The City of Lizards Read online

  “Boy, I felt like I hadn’t eaten in days.” Ravi sighed, gazing at the blue sky dotted here and there by strings of clouds that looked like cotton candy.

  “Give me a break!” Thomasina grunted. “We were gone for just half a day.”

  “It felt like forever to me,” Ravi replied, suddenly feeling exhausted.

  “That’s because so many things have happened,” Minerva explained, licking a speck of jam off her chin.

  Thomasina’s blue eyes gleamed. “Right. Our successes today …” she began. She liked to keep track of all their adventures in her special book. “We found the door and the City of the Ravagers,” she started listing. “We saved a baby whale, and we got rid of Mrs. Broomstick,” she concluded. “Failures,” she resumed less enthusiastically. “I lost my bag, unfortunately, and … we haven’t found the treasure.”

  “We’ll find it,” said Minerva confidently. She rolled over on her stomach and studied the small golden key. It shone brightly in the sun like a promise.

  “You forgot the most important mystery,” Ravi added. His friends turned to look at him.

  Ravi smiled, happy to have the last word for once. “I’m talking about the mystery of Minerva’s origins,” he explained.

  “That’s right, and we must find out what happened to Althea and Merrival’s daughter,” Thomasina admitted. “If we follow her track, it may lead us to the treasure and —”

  “To my parents!” Minerva finished, her eyes shining.

  “Hush, someone’s coming!” Ravi warned them. He had noticed that Pendragon was growing restless.

  Indeed, the dog had pulled its ears back and started barking. Then he dashed toward the gate.

  Alarmed, the three friends immediately stood up.

  “Ugh! What now?” Ravi grunted, resigned to face another disaster. When he saw Agatha get out of her Jeep, however, he heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Hi, children!” she cried, waving at them. She looked gorgeous with the blue sky in the background and her long black hair lifted by the wind.

  They all ran to her, but Pendragon arrived first.Agatha picked him up, spinning him around. “Oh! I missed you!” she cried. “But I’m sure you took good care of him.” She laughed, turning to the children.

  They exchanged an embarrassed look: to be perfectly honest, they had put the dog in all sorts of danger. Fortunately, though, all had ended well, so they didn’t have to say anything about it.

  As if she had sensed that something was not quite right, a light went on in Agatha’s eyes. It lasted just a moment, though, and her smile immediately came back. “This is for you,” she said, handing a letter to Minerva. “I found it in the mailbox near the front gate. Your name’s on it.”

  “Really?” Minerva was very surprised. They never got any mail at Lizard Manor, except for the bills that they never had the money for.

  Agatha hugged Pendragon. “I see you guys just had a snack,” she said, pointing at the blanket and what was left of their feast. “If you come see me at my house in the moor, I’ll bake you an amazing cake,” she said. “Secret witch recipe.”

  Ravi turned pale: that was not a cake he wanted to try. He didn’t want to be rude, though, so he replied, “Oh, I’m sure it’ll be delicious!” He shot a sideways look to Minerva, who was already giggling, and added, “Besides, I’d like to come see Pendragon.” And that was true. He was going to miss his friend a lot. “Goodbye,” he whispered to the dog, stroking his head between his long, fluffy ears. “Don’t forget me.”

  Pendragon looked at him with his big, dark eyes and licked his hand.

  “Thanks for everything,” Agatha said. “I’ll be expecting you soon then.” She turned to leave but then stopped, as if she had remembered something. “Be careful,” she said at last. Then, for a brief moment, a shadow ran across her face. She seemed to be about to say something more, but then, as if she had changed her mind, she walked toward her truck.

  Minerva was too concerned with her envelope to notice Agatha’s behavior. She couldn’t wait to see what was inside. Her heart throbbed painfully for a moment: could it be a letter from her parents?

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” Thomasina encouraged her.

  “Don’t you want to know who sent it to you?” Ravi asked. He was dying to know.

  Minerva tore the envelope open and took out a sheet, which she read in one single breath. When she raised her eyes to look at her friends, she had a concerned look on her face.

  “What does it say?” Ravi asked.

  “It sounds like … a dare,” Minerva replied, perplexed. “That’s what I think, at least. Listen. He who’s found the key and thinks himself wise shall not rejoice for long, for another’ll get the prize!”

  The girl scratched her nose, musing. “Signed: The Dragon.”

  “What?” Ravi said, surprised. “Let me see …”

  Thomasina craned her neck to read the letter.

  “I don’t get it,” Ravi said. “Who’s this Dragon? Why would he want to dare us?”

  “And how does he know that we’ve got the key?” Thomasina added.

  “Well, I’m sure the Bartholomew sisters saw it,” Ravi said. “That day at the wharf. And they like to talk so much … maybe they told the whole village.”

