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    The Secrets of the Sibyl: a short story
    The Secrets of the Sibyl: a short story
    The Secrets of the Sibyl: a short story
    Ebook26 pages56 minutes

    The Secrets of the Sibyl: a short story

    By Nancy Adams

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    About this ebook

    A decaying villa filled with secrets... A mysterious box that belongs to a dead girl... A spectral woman in white...

    All of them hold the Secrets of the Sibyl.

    A short Gothic tale set in the Roman world of 382 A.D.

    When her father buys a dilapidated villa on the wild, rocky coast of Cumae, city of the ancient Sibyline oracle, fourteen-year-old Cellina finds mysteries at every turn. Following the trail of a mysterious silver box, she uncovers the secret of a decades-old crime committed within the villa's crumbling walls.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNancy Adams
    Release dateMay 19, 2012
    The Secrets of the Sibyl: a short story
    Author

    Nancy Adams

    A freelance editor and theological librarian, Nancy writes mysteries and fantasy. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. Her story "The Secret of the Red Mullet" has been published in FISH TALES: the Guppy Anthology (Wildside Press, 2011). The first of her SAINT NICK TALES, "Saint Nick and the Fir Tree," is available on Smashwords and elsewhere. In her spare time, Nancy reads, sleeps, and whacks the occasional dust bunny. For more information, visit her website: http://nancyadamsfiction.com

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      Book preview

      The Secrets of the Sibyl - Nancy Adams

      THE SECRETS OF THE SIBYL

      (ARCANA SIBYLAE)

      a short story by

      Nancy Adams

      Copyright 2012 Nancy Adams

      Published by Green Fern Press at Smashwords

      All rights reserved

      Cover design by Carrie Spencer

      http://cheekycovers.com

      Thanks so much to the eagle eyes of editor Ramona DeFelice Long, colleague Jeron Frame, and my husband, Patrick. Your insights made this a better story.

      ***

      The Secrets of the Sibyl

      But Aeneas, that righteous man,

      The dread Sibyl’s secret sanctuary sought:

      A cavern, enormous,

      Hewn from the native rock.

      A hundred pathways lead there,

      A hundred mouths give utt’rance,

      Proclaiming with a hundred voices,

      The Sibyl’s hidden knowledge.

      —Virgil

      from Book 6 of the Aeneid

      (author’s translation)

      Cumae! Father’s voice was reverent. Where Aeneas first set foot on Italian soil. I never thought I’d own land here.

      Father loved all things Roman and all things ancient. The emperor might be Christian, but Father, like many of his fellow senators, remained faithful to Rome’s traditional religion.

      He turned away from the shore, back to the steep, rock-strewn path leading up to the villa and we trooped after him. I shot a last look at the wild, churning sea.

      Mother placed a restraining hand on my shoulder and pulled me aside. I don’t like this place, she said. Our usual summer villa, on the sheltered bay between Neapolis and Baiae, was surrounded by orderly gardens and fields. Even the woods there felt tame and friendly. It couldn’t have been more different from this wild, rocky place open to the surging sea, but I had a feeling that wasn’t the only reason she disliked

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