Endling #1: The Last

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ALSO BY

Katherine Applegate The One and Only Ivan Wishtree Crenshaw Home of the Brave The Roscoe Riley Rules series #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs #2: Never Swipe a Bully’s Bear #3: Don’t Swap Your Sweater for a Dog #4: Never Swim in Applesauce #5: Don’t Tap-Dance on Your Teacher #6: Never Walk in Shoes that Talk #7: Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin

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KATHERINE APPLEGATE illustrated by

MAX KOSTENKO

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Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson Copyright © 1962 by Rachel L. Carson, renewed 1990 by Roger Christie Reprinted by permission of Frances Collin, Trustee Endling: The Last Text copyright © 2018 by Katherine Applegate Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Max Kostenko All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007. www.harpercollinschildrens.com ISBN 978-0-06-233552-4 (trade bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-06-285247-2 (special edition) Typography by Jenna Stempel-Lobell 18 19 20 21 22 CG/LSCH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ❖ First Edition

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for Michael

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In nature nothing exists alone. —Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962

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endling noun ~ end•ling ~ \`en(d)-ling\ 1. the last living individual in a species, or, occasionally, a subspecies. 2. the official public ceremony at which a species is declared extinct; a eumony. 3. (informal) someone undertaking a doomed or quixotic quest. —Imperial Lexica Officio of Nedarra, 3rd edition

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CONTENTS PART ONE: THE END BEGINS 1. Endling 2. A Visit from Some Butterbats 3. The Boat 4. A Plea for Help 5. Rescue at Sea 6. And You Are a . . . ? 7. The Poachers Return 8. Three Tails, Three Saves 9. Fear 10. The Unthinkable PART TWO: CAPTIVES 11. The Guide 12. Whispers 13. The Cave 14. An Unexpected Visitor 15. Attack of the Serpents 16. Breakfast Is Served 17. Khara’s Plan 18. A Crumpled Map 19. Dairne Meets Dog

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3 6 15 18 22 26 32 36 42 45

51 58 62 69 77 83 90 100 106

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20. Questions 21. Civilization 22. The Ferry

114 120 132

PART THREE: MY FUNERAL 23. Cora di Schola 24. A Dairne Alone 25. The Pillar of Truth 26. Ferrucci 27. Imprisoned 28. The Felivet 29. Luca Returns 30. The Eumony Begins 31. Araktik 32. Trapped 33. Pursued 34. The Not-So-Simple Truth 35. The Choice

141 148 153 160 166 173 178 187 192 198 202 208 215

PART FOUR: ALLIES AND ENEMIES 36. Swordplay 37. In the Land of the Raptidons 38. Rorid Headcrusher 39. The Knight of the Fire 40. Stampede

225 234 242 249 254

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41. Xial Renarriss 42. Saguria 43. The Pale Guard 44. Attacked 45. Beware the Angry Wobbyk 46. The Murdano 47. Imprisoned Again 48. Araktik Arrives 49. The Truth 50. In Which I Demonstrate a New Skill

260 267 273 281 286 290 296 302 306 311

PART FIVE: THE BEGINNING ENDS 51. Something in the Air 52. The Living Fire 53. My Desperate Plan 54. The Abandoned Village 55. Northward 56. Zebara 57. Deep in the Forest 58. The Final Battle 59. The Thief’s Pledge 60. A Certain Ceremony

321 326 332 340 348 356 363 368 372 378

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PART ONE

THE END BEGINS

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1.

Endling

Long before I heard the word, I was used to being last. I was the runt, the youngest and by-far-and-away smallest of my seven siblings, which meant I was the last to drink, the last to eat, the last to be protected. As the lowest-ranking member of our dwindling pack, I accepted my place without resentment—much resentment, anyway. It was, perhaps, only fair. My failings were many, or so I was often told. I was too young to be clever, too small to be helpful. My feet were large and clumsy. They tangled when I ran. My coat was untidy, my manners dreadful. I once ate an entire leg of anteleer before my rightful turn. I was curious to a fault. I wandered too far and wondered too often. 3

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