The Creeper Code

by Greyson Mann

  Also by Greyson Mann:

  Five-Minute Minecrafter Mysteries

  Extreme Stories from the Extreme Hills

  Secrets of an Overworld Survivor

  Lost in the Jungle

  When Lava Strikes

  Wolves vs. Zombies

  Never Say Nether

  The Creeper Diaries

  Mob School Survivor

  Creeper’s Got Talent

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  Copyright © 2017 by Hollan Publishing, Inc.

  Minecraft® is a registered trademark of Notch Development AB.

  The Minecraft game is copyright © Mojang AB.

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

  Sky Pony® is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

  Minecraft® is a registered trademark of Notch Development AB.

  The Minecraft game is copyright © Mojang AB.

  Visit our website at www.skyponypress.com.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Special thanks to Erin L. Falligant.

  Cover illustration by Grace Sandford

  Cover design by Brian Peterson

  Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-5107-2838-7

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2371-9

  Printed in the United States of America

  CRACK THE CODES!

  Ready to help Oliver, Audrey, and Sniffs solve a few mysteries in Birchtown? Many of these mysteries will ask you to solve a Creeper Code—to read secret messages hidden within a jumble of words. Here’s how to crack those codes.

  Read ONLY the words that come after the word “HISS.”

  Answer: Oliver and Audrey are on the case!

  BLOW-UP AT THE BLACKSMITH’S

  “Check it out!” said Audrey, pointing toward the poster hanging in the window of the blacksmith’s shop.

  Oliver glanced at the poster, but he was distracted by his own reflection in the glass. He saw a boy with dark messy hair spilling into his glasses. And in those glasses, he saw another tiny reflection. He squinted, wondering how many Olivers he could see if he looked closely enough.

  His big sister waved her hand in front of his face. “Did you read it or what?”

  Oliver took a step backward and scanned the poster.

  Audrey sighed. “Imagine what we could do with a hundred emeralds …”

  Woof!

  Oliver chuckled and bent low to scratch his gray dog behind the ears. “Sniffs knows exactly what he would do with a hundred emeralds. He’d buy a hundred bones.”

  Sniffs panted in agreement, his tongue hanging out as he smiled wide.

  “Well, if I had a hundred emeralds, I’d buy a diamond sword today—not a boring old iron one,” said Audrey. “C’mon. Let’s find the blacksmith.”

  As she pushed through the heavy door, Oliver turned toward his dog. “Sit, Sniffs. Stay.”

  The dog whined, but he obediently lowered his rump to the ground.

  “Good boy.” Oliver pulled a worn skeleton bone from his pocket and gave it to Sniffs to gnaw on. Then he stepped into the shop.

  Audrey was already deep in conversation with Blacksmith Bernard. “So about those creepers,” she was saying.

  “They’ve been showing up and blowing up all over Birchtown,” said the blacksmith, his voice rising. “This morning, one spawned right here in my shop! You should see the damage.”

  He led Audrey and Oliver past the furnace room and into the back room. It was furnished with a simple bed on one side and a table on the other, just below a window.

  Oliver’s eyes slid past the tabby cat curled up on the table, past the teetering stack of books, and straight to the bowl of bright red apples on the window ledge. His mouth watered. Had he forgotten to have breakfast?

  As he stepped into the room, something crunched under his feet. Glass. That’s when he noticed that the window above the table was broken. A gentle breeze blew through.

  “Luckily my walls are made of obsidian,” said the blacksmith, opening the back door. “But you should see the crater in the ground.”

  Audrey stepped out first. “Woah!” The tips of her boots teetered on the edge of a gaping hole. “That must have been a mighty big creeper.”

  “Indeed,” said the blacksmith with a sigh. “Now what did you say you came for? An iron sword? Let me run downstairs to my storage room and get one.”

  As soon as he was gone, Audrey pulled her old wooden sword from its sheath. She turned in a slow, steady circle, as if that enormous creeper was going to respawn any second now.

  Oliver bent low to examine the crater. It was so deep! At the very bottom, he could see a few steps of a staircase.

  “I don’t think it was a creeper that did this damage,” he said, straightening back up.

  Audrey’s face fell. “Why not?”

  Why doesn’t Oliver think a creeper was the culprit? Solve this Creeper Code for a clue. Read ONLY the words that come after the word “BOOM.” Then turn the page to solve the mystery.

  “I don’t think it was creepers—for two reasons,” said Oliver. “First, the blast must have come from outside the shop, because glass was on the floor inside.”

  Audrey chewed on a fingernail. “Okay. What else?”

  “Creepers hate cats. A creeper wouldn’t have blown up outside the window of a house where a cat was sleeping. That creeper would have turned and run the other away.”

  “So then what caused this?” asked Audrey, pointing toward the crater.

  Oliver pushed up his glasses. “TNT, I’ll bet. Maybe someone blew a hole to get to something valuable, like—“

  “My emeralds!” cried the blacksmith, racing out the back door. “Someone broke into my storage chest! My emeralds are missing!”

