My latest book is called The Butch Mountain Jewel Race.
The Jewel Race.
Otherwise known as the toughest race known to man.
When Lucy Ormonde's track teacher signs
Lucy Ormonde
Vi Ochere
and
Juliet Ochere
up as a team for the Butch Mountain Jewel Race, the toughest and most deadly race known to man, Lucy, Vi and Juliet must run the race...or die trying.
The winning team recives six million dollars..
a free around-the-world airplane trip..and a fragment of the most precious gem known to humankind..
Here's an excerpt:
The Butch Mountain Jewel Race
Prologue: The Beginning
I jump off my bike seat and grab my sweater. It's cold out here. Shivering, I wheel my bike over to a nearby clump of bushes. Then, I walk over to the front door. I press the doorbell, and I wait for someone to answer.
Right now, I'm supposed to be at Cassidy's house, watching COOLANE BRIGG'S SECRET TO LIFE/APPLESAUCE, Instead, I'm shivering in front of my sister Miami's boyfriend's house, where I might be getting the biggest scoop ever for Richmond Middle School's paper.
I told Cassidy I was going to be late. She understood.
Cass and I are Partners In Crime. We take on missions, and the very first one we did was at my house. We raided the cookie jar. Well, she grabbed the cookies. I watched out for Cassidy's mom Winter. Winter Cranton.
Interesting name.
There's Winter, Cranifer (Cass's dad), Goratia (Cass's Gram) and Picu (Cass's big brother.) Cass likes to joke about getting off easy with a name like Cassidy. (Winter and Cranifer were going to name her Bretha.)
After what seems like a million years, Miami's boyfriend's older sister answers the door.
"You look young to be here,"
I gulp.
"I-I'm small for my age," I prattle.
She opens the door fully.
"Well, have fun. Spin The Bottle's starting,"
I gulp (again). I may be eleven years old, but even I know what Spin The Bottle is.
I tiptoe over to the screen door. I slide it open, and walk into the starry evening.
Miami and about fifteen other teens are sitting on the trampoline. One walks to the middle, and spins a beer bottle. A very expensive beer bottle.
Wow. That must've cost a lot to ship THAT stuff from Australia to our village in south Alberta.
It points at-horror of horrors-MIAMI! She picks her boyfriend Mark, and they slide off and walk my way. I duck behind a trash can. The two of them slide in the pool (no water in it) and I can hear them start to kiss. GROSS!
I stand up cautiously and, to my horror, snoopy tattletale Mindy Marsh points at me and shrieks: "LOOK! It's Miami's stupid sister LUCY! Get her!"
I break into a run. I push the screen door open and charge through the house. and whisper to Mark's sister "Don't let them know I'm here!"
Frantically, I look for a place to hide. Then my eyes fall on my bike. I have to hurry and make it though, because there's a stampede of elephants-or so it sounds-heading my way.
I break into a run, faster than I've ever ran. I practically leap on my bike and take off toward Cass's house.
Still nervous that the teens are chasing me, (I can hear their screams faintly) I stuff my bike under the hedges and run towards Cassidy's window. She's the youngest in her family, so she gets the ground floor room.
As usual, Cassidy's room looks amazing. her glossy hardwood floor is perfectly clean, and her purple walls shine. Her bunk bed in the corner is perfectly clean and well-kept, as usual, and her bookshelf, her desk, and her closet are perfectly organized. Her room is tiny, but it's fantastic.
"Cass!" I yell through her window screen. Cassidy looks up from her laptop. "Lucy! What are you doing here?" She opens her window and hauls me in, and I tell her the story. I look out her window, and see a frenzied group of teens heading my way.
"Cass! They're coming!" I yell. Cassidy looks around frantically and then whispers "Hide in Picu's room. He won't mind." So I break out into a run to Picu's room.
Down the hall.
Through the living room.
Into the foyer.
Up the stairs.
Second door on the left..
I barge into Picu's room, and he looks up from his Nypendo game. "Lucy!" he exclaims, giving me a big hug. "I didn't hear you come in!" I hug him back.
Picu is sixteen years old. He's the nicest boy I've ever met.
I gasp out what happened.
"Oh, crap." he says.