  “That means the Dragon could be anybody in Pembrose …” Minerva muttered.

  Thomasina’s eyes shone. “Wow! Another mystery! But we like a challenge, don’t we?”

  “We love it!” Minerva confirmed.

  Ravi shook his head. There they went again. When all he wanted was just another bite of that yummy saffron cake. “Aren’t you supposed to go to your parents’ ball?” he asked Thomasina to divert her attention from that new mystery.

  “Rats! I’d forgotten about it!” the girl exclaimed, slapping herself on the forehead. She looked at her friend and studied him from head to toe.

  Ravi blushed. “What?” he grunted. “What’s wrong with me now?”

  “Nothing at all,” Thomasina replied. “You know what? You look pretty good in that outfit. You look like a prince. Will you be my date to the ball?”

  Ravi blushed red. He knew that boys usually asked girls to things like that. Adventure-loving girls like Thomasina, however, always took the initiative.

  “Great,” she said matter-of-factly, not bothering to wait for an answer. She slid her gentle little hand under Ravi’s arm. “Let us go, my fair prince!” she said.

  Ravi made a choked sound but then obediently followed her.

  Thomasina turned to Minerva. “You should come as well! Come on!” she encouraged her. “We’re going to play pranks on the more boring guests.”

  Minerva shook her head. “Mrs. Flopps is coming on the six o’clock bus,” she replied. “I promised I would be here waiting for her.” She waved them goodbye. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” she cried.

  On the horizon, the sky had taken on a purple shade. Minerva stopped and closed her eyes. She let the gentle breeze caress her face. It felt as soft as a whisper and smelled of wild flowers and heather. A light gust tousled her red curls and swung around her like an embrace, and then it moved toward the sea.

  Minerva opened her eyes and smiled: for a moment she had felt like Althea had been there with her.

  Elisa Puricelli Guerra

  As a child, I had red hair. With my red hair, I wanted to be Pippi Longstocking for two reasons. The first was that I wanted to have the strength to lift a horse! The second was that every night my mother read Astrid Lindgren’s books to me. As I fell asleep each night, I hoped to wake up at Villa Villacolle. Instead, I found myself in Milan. What a disappointment!

  After all of Lindgren’s books were read and reread, my mother refused to read them again. So I began to tell my own stories, each more intricate than the one before and chock-full of interesting characters. Pi
ty then, the next morning, when I would always forget everything. At that point I had no choice; I started to read myself.

  Today my hair is less red, but reading is still my favorite pastime. Pity it is not a profession because it would be perfect for me!

  Gabo León Bernstein

  I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and have had to overcome many obstacles to become an illustrator.

  “You cannot draw there,” my mom said to me, pointing to the wall that was smeared.

  “You cannot draw there,” the teacher said to me, pointing to the school book that was messed.

  “Draw where you want to … but you were supposed to hand over the pictures last week,” my publishers say to me, pointing to the calendar.

  Currently I illustrate children’s books, and I’m interested in video games and animation projects. The more I try to learn to play the violin, the more I am convinced that illustrating is my life and my passion. My cat and the neighbors rejoice in it.

  Find out more about Minerva Mint and her friends at www.capstonekids.com

  Minerva Mint is first published in the United States in 2015 by

  Capstone Young Readers

  A Capstone Imprint

  1710 Roe Crest Drive

  North Mankato, Minnesota 56003

  www.capstoneyoungreaders.com

  All names, characters, and related indicia contained in this book, copyright of Atlantyca Dreamfarm s.r.l., are exclusively licensed to Atlantyca S.p.A. in their original version. Their translated and / or adapted versions are property of Atlantyca S.p.A. All rights reserved.

  © 2013 Atlantyca Dreamfarm s.r.l., Italy

  © 2015 for this book in English language – Capstone Young Readers

  Editorial project by Atlantyca Dreamfarm S.r.l.

  Text by Elisa Puricelli Guerra; Translated by Marco Zeni

  Illustrations by Gabo León Bernstein

  Original edition published by Edizioni Piemme S.p.A., Italy

  Original title: La città delle lucertole

  International Rights © Atlantyca S.p.A., via Leopardi 8 – 20123 Milano – Italia — [email protected] — www.atlantyca.com

  No part of this book may be stored, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright holder. For information address Atlantyca S.p.A.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on the Library of Congress website.

  ISBN: 978-1-62370-179-6 (hardcover)

  ISBN: 978-1-4342-9671-9 (library binding)

  ISBN: 978-1-4342-9674-0 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-1-4965-0191-2 (eBook PDF)

  ISBN: 978-1-62370-572-5 (eBook)

  Summary:

  The Order of the Owls’ latest mission leads them to discover an underground city.

  Designer:

  Rick Korab