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!
Amanda Peterson has a pet cemetery in her backyard. It's where she's buried all her family's dear departed pets, like Ralphie the hamster, Herman the goldfish, and Snitch the canary. But when Amanda and her friends set out to bury a dead squirrel, they accidentally dig up a grave that's already occupied—and not by a pet. The scary old lady who lives next door has lots of buried secrets. And she'll do anything to keep them that way….
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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!
Amanda Peterson has a pet cemetery in her backyard. It's where she's buried all her family's dear departed pets, like Ralphie the hamster, Herman the goldfish, and Snitch the canary. But when Amanda and her friends set out to bury a dead squirrel, they accidentally dig up a grave that's already occupied—and not by a pet. The scary old lady who lives next door has lots of buried secrets. And she'll do anything to keep them that way….
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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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!
Amanda Peterson has a pet cemetery in her backyard. It's where she's buried all her family's dear departed pets, like Ralphie the hamster, Herman the goldfish, and Snitch the canary. But when Amanda and her friends set out to bury a dead squirrel, they accidentally dig up a grave that's already occupied—and not by a pet. The scary old lady who lives next door has lots of buried secrets. And she'll do anything to keep them that way….
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781429992916 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Tor Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 01/03/2012 |
| Series: | Deadtime Stories Series , #1 |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Lexile: | 660L (what's this?) |
| File size: | 405 KB |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
About the Author
"Twisted Sisters" Annette Cascone 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
Grave Secrets
Deadline Stories
By Annette Cascone, Gina Cascone
Tom Doherty Associates
Copyright © 2011 Annette Cascone and Gina CasconeAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4299-9291-6
CHAPTER 1
There was no stopping what was about to happen. And Amanda Peterson knew it. Even as she watched Jarrad Clark and Kevin Stewart racing toward the back of the yard, she knew it was hopeless.
"No!" Laura Baxter screamed. But it was already too late.
The ball game was over. Amanda had hit a home run. Only nobody cheered. And Amanda didn't run the bases, or do a victory dance, or even smile. She just stood frozen, watching in horror as the ball sailed over her back fence into the yard of the house that stood at 704 Shadow Lane.
"I'm out of here," Laura announced, dropping her glove and heading past Amanda toward the gate. Laura always bugged out at the first sign of trouble.
"Oh, no you don't!" Amanda caught Laura by the back of her shirt as she tried to escape.
"I am not going over there to get that ball," Laura said, shaking her head adamantly. "I don't care what you say. I'm not doing it. So don't even ask me."
Like anybody would. Cool, calm, and collected were not adjectives that applied to Laura in any situation. Even momentary discomfort was too much for her to bear. That was why Laura walked around with only one ear pierced. She told everybody it was a fashion statement. But Amanda knew the truth. Because Amanda was there when it happened. The first pinch of the piercing gun sent Laura into hysterics. And she practically destroyed the whole Piercing Pagoda trying to escape. Laura was definitely not the kind of person you sent on a life-or-death mission.
"I wasn't going to ask you to go," Amanda assured her. "I'm gonna go. I just don't want you to leave me all by myself in case something terrible happens." Amanda released her grip on Laura. "I wouldn't leave you," she added deliberately. Then she turned and headed for the back fence. Laura followed a moment later, just as Amanda knew she would.
Jarrad and Kevin were peering intently through the gap where a section of the Petersons' fence had come loose from the post. "It's not good," Jarrad said gravely as he stepped back so that Amanda could see for herself.
Peeking through the crack in the fence was like peeking through a crack in time. The property at 704 Shadow Lane was so strange and eerie that it seemed like a horrible hallucination. Even in the middle of the day, it was dark there. The enormous old trees in the back of the yard blocked out the sun completely. And the ancient gray stone house loomed in the shadows, gloomy and foreboding. All of the windows were hung with heavy draperies that were always closed. Except the basement windows, which were covered with grime and thick iron bars. It was easy to imagine that it wasn't a basement at all, but a dungeon. The only thing scarier than the house at 704 Shadow Lane was the old woman who lived inside it.
"Over there." Kevin pointed out where Amanda's ball had landed. "Right next to the shed where she throws the rats after she bites their heads off."
Amanda shuddered. It was just one of the many rumors about old Mrs. Barns. And while Amanda didn't want to believe that it was true, she knew enough about Mrs. Barns to be afraid that it just might be.
"If I were you," Jarrad said, "I'd forget about going in there after that ball."
"She can't do that," Laura shrieked, horrified by the suggestion. "What if Barnsey gets her evil old hands on it? What happens then? Huh?"
"Probably the same thing that happened to that Lizard kid," Kevin answered.
"What lizard kid?" Jarrad asked.
"The Lizard kid," Kevin repeated impatiently. "You know, the kid that blew up on his own front yard."
It was an old story that had been handed down so many times that there was no one around who had actually seen it happen. But all the kids still believed that it had.
"Lu-zard," Jarrad corrected him.
