Search for the Silver Swamp Monster (A Griffin Ghostley Adventure Book 1)

by Thomas J. Prestopnik

  “You too,” Mindy replies, noticing how dark it is getting even with the full moon rising. She clicks on her flashlight. “Check every pumpkin.”

  “I will.” I turn on my light as well, glancing at Alpha and Beta. “Make sure to take good care of her, okay?” They pant and bounce around, eager to head out.

  “We’ll be fine, Griffin. Just watch out for yourself and Gamma, all right?”

  With reassuring nods to one another, we head in opposite directions to our respective ends of the pumpkin patch to begin our searches. I aim my flashlight down at the first pumpkin growing in one corner of the patch. The orange sphere is much larger than a basketball and is slightly flattened at the top and bottom. Gamma sniffs around as I squat down to examine it more closely, but it appears to be a perfectly normal pumpkin. I look up at all the others spread across the patch and sigh, knowing it’s going to be a long night.

  About ten minutes later I’m in the next row, having found nothing unusual so far. I look to the other side of the patch and cannot see where Mindy and the dogs have gone. As the plot of land rises and dips in spots, they are temporarily out of my line of sight. I try not to worry as I examine the next pumpkin, finding nothing. Then I hear a low noise, perhaps a shuffling of feet through the vegetation. Gamma hears it too and stops, looking about and sniffing the air. We don’t see Mindy or her flashlight or hear anything further.

  “Must be our imaginations,” I whisper to Gamma. “Or maybe that old scarecrow is still around.” I shine the light about but see nothing, breathing a slight sigh of relief. “Let’s go with our imaginations,” I say, petting Gamma to let him know that everything is okay. We continue, going from one row to the next, checking one orange pumpkin after another, some large, some small, as our search grows more tedious by the second.

  Moments later I see the glow of Mindy’s flashlight several rows to my left and farther down the field. I’m happy to see that she is fine and am about to call out to her when my light hits a beach ball size pumpkin nestled beneath several large leaves. I jump back, startled as my light catches a row of pointed orange teeth grinning back at me. Gamma barks a few times until I quickly quiet him. I squat down and look at the pumpkin more closely, impressed by what I see.

  “Gamma, this one has already been carved into a jack-o’-lantern while it’s still connected to the vine. A pumpkin definitely out of place compared to all the others,” I say, believing I have found the solution to the second clue. “Ah, and now the capitalized FACE makes sense, too.”

  “What makes sense?”

  I jump up and spin around as my light catches Mindy’s face, not having heard her and the dogs approach while I was intently concentrating on my find. “Oh, it’s you.”

  “We heard Gamma bark earlier and headed right over, hoping you had found something,” Mindy replies.

  “We did. Look!” I proudly point out the carved pumpkin to her.

  Mindy nods. “FACE. I get it now. But how does this help us? Is there a slip of paper inside it with the next combination number?”

  “I haven’t had a chance to look,” I tell her as I kneel down again, shining my light inside the pumpkin so that it glows eerily in the night. To our disappointment, there is no slip of paper inside, but we both notice at once that there is something else carved on the other side of the pumpkin. “Another face?” I suggest.

  “That would be both weird and out of place,” Mindy says, kneeling down beside me. “Turn it around.”

  I carefully do so, not wanting to break it off the vine. Mindy adds her light to mine and we both look at each other in delighted surprise when seeing what is carved upon the back. Rather than another face, we see a two digit number.

  “Thirty-two!” we both say at the same time, impressed with the clever presentation of the second clue.

  “So now we have the numbers 90 and 32 as the first two numbers of the vault combination,” Mindy says. “Only one to go.”

  “And that one is in the cemetery just beyond this pumpkin patch.” I point in the general direction as I stand, giving Mindy a helping hand up. “Being in a dark cemetery on Halloween night–what could be better than that?” I remark with an uneasy laugh.

  “Just about anything,” Mindy replies.

  “But we have no choice if we’re to defeat the swamp monster. So let’s press on,” I say, aiming my light forward and indicating for the dogs to walk on ahead of us. “And careful so you don’t trip over any pumpkins. Despite the full moon, we’ve lost a lot of light already and I don’t–”

  “And you don’t what?” Mindy asks.

  I don’t say another thing as I gently take her arm to keep her from going forward. “Pssst! Alpha, Beta, Gamma–wait!” I whisper quietly, yet my words are laced with growing fear. The three dogs turn around, looking up at me with a mix of confusion and concern.

  “Why are we stopping?” Mindy softly asks, sensing that something is wrong.

  But I don’t have to reply as we all hear a low growling noise farther ahead emanating from one of the dips in the land. Slowly, a dark figure begins to rise several yards away with the full moon framed behind it. The growling noise grows louder and louder each passing second. Mindy again grabs my shoulder while Alpha, Beta and Gamma begin to nervously fidget about as the strange figure slowly advances.

