think it couldn’t get any weirder.”
Brandon and Talib take off after the squirrel while Maria Carmen and I make our way across the quarry floor to the slope where we entered. I’m almost to the last pile of rocks when I’m knocked off my feet. I slam into the dirt, the breath sucked out of my lungs.
I hear Maria Carmen shout, “Get away from him!”
I look up and see Miss Humala.
“Just wait, Nestor,” she says. “A little bit longer and the eclipse will be complete. She’ll get what she wants and leave. She’s already furious that you kept her from taking more animals. Just let her have a few more.”
I look past her into the sky. The moon has almost completely covered the sun.
“I’m not letting her hurt anyone else,” I say. I stand, my back aching and my hands bloodied from the gravel. I brush my palms on my jeans. “We have to stop her, and you know it.”
Miss Humala charges at me again. Maria Carmen yanks my arm and pulls me out of the way. We scramble up the rock pile away from Miss Humala.
“I know she’s your mother,” Maria Carmen says, “but you can’t just let her do this!”
Miss Humala pounds her fists into the rocks. “I’ve been trying to stop her for years! I thought I could run away from her, but it was no use.”
“But we can help you,” I tell her. “We can stop her together.”
Miss Humala shakes her head. “You’re fools. She’s been doing this my whole life. Do you know what it’s like being dragged everywhere across the globe while your mother chases eclipses? She’s growing more and more powerful. She’ll never stop.” Her head snaps up at us, her eyes black and darting in every direction. “But I can stop you.”
Her arms flail, and she starts to climb up the rock pile toward us.
“No!” I shout, launching myself at Miss Humala and knocking us both off the rock pile. I feel a snap beneath me as I land on her arm and we crash to the ground.
Maria Carmen slides down the rock pile behind me. “Miss Humala, stop,” she pleads.
“We can help you stop her,” I say, getting up and holding my hands out to her.
Miss Humala stands, holding an arm that hangs at an unnatural angle. Her shoulders shudder as she sighs. “She … she’ll grow weak if…” Miss Humala stops and presses her lips together.
“If what?” Maria Carmen says. “Tell us!”
Miss Humala shakes her head as tears fall from her cheeks. “If she gains power from biting an animal, the opposite holds true as well.”
I hear a scream echo off the quarry walls. It sounds a lot like Talib.
Maria Carmen and I run from Miss Humala. I see her scramble up the quarry wall and disappear into the woods. Climbing to the edge of the quarry, Maria Carmen and I peek into the woods.
Maria Carmen gasps and covers her mouth. Talib and Brandon lie on the ground, eyes closed, large red welts burning their necks. Rufus is wrapped in a spider-silk cocoon, unconscious.
“The eclipse is upon us,” the tule vieja says, seething. “Just one bite and I will have your power.”
I look up at the sky. The sun still casts a thin, slivered crescent from behind the moon.
The tule vieja takes a long, bony finger and drags it along the side of the spider cocoon, exposing Rufus’s torso. Long fangs grow from her teeth, glistening in what light the sun still radiates. She snaps her head back and plunges her fangs into his body. He shudders and squirms under the tight silk threads.
Withdrawing from her prey, the tule vieja wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, her fangs retracting into her gums. Her body begins to shudder as spotted golden fur sprouts from her skin. The bones in her hands crack as they form paws with sharp claws on the end and her ears twitch into furry black points.
“That isn’t good,” Maria Carmen whispers next to me.
Just as quickly as they sprouted, though, the tule vieja’s claws push back into her hands as her ears round out and fur falls from her body. She’s human again.
The sun is still peeking out in the smallest sliver from behind the moon. The tule vieja is too early.
“No!” she cries, her voice echoing off the quarry walls.
I reach for a rock near me and throw it straight at her; it thuds against the back of her head. She stumbles forward and spins around to face me as I crawl over the edge of the quarry. The whites of her eyes are completely bloodred, her skin a scaly gray.
Her shoulders heave as she catches her breath. Her eyes narrow at me, and a sick smile grows from the corners of her mouth. “My dear, I don’t think you realize the gift you’ve given me,” she says. “Why would I want a bobcat’s power … when I can have yours?”
I swallow hard. “Then let him go. You don’t need him,” I shout, hoping the shaking in my voice doesn’t betray my fear.
She moves slowly toward me. “So eager to sacrifice yourself for them,” she says, waving a bony hand at Talib and Brandon, lying on the ground. Behind them lie a squirrel, the armadillo, and a fox, all wrapped in cocoons and paralyzed by spider bites.
I grab a larger rock and clench it in my fist. “Let them all go.”
