by Greyson Mann
A few minutes later, they stood by what used to be the farmer’s shed, just on the edge of Birchtown. Sniffs had his nose to the ground, exploring the edges of the blown-out crater.
“See?” said Farmer Fran. “Judging by the size of that hole, it had to be a griefer using TNT.”
Butcher Bart shook his head. “That’s a creeper explosion. I didn’t cause that.”
“Let’s examine the evidence,” said Oliver. His voice wasn’t nearly as loud and confident as Audrey’s. But he was surprised when the farmer and the butcher stopped arguing. They stepped aside, letting him explore the property.
The crater was quite deep. As Oliver stepped around it and over a downed tree branch, he glanced at the oak tree above. The tree was practically split in half. Part of the jagged trunk was still standing, but its edges were burned black.
When Oliver lifted the fallen branch to examine the wet ground below, he spotted something white and glistening—something grinning at him. A skeleton’s skull!
“Um, Audrey?” he called, his voice quivering. His sister knew way more about skeletons than he did.
When she hurried over to take a look, Oliver whispered something in her ear. She nodded and whispered something back.
By then, Farmer Fran and Butcher Bart were arguing again. So Audrey put two fingers in her mouth and whistled to get their attention.
“Oliver and I have cracked the case,” she announced. “And this time, the culprit was definitely a creeper.”
“How do you know?” asked Farmer Fran, her voice still hot with anger.
How does Oliver know a creeper caused the explosion? Solve this Creeper Code for a clue. Read ONLY the words that come after the word “HISS.” Then turn the page to solve the mystery.
Oliver cleared his throat. “Judging by this tree, there was a lightning storm last night. When lightning strikes a pig, it turns into a zombie pigman.”
“Yes! That’s what I saw last night!” said Butcher Bart.
“But do you know what happens when lightning strikes a creeper?” Audrey chimed in.
Farmer Fran’s face relaxed. “They become super charged,” she said with a sigh.
“Right,” said Oliver. “The final clue was the skeleton’s skull. When a skeleton is killed by a charged creeper, it kind of, well, loses its head.” He grinned.
Farmer Fran smiled. “I kind of lost my head, too,” she said. “Sorry Bart. My mistake.” She reached out to shake the butcher’s hand.
“No worries,” said Butcher Bart. “Whatever the weather, we’ve got a creeper problem in Birchtown.”
“A super-charged creeper problem,” said Audrey, laughing. “But never fear. My super-smart brother and I are on the case. Right, Oliver?”
This time Oliver’s voice was loud and clear. “Right!”
SKETCHING A SUSPECT
“I’m armed and ready,” said Audrey, sliding her sword into its sheath.
“Me, too,” said Oliver, patting his notebook.
Audrey did a double take. “What are you going to do with that old thing?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Every good detective needs a notebook, right?”
He had found the book at the bottom of his chest just this morning. There were only a few tattered pages inside, and the leather cover was so worn that Sniffs eyed it up as if it were a chew toy.
“Hands off,” said Oliver in his most stern voice. “I mean, mouth off. No slobbering on my book, Sniffs. It’s for very important business.”
The dog whined and went back to sniffing the ground.
“Which way to Lefty’s place?” asked Audrey, stopping by a signpost.
Oliver pushed up his glasses. “Take a right,” he said, jogging to catch up with his sister. They followed the short gravel path toward the leatherworker’s house.
Lefty greeted them on the porch. “Hey, kids! Are you here to help me catch the creeper that’s been lurking around my yard?”
“Yes!” said Audrey. “Show us those footprints we’ve been hearing about.”
“Okay,” said Lefty, looking in both directions. “But keep an eye out. Those creepers are way too sneaky.”
He led them beside a tall fence and then knelt in the dirt. “I caught a glimpse of the mob through the fence. You can just barely make out the prints. They’re still pretty fresh.”
Sniffs stuck his nose right into one of the footprints. When Audrey saw the direction the prints were heading, she took off like a shot. And Oliver? He hung back and sketched the prints in his notebook.
