Ghosthunters and the Muddy Monster of Doom! by Cornelia Funke

Author:Cornelia Funke [Funke, Cornelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-545-40603-1
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2011-10-08T16:00:00+00:00

9

At first, Tom thought the NEPGA had escaped too quickly. It was nowhere to be seen; the fog wrapped them with stinking clouds. They blinded Tom and made it almost impossible to breathe. But then, all of a sudden, the dark figure of the fleeing ghost appeared out of the mist, right in front of them. It was flying as slowly as Tom had hoped, the baking powder and scouring sands acting like lead weights on its limbs. Above the church square the NEPGA lost altitude, and Tom thought for a moment that it was going to disappear back into the church. However, the ghost flew on, past the church steeple, over the vicarage roof, on and on, until the houses of Bogpool were all behind it.

“Where’s it going?” Tom whispered to Hugo. “Do you recognize anything?”

“Nothing!” replied Hugo, slowing down in line with the NEPGA. It seemed almost to be floating on the spot, like a starless hole in the cloudy night. Then it suddenly dropped to Earth like a stone.

“After it, Hugo!” Tom cried in a muffled voice. “Quickly! Or we’ll lose it!”

Hugo dropped down. A swampy meadow appeared out of the fog. Tom slipped off Hugo’s shoulders and sank up to his knees in the damp, pale yellow grass. He looked around. There was no sign of the NEPGA. Its dark figure had vanished as if it had simply dissolved. But a few feet away, gigantic stones loomed up from the grass. Each of them was at least twelve feet high.

“Standing stones,” murmured Tom. “Hetty was right: We really are dealing with something seriously ancient.”

The stones formed a circle, as far as Tom could tell. “Looks like a pagan shrine or something,” he whispered to Hugo. “Come on, let’s go and take a closer look.”

Hesitantly the ASG floated behind him. “This smells like a real ghooooosts’ nest if yooooou ask meeeee,” he breathed. “Daaaark ghosts, paaaale ghosts, liiiitle ones, biiiig ones, they’re all here.”

Tom sighed. “Just as we feared,” he murmured. “Come on, let’s get it over with.”

The fog swirled like smoke from between the stones, and Tom could barely heave his boots out of the swamp. “Looks as if all the trouble’s been coming from here,” he whispered. “Be thankful you can fly, Hugo. If this keeps on, I’ll be up to my neck in …”

He got no further. Hugo pressed his cold fingers against his mouth and pulled him to his chest. Two black dogs as big as calves had appeared between the stones. Their red eyes glowed like fire. They looked around inquisitively, panting and showing their long pale teeth — then disappeared into the night.

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