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Back The Copycat Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Chapter One
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Chapter Two
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Chapter Three
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Chapter Four
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Chapter Five
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Chapter Six
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Chapter Seven
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Chapter Eight
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Chapter Nine
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Chapter Ten
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Chapter Eleven
  46. Thirty-Two
  47. Thirty-Three
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Chapter Twelve
  51. Thirty-Six
  52. Thirty-Seven
  53. Thirty-Eight
  54. Chapter Thirteen
  55. Thirty-Nine
  56. Forty
  57. Forty-One
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Chapter Fourteen
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Chapter Fifteen
  66. The Following Summer
  67. About the Author
  68. About the Publisher

Digger’s shoulders hunched a little and he took a deep breath before he responded. “I do. When the day comes that I can’t change, I don’t know what I’ll do. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, there’s always the urge to be something else.”

Ali didn’t like to think that Digger didn’t prefer to be his human self. “Has a Copycat ever been stuck as something else for a long time?”

Digger chuckled. “Gigi told me that her uncle Percy was once stuck as a rat for forty-two days, much to his wife’s distress. He chalked his inability to turn back into himself up to a bacterial infection he picked up as a rat wandering the Saint John docks.”

Ali was glad she’d spent her time as a mouse safe in Murray’s shirt pocket. Who knew what kind of disease she might have contracted if Murray had been forced to put her outside!

“Can we turn into any living thing? Like a tree?” Ali asked after spending ten minutes as an ant, which was super scary, because she was worried something bigger would gobble her up.

“I tried to turn into a tree once, but it didn’t work. As far as I know, Copycats can only turn into sentient creatures.” He smiled at the puzzled expression on Ali’s face. “Creatures that can feel or perceive things.”

“Huh. Does it scare you and Mom that Murray and Cassie know about me?”

The glance her parents exchanged answered her question.

Her mother put down her knitting and joined Ali and Digger on the floor. “We are a little worried,” she said, rubbing Ali’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’re nice kids, but—”

“People are lousy at keeping secrets,” Digger finished. “There’s been many times in history when persecution arose because someone saw a Copycat change. But lots of humans don’t see physical, intellectual, or spiritual differences as bad things. And to be fair, Copycats can be dangerous if they aren’t trained or aren’t good people.”

“Gigi said that too. Did you ever know a Copycat who wasn’t a good person?”

“Nope. Copycats guard their secrets well. Most of the time,” he added, raising an eyebrow at Ali. “But there are always risk-takers. Okay, enough talk. You need to practice. How about a lion this time?”

Twenty-Four

Ali wore Emily’s sweater to school the next day and received five compliments about it before homeroom. The sweater, like Emily, seemed to have magical powers that drew you to it like a magnet. Emily squealed with delight and ran up to Ali as soon as she walked into homeroom. At opposite ends of the classroom, Cassie and Taylor crossed their arms.

“You look so pretty!” said Emily. “Guess what? I told my father all about your great-grandmother’s party, and he says we can come. But I have some bad news.”