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Overview
Another creepy tale for beside the campfire or beneath the covers from "Twisted Sisters" Annette and Gina Cascone's Deadtime Stories—now a hit show on Nickelodeon!
Everyone in Baskerville knows about Jimmy Leeds. In fact, Adam Riley and his friends have been telling scary stories about Jimmy for years—stories they don't really believe. After all, how can anyone believe in a half-human beast with horns and hooves?
But the legend of Jimmy Leeds isn't just a story. When all the kids in the neighborhood decide to have a giant campout, Adam and his friends learn much too late that the streets of Baskerville aren't safe—especially after dark. One by one, Adam's friends start disappearing into the night. At first, Adam thinks it's some kind of joke—until he follows the hoofprints into the nearby woods, and finds himself face-to-face with the Beast of Baskerville….
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781429992947 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Tor Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 05/08/2012 |
| Series: | Deadtime Stories Series , #3 |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 192 |
| File size: | 923 KB |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
About the Author
"Twisted Sisters" Annette and Gina Cascone have written more than twenty-eight books and two movies together. Their books include the Deadtime Stories series for middle grade readers as well as young adult thrillers. They have also produced and written numerous treatments and books for series packagers such as Parachute Publishing, where they worked on the mega-successful Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine. They both live in Central New Jersey.
"Twisted Sisters" ANNETTE CASCONE AND GINA CASCONE have written more than twenty-eight books and two movies together. Their books include young adult thrillers, as well as the Deadtime Stories series for middle-grade readers. They have also produced and written numerous treatments and books for series packagers such as Parachute Publishing, where they worked on the mega-successful Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine. They both live in Central New Jersey.
Read an Excerpt
The Beast of Baskerville
By Annette Cascone, Gina Cascone
Tom Doherty Associates
Copyright © 2012 Annette Cascone Gina CasconeAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4299-9294-7
CHAPTER 1
Adam Riley started to sweat as he and his best friend, Eugene Nazzaro, slowly approached the long gravel drive that snaked its way up to the creepy old house on the hill. It was the Leeds house, where the Beast of Baskerville had been born, the house where the sniveling, snorting, subhuman creature lived now.
From the street, Adam could see all the warning signs telling him to turn tail and run. They were nailed to the rotted-out trees that lined the drive:
KEEP OUT! PRIVATE PROPERTY!
NO TRESPASSING ALLOWED!
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!
BEWARE! THE BEAST OF BASKERVILLE IS WATCHING YOU!
Adam swallowed hard. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was climb Deadman's Hill.
But the creature was expecting him.
Here goes nothing, Adam thought, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. He lifted his foot and crossed over the imaginary safety line between Ridge Road and the Leedses' driveway.
Behind him, Eugene stopped dead in his tracks.
"This is not a good idea," Eugene told Adam for the twelve millionth time. "You're only asking for trouble."
"But if I don't deal with this now, I'm dead tonight!" Adam exclaimed.
"And what are you going to do when the little beast throws a big fat tizzy fit?" Eugene asked. "That's what will happen, you know — the minute you tell him you're not coming to his stupid birthday party tonight."
Adam knew Eugene was right.
J.J. Leeds, the thirteen-year-old, sniveling, snorting, subhuman creature that had moved into the Beast of Baskerville's old house, was definitely going to throw a major tizzy fit. Especially when he found out that no one in the neighborhood was planning to come to his party.
"You're not going to tell J.J. about anyone else, are you?" Eugene wanted to know.
"Are you nuts?" Adam shot back. "Then I'll really be dead. Because everyone in the neighborhood will kill me!"
Adam didn't even want to tell J.J. that he wasn't coming to the party, but thanks to his mom, he didn't have a choice.
Mrs. Riley felt sorry for J.J. Leeds. She insisted that the only reason all the neighborhood kids picked on him was because his last name was Leeds, just like the Beast's.
Adam had tried to explain to his mother that the problem with J.J. wasn't his name at all. Lots of people in Baskerville were named Leeds, including Stacey Leeds, one of Adam's good friends. The Leeds family had founded the town of Baskerville more than two hundred years ago, and dozens of Leedses were still scattered about.
It wasn't even the fact that J.J. and his mom had moved into the creepiest house in town that made him a spitball target. If J.J. had been a normal kid, everyone in the neighborhood, except for Eugene, probably would have thought that was cool.
But J.J. wasn't a normal kid. He was a sniveling, snorting, loogie-spitting little beast. And everyone in the neighborhood knew it. Everyone but Mrs. Riley.
"I can't believe your mom is making you do this," Eugene said.
