Nik Clancy and the Scorpion

By M. Kate Allen

Nik and his family have just moved to Phoenix, home to dry heat, prickly plants, and bugs straight out of nightmares. Everyone back in Greenville knew him, but only his parents and his dogs know him here. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thea Press
• Release date: Dec 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781956604108

M. Kate Allen

After a childhood spent with her nose in a book, M. Kate Allen now spends her grownup life weaving magical tales of her own. M. Kate Allen lives in Tempe, Arizona, with her daughters, both of whom are voracious readers, and her husband, who is a hoot.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Nik Clancy was a living legend in Greenville. He had worn a red satin cape everywhere every day since kindergarten. Tales of the kid in the red cape spread around his small town and he became Greenville’s unofficial ambassador. They even put an image of him and his cape on the only billboard on Main Street.

The problem was, Nik no longer lived in Greenville.

Nik and his parents had just moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to an old house bordering South Mountain. Pop had inherited the place from his great-aunt, Thauma, after she passed away in the spring. Now Pop couldn’t wait to explore and renovate.

Of Nik’s parents, Pop was the daring one of the two, and he was the one Nik took after. Pop’s glossy, curly black hair was always a little messy, his sun-browned face always had a shadow of facial hair, and he was happiest wearing flannel and jeans. Back home he often smelled of fresh dirt and mown grass. One of his many dreams in life was to flip houses, so when he found out he’d inherited the place, it was all he could talk about.

Dad, on the other hand, was a business guy, sleek and guarded. He could have been a model for a fancy men’s clothing store. If his appearance didn’t say it all, his expensive cologne took care of the rest. He worked on spreadsheets all day and wore a perfectly pressed suit and tie to do it. He had pale skin that turned red in too much sun, a strong jaw, and warm brown eyes that seemed to sparkle even in the dark. He used a special hair goop to make sure each glossy black hair on his head stayed exactly where he combed it.

As much as Dad tried to polish his outward appearance, he had a secret—on his chest was a red scar, from the top of his chest to his belly button. Nik had asked him about it when he was little, and Dad had said he’d had a hole in his heart as a kid, so one day he had to have heart surgery to repair it. Nik thought that was the coolest and scariest thing he’d ever heard of.

Dad had had reservations about moving, mainly expressing concerns that moving could disrupt the stability of the household. Very often, Pop relented when he and Dad had a disagreement, affectionately referring to him as the sensible one. He didn’t relent this time, though. They talked and talked and eventually argued. Pop used phrases like no more mortgage, and in the end, Dad gave in.

Nik got no say whatsoever.

On their third day in the new city, Dad had his first day at his new workplace downtown. The movers finished filling