Tarnished Gold-A Samantha Sungold Novel

By Lynn Thompson

When Sam first met Jamie in Sterling, she was homeless, dressed in rags, and a mess. She had no memory of her parents or where she came from. Jamie couldn’t imagine throwing Sam back out on the street, so Jamie took her in and made her part of the family. Now, with Jamie gone on vacation, Sam is left to her own devices.

~~
Sam is home schooled and suspects Drake, her teacher, and Derek, his son, of spying on her house. She would like to know why, but, before her suspicions are confirmed, Sam casts a memory spell to help her piece together her past.

To add to her confusion, a gang of kids tempts her into their group. She’s never had friends – at least not any she can remember. Her self-doubt gets in the way as she struggles to figure out how to fit in.

Then Sam’s life really explodes! The spell worked, and her memories are coming back at the most inconvenient times. She starts dating a guy she really likes, and she soon realizes she has too many secrets she needs to keep from everybody she knows.

As Sam tries to juggle these new elements in her life, Drake continues to pile on the homework, leaving her no time for her new friends, her new boyfriend, the memories conjured by her spell, or time to figure out why Drake is so interested in her house.

Will the cobwebs of Sam’s past get the best of her?

Will Sam be able to figure out what is going on in time? Or will Drake get the upper hand?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynn Thompson
• Release date: Aug 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370202546

Lynn Thompson

Lynn Thompson’s place is in the Land of Enchantment, where the sky is turquoise blue, the fires rage, and there is rain and/or snow without a cloud in the sky.Lynn lives with her husband, son, dog, cat, and a tank full of fish. In her spare time she loves to hike, camp, read and write fiction.She has a degree in graphic arts and web design, but doesn’t have a specific genre that she writes her books in. She has two novels out: Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel and Sterling-A Montana Dayton Novel. She also has two short stories books out: Dark Fates and News Worthy.

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Tarnished Gold

A Samantha Sungold Novel

This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

All rights reserved

Copyright 2017 by Lynn Thompson

www.lynnthompsonbooks.com

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TOC

Copyright

Prologue

Drake & Derek

Meet the Gang

Derek

Herbal Remedies

Waking Dreams

Yesterday

Tea Trouble

Nightmares

Closed In

Kova

The Conjuring

Visions

Pictures

Sick Again

Protection Spell

Kova

The Lake

Frozen

Surprise

Gator

Dragons

Skylar & Zane

Rave

Treasure

Run

Breaking Back In

Fight

The Chamber

The Ring

The House

Destroyed

Safe

Funerals

About the Author

Prologue

I COULDN’T BELIEVE it! The secret room! A breath of air gushed out from between my lips.

Jamie's closet door stood wide open. Her clothes lay askew on the floor along with the hangers. The door to her secret room stood partially open, showing a hint of darkness between the crack of the wall and the frame.

No wonder I could never find it. I'd never thought to dig in her closet.

Why is the door open? Is someone down there? Should I venture into the dark corridor and find out what's going on?

I gazed around Jamie's room searching for a flashlight while my conscious fought over right vs. wrong. Should I go through her stuff? I really needed a flashlight. Darkness seeped out of the closet.

My steps led me to Jamie's dresser. I would search her drawers for a flashlight. I stopped. I couldn't do it; her belongings were private.

I eyed the door to the secret passageway. I may not be able to get myself to go through Jamie's clothes, but I couldn't resist the closet. Here goes nothing, I thought as I walked into the black void.

I followed the walkway with my hand against the wall until my eyes adjusted to the light up ahead. Every few feet a dim bulb glowed against the dark, illuminating the tight enclosure.

Wow! I was actually in a secret passageway. I still couldn't believe it.

A clanking noise rose in the distance, so I slowed my pace. I tiptoed down the stairs and froze one step shy of the secret room.

My gaze tripped unbelievably over the treasure from Sterling's ship to the bones lying on the floor.

Drake knelt beside one of the skeleton's, busy pulling out a gold tooth from one of the skull’s jaws. A bag sat next to him, full of gold and silver coins, jewelry that sparkled luminescent colors spilled from the top open flap. A small chest sat beside the bag.

My temper rose as I watched Drake yank out the tooth. I always knew something wasn't quite right with him. Now I knew why?

