Relics Book Summary and Study Guide

After Yahn drops Maggie and Ella off at the mission in Burning Masa, Ella blames Maggie for Jeb dying in the fire and refuses to talk to her for three weeks. After three weeks Maggie decides to go into town looking for a job and comes across a relic refinery. Relics are pieces of bone from creatures with magical powers that died long ago. While there she gets turned down for a job and runs into a man named Alvar Castilla. Who happens to be the richest man in the whole state.

Alvar offers Maggie a job at the Desert Rose Saloon as a waitress. Even though Maggie does not want to take it she feels she has no choice. While Maggie is working at the Desert Rose Ella stays at the mission and Maggie sends all of the money she earns there. While working one night Maggie takes a bucket of broken glass out back to dumb and she meets a guy named Landon Black, who is a cowboy.

A few days later a man comes running into Burning Mesa and warns everyone that a fire is coming and Landon takes Maggie to her sister Ella at the mission, while there Maggie's friend Adlaide, her beau Bobby, and everyone there learn that the fire did not reach Burning Mesa. That night everyone stays at the mission and the next morning Maggie goes back to town to work at the Desert Rose. While working Maggie learns that the sheriff caught Apache Indians the night before and has them in custody, even Yahn. Maggie also learns that Yahn and the other Indians they caught might be hung soon.

After being able to talk to Yahn Maggie is determined that she is going to save Yahn because she knows he didn't do it and bring the real villains to light. She goes back to her home town, Haydenville with Landon to find out if she can find any clues as to who set the fire to the town. But after they get there they hear a terrifying scream and Maggie recognizes the scream as her sister Ella. Ella had followed Maggie and Landon to Haydenville and was now trapped on the cliffs with the rock creatures they dwell there. Landon and Maggie manage to fight away the rock creatures, but Ella is badly hurt.

They get her back to town where she sees Moon John and John moon used relic potions to heal Ella, but it doesn't work so Maggie goes to Alvar and he uses his unicorn relic to heal Ella and in return Alvar wants Maggie to join him in a party at his estate. So Maggie agrees, even though she really doesn't want to go, but feels she owes him for his help. When she is all done being primed for the party she cannot believe the dress that has been made for her. The dress and wings on it like a fairy and sparked in the light.

While Maggie attends the party she is asked to dance and they put fairy dust on her and she is actually dancing in the air with a man she doesn't know. But while dancing she happens to see Landon watching her off the balcony. After the dance is over she goes out onto a balcony over looking the garden and meets Landon there. While there Maggie finds out that Yahn is still OK and that he is still a prisoner but at least not dead. Which makes Maggie so happy. But while out on the balcony, Landon kisses Maggie and Maggie realizes that she really likes Landon and doesn't want to stop the kissing but Bobby comes out and tells Landon that their boss wants to see them.

But before Landon goes to meet with his boss, who happens to be Alvar, he shows her a newspaper article about a group called the Chimera Gang, whos leader happened to be hanged a few months back for breaking the law, and now it looks like the Chimera gang is going after the judge who set the sentence and also the jurors who where present. The two towns that had just burned down, the town before Haydenville and Haydenville its self where were the judge and one of the juror where found.

Later that night at the party while Maggie waited for Landon to return Alvar gets Maggie to agree to stay at his estate with the promise of giving Ella a better life and training Maggie in relics. Which Maggie has wished for all her life to do. The next morning Maggie and Ella move into the west wing of the main house of Alvar's. For the first three days Maggie is starting to doubt whether or not Alvar actually meant for her to train or if he just wanted her as a mistress. So on the third day Maggie decides to find Alvar and ask him about it. Which he then sets up a training session with Moon John, who Maggie already knows.

While Moon John is teaching her some things that she doesn't know about relics, which there isn't much, except for the shadow relics that Maggie was told the government banned, only to find out that isn't the case. But Moon John has Maggie touch a fire relic to see if she can even use the power it holds. Maggie is told that if the person has never even used one they should be able to at least make a spark appear. Only when Maggie tries it, she sets the whole table in a blaze of fire. Moon John tells Maggie to be careful around Alvar about her ability to really use the relics.

