Curse of the Golden Fly

By Camille Singleton

Thousands of years ago, a king of Lower Egypt worshiped the demon of chaos and destruction. With the aid of an artifact, a golden fly, the Grand Vizier betrayed his king and sent him into exile.

The fly finds its way to Lesley, a twelve-year-old girl in present-day Indiana, who unwittingly learns of its magical powers. But will she learn of its curse before it’s too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Camille Singleton
• Release date: Jul 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301324927

Camille Singleton

I'm a librarian at a small Jr/Sr High School in Indiana. Finding books for reluctant readers is a challenge, but very rewarding when they find a book they can't put down.I'm struggling with the empty nest syndrome, so I'm dusting off my manuscripts and sharing my stories.I have two daughters - my youngest just graduated from college. I live in the country with a cat and a dog.I enjoy attending Writer's Conferences around the Midwest.I've been a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators since 2007.Professor William Holt wrote:When I was eight or nine, the four Great Books were Alice, The Water Babies, The Wind in the Willows, and Stuart Little. I don't know what the four Great Books will be for future generations, but if The Hobble Knobble Gobble Tree proves as popular with children everywhere as it deserves to, joining the Harry Potter books and who knows what else, college curricula will need revising and the name of Camille Singleton will become a household word.You won't be disappointed. Or if you are, tell me why. I think it's a sheer, somewhat horrific delight. If a sundew or a Venus' fly trap can eat a bug, why can't a tree eat a kid?Hey, it's no scarier than Hansel and Gretel or The Juniper Tree. And the children I know LOVE to be scared!Professor Holt specialized in Creative Writing and British Literature at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas. He taught three writing classes and two that encompassed the entire range of British Literature. * Now enjoying retirement.Alecia Stone, author of Talisman of El, wrote of The Hobble, Knobble, Gobble Tree:I was pulled in right from the start. What an intriguing story you have here. Great, vivid descriptions that gave a great sense of place. Your characters felt real and the dialogue was spot on. What I like more than anything is that even though this is a children’s book, it’s not patronizing in any sense. I like the eerie tone.This is very well written. I think you’re onto a winner and I’m certain you’ll go far.Poppy Z. Brite, author of Lost Souls, wrote of Curse of the Golden Fly:The story is compelling, the characters appealing, the authorial voice clear and often quite funny. As a writer, you are what teachers from the Young Writers' Workshops at UVA I attended in my teens used to call "a natural".Gerry McCullough, author of Belfast Girls, wrote of Curse of the Golden Fly:An interesting book with an unusual plot. The description of Lesley turning into a fly, seeing her hairy fly legs, and realising what was happening, was very striking. The prologue is a good hook. It's clear something is going to happen to whoever ends up with this golden object. Lesley and Samir, are excellently drawn characters, very individual, with good dialogue. The relationships in Lesley's family are very true to life, 'Dinner and a show every night,' is a great line; and over the six years since Samir left, it seems to be true that Lesley has turned into a bully. This is very unusual for a central character. We see the fear she instills into both pupils and even teachers, and hope that she intends to put things right, when she talks of dropping in on people later. Plenty here to make me read on.Raymond Nickford, author of Cupboard of Skeletons, wrote of Curse of the Golden Fly:Lesley and Samir are an endearing portrait of young love. The treehouse scene where Samir gives Lesley the magic fly is particularly engaging.Lesley's metamorphosis will leave the mouths of many a child - and indeed adult - agape, her return to the recognisable Lesley engineered with a subtle psychology as she tentatively readjusts herself to being a person again.The description was consistently good; the scene in the tomb very atmospheric, the whole effect bound to maintain the involvement of the YA reader when combined with the fluous prose and easily readable style.

Book preview

Curse of the Golden Fly

Camille Singleton

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Camille Singleton

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Table of Contents

Prologue

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

Prologue

3100 BC

The King will kill me!

Tears ran down his hollow cheeks. His robe clung to his sweat-drenched body as he hurried from the Royal Treasury. His dry throat constricted when he thought what would be worse than death.

The King, in his insurmountable fury, would have him cut into a thousand pieces to be devoured by flesh-eating beetles, then he would feed the beetles to a buzzard. The buzzard would be fed to the great crocodile in the Nile, and then the crocodile would be slaughtered. As if that wasn’t enough, the King would use the hide of the crocodile to smother the last breath from those of his blood. The name of his family would be erased for all eternity. His loved ones would be pulverized into dust and mixed into the mortar that would be used to build the next temple to the demon Apep.

The Grand Vizier was not a thief by nature. He was treated very well by the King of Lower Egypt, as his father’s father had been before him. He had grown up playing in the royal gardens, as had his children; his sweet wife idled away peaceful hours in the fragrant gardens laughing with the King’s many wives. But that was before the King started worshiping Apep, god of chaos and darkness, the Eater-up of Souls. That was before the plagues of thunderstorms and earthquakes, before Apep started swallowing Ra during the day, causing their world to fall into darkness. The only way to stop the corruption of his King was to discover, in advance, what he plotted. What new horrors would his King bring upon his subjects? The defenders of Ra must be alerted; they would stop the madness and drive Apep back into the Underworld.

Hidden within the folds of his robe was an object of solid gold that fit into the palm of his hand. What made the object so valuable was not the two large, flawless rubies embedded within, but the magic it possessed and the ability to betray his King was the greatest power of all.