The smile on the tule vieja’s face exposes yellow jagged teeth, and a sinister chuckle rises from her throat. “Imagine if I could do what you can do. Talk to them all. Understand them. They’d be powerless against me.”
T
he tule vieja paces in front of the injured Rufus, closing the distance between us. My fist closes tightly on the rock in my hand. She inches toward me, and I launch the rock at her. She winces as it hits her thigh but keeps advancing.
I spot Maria Carmen out of the corner of my eye, crawling up out of the quarry and inching toward the bobcat behind the tule vieja’s back.
The tule vieja clicks her tongue. She looks up at the sky. The moon has completely covered the sun. An electric ring bursts around the shadow of the moon. I have six minutes until the total eclipse passes.
I think about what Miss Humala said. If the tule vieja gets power from biting animals, then the opposite is true. Does that mean she will lose her powers if animals bite her?
“It’s time!” the tule vieja cries. She rushes at me.
“No!” I throw my body at her, knocking her to the ground. She pushes me off her, digging her fingers into my shoulders.
I stand between my friends and the tule vieja. “You’re not hurting any of us.”
The tule vieja purses her lips. She looks up at the eclipse, still in full formation. Her red eyes flash, and she lunges at me. Pinning me to the ground, she blows her hot breath in my face.
I groan and struggle against the tule vieja. “Just don’t hurt them. If you let my friends go, I’ll let you bite me,” I manage to say, hoping that a rhinoceros will charge out of the woods and demolish the tule vieja so I don’t have to keep my end of the bargain.
Crouching down, the tule vieja whispers in my ear, “Who says I won’t just take your little friends when I’m done with you, anyway?”
I squirm underneath her as her front teeth grow into snake fangs. My body begins to tremble and shake. I can hear my heartbeat thudding in my ears.
“Stop moving, my dear,” the tule vieja says as she strains against me. “I’ll make this quick.”
I snap my head toward the woods, searching for some sign of the animals who helped us earlier. Brandon and Talib are still on the ground, paralyzed by the tule vieja’s spider bite. Maria Carmen is trying to free Rufus but can’t cut through the spider silk, her hands red from trying.
I look up at the sky and see Cuervito soaring above us.
“Oh man, oh man, oh man,” he exclaims, circling the eclipse.
“Get help!” I choke out.
The tule vieja leans in close to my neck. I feel the sharp point of her fangs press against my skin. I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for her bite, helpless to stop it.
I hear hoofbeats to my right, and the tule vieja is thrown off me in a blur of fangs and antlers. I roll over and crouch on the ground. A large buck stands between the tule vieja and me, hooves scratching in the dirt, antlers lowered. The tule vieja is crumpled on the ground, pawing at the rocks around her.
The total eclipse is starting to break.
“No! I need you. I can’t waste this time. This is my last chance!”
She slams her fist on the ground and scrambles toward the buck. The coyote bursts out of the woods and lunges at the tule vieja’s face, scratching her along her cheek. A burst of orange flames erupts along the lines of the cuts.
I run over to Maria Carmen and the bobcat, my hands still shaking.
A scream rips through the air. The tule vieja is lying on the ground, her long fingers clawing into the dirt as her body shudders. The scales on her skin are growing thick and brown. Her body grows longer and longer. With one final scream, she transforms into a snake.
“Run!” the buck shouts to us.
The tule vieja hisses and slithers toward Talib and Brandon. Cuervito flies at her and sinks his talons right behind her thick head. Val stands in front of Talib and Brandon and growls at the tule vieja. He turns and licks the spider bites on their necks. They begin to stir.
Chela runs over to Talib and Brandon, helping them up with a nudge of her head. “Get them home,” I tell her. They lean on her torso, still shaking their heads from the effects of the spider venom, and stumble off into the woods.
“We need to finish this, Nestor,” the buck tells me.
Val has the tule vieja pinned to the ground with his paws. She snaps her fangs inches from his nose, spewing his face with spit. He sinks his teeth into her neck. Another fiery burst shoots from the puncture wound, and the tule vieja’s eyes grow rounder, turning from snake to wolverine.
“That’s it,” I say. “She gets weaker every time she’s bitten!”
The tule vieja whips her tail around the coyote’s torso and squeezes, forcing him to release her. Val backs away from the tule vieja and growls, baring his teeth and lunging at the snake, but she slams her thick tail into his body, sending him flying into a large tree.
The tule vieja rockets toward me and the buck. I pick up a large stick and smash it across her face. She whips her tail and wraps it around my body, crushing my arms so I can’t move.
“Bite!” I cry, hoping the animals nearby will hear me. “You have to bite!”