"Me neither," Adam groaned. "But if I don't tell J.J. face-to-face that I'm not coming to his party later, my mom won't let me sleep out tonight. And if I don't give him this stupid present, she'll make me go to his party."
"So why don't you just leave the present in the mailbox and tell your mom he wasn't home?" Eugene suggested.
Adam considered that idea for a second. But he knew it wouldn't work. "I can't," he told Eugene. "My mom might call Mrs. Leeds. Then I'll really be in trouble."
J.J.'s mom was always at home. She didn't own a car, and she rarely went out.
J.J. claimed that Mrs. Leeds had to stay inside because she was allergic to the air on the outside.
No one believed it. Mrs. Leeds was just creepy, and she was another reason no one wanted to go to J.J.'s party.
"So what do you want to do?" Eugene asked, cringing. "Talk to Mrs. Leeds?"
Adam shot him a look. "No, I don't want to talk to Mrs. Leeds! But if my mom does, she'll know I didn't even ring the doorbell."
None of the kids in the neighborhood had ever even seen Mrs. Leeds since she and J.J. moved in, except through the windows of her house. She was usually up in the "Beast Tower," sitting in front of the stained-glass window, rocking back and forth in her chair, watching to make sure no one stepped foot on her property.
It was Mrs. Leeds who'd put up all the warning signs to keep the neighborhood kids out.
"Oh, man," Eugene sighed. "This is a nightmare."
"Tell me about it," Adam agreed.
"Why's your mother being such a bedbug about this anyway?" Eugene wondered.
"Because she feels bad that J.J. doesn't have any friends in the neighborhood," Adam explained. "And she doesn't want me to be mean."
"Yeah, well, J.J. doesn't have any friends outside the neighborhood, either," Eugene pointed out.
"I know," Adam said. "But my mom thinks that's because Mrs. Leeds didn't send him to school, not because he's a booger ball."
"Mrs. Leeds didn't have to send him to school, remember?" Eugene mocked. "J.J.'s a genius."
"Yeah, right." Adam smirked. "J.J.'s a real genius. He doesn't even know his first name."
He didn't, either. J.J. insisted that the Js were his name, not just initials.
"No way that kid has a three thousand I.Q.," Eugene said, shaking his head.
"No kidding," Adam said. "I.Q.s don't even go up that high, you moron. He made that up."
But J.J. had sworn it was true. He claimed he was so smart, he didn't have to go to school.
"Let's just get this over with," Adam said impatiently, taking a step up the drive.
"Sorry, pal." Eugene's feet were still planted on the safe side of the imaginary line. "From here on in, you're on your own. No way I'm climbing Deadman's Hill."
"It's just a driveway," Adam huffed.
"Oh, yeah?" Eugene shot back. "Tell that to the Beast of Baskerville's victims."
"That's just a stupid legend," Adam told him.
"Then how come everyone knows this is the Beast's house?" Eugene demanded.
"Was his house," Adam corrected, "more than two hundred years ago. And no one knows that for sure."
"Everyone knows that for sure," Eugene protested. "And everyone knows this is the hill he dragged all his victims up — right before he tore them to shreds and buried them in his well."
"What well?" Adam asked. "Do you see a well on this property?"
"Nooooo," Eugene replied. "But that doesn't mean it's not here."
Adam stared at Eugene. Apparently, J.J. wasn't the only genius in the neighborhood. "If you can't see the well, then how can it be here?"
"Maybe it's hidden," Eugene suggested.
Adam rolled his eyes. "How the heck do you hide a three-thousand-pound tunnel made out of stone?"
"Who knows," Eugene answered. "When witches are involved, anything is possible."
"What witches?" Adam asked, exasperated.
"The witches that cursed Elvira," Eugene told him. "The ones that turned Jimmy Leeds into the Beast before he was born."
Elvira Leeds was supposedly the Beast of Baskerville's mother. She was also a witch. According to legend, Elvira Leeds married a mortal back in the 1700s when the town of Baskerville was first founded. And because she broke the rules of her coven, which stated that witches could marry only warlocks, the other witches cursed her. They turned her husband into a three-headed newt with one eye. Then they put a spell on her unborn child.
When Elvira Leeds finally gave birth to her son, Jimmy, he was only half human. His arms and legs were normal, but the rest of him was beastly.
Two twisted horns shot out of his skull, while two goatlike hooves grew in place of ten human toes. His eyes burned red like flames. And every inch of his body was covered with matted black hair.
Jimmy Leeds was supposedly so hideous that his witchy mother tossed him down the well on her property, hoping to be rid of him.
But Jimmy Leeds didn't die. Instead, he grew into the Beast. Rumor had it that every so often, Jimmy Leeds had climbed out of the well to feed on innocent children.