“So,” he said, clearing his throat. “You say you saw this creeper. About how tall would you say he was?”
Lefty scratched his chin. “I don’t know. I guess, about … you know, Steve’s height.” He waved at his neighbor Steve, who was digging in his garden.
“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” said Oliver, jotting notes in his notebook. “And what color would you say he was?”
Lefty snorted. “Well, green, of course.”
“Right,” said Oliver, jotting that down. “Got it. And was the mob making any sounds?”
“Nope. Well, hissing probably. I’m not sure. I couldn’t hear anything through my kitchen window.”
Oliver studied his notes. “Hmm. Okay, just one more question, Lefty. Would you say this mob was right-handed or left-handed?”
Lefty slapped his thigh and laughed out loud. “Kid, you crack me up. How should I know? The creeper had both arms in the air. That’s about all I can say.”
As Audrey circled back toward them, Oliver closed his notebook.
“Are you going to help me look for the creeper or what?” asked Audrey, hands in the air.
Oliver squinted up into the morning sun. “He’s long gone,” he said.
“How do you know?” asked Audrey. “Creepers don’t burn up at dawn.”
“No …” said Oliver slowly. “But this is no creeper we’re tracking.”
How can Oliver be so sure? Solve this Creeper Code for a clue. Read ONLY the words that come after the word “MOB.” Then turn the page to solve the mystery.
“But Lefty saw a creeper,” Audrey argued. “He told us! He showed us the footprints, too.”
“Right,” said Oliver. “But the mob that left those prints had two feet, not four. Plus a pair of arms. But creepers don’t have arms.”
“Well, I’ll be …” said Lefty. “So what’s been lurking around my yard, then?”
Oliver held up the sketch he had drawn in his notebook.
“About Steve’s height, with two legs and outstretched arms. And very green. Does this look like the suspect?”
Lefty laughed out loud. “Outsmarted by a zombie. Sorry, kids, for dragging you all the way out here for nothing.”
“Oh, it wasn’t for nothing,” said Oliver, grinning. “I finally got to use my notebook. And I think it’s going to come in pretty handy!”
“WITCH” POTION WAS IT?
“No, Sniffs! You spit that out right now. Drop it.”
Oliver pointed his finger until the guilty dog opened his mouth. A mini slime dropped out.
Oinga, boing, oinga, boing …
As the tiny mob bounced toward the swamp, Sniffs licked at the slime oozing from his snout.
“Gross!” said Oliver. “No more kisses from you today. You can keep all that slimy goodness to yourself.”
Sniffs wagged his tail and took off toward Audrey, who was peering at something on the mushy, wet ground. “Here it is!” she called, waving Oliver over. “Gunpowder everywhere. There was a creeper battle here for sure.”
While she searched the edge of the oak grove for more mobs, Oliver examined the gunpowder. Something wet and glistening lay on the grass beside it. A mushroom?
Sniffs spotted it, too—he was a big fan of mushrooms. But as his jaws clamped down on the squishy something, Oliver sprang into action. “Drop it, Sniffs. Now!”
Sniffs did, and the gooey brown spider eye dropped to the ground.
“That’s no mushroom,”
said Oliver. “That’ll make you sick.”
He used a stick to poke at the eyeball. Then a thought struck. “Audrey!” he cried, jumping up. “There wasn’t a creeper battle here. Someone battled a … hey, watch out!”
Audrey saw the witch at the same time Oliver did. She whirled around to face the purple-robed mob.
The witch was already downing a potion from her glass bottle.
Before she could finish the powerful liquid, Audrey attacked. She struck the witch with her sword, dodging splash potions as she backed the witch up toward the water.
Finally the witch fell, and her glass bottle did, too. It hit a rock and crashed into a million tiny shards.
“No!” cried Audrey, dropping to her knees. “I wanted that potion for myself!”
Oliver ran toward her and helped her up. “Would you settle for a spider eye?” he asked, pointing toward the fresh drop lying where the witch used to be.