I raised my fists and screamed. The air exploded around me. Skeletons floated up, attached themselves to their skinless bodies and came to life. The now toothless corpse lurched towards Drake, grabbed his hand, and ripped his gold tooth out of Drakes' fingers, breaking them in the process. It shoved its tooth back into its jawbone and pushed Drake aside.

I stood still, watching. My heart galloped in my chest. Shock wound its cocoon around my body. Inside I was freaking out, outside I was numb. Did I do that? With a screeching whine, one skeleton broke off from the others, zeroed in on me, and starting rattling towards the stairs.

I turned tail and ran...

One

Drake & Derek

HOW BORING I thought as I listened to my new teacher Drake Soto drone on about history. Now, if I could find some history on Sterling, Max, or Doc, I’d be much more excited. I’d spent hours searching online for information on those three and so far had come up with nothing. I yawned behind my hand and sighed.

Jamie hired Drake, Mr. Soto, to home school me before she left to venture around South America for a few months. I wished she hadn't hired Drake, and I wished she hadn't left. But Jamie was interested in finding out more about Mayan culture. And because Doc and Chase were willing to keep an eye on me, she jumped at the opportunity to travel. In her eyes, the best way to acquire the information was to embark on a journey down south. Jamie had only been gone for a week. I missed her already.

I pulled my focus back to Drake. He bored me to death and rubbed me the wrong way. I rubbed my eyes trying to stay awake. Drake seemed nice, but it led to one of the problems I had with him. He laid on the niceness too thick. It was sickening.

I couldn't believe the references Drake gave to Jamie were accurate. Drake did seem smart and knew what he was talking about, but still, I just couldn't believe he’d ever taught other kids. I mean, niceness aside, he just had a weird vibe coming from him. A vibe that made my skin crawl. I peeked over at Drake’s son, Derek. Derek. Derek stayed focused on his dad's ramblings. I'd rather read the history book than listen to Drake.

Derek Soto was seventeen and looked so similar to his dad it border-lined on creepy. He was tall and lanky with shoulder length hair, black as night. His eyes were dark brown but appeared to match his hair on most days. Derek always wore long sleeve shirts, even though it had to be at least 90-degrees outside with the humidity at 100-degrees. He was kind of cute, except his face was too narrow for my preferences and his nose lay a tad too flat on his face.

Being surrounded by disinteresting males was all right by me, I’d sworn off the male species since Chase started dating Nichole. I didn't have anything against Nichole, except maybe the fact that Nichole’s a lot closer to Chase’s age than I am. What can I say? I’ve had a crush on Chase since I first met him through Max and Montana. Blond, oh so cute, and at least ten years older than me. But, hey, a girl can dream. My dream got crushed when he met Nichole. So I’m staying away from the male species for the time being.

I turned fifteen last month, I smiled and lightly touched the sapphire blue earrings Jamie had given me for my birthday. They were beautiful and matched my eyes. Of course, the loud pop and quick pain that followed when I got my ears pierced surprised me. But it was worth it! My life had officially changed in the last several months after Jamie took me in. And changed for the better. I felt grateful every day for the turn of events in my life.

Do you find something funny about my lecture, Ms. Sungold? Drake asked with a fake smile thinning his lips. His brownish black eyes bored into me.

No, Mr. Soto, I glared at him as soon as he turned his back to me. Unfortunately, Derek saw my expression and smirked.

Great, I thought, Derek would probably tell his dad once class ended. I focused on the white board, then returned my attention to Drake. The only differences between father and son were Derek stood, at least, an inch taller than Drake. And Drake's ultra black hair was cut close to his head and slicked back with some ultra greasy hair product. Probably because of his male pattern baldness.

I managed to zone Drake out for the rest of the lecture and went back to convincing myself I no longer had a crush on Chase. I’d read the chapter in the book later while I watched the shop and be caught up in no time.

The timer buzzed. I grabbed my books and bolted towards the door. It was time to relieve Chase from taking care of Jamie's Wiccan shop.

Chase left to pick up Nichole as soon as Drake and Derek said goodbye. After he had left I didn’t have time to think about my broken heart. Customers started entering the shop, and for two hours I felt like I was in a zoo. Everyone needed my attention. And I had to make up several people’s minds on what they wanted to buy. Why people couldn’t make their own decisions was beyond me. Once the mad rush died down, I finished reading the chapter in my history book and got ready for Math in the morning.