Alvar decides to take Maggie and a few of his followers on a ghost coyote hunting spree in a cave were they are known for. But he has also told Maggie that there is something she should see there as well. As they are walking the cave, Maggie notices a tunnel that she seems to be really drawn to, and ends up leaving the group. Only to be caught by ghost coyotes. But Alvar and his men fight them off. After everyone has calmed down Alvar takes Maggie back to the tunnel and tells her its a relic cave and that there is a man from the East coast, who is a relics genesis and that he has offered to train Maggie.

A few nights later at a party that Alvar is throwing Maggie ends up over hearing Mr. Bolger telling Mr. Connelly, who works for Alvar at the Desert Rose that Alvar is in some extreme debt. Where is has actually lost a lot of land to other people because of that debt. But Maggie thinks that Mr. Bolger is trying to ruin Alvar so she ends up sneaking into Mr. Bolger's room after he leaves a finds papers on a relic that has never been seen before.

In the papers that Maggie finds in Mr. Bolger's room the relic is black and red. But no one knows what it is. Maggie knows that Mr. Bolger is the most powerful man when it came to relics because he has the strongest and the most rare relics anyone as ever seen. So Maggie decides to go the the Sheriff of Burning Mesa the next morning and tell him about everything she has found out about so far.

The next morning on the way to the Burning Mesa to talk to the sheriff, Maggie notices something off in the distance, but doesn't pay any attention to it. But once she gets to Burning Mesa and the sheriff's office and starts talking to the sheriff, she finds out that another town has been burned and no one made it out the night before. Maggie also finds out that the Chimera Gang is not responsible for the town burnings going on, because they where captured three months ago.

After Maggie leaves the sheriff's office she decides to go talk to her friend at the Desert Rose and they both agree to go to the mining camp to start asking questions because Maggie knows that the Apaches had nothing to do with it, but someone did. When she gets to the mining camp she talks to a man named Gibbs. He agrees to give her the relic that he kept for himself because it terrified him to no end and he did not want it anymore.

Maggie holds on to the relic for a few days and then because the power of the relic is so strong for her she decides to put in on a chain and wear it. After she puts the necklace on Maggie seems to change into a completely different person. Maggie goes to Landon in his hotel room and starts throwing herself at him and even talks about killing Mr. connelly because he has told her that she can not be with Landon. When this starts to happen Landon realizes that something is really wrong.

Because he knows Maggie is never that bold and angry. After Landon gets the relic off of Maggie she goes back to her normal self and realizes that what she had said and done was caused by the relic itself, but she does not know what the relic is, all she knows is that the relic it self is red and black.

The next morning after Maggie had went back to Alvar's place she hangs out with her sister for a little while and then goes back into town to see her friend at the Desert Rose and her friend is crying and is so sad. So Maggie gets her friend to tell her what is wrong and her friend tells her that Landon and Bobby where sent out, and wont be back until next spring. When Landon and Bobby were not supposed to actually leave for another two months. Maggie knows something is wrong.

Later that day after she gets back to alvar's place she is told that she is to have a private dinner with Alvar. Maggie goes and Alvar tries to suduce her and she tells him no. But on the way back to Alvar's place Maggie tries to tell him that she doesn't want to be his mistress and Alvar tells her that he is the one that sent Landon and Bobby off and that because he is the one that healed Ella she will repay her debt she owes him.

When she gets back to the estate and is laying with her sister, Maggie tries to figure out how she is going to be able to leave Alvar's and get away from Burning Mesa as well, because she knows that no matter where she goes Alvar will find her. So the next morning Maggie goes back into town to get a train ticket and decides to stop by her friends at the Desert Rose to say good-bye and learns that Bobby sent her friend a letter saying that he wanted to marry her and that he sent 5000 dollars to Mr. Connelly so that he will let her go. Maggie is so happy for her friend, until Mr. Connelly comes in and has Maggie locked into a room and leaves her there for three days.

