Jake and the Giant Hand by Philippa Dowding

Author:Philippa Dowding
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2014-09-01T16:00:00+00:00

Edwina Fingles, 76, has been missing for four days. Her son, Thomas Fingles, contacted local constables after he visited his mother and found the house empty and the back door swinging open. According to her son, Edwina loved the fields and the swampland at the back of the farm. Residents should contact the local constabulary if they see any sign of Mrs. Fingles.

Jake gulped.

Swampland? Little old lady gone missing?

Something touched his shoulder.

Jake screamed.

“Young man, shhh!” said a stern-looking lady. She had a name badge on. It read, MRS. CODY, LIBRARIAN.

“You must be Jake McGregor,” she said. “I know your grandparents well. I was best friends with your grandma when we were schoolgirls. I spent a lot of time on your grandpa’s farm when I was a young woman. I knew your mom, too, when she was little. How is she?”

“Ummm. Hi, Mrs. Cody. My mom’s well, thanks, we live in the city now. Sorry I screamed, but you scared me,” Jake said.

“Yes, scary stuff, isn’t it?” Mrs. Cody said, pointing at the newspaper clipping of Edwina Fingles. “Poor Edwina, she was never found. They say she just wandered off and got lost in the …”

Don’t say swamp!

“… swamp.”

Jake gulped again and nodded. “Yeah, I heard that story.” Then he thought of something. “But what about the story of the giant hand? That story about the giant corpse hand turning up in a field around here a long time ago?”

Mrs. Cody shifted her weight, crossed her arms, and leaned against the board with the newspaper clippings. She was a big lady, so she blocked the board completely. She looked down at Jake and grew stern again. “That’s just a spooky old ghost story, Jake. No one ever said that was true.”

She really did look scary. But Jake wasn’t satisfied.

“But you did, you said it was true, on a ghost walk last year. My friend told me.”

“Well, there are stories, and then there are stories, Jake. Do you see a newspaper clipping on the wall about a giant hand?”

Jake looked at the wall, but Mrs. Cody was leaning against pretty much all of the clippings, blocking them from his view, so he couldn’t check.

She went on: “Don’t you think a giant hand in someone’s field might make it into the newspapers? And where would a giant hand come from? Did it fall out of the sky? And where did it go? No, that’s just ghost walk scary talk, nothing real about that story. Just put that out of your head.”

Jake was about to protest when Mrs. Cody pointed at his ice cream. She said, “No food allowed in the library, Jake, sorry. You’re melting onto the floor. Be sure and say hello to your grandpa for me.”

Mrs. Cody was right. The ice cream was running down Jake’s hand. He had no choice but to leave. He thanked the librarian and headed back out into the heat.

He peeked back at her just before he left the cool library for good, and gasped. When she thought no one was looking, Mrs.

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