Chapter 1

2001

Samir, I’ll miss you! Lesley cried. Promise you’ll write to me. Please, I’ll be lost without you. You’ve been my best friend forever. She threw her arms around Samir, then kissed him on the cheek.

Geesh, Lesley, everyone is watching! He blushed, then gently pushed her away. Best friends don’t kiss.

His father said they were going home - to Egypt. It had hit him hard at first. Home was here in Indiana. Here was the only house he had ever lived in. Here were all his friends and his parents’ friends. Egypt was in books, not home. But his grandmother said she was dying and wanted to see the sands of her country again.

They still had relatives over . . . there. Most were successful businessmen and women. They weren’t going to be goat herders or anything. He wouldn’t be giving up much, just his home - his life. And, of course, Lesley. Boy, he’d miss her.

Lesley teased that he came from a line of kings, but he assured her that his family tree grew from more humble roots. His grandmother said they came from a line of Grand Viziers, whatever that meant. He didn’t feel like an Egyptian. He’d been born and raised in Wabash, Indiana, and he felt like an American.

Lesley said they were going to get married after college, but he had just rolled his eyes. He glanced over at his friend and saw that she had Mike, one of their schoolmates, in a head lock. Through the years, school bullies had made comments about his skin color. Lesley’s freckles would disappear under a shade of crimson and she would be on them like a rabid badger.

The moving van had gone and all that was left to do was pack up Grandma and head for the airport. Friends had gathered on Samir’s manicured yard to say their last goodbyes. A grunt broke Samir’s nostalgic thoughts; now Lesley had Mike in a scissors hold and was squeezing the air out of his lungs.

Lesley, I have something I want to give to you - a going-away gift. Lesley! Do you mind giving your best friend a few minutes? The best friend who you’re not going to see you for e-v-e-r, he added above the moans and grunts. He nudged her with the toe of his tennis shoe. She jumped to her feet, her braids whipping like Medusa’s snakes, and gave Mike a hand up. His face was returning to its normal color. Samir was used to seeing a lot of red faces at school; someone was always taking Lesley on.

Mike gasped for air. All I asked was if I could be her best friend now.

Samir shook his head; he had quit trying to figure out what made her tick. He nodded toward the treehouse and she followed him. They had long ago reached a plane of communication that needed few words. Lesley said they were close to total telepathy and if they were ever kidnapped by a UFO, they’d be able to talk to the aliens since they had been honing their skills for so long. She thought if she concentrated really hard during a test, he would send the answer back to her. He actually believed it was the grueling hours he spent tutoring her that helped her during a test. He was destined for academic scholarships while she was destined for athletic.

Once in the treehouse, he produced a package that was wrapped in a newspaper comic page, tied with twine. At times like this, he was glad Lesley didn’t like frills. He hadn’t given her many gifts except for her birthday and Christmas, and then it was his mother who had called Lesley’s mom to find out what she wanted. He had given her flimsy things he had made in art class, which - much to his embarrassment - she proudly displayed in her bedroom. But he had never given her a real gift.

She looked up at him with misty eyes and tore into the newspaper like a human shredding machine. She was speechless for a moment when a hint of gold peeked through the wrappings, Wow! It’s a golden insect. A fly - I think. Thank you! I love it. She threw her arms around Samir.

He waited until he was able to catch a breath of air and until the white dots floating in his vision disappeared. I wanted to give you something that was part of who I am, and maybe, who I’ll become one day. My grandmother gave it to me and told me never to sell it. It’s been in our family as long as she can remember.

She thrust the fly at him. Then, you can’t give it to me. It has to stay in your family.

He took her hand and placed it over his heart. You are my family. When we are reunited, you can give it back to me - it’s a loaner. He rarely saw her cry, but when she did, he knew what was coming. He took in a big breath to enlarge his ribcage.

She pounced on him and squeezed, and he really, really knew why it was called a bear hug. She released him with air in his lungs to spare and no broken ribs. He definitely had to keep gifts from the heart to a minimum when it came to Lesley.

She turned the object around in her hands, taking time to look at it from different angles. Do you think it’s real gold? She breathed on it, then rubbed it briskly with the bottom of her T-shirt.

He had wondered the same thing when his grandmother gave it to him several years ago. Nah, my grandmother wouldn’t give me something that valuable. It’s just a cute knick-knack. She was clutching it as if it were valuable. But it really did come from Egypt.

Lesley looked up at him when he said Egypt. Wow.

He turned the fly over. Look, there are Egyptian hieroglyphs on its belly. Grandma doesn’t know what it says, but it definitely doesn’t say ‘Made in China’.

She squinted at the writing and said, Wow again.

As she was turning it over, he pointed at where the eyes should have been. Grandma said the eyes were made from the rarest of rubies.

Really? Her own eyes widened.

Well, ah, she’s pretty old. She probably really doesn’t know for sure. Lesley’s enthusiasm over the gift was starting to embarrass him. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. She could still tell it was a fly by the shape, but it was worn pretty much of detail. At least it hadn’t tarnished over the years; someone must have taken good care of it. He just kept it in his underwear drawer.

I bet it came from the Royal Treasury in a king’s palace. It was to be the dowry for the princess.

Samir