Audrey shivered. “Uh, no thanks.” She kept her sword raised as she looked out over the swamp. “There must be a witch hut around here somewhere. There!”
The wooden house was built on stilts. A couple of loose boards dangled from the porch, and the front door hung crooked on its hinges.
“Did someone destroy the hut to get to the witch?” asked Oliver.
“Maybe. Or to get to the witch’s potions,” Audrey said, her eyes narrowed. “Let’s go check it out!”
Every inch of Oliver wanted to walk the other way. But somehow, he found himself standing beside Audrey inside the witch hut. It was empty, thank goodness. And there were a couple of empty spots on the shelf above the cauldron, too.
Audrey pointed. “Someone stole some potion ingredients. See?”
Before Oliver could jot down the missing ingredients in his notebook, Sniffs nosed at his hand.
“What, boy?”
The dogs’ ears perked up, as if to say, “Listen!”
Then Oliver heard it, too. Squish, slop, squish, slop, squish, slop … The sound grew louder.
“Audrey, I think we’re about to get slimed.”
Her eyes widened. She grabbed a book off the shelf and headed for the door. “Let’s go!”
There was nothing “mini” about the slimes at the base of the ladder. Audrey struck the first one with her sword, breaking it into a gazillion smaller slimes. “Run!” she shouted to Oliver.
She didn’t have to tell him twice. He sprinted down the mucky trail toward home, with Sniffs by his side.
An hour later, he and Audrey huddled under a torch looking at the book she had taken from the hut.
“Two ingredients were stolen,” she said. “One was awkward potion. Do you remember the other one?”
Do you remember the other stolen ingredient? Which potion is the thief trying to make? Take a guess, and then turn the page to solve the mystery.
Oliver scrunched his eyes shut, trying to remember. “I think it was Golden Carrot,” he finally said. “And if it was, then someone was trying to make …” He slid his finger along the chart in Audrey’s book.
“Potion of night vision!” she announced. “That means someone has plans to do something mysterious in the dark.”
“But who?” added Oliver. “And what?”
Sniffs, who was settled beside him, let out a low growl.
“Easy boy,” said Oliver. “We figured out which potion ingredients were stolen and why. We’ll figure out the next mystery, too.”
TRAPPED IN A LIE
Bong, bong, bong …
The bell in the clock tower rang a few more times and then settled into silence.
“How many was that, Sniffs? Nine times?” Oliver shaded his eyes and scanned the horizon. Where was Audrey? She’d been visiting villagers all morning but was supposed to be here at 8:30—a half hour ago.
While he waited, Oliver watched an iron golem roam the courtyard, offering poppies to villagers. Other villagers traded with one another, calling out their wares.
Farmer Fran traded apples from her cart to a shepherd for some sheared wool. Miner Max offered gunpowder to Lefty in exchange for some leather armor. When Max offered more gunpowder to a fisherman for freshly caught salmon, Sniff’s nose twitched.
“That’s not for you, boy,” said Oliver. “Not unless you have something to trade for it. Do you?”
Sniffs cocked his head, as if he were thinking about it. Then he whined and laid down on his belly, resting his chin on his paws.
“Hey! Sorry I’m late,” huffed Audrey. She jogged toward them through the crowd. “You’ll never believe how many villagers saw creepers this morning. They said a whole army of the green mobs passed by town! It was like someone had a room full of them and then opened the door and just let them out.”
“You mean like a creeper trap?” asked Oliver.
Audrey shrugged. “Maybe. But who would want to trap a bunch of dirty creepers?”
Oliver pushed up his glasses and scanned the courtyard. “Someone who wants a lot of gunpowder.”
Audrey’s eyes widened. “Like someone making TNT?” she whispered. “But who?”
Oliver watched Miner Max walk away from the fisherman’s cart. He was limping a little.
“Max sure had a lot of gunpowder to trade this morning,” Oliver whispered to Audrey. “Should we question him?”
She nodded. “I’m on it.”