After the last customer had left I flipped the close sign and locked the shop door, all I had left to do was gather the herbs out of Jamie's garden for when Doc stopped by on the weekend. Doc was in charge of teaching me the art of healing teas and pastes. I looked forward to having him as a teacher. I really like Doc.

I reveled in having the whole house to myself for a minute. But at the same time…

I eyed the spell book I’d found in Jamie's shop. What could it hurt? Making a quick decision to hold off on gathering the herbs I needed I picked up the book and rushed out the back door towards the lake I'd accidentally stumbled across, about a mile from Jamie's backyard.

I wasn't typically afraid of the dark, but lately, the trees and lake left me with a creepy chill running down my spine. I glanced around as I strode purposefully to the end of the wooden pier. Sensations of being watched kept my guard up.

I scoped out the area one more time for unseeable eyes before plopping down on the edge of the dock. The niggling feeling of an unknown invader stayed with me as I kicked off my shoes and dunked my toes into the cool water. I scanned the tree line again. I’d just pulled out my book when my eyes narrowed onto a thick patch of small palm trees.

Was Drake back there? Drake and Derek were the only two new people in my life. The only two people I could imagine that may want to spy on me. I couldn’t figure out why I had this nagging feeling. I only knew it was there and I had to trust my instinct.

I blinked and shifted my body on the landing to get a better view. The moon, almost full, penetrated the night, showing off a soft glow of hazy light. The palms moved in the light breeze. I shrugged my shoulders. The figure I thought I’d seen must have been just a shadow of a tree reflecting onto the ground from the light of the moon. I kicked at the water a few times contemplating the dark blur before I opened my book.

Simple spells, that's all these were, I noted, skimming through the pages. I couldn't get any of them to work. I thought about the spell for breaking Sterling's energy field. The first and only spell I had cast over a month ago. It had been easy for me to master the spell. I had to, or we could have lost Montana. What changed?

Was that the problem? I wasn't under a time crunch with these spells. I didn't have the urge or confidence to ask Jamie about spell casting while she was here and I wasn't under an immense amount of pressure to get any of these spells right. I sighed. The memory magic seemed so easy to cast, out of all of the incantations I’d chosen this one first. I wanted some of my memories back.

I knew my parents died in a fiery car crash, but I couldn't remember the circumstances around it. And I couldn't remember how I ended up on the streets.

Did I have family somewhere? Anywhere? Did I really belong here? Or did I belong somewhere else entirely? Did I have any Grandparents, Aunts, or Uncles looking for me?

This wasn’t the first time these questions swirled around my brain, and it wouldn’t be the last. Yes, I’m grateful for Jamie taking me in, but I really needed to know more about my parents, my blood relatives.

I re-read the basic enchantment to unblock denied memories, stated my intentions and recited the invocation.

I summon the past to come forth into the present so that the future will be bright.

I pull myself away from the dark and bring my body into the light.

My past will not control my present; my future will not be dark as night.

I greet myself with open arms, and I will stay in the brightest light.

I sat motionlessly in silence, waiting. Not one memory stirred, not an ounce of energy shifted through my body.

After an hour of sitting under the moonlight waiting for something, anything, to happen I straightened, stood up and headed back to the house. Disappointment and unshed tears clouded my mind and vision.

Two

Meet the Gang

THANK GOODNESS MATH class was finally over. Drake kept eyeballing me strangely the whole time. Goosebumps crawled up my arms, and my body involuntarily shivered when he called my name just as I reached the door. Pretending not to hear him I lowered my head and quickened my step.

I rushed into the Shop and ran into a solid wall of soft skin and muscle. Embarrassed I stepped back to apologize.

So sorry, you rounded the corner so fast I didn't have time to move out of your way, a male voice said.

I looked up into vivid blue eyes.

It doesn't matter Tavian. She ran into you. It was her fault. She should be the one apologizing. The blond haired girl snarled as she swept up beside Tavian and hooked her arm trough his.

I'm Kova, and we're looking for my sister Nichole. Do you know where she is? She asked in a huff.

It figured, Sam thought. Kova Valcon, Nichole's sister, and the splitting image of Nichole, just younger.Shoulder length hair, almost platinum with red streaks professionally blended underneath her hairline, making it appear like her hair was on fire. Light blue eyes, narrow cheekbones, and full lips. She wore her makeup light, except for her lipstick, blood red. Of course, her sister didn't have the red