Phantom Pond by Juneau Black

Author:Juneau Black [Black, Juneau]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2023-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

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The next morning, Vera arrived at Nevermore as part of Orville’s specially selected committee. (He’d explained that the Big Book of Policing recommended such a group to keep track of resources and facilitate communication.) Apart from Lenore, Vera was the first, but others soon arrived. Orville and his counterpart, Theodore Meade, represented the law. Barry Greenfield, a longtime reporter at the paper, was there as a sort of repository for all things local. Joe Jr. had taken a couple of days off from the diner to help—thanks to his massive size and his youth, he’d be able to traverse a lot of ground if needed. Gladys Honeysuckle, the gossip columnist, had been chosen for her remarkable ability to know everyone else’s business. Other creatures would doubtless stop by with additional knowledge and supplies.

“I’d expected the Browns to be here, too,” Barry said, his long ears whipping as he looked around.

Orville said, “Mr. Brown is out searching the woods today, and I assigned Mrs. Brown the task of speaking to all Hannah’s schoolmates.”

“Would they know anything?” Vera asked, surprised.

“Maybe, maybe not, but the poor creature needs something to do, and that will keep her occupied.”

Lenore had set up a long table with chairs all around. Several maps of Shady Hollow and the surrounding woodlands had been pinned up to walls, and a freestanding blackboard had even been wheeled over from the elementary school so the searchers could make notes. Everyone took a place at the table.

“Okay, let’s put our heads together,” Vera said, with a fresh notebook in front of her. “Time to share everything you know about Creeping Juniper—any tales, any little tidbits you remember from your own childhoods. Orville got some information yesterday. With luck, we’ll be able to use the common elements to figure out where this creature is supposed to live.”

“That’s easy,” said Barry. “She lives at Phantom Pond.”

“So most of the stories say,” Vera agreed, staring at the notes. “But none of our maps show anything called Phantom Pond, so we need more clues to tell us where Juniper is actually living—assuming she’s even real.”

Orville frowned, thinking hard. “It’s been a very long time since I paid much attention to those stories. Back when I was a cub, I remember my grandfather used to sit at the fire and tell us tales of Creeping Juniper. She was a witch who lived in the deepest, darkest part of the forest, away from any towns and even farms or cabins. She lived in a shack beside Phantom Pond, and he always described it as having mist rising from the surface. Oh, and only dead trees around it.”

Vera nodded, writing the details down. “So it’s had that name for a while, then. We can look up ‘Phantom Pond’ in the archives. Did he mention if the pond has an inlet or an outlet? Some way a creature could get to it by boat, for example?”

The bear shook his big head. “He always said it was lonely and isolated, so I doubt there’s any easy way in or out.

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