  “That’s no scarecrow!” Mindy says with a tremor in her voice.

  “Without a doubt,” I agree, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “Still, we need to know what it is.” I gesture to Mindy to get her flashlight ready as the hunched figure gets closer. “On the count of three?”

  “Okay…”

  “One. Two. Three!”

  We both aim beams of light directly at the strange being and my blood grow cold. The dark, hairy beast with sharp fangs, walking upright, quickly raises an arm to shield its eyes from the bright light, yet growls with angry annoyance. Alpha, Beta and Gamma bark in fear as they jump about, never having seen such a sight. Neither have I, yet this Halloween detective knows exactly what is pursuing us.

  “A werewolf!” I blurt out.

  “What should we do?” Mindy asks, her hand nervously shaking as the light beam from her flashlight bounces about the steadily advancing creature.

  “There’s only one thing to do!” I shout. “Run!”

  One Step Back

  Mindy and I race out of the pumpkin patch like Olympic sprinters as Alpha, Beta and Gamma follow at our heels, the bright beams from our flashlights flying wildly about. We quickly pass through the tall patch of grass and weeds, hearing the deep, threatening growl of the werewolf closing in.

  “Back to the barn!” I call out as the decrepit building looms ahead, splashed with shadows and moonlight.

  Soon the three dogs zip past us and race toward the barn doors, howling in the night. But a moment later we hear an even more frightening sound as the werewolf, hidden somewhere in the tall grass, responds with a most deafening howl of its own beneath the full moon, sending chills up our spines that none of us will ever forget. As we reach the barn, I’m happy to see that we had never replaced the wooden plank across the doors.

  “Everyone get inside!” I say as I partially open one of the doors and quickly wave them on. Alpha, Beta and Gamma dart inside, not needing to be told twice. Mindy hurriedly follows and then I step inside last of all, closing the door behind me.

  “How are we going to lock it?” Mindy says. “We left the plank outside.”

  Without a second to spare, I race to the cobweb covered wall and grab a crowbar hidden behind the dusty strands, no longer squeamish about the spiders’ silky handiwork. I slide the crowbar through the two metal handles attached to the doors, securely locking us in.

  “So what do we do now?” Mindy asks.

  “Kill the light,” I whisper, hurriedly turning off my flashlight. Mindy does the same and we descend into total darkness.

  We both kneel down to pet the dogs and calm them, whispering to the trio not to make a sound. But the
n we all hear another sound from outdoors. A low growl echoes through the cold autumn night somewhere near the barn, getting closer and closer by the second. I know the werewolf has emerged from the grass, but whether it saw us flee into the barn or thinks we had run past it to the country road just beyond is still the question to be answered. Suddenly what sounds like long fingernails scratching against the outside barn wall fills our ears with dread. Gamma begins to whimper and I attempt to calm him.

  “Now what?” Mindy whispers close to my ear. “We can’t stay inside here forever.”

  “Not if we’re to reach the cemetery and the answer to that third clue,” I reply in equally hushed tones.

  “Maybe it’ll give up and go away soon,” Mindy adds hopefully.

  “Maybe…” I say, trying to believe my words. Then the main doors violently shake as the werewolf tries to break inside. We hear it growl in angry frustration as the crowbar prevents the doors from opening. “Or maybe not…” I continue with a prolonged sigh, knowing we can’t wait here indefinitely.

  Then just as suddenly, the noise and shaking stop, the werewolf having apparently given up. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. We wait for a minute or two to pass. Total silence. Did the creature leave? Or is it still out there, waiting to catch us?

  Finally, I take a deep breath and grit my teeth as I gather up my courage, knowing that it is up to me, Griffin Ghostley, Halloween detective, to put this werewolf in its place. Or to at least get out of its way without it following us–or preferably seeing us–so we can solve that third clue.

  “I have an idea,” I whisper, standing up and heading to the door.

  Mindy gasps and chases after me, probably believing that I’m ready to bolt out of the barn and confront that werewolf with my bare hands. But believe me, I am not that brave. However, if she is thinking that, the idea might not be so farfetched with a few modifications.

  “Just exactly what foolhardy idea is bouncing around in that brain of yours?” Mindy whispers while pulling me away from the door.

  “I only want to take a peek through the opening,” I softly reply. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to remove the crowbar.”

  She releases my arm, seeming to realize that I haven’t lost my mind. I slowly approach the door and place an eye near the thin crack where the two doors meet, quietly pushing them forward as far as they’ll go to widen the opening. There is just enough space to get a limited view of the area in front of the barn, and only because there is sufficient light from the full moon.

  I observe the nearby patch of tall grass and weeds and can see a section of the pumpkin patch beyond. I can also see part of the full moon as it rises to my left, its silvery glow offering comfort. Suddenly the moon disappears as a passing black shadow obscures my line of sight. I jump back from the doors, my heart beating so fast that my chest hurts. Mindy looks at me in horror as if able to read my mind. It wasn’t a shadow that passed by. It was the werewolf who is now only a few feet from the door.