Some people, like Eugene, believed he still did.
"You know what?" Adam sighed in frustration. "You're a yo-yo. There is no well. And there's no Beast of Baskerville, either. Now are you coming with me or what? Because if you don't come with me, I'll tell J.J. about tent night tonight," he threatened.
"You wouldn't dare!" Eugene turned pale.
"Would too," Adam lied. "And I'll tell everyone that you're the one who told him."
"Tent night" was another reason no one wanted to go to J.J.'s party. All the kids in the neighborhood had been planning to sleep out for weeks. They were all setting up tents in their backyards. Then, when the parents were in bed for the night, the kids were going to sneak out of their yards to play kick the can and hang out.
Needless to say, J.J. wasn't invited.
"I mean it," Adam bluffed. "And I'll tell J.J. you want him to sleep in our tent."
Eugene gave in. "I'll go with you, okay?" he agreed in a panic. "But if something bad happens to us on this hill, I'm blaming you."
"Nothing bad is going to happen to us," Adam assured him.
But Adam was wrong.
Something bad was going to happen to them — but not on the hill.
CHAPTER 2"I ought to have my head examined for this," Eugene complained. He plunked himself down in the street and started to untie his sneakers.
"What the heck are you doing?" Adam asked.
"I'm taking off my sneakers," Eugene told him.
"Why?"
"Because there's no way I'm climbing Deadman's Hill in these shoes," Eugene explained. "My scent is all over them."
"Your what?" Adam was sure he'd heard wrong.
But Adam's ears weren't the problem. The problem was the loose screw rattling around Eugene's head.
"My scent!" Eugene repeated, as if Adam were daft. "It's all over these sneakers."
"What are you talking about?" Adam groaned.
"Protecting myself," Eugene told him, "from the Beast."
"Let me get this straight," Adam said. "You're taking your sneakers off to protect yourself from the Beast?"
Eugene nodded.
"And how is that supposed to work?" Adam wanted to know.
"If I take my sneakers off, the Beast won't be able to smell me," Eugene answered.
"Are you nuts?" Adam exclaimed. "Everyone in the neighborhood will be able to smell you!"
"Very funny," Eugene shot back. "But if I don't wear my shoes up Deadman's Hill, the Beast can't hunt me down."
"Who told you that?" Adam asked.
"Dougie," Eugene said.
Adam rolled his eyes. Dougie Dembrowski was one of their neighborhood friends. His hobby was to torture Eugene with scary Beast of Baskerville stories. The stories were always made up. But Eugene was afraid of his own shadow, so Dougie could always get one over on him.
"And how exactly does the Beast hunt you down?" Adam was dying to hear the answer to this one.
"Dougie says that the Beast's sense of smell is so keen, he can pick up B.O. just from the soles of your shoes. Once he has your smell, he knows who you are. Then he can hunt you down anywhere, even in your own backyard. So if I don't wear my shoes, the Beast won't be able to find me."
"Dougie's out of his mind," Adam said.
"He is not," Eugene replied. "Dougie's father's great-great-great-grandfather got eaten by the Beast. All because he climbed Deadman's Hill in his sneakers!"
"Cut me a break." Adam cracked up. "Nobody even had sneakers when Mr. Dembrowski's triple-great-grandfather was alive. Dougie's just messing with you again."
"How do you know?" Eugene asked defensively. "Maybe they were old people's sneakers or something."
"First of all," Adam said, "Dougie's relatives didn't even live in Baskerville. They lived in Poland. And secondly, look it up online. There were no sneakers back in the eighteen hundreds!"
"Well, maybe they were shoes," Eugene snapped. "All I know is that I'm taking mine off. No way I'm leaving a trail."
"So what are you going to do? Walk up this gravel in your bare feet so that the Beast can smell your toes?"
"No," Eugene answered. "You are."
"Oh, no, I'm not," Adam told him. "No way I'm walking on these stones without shoes."
"You are if you don't want me to tell J.J. about tent night," Eugene threatened.
"Let me ask you a question," Adam said. "If the Beast really was sniffing around Deadman's Hill, why hasn't he eaten J.J. yet? I mean, J.J.'s like the stinkiest person on earth. And he walks up and down this driveway about three thousand times a day."
Eugene was stumped, but he was still getting shoeless.
"You know what?" Adam untied his own laces. "Take my sneakers, you jerk. But when we go up there, I'm telling J.J. that you're not coming to his party, either."
"Fine," Eugene huffed. "But you better tell him that present is from both of us then."
"Fine," Adam huffed back. He threw his sneakers at Eugene and started up the drive in his socks.
