Search for the Silver Swamp Monster (A Griffin Ghostley Adventure Book 1) by Thomas J. Prestopnik

Author:Thomas J. Prestopnik [Prestopnik, Thomas J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Thomas J. Prestopnik
Published: 2016-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

An Eerie Glow

We race through the pumpkin patch again, only this time not stopping until we reach the far end and step out.

“No sign of the werewolf,” I remark.

“Or that old scarecrow,” Mindy adds with a sense of relief.

She and I hurry over a grassy plot of land with Alpha, Beta and Gamma right behind us. The grass is low and brittle and the ground is hard with the autumn cold. Then several paces ahead of us we see it–a pointed, cast-iron fence stretching for many yards in each direction. Inside the fencing are scattered several thickets of fragrant pine trees and bare maples and elms whose dry, fallen leaves rustle in the passing breeze. Also dotting the landscape, and tinted silver in the growing moonlight, are rows and rows of tombstones that beckon us onward in ominous silence.

We reach the fence and peer over. Alpha, Beta and Gamma pace about uneasily. I attempt to put on a brave face.

“Now that we’re here, a part of me would rather battle the scarecrow again,” I whisper to Mindy, hoping to break the tension with my joke.

“I know what you mean, but…”

I nod, understanding her point. “If we’re to solve this puzzle, we must go inside. Let’s find the entrance.”

We walk around the fence to the opposite side and find the front gate near a road. But before we step inside, I remove the map from my coat pocket. Mindy clicks on her flashlight so we can read the third and final clue. It is another mental challenge, maybe the toughest one of all.

Seek out nobody’s tombstone.

“That’s it?” Mindy says with mild annoyance.

“Apparently so,” I reply, turning the map over as if the clue might continue on the other side. But it is blank. I reread it slowly, hoping we might have missed something. “Seek out nobody’s tombstone.” I look at Mindy’s face in the glow of the light. “Huh? What does that even mean?”

“I have no idea,” she tells me, reading the clue to herself. “If we’re to seek out nobody’s tombstone, why would the swamp monster lure us to a cemetery? There is nothing but tombstones here.”

“And since every tombstone marks somebody’s grave, that means every tombstone belongs to somebody,” I explain, hoping that I’m making sense. “This isn’t even a logical clue. How can a nobody have a tombstone?” I grimace and begin to pace about, summoning up my detective skills. But for the moment I have nothing to show for it and sigh, letting my arms drop to my side in defeat. Mindy immediately recognizes my state of mind.

“Don’t give up just yet, Griffin. After all, we solved the first two clues easily enough,” she tells me. “Let’s look around first and maybe we might stumble onto something that makes sense.”

“All right,” I reply, her words giving me a bit of encouragement. “Besides, what choice do we really have?”

So with both flashlights blazing, we walk through the main gate, keeping our voices at a whisper. Alpha, Beta and Gamma cautiously lead the way.

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