  Audrey sighed. “So much for the emerald reward.”

  But Oliver’s eyes lit up. “Now we have two mysteries to solve,” he said. “Why are so many creepers spawning in Birchtown? And who used TNT to steal Mr. Bernard’s emeralds?”

  Audrey pushed her shoulders back, standing tall. “Don’t worry, Blacksmith Bernard. We’re on the case. Right, Oliver?”

  He gave her a thumbs-up. “Right.”

  From the front porch came a resounding woof!

  WHEN SHADOWS FALL

  Oliver shivered, pulling his cape tightly around him. “The sun is setting,” he said, watching the orange globe sink behind the mountains.

  Audrey glanced at the sky. “I know. Just one more house to visit before we call it a day.”

  She didn’t seem the least bit worried about the mobs that might spawn in the dark. So, Oliver hurried to catch up to her. The closer he was to Audrey and her new iron sword, the safer he felt.

  As soon as they r
eached the last house on the edge of Birchtown, the front door swung open.

  “Hi, kids,” said red-headed Mrs. Tate. “Blacksmith Bernard said you might stop by, and I’m awfully glad to see you. We’ve had creepers in the house every night this week!” She glanced nervously at the setting sun.

  “How do you think they’re getting in?” asked Audrey as she stepped through the doorway.

  Mrs. Tate shushed her with a finger. “The twins are sleeping.” She nodded to two tiny beds at one end of the room.

  “Oh, sorry!” Audrey clamped her hand over her mouth.

  Oliver tiptoed past her and examined the room. He studied the front door, looked through each window, and snuck quietly past the sleeping twins.

  Then he cleared his throat and whispered, “I don’t think the creepers are getting in through a window or a door. I think they’re spawning in here.”

  “How do you know?” asked Mrs. Tate, her eyes wide with worry.

  Why does Oliver think the creepers are spawning in the room instead of getting in through a window or a door? Examine the room for clues. Then turn the page to solve the mystery.

  Oliver pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Your door is solid. One window has a cactus in front of it. Creepers have trouble getting past those. The other window has cobwebs in it.”

  Mrs. Tate blushed. “I know. I’ve been meaning to clean, but …”

  Audrey shrugged. “If I were you, I’d keep the cobwebs. Creepers get stuck in them!”

  “Exactly,” said Oliver. “So I think your problem is darkness. Creepers spawn in the shadows, and—”

  Hissssssss …

  Oliver whirled around to face the creeper. It stood at the foot of the children’s beds!

  Before Oliver could even gasp, Audrey sprang into action. She knocked the creeper back against the wall, again and again until it dissolved into a heap of gunpowder.

  Mrs. Tate ran to her children, who were now wide-eyed and sitting up in bed. When the little boy began clapping and cheering, Audrey took a bow.

  “Thank goodness you were here!” said Mrs. Tate.

  “No, um, no problem,” said Oliver, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “So maybe you could add a torch to that corner of the room.”

  But Mrs. Tate was already on it. She lifted a torch from above the furnace and slid it into the slot above the twins’ beds. “It’s just a nightlight,” she said, tucking the children back into bed.

  “No more creepers?” asked the little girl.

  “No more creepers,” said Mrs. Tate, kissing her on the forehead.

  Disappointment flashed across the little boy’s face, but Audrey gave him a thumbs-up, which made him smile.

  “One creeper down,” Audrey whispered to Oliver on their way out the door. “Only like a gazillion more to go.”

  MUSIC FROM THE WELL

  Sniffs cocked his furry head and whined.

  “He hears the music too!” said Oliver. “But where’s it coming from?” He held his torch higher, trying to see.

  Audrey leaned over the edge of the Birchtown well. “From down here, just like the villagers said!” Her voice bounced off the cobblestone walls.

  “But how?” asked Oliver. Examining clues on the ground was one thing. Solving a mystery deep within the depths of a well was another.

  Then he caught sight of the bucket on the rope. Audrey had better not ask me to—

  “Lower me down, Oliver,” she said, reaching for the bucket.

  “No. It’s dangerous!” he argued. But danger was practically Audrey’s middle name.

  “You think everything is dangerous,” she said. “Like being outside at night. But so far, we haven’t been attacked by any hostile mobs, right?”

  Oliver shivered. “Don’t remind me. Why did we have to do this at night again?”

  Audrey rolled her eyes. “Because the villagers hear the music at night. You want to solve the mystery, right? So, hand me that torch and lower me down.”

  As she climbed into the bucket, Oliver took a deep breath and reached for the rope.

  Creak, creak, creak …

  He dug his heels into the earth and slowly lowered his sister down.

  Splash! The bucket finally hit water. Then there was silence.

  “Audrey?” Oliver fought the panic rising in his chest.

  “I’m fine.” Her voice sounded very far away. “I can still hear the music, even louder now. But it’s not coming from down here. There’s not a jukebox or music disc in sight. Okay, bring me back up!”