While locked in the room she tries everything she can to get out, from yelling to trying to open the windows, but nothing works. On the third day, a smoke like substance comes in through the window and starts to make the shape of a man. Maggie learns that the smoked shaped man is actually Moon John using a relic so that he can speak to Maggie. Moon John tells Maggie that Alvar is probably responsible for the town burnings using the fire relic that she has and that she needs to get to her sister and get out of town as fast as she can. That there is a mob on the way to town to attack the Apache tribal camp. Maggie also learns that the town that burned is also the town that Landon and Bobby were sent to and no one made it out alive.

Mr. Connelly lets Maggie out of the room to start attending to the customers, the mob, who have come into town. While working Maggie finds out that Yahn is supposed to be hung at sunset and that Tom, who is Apache, who works as security for Desert Rose sold out where the Apache camp was to the mob. The mob was supposed to ride out at morning. So Maggie decides that she has to do something to save Yahn from being hung.

Maggie finds Landon's Goblin relic, which makes you invisible and puts it on so that she can sneak into the jail and give Yahn the keys to the cuffs to free themselves before they get to the hanging station. Maggie tells Yahn were the horses are waiting for him and his other members that are with him. After Maggie gets the rangers attention long enough for Yahn and his tribe members to get away, she ends up running because they know what she has done.

But when one of the rangers has stopped her, Yahn shows up and puts her on the back of his horse while it is still at a run. They get all the way to the Apache camp and there Maggie finds out that she is Apache herself. She is known as Sitisi, which means daughter. Maggie learns that Apaches have a strong bond with the Sacred Ones. The Sacred Ones are what the relics come from. The relics are bone pieces of the animals that held so much power before they were taken away.

Maggie then decides she has to go back to Alvar's place to get Ella and make sure she is safe. When Maggie gets there she finds out that Ella has been taken to the Apache war by Alvar. Maggie knows that Alvar will try to use Ella because she is also part Apache.

When Maggie and her friend Adelaide get back to the war that is going on in the Apache land, Maggie realizes that she has to find Ella and fast. Adelaide gets hit with a banshee relic, which causes you to see your worse nightmares over and over again until you die, and Yahn and Sheriff of Burning Mesa come to help. Maggie learns that the Sheriff found out that the Apaches were not responsible but Alvar was.

As Yahn is going to take Adelaide back to town to get help from Moon John to heal her before she dies, Sheriff tells Maggie that she might not find Ella and Alvar in time. But Maggie knows where Alvar is, but tells the Sheriff that she thinks he is over the opposite side of the camp. So Sheriff goes to tell his other rangers and Yahn tells Maggie that he knows she lying to the Sheriff and that he hopes she makes it back safe.

When Maggie gets to Alvar she tries to get him to stop but she sees that the fire relic has a very strong hold on him. So instead Maggie takes the relic from him and throws it in the fire. Then Alvar disappears from the place and the Apaches have a ceremonial fair well to the fallen Apaches, that last for three days.

Before coming to the ceremony Maggie goes to help Moon John with healing Adelaide. After she leaves for the ceremony Moon John offers Maggie an apprentice job working with relics. Which Maggie accepts.

A few days go by and things around Burning Mesa start to re-build. As new buildings are put up everyone signs a treaty with the Apaches as well. Maggie is told that she and her sister can come to the Apache camp anytime they want or need anything.

As the Desert Rose is being re-built the Sheriff comes running and tells Maggie that she must come with him. So she does, only to be taken to the hospital ward, were she sees the one person that she never thought she would see ever again. She see Landon Black.

Best part of story, including ending: I really liked that this story shows that there are things in this world that can make you either do greedy things or there are things that make you want to stay away from it.

Best scene in story: Favorite scene would have to be at the end when the sheriff takes Maggie to the hospital and she finds out that Landon is much alive. When she seems him she doesn't see the bandages she notices the smile he always had on his face.

Opinion about the main character: The thing that I really liked about Maggie was that no matter what happened, even when she felt like giving up, she thought about her sister and how she couldn't just give up on Ella. No matter how bad it got.