A few minutes later, they were talking with Max in front of his obsidian mine. “Yeah, I saw those creepers this morning,” he said. “Someone must have trapped them—one of my neighbors. In fact, I saw a warning painted on a sign yesterday afternoon.” He waved his arm and said, “Follow me. I’ll show you.”
The warning was written in red paint on a simple wooden signpost. It read:
“I don’t know who wrote it,” said Max, shrugging. “I’m just glad the creepers have cleared out.”
Audrey didn’t seem so sure the creepers were gone. She kept her hand on her sword.
Oliver sketched the sign into his notebook. Then he crouched beside the sign, searching for clues. He looked under and around it. Sniffs did, too.
As the dog’s nose brushed against the sign, a streak of red paint smeared across his snout.
“Oh, no! Sniffs, come here,” said Oliver. He tried to wipe off the paint, but poor Sniffs looked like he had just battled a hostile mob.
Then another thought struck.
“Miner Max, how did you hurt your leg?” Oliver called to the miner, who was limping up ahead.
“What? Oh, um, I fell into a ravine while I was mining. It’s no big deal.”
“Oh, okay.”
Something in Max’s voice caught Audrey’s attention. She fell into step beside him and whispered, “Do you know who built the creeper trap?”
Oliver nodded. “Max did,” he mouthed.
Why is Oliver so sure? Solve this Creeper Code for a clue. Read ONLY the words that come after the word “CREEP.” Then turn the page to solve the mystery.
Audrey cleared her throat. “Miner Max, are you sure there’s nothing you want to tell us about a creeper trap?”
The miner’s face fell. “You kids are on to me, aren’t you?”
Oliver nodded. “It was the wet paint on the sign that gave it away. You couldn’t have seen it yesterday afternoon—it wasn’t made yet. Did you make the sign, Miner Max?”
The miner sighed. “I built the creeper trap a week ago to collect more gunpowder. I need TNT for mining obsidian! But creepers kept slipping out. One exploded on the other side of the trap door this morning. That’s how I hurt my leg. And before I could fix the door, every last creeper crept out!” He hung his head.
Audrey’s eyes lit up. “Well that explains the creeper problem in Birchtown. One mystery solved.”
Miner Max nodded sadly. “I’ll go back into town and let the other villagers know.”
Oliver felt a little sorry for the miner as he limped back toward town. “Should we go with him?” he asked.
Audrey nibbled on a fingernai
l. “Not yet,” she said. “Do you think Max really used the TNT for mining? Someone used TNT to blow a hole into the blacksmith’s storage room and steal his emeralds, remember?”
Oliver shook his head. “Max didn’t steal any emeralds.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Because,” said Oliver. “If Max stole the emeralds, he would have been trading with them at the market this morning. You can buy a lot more with emeralds than you can with gunpowder!”
Audrey’s face relaxed into a smile. “So the miner was telling the truth after all. Should we help him go tell the villagers what happened?”
Woof! said Sniffs.
Oliver laughed and followed his dog back down the gravel road toward Miner Max—and Birchtown.
SWAMP SECRETS
“It’s your turn to take out the trash,” Audrey insisted. “I did it last week!”
Oliver sighed and grabbed the trash can. In the time it would take to win this argument, he could make it to the lava pit and back again.
“C’mon, Sniffs,” he called as he headed out the door.
The lava pit just outside of Birchtown glowed bright. Oliver waved at Lefty, who had just emptied his own bin.
“Sit, Sniffs,” said Oliver. “Don’t get too close to the flames.”
The dog obeyed. But as Oliver poured his trash into the bubbling lava, the breeze lifted a piece of half-burned paper out of the pit. And then another. And another.
Sniffs saw them, too. He barked and chased the paper scraps.
By the time Oliver pried them out of the dog’s mouth, they were not only half-burned, but half-chewed, too.
He knelt down and laid out the scraps on the grass.
“What did you find?” called Audrey, coming up behind Oliver.
“A map, I think,” he said. “Take a look.”
She studied the scraps. “Yeah, that does look like a map. This blue blob is water, and here are some trees. Look, someone marked an X by one of them! That’s mysterious.”