"Hey!" Eugene shouted as he tried to bury his "scent" in Adam's shoes. "Wait up! I'm not climbing Deadman's Hill alone!"
But Eugene wasn't going to get the chance to climb Deadman's Hill at all. Just as he stepped over the safety line, a horrible creature grabbed him from behind.
And it wasn't the little beast.
CHAPTER 3"Aaaaaaaaagggghhhh!" Eugene's screams echoed up the hill.
Adam turned to look and froze dead in his tracks. There really were witches in Baskerville! And one of them had Eugene by the back of his collar!
Adam blinked hard, but the bony, hunched woman in the black flowing dress and veil wasn't going away.
This can't be real! Adam cried silently as Eugene wailed like a siren.
"Let go of me!" he screamed.
"I'll let go of you all right," the witchy woman croaked like a frog. "As soon as you tell me what you think you're doing on my property!"
"Nothing!" Eugene protested. "We were just coming to see J.J. Leeds."
"Who's 'we'?" the woman asked, spinning around quickly, her creepy dress billowing around her.
Adam ducked behind one of the rotted-out trees on the drive. But Eugene wasn't about to face his horrible fate all alone.
"Me and Adam," Eugene revealed as he pointed up the drive.
"You!" the woman bellowed, zeroing in on Adam's tree. "Get over here right now!"
Adam's knees were knocking together so hard as he stepped into view, they were already turning black and blue.
"What do you want with my J.J.?" the woman croaked again.
"Your J.J.?" Adam gulped.
"Yes," she snapped. "My J.J. I am his mother, after all."
Holy smokes! Adam thought. This isn't a witch. This is Mrs. Leeds!
Adam couldn't believe his eyes. Seeing Mrs. Leeds out of the house was even more startling than seeing a witch.
"So what do you want with my J.J.?" Mrs. Leeds demanded again. "He's not home. In fact, I'm looking for him now. You haven't seen him, have you?"
Eugene shook his head hard enough to pull free from Mrs. Leeds's grip.
"No," Adam answered, shaking his head, too. "We haven't seen him. We only came over to tell him that we won't be able to make it to his birthday party tonight."
"What birthday party?" she growled.
Adam and Eugene exchanged looks.
"This birthday party," Adam said, pulling J.J.'s goofy elephant invitation from the pocket of his shorts.
Mrs. Leeds grabbed it from his hand. "Well, well, well," she cackled. "The little genius thinks he's going to put one over on me, does he?"
Adam had no idea what Mrs. Leeds was talking about. And he didn't want to know, either — especially when Mrs. Leeds ripped the elephant's head off and tore the invitation to shreds.
"Looks like my little J.J. is in for another rude awakening," she mumbled, more to herself than to them.
Eugene whispered in Adam's ear. "Just give her the present and let's get out of here," he said.
"Good idea," Adam whispered back. Then he cleared his throat and held out the box. "Anyway," he told Mrs. Leeds, "would you just tell J.J. that we're sorry we can't come to his party tonight, and give him this present."
Eugene elbowed Adam hard in the ribs.
"It's from both of us," Adam added. "Adam and Eugene," he clarified.
"Keep your stupid present," Mrs. Leeds snarled at them viciously. "There's not going to be a birthday party for J.J.! Not ever!" She tossed the purple elephant pieces into the air. "Now get off my driveway," she shouted, "before I call the police and tell them I've got Beast of Baskerville trespassers again!"
Adam wasn't about to argue with Mrs. Leeds. He tucked the present under his arm and took off behind Eugene.
Unfortunately, Eugene slammed into another Leeds a second later.
"Hey!" J.J. complained as he tried not to drop the huge white cake box he was carrying. "Watch where you're going!"
On top of the cake box was a bag full of purple party hats that toppled to the ground.
"Sorry, J.J.," Eugene apologized as Adam slammed into him.
"You could at least help me," J.J. snorted as he shoved the box at Eugene. Then he wiped his snotty nose with the back of his hand and bent down to pick up his party hats.
Behind them, Mrs. Leeds let out a roar. "J.J.!" she hollered from the bottom of Deadman's Hill. "Get your little butt over here right now!"
"Uh-oh!" J.J. yelped, cramming his party hats back into the bag. "What's my mom doing out?"
"I think she's looking for you," Adam said.
"How do you know that?" J.J. asked.
"Because that's what she said," Eugene told him.
"You talked to my mom?" J.J. shrieked. His foul breath floated up Adam's nostrils.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Beast of Baskerville by Annette Cascone, Gina Cascone. Copyright © 2012 Annette Cascone Gina Cascone. Excerpted by permission of Tom Doherty Associates.
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