  Oliver tugged on the rope. Bringing his sister up was much harder than lowering her down. Even Sniffs tried to help.

  Finally, Audrey’s head popped up out of the well. As she climbed out of the bucket, Oliver tied off the rope and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

  “The music must be coming from underground,” said Audrey. “Maybe from a basement?”

  Oliver pushed up his glasses and gazed left, then right. The well stood halfway between the Birchtown library and the clock tower. The clock tower bonged every hour, but Oliver had never heard music coming from the tower.

  Suddenly, Sniffs growled. He crouched low, ready to spring at something in the darkness.

  Audrey snapped into ready position. She pulled her sword from her side. “Skeletons!”

  Then Oliver heard it, too: the rattling of bones. “Where are they?”

  “I don’t know,” said Audrey. “But without a bow and arrow, we’re goners. I’ll never get close enough to a skeleton to use my sword—not without armor!”

  Fear exploded in Oliver’s chest. If Audrey was scared, they were goners. He didn’t have any weapons at all.

  When Sniffs barked and leaped into the shadows, Oliver grabbed his sister’s arm.

  Then they heard something else—the creak of the front door to the library. “Oliver! Audrey! Get in here!” called Librarian Lila. She waved the kids inside.

  Oliver tripped up the stairs. He could hardly wait to get through that door! Then he saw that the librarian carried a bow and arrow. As they headed in, she was heading out—to fight.

  “I’m going with you!” said Audrey. “I’ll help.”

  The librarian shook her head. “Stay here.”

  So Audrey and Oliver watched through a crack in the door. The librarian raced down the steps, darted behind the well, and carefully aimed her bow. Thwang! She shot an arrow into the darkness.

  When an arrow whizzed back, she ducked. Then she fired another arrow behind her, in the opposite direction.

  “She’s surrounded!” cried Audrey.

  Oliver scrunched his eyes tight.

  “Wait, I see what she’s doing,” said Audrey a moment later. “She’s making the skeletons fight each other!”

  Sure enough, as Librarian Lila raced back up the steps, bows whizzed back and forth behind her. Oliver heard a grunt and a groan, and then the tinkle of bones hitting the ground.

  Just as the librarian began to close the door, a furry snout poked through. “Sniffs!” Oliver dropped to his knees. He laughed when he saw the fresh skeleton bone in the dog’s mouth. “You claimed a treasure.”

  “And I think I solved the mystery of the music from the well,” said Audrey, grinning.

  “Wait, really?” Oliver glanced up.

  “Yup,” said Audrey. Then she turned to the librarian. “You don’t by chance have a jukebox in your basement, do you?”

  Why does Audrey think Librarian Lila is playing the mysterious music? Solve this Creeper Code for a clue. Read ONLY the words that come after the word “GREEN.” Then turn the page to solve the mystery.

  Librarian Lila blushed in the glow of the torch. “You caught me. I was hoping no one would hear the music!”

  “But how did you figure it out?” asked Oliver, staring at Audrey in amazement.

  She shrugged. “Easy. How do you get music discs?”

  He thought about that. “You get a skeleton to shoot a creeper.”

  “Right,” said
Audrey. “Did you see what Librarian Lila did out there? She got the skeletons to shoot each other. Getting them to shoot a creeper would be easy for her!”

  The librarian chuckled. “Well, it’s never easy. But I’ve definitely added a few music discs to my collection lately.”

  “Wait,” said Oliver. “Why didn’t you want anyone else to hear the music?”

  The librarian shrugged. “Villagers are so upset by all the creepers in town. I might be the only one who thinks something good can come from a creeper! You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

  Audrey pretended to zip her lips with her fingers. “Your secret is safe with us—as long as you teach me how to use a bow and arrow like that someday.”

  The librarian smiled. “Deal.”

  WHATEVER THE WEATHER

  As Oliver passed the front door of the butcher’s shop, he heard loud voices escape from inside.

  “What in the Overworld is going on in there?” he asked.

  “Let’s find out,” said Audrey, veering in her path.

  Oliver hung back for a moment beside Sniffs, who was lapping water from a puddle. Then he sighed and followed his sister up the steps.

  As she pushed through the front door, the angry voices swelled.

  “I know it was you!” shouted Farmer Fran, pointing her finger at Butcher Bart. “You blew up my shed last night. I saw you outside in the rain!”

  The butcher held up his gloved hands. “It wasn’t me. I was outside last night, yes—tracking a zombie pigman. But I most certainly didn’t blow up your shed. Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know. To get at my pigs maybe?” said the farmer. “Or maybe you’re just a dirty griefer.”

  Uh-oh, thought Oliver. This is going from bad to worse.

  He inched back toward the door, but Audrey held up her hand. “Excuse me,” she said. “Do you mind if Oliver and I take a look at the scene of this crime?”

  “Be my guest,” said Farmer Fran, spreading her arms wide. “It’ll only prove my case!”