Then his eyes alight upon a thick piece of cable stretching from his window to the window in the next house, and I'm surprised that I didn't think of it.
The Jefferson's house.
Vi and Juliet Jefferson are twelve year-old twins and they are are my best, best friends in the whole wide world. They live in the house next to Cass's, with widowed mom Amber, 6 year-old Everin, newborn brother Leif, and 20 year-old brother Jerron.
Jerron is best friends with Picu, so when they were young they stretched an old piece of cable and attached a crate and a bell to it.
I'll tell you how it works.
Little Jerron wants to send his stuffed cat over to Picu's, so he puts it in the crate and rings the bell, alerting Picu. Then he will tug on the cable over head and keep pulling it towards him, so the crate will move. Picu will come to the window and receive the stuffed cat.
Because it's the twenty first century now, there are buttons that they can press and the crate will move.
I climb into the dusty, musty crate. I close the lid, and I can feel it start to move, and soon Vi is hauling me out.
I give her a big hug, but Vi recoils. "Look at you," she says. I look at myself it the mirror.
My arms are splintery, bloody, and scratched up, my clothes are torn, and I'm covered in grime and dust.
Vi soon launches Operation Makeover. She makes me take a shower, and she softens, blow dries and perfumes my hair, softens my skin and applies a million different ointments to my cuts, fishes out my splinters, applies Band-Aids, and stitches up my clothes. Then she gives me a big bear hug. "Come on," she says, taking my newly softened hand and leading me toward her quiet bedroom.
Vi shares a room with Juliet. It's really nice, just like Cassidy's. There's a little fountain in the corner, and there's a ladder leading up to the tiny loft. The loft has a beanbag, bookcase, and a clay horse.
The two of them share a bunk bed. A CANOPY bunk bed!
One wall is also a fish tank, and there's a bay window with a window seat.
Vi stops. 'Did you hear that?" she says. I can hear it too.
It's frantic cries of "No, I don't have her!" coming from,........
Cass's bedroom.
Vi grabs some clothes out of Juliet's closet just as Juliet comes into the bedroom, puts on her PJ's, and collapses into bed.
"A three hour gym meet. They were training for the Nationals."
Juliet goes to gymnastics, and they were training for the Nationals against Yukon and Saskatchewan. It starts at 9 pm, when Juliet usually goes to bed, and ends at 11 pm, when AMBER usually goes to bed.
"Poor Juliet's going to be REALLY tired when Running Club starts tomorrow." I say.
"Tell me about it." Vi says. "Let's hope we don't have to carry her again."
Vi hands me Juliet's beret that she wears out in public, Juliet's purple dress, and Juliet's shoes.
Soon Vi has opened her window and scooted down the ivy vine that grows beside her window, soon I've gone down too. But we're so tired we collapse on the ground..
When I got home at five in the morning, my parents are yelling at Miami. "You, young missy, are not allowed to be running around town at quarter to twelve trashing homes supposedly looking for your little sister when she'd been at Cassidy Porat's house the whole time!"
"But Mom, she wasn't at Ms. Porat-"
"Don't you Mom me! You're grounded for the rest of the year, young missy!"
Bawling, Miami stomps to her room.
"Ah, Lucy." Mom says.
"Get dressed and have a shower, we're leaving in half an hour."
"Leaving for what?" I say.
"Running club."
4s minutes later, we pop up in front of Brebor Community Center.
I spot Coach Shawna, Abner Cuchaby, Vi and Juliet, Emmy LaCraig and Alex "Smoopy" LaChabukins. They're just standing around, I have no clue what's gonna happen.
I walk over, and Coach Shawna says: "I've signed you all up for the Butch Mountain Jewel Race! I'll read out all the teams."
"Team One is Abner Cuchaby, Smoopy LaChabukins and Emmy LaCraig. Good luck."
"Team Two is Vi and Juliet Jefferson, and Lucy Ormonde."
I gasp.
"Team Three is me, Cora LeBlance, and Grathiace Garthao."
Coach Shawna waves, and says: "See you at the starting line tomorrow, quties!"
Part 1: The Race
Chapter 1: Vi
I stare up at the canopy on my bed.
Something bad's going to happen today.
Oh, yeah.
The Jewel Race.