The snake lifts her head and stares her wolverine eyes into mine. “Oh, I plan to, my dear. I plan to.”
The tule vieja looks up and sees the moon beginning to move past the sun again, breaking the corona. “There’s no more time,” she hisses. “I’ve always wanted to be able to talk to my prey.”
Her long fangs draw closer to my face as her jaw grows wider and wider. It looks like she’s going to swallow me whole. I look past the tule vieja’s gaping mouth and see the buck stomp down on her tail with his hoof, forcing the tule vieja to release her hold on me. The buck lowers his head, scooping up the tule vieja in his antlers, and with a sharp flick of his neck, he sends her flying into the woods.
“I’m getting tired of this witch,” he says.
“You and me both,” I mutter, sucking in a breath. “We have to get everyone we can to bite her. That’s the only way to take away her power.”
“You got it. You got it,” a squirrel says, scampering to my side. “I’ll spread the word. Let everyone know.”
We hear a scream erupt from the woods, and the tule vieja’s snake form bursts from the trees. She rockets toward me, and I roll to the side to avoid her exposed fangs. The buck plunges his antlers into the ground around her, trapping the flailing snake.
Cuervito soars down from the sky and pecks the tule vieja’s back. Small flames shoot out of her scales, and tufts of black fur shoot up in their place.
The tule vieja squirms and hisses as Val approaches, his small, sharp teeth bared. He bites into her side over and over, sending bright sparks into the air. Furry legs sprout from her body as she continues to push against the buck’s antlers.
Val lunges at the tule vieja, growling, and sinks his teeth just behind her head. Her round snout turns pointed as whiskers grow from her scales and furry ears push from her head.
Kicking her legs, the snake, now almost completely transformed into a wolverine, pushes against the buck’s antlers and frees herself from the ground.
She snarls at the animals circling her, looking for an opportunity to bite.
Maria Carmen and I hear huffs coming from the woods, and a large black form emerges from the trees.
“You have to bite her! Go. Go!” Maria Carmen shouts at the bear.
The massive bear lumbers toward the tule vieja, covered in scales and fur, and wraps his arms around her. He sinks his teeth into her neck. A burst of light fills the quarry edge, and I squint my eyes shut.
A scream rips through the air as the bear pushes the tule vieja to the edge of the cliff, her feet clawing frantically in the dirt. Releasing his bite from her neck, the bear slams his paws into the tule vieja’s chest. She falls down the edge of the quarry, flailing as she drops. Her body smacks hard on a jagged rock on the quarry floor, and a snap echoes through the air.
Maria Carmen and I run to the cliff’s edge and look down. The tule vieja’s body lies at unnatural angles between two large boulders. We hold our breath, waiting for some sign of movement from the tangled mass of fur and claws. But none comes.
She’s gone.
“She didn’t turn human,” Maria Carmen says. “She kept growing weaker, but she never turned back into a human.”
“Maybe she never was human,” I say, shuddering at the thought.
The quarry fills with light as the sun breaks out from behind the moon. The eclipse is over. The shadow of the tule vieja’s body stretches along the rocks as the increasing sunlight sharpens her shadow into spiderwebs stretching through the quarry.
CHAPTER 26
Dear Dad,
So it turns out New Haven isn’t as boring as I thought it would be. Go figure.
We have a new trivia club sponsor, Coach Rodriguez. Our old sponsor, Miss Humala, decided to take a long vacation far away from New Haven. I guess teaching photosynthesis and the phases of the moon to snotty sixth graders became too much. Coach Rodriguez isn’t bad. He sometimes forgets he’s talking to kids about animal trivia and not coaching the football team, so he blows the loud whistle around his neck when we get a question wrong. Before our last competition, he told us to “leave it all out on the field.”
I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do with that.
Brandon’s actually ended up being a good member of our team. Did I tell you his dad was in the Marine Corps? He was never deployed, though. He hurt his back during a training exercise and was honorably discharged. Brandon says his dad really misses being a Marine. Do you think you’d miss being in the Army?
Did Mom tell you about all the craziness out at the quarry? They found a dead wolverine on the rocks. Now everybody’s saying it’s too dangerous to go in the woods, just in case there are other wolverines out there.
But I think we’ll be okay.
And did you see the eclipse? I don’t think it was visible in Afghanistan. It was pretty interesting here, though. Did you know that some people believe you can get special powers during an eclipse? That would be crazy, right? You could learn to fly or gain super-strength.
Maybe you could even talk to animals.
Love you. Stay safe.
Nestor
“Hey, put your sketchbook down,” Talib says, nudging my elbow. “We need a judge.”
The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez Page 14