  Mindy whispers. “Is it…?”

  I nod, not sure if she can clearly see my face or the fright in my eyes. “Yes,” I reply, barely uttering the word aloud as Alpha, Beta and Gamma move nervously around my legs. “He’s right outside this door. Maybe he can smell our scent.”

  “It’s waiting for us, thinking that we’ll eventually believe that it left the area and will then feel safe to go outside,” Mindy whispers, shaking her head in dismay. “Oh, we’ll never get out of here, Griffin! We can’t even sneak our way out with that hideous thing standing there. What were we thinking by deciding to go after the swamp monster?”

  I reluctantly agree with my classmate, wondering how this horrid night will end. I glance about the barn, able to see the shapes of things more clearly now that my eyes have adjusted to the darkness. Something near the side wall is slightly illuminated by flecks of moonlight drifting inside through cracks in the wall, the key to my idea.

  “No, Mindy, we can’t sneak out,” I say, turning to her with a budding smile. “And we don’t want to either. We’re going to leave this barn with all the noise of some Fourth of July fireworks.”

  “What?” She looks totally confused.

  “Well, maybe not that noisy, but close enough. And we’re going to use that old wheelbarrow over there.” I point to the rusty metal object cloaked in cobwebs.

  “You’ve obviously hatched a plan, detective.” Mindy is on the verge of smiling.

  “And we’re all going to take part,” I say enthusiastically with a pump of my fist. “You, me and our canine companions, who I’m sure want to get out of this place as much as we do.”

  “Then just tell me what to do,” she replies, quickly warming up to an idea she hasn’t even heard yet. “At this point, even a bad plan is better than none at all.”

  A short time later we take our places, prepared to make one last stand against the werewolf. I have positioned the rusty metal wheelbarrow in front of the doors after having wiped away its thick layers of dusty cobwebs according to Mindy’s detailed instructions. She and Gamma are now sitting in the wheelbarrow while Alpha and Beta stand on the ground on either side. But before I can play my part, I carefully remove the crowbar lodged through the door handles and set it aside. Then I gently push the barn doors open just enough to allow in a slight breeze that carries the pungent scent of doom.

  “Are you ready?” I whisper to Mindy after I scurry to the back of the wheelbarrow and grab hold of its two handles. Mindy briefly turns her head and nods, not daring to speak. Gamma sits in front of her with two paws resting firmly on the edge of the wheelbarrow’s front rim while Alpha and Beta anxiously wait for my signal. “Then here we go.”

  Taking a deep breath, I valiantly charge forward in the cold darkness, driving the wheelbarrow and its two passengers with all my might through the open doors. Alpha and Beta follow, staying alongside me like obedient guards.

  “Charge!” I cry as loudly as I can as I race on, making directly for the werewolf who is now crouching several yards ahead as if preparing to leap at us. Gamma begins to howl mournfully, his tail wagging wildly, while Alpha and Beta bark up a storm. We move like a lumbering black shadow in the night, and I wonder if the werewolf can clearly see us in the gloom as we launch our surprise attack.

  “Now?” Mindy asks, keeping her eyes locked straight ahead, waiting for my signal.

  “One more moment,” I say as we close in on the werewolf who begins to rise on its hind legs. “Just one more second, and... Now!”

  As quick as a lightning flash, Mindy clicks on the two flashlights at the same time, one in each hand, and waves them wildly about at the werewolf’s face. The creature jumps up and growls, but does not advance. Instead, it raises its furry hands to its face to keep the intense rays of light out of its eyes. But Mindy keeps the beams expertly focused on the werewolf as we draw closer and closer.

  “Charge!” I shout again as my courage grows. The three dogs bark and howl ever louder as if chasing after a group of squirrels.

  From the werewolf’s point of view, I imagine it thinks it’s seeing a fantastical giant beast with fiery eyes that has burst magically out of nowhere, a beast it knows that can’t be beat. I’m certain of this because the werewolf suddenly howls as if in pain and spins around, tired of fighting off the glaring light and not wanting to be plowed over in the next moment. It races through the tall grass and weeds and disappears, its growls of defeat fading in the darkness.

  I quickly stop the wheelbarrow and call Alpha and Beta back before they dive into the tall grass. I’m achy and nearly out of breath, yet thrilled that my plan has worked. Mindy and Gamma are delighted too, and they jump out of the wheelbarrow to join in the fun. But our celebration is short-lived for we know we have another task at hand. Our smiles fade and we now sport grim expressions of quiet determination, knowing our next destination.

  “Onward?” Mindy asks hesitantly, as if maybe hoping we might turn around and go home. But deep in her heart, she alread
y knows my answer.

  “Yes, onward,” I reply with a quick nod, leaving no doubt in her mind. “To the cemetery.”

  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?”