"Lizard, Lu-zard, who cares what his name is." Kevin rolled his eyes in exasperation. "The kid's still dead, isn't he? And all because Barnsey got her hands on something that belonged to him."
It was a water pistol. At least that's the way Amanda had heard it. And while there were several other variations of the story, one thing was certain. There really was a Frederick Luzard. And he really was dead. They'd seen his headstone in the cemetery. He was eleven and a half years old when he died, the same age as Amanda.
"Nobody really knows what happened to that kid," Jarrad said, trying to be the voice of reason.
"Cut me a break." Kevin was not about to drop the subject. He was scared to death of Mrs. Barns and took every opportunity to spread the fear around. "Everybody knows what happened to that kid. He burned up just like that!" Kevin snapped his fingers. "Barnsey put a spell on him. And the kid fried."
"It's too awful to even think about." Laura cringed.
"Yeah, well, think about what she did to Todd French!"
Todd French was the only person they actually knew who claimed to have suffered under an evil spell cast on him by Mrs. Barns. It all started the day after one of his brothers tossed his baseball cap onto Barnsey's property to see if Todd was brave enough to go and get it. But he didn't go get it. And according to Todd, it was the worst decision of his entire life.
"Barnsey did not put a spell on Todd French," Jarrad insisted.
"Oh, yeah," Kevin shot back. "Then how do you explain the twenty-seven stitches he got in his head the day after Barnsey got his cap?" "It was nine," Jarrad corrected him. "And he walked into the sliding doors at the supermarket."
"Because Barnsey made him," Kevin insisted. "And a week later, she made like six of his teeth fall out."
"No, the dentist had to pull two of his molars out to make room for all the rest of those buck teeth he's got."
"And what about the bed bugs?" Kevin asked.
Amanda was waiting for the logical explanation. But even Jarrad seemed to be stumped by the bed bugs.
"Todd French does not have a spell on him," Jarrad finally huffed. "Besides, he's still alive, isn't he?"
"For now," Kevin said ominously, looking directly at Amanda.
"You can't let Barnsey get her hands on that ball." Laura pointed out what Amanda already knew.
Amanda wasn't entirely convinced that Todd French was suffering at the hands of Mrs. Barns. But she didn't want to take any chances, either. "I've got to go get it," Amanda announced. And before she could change her mind, she started to squeeze through the fence.
"No." Jarrad stopped her. "I'll go."
"Yeah." Laura jumped on the offer. "Let Jarrad go. He can run faster than anybody."
Amanda really wanted to let Jarrad go in her place. But she couldn't. If Jarrad messed up and Barnsey got her hands on that ball, Amanda would be the one to fry for it anyway. "I've got to do it," Amanda told him. "It's my ball."
She could tell by the look on Jarrad's face that he was relieved she'd let him off the hook. Amanda knew Jarrad would have gone in her place if she asked him to. He was always trying to prove to the rest of them that they didn't have to be so scared of Barnsey. But deep down, she was sure that Jarrad was every bit as scared as she was.
"Just don't let her catch you," Kevin warned, "or you'll end up in her dungeon with that other little girl."
The dungeon was Barnsey's basement. It was where she tortured all of her victims — before she finally buried them.
"Why don't you just shut up?" Jarrad backhanded Kevin. "There is no little girl."
"Is too," Kevin insisted. "I know someone who saw her."
"Oh, really," Jarrad said. "Who?"
"Todd French," Kevin answered.
"Again with Todd French?" Jarrad was exasperated. "Todd French can't even see his own two feet in front of him. Why do you think he has to wear those goggle glasses to school?"
"Well, he saw the little girl," Kevin declared. "And he said that she was all bloody and stuff."
Amanda could see the panic on Laura's face as she turned back toward the fence. If Amanda was going to do this, she had to do it now, before she chickened out.
"Keep your fingers crossed," Amanda told the rest of them. "And watch out for Barnsey. If she sees me, I'm dead."
Amanda took a deep breath. As she squeezed through the gap in the fence, she could feel her heart pounding all the way down to her fingertips. She focused her eyes on the ball. Not so far away, she told herself. Amanda was a fast runner, almost as fast as Jarrad. She could be there and back in less than a minute. It was going to be okay. She'd make it just fine.
"Go," Jarrad urged her, peeking through the gap from the safe side of the fence. "Fast!"
As Amanda tore off, she heard Kevin calling after her. "Watch out for the rats!"
Rats! She'd forgotten all about the rats! But there was no stopping now. Besides, rats — even ones without their heads — were a whole lot less terrifying to Amanda than the thought of Barnsey getting her hands on that ball. Still, she watched the ground carefully, praying that she wouldn't step on anything — dead or alive.
Amanda made it to the shed. The ball was lying right near the open door, and there were no headless rats piled around it. But as she bent down to grab the ball, she heard something moving around inside the shed.
Amanda's heart stopped. What if the rats were in there? Or worse yet, what if it was Barnsey? What if Barnsey was waiting to grab her and take her to the dungeon with the other little girl?
Amanda grabbed the ball and took off, running fast enough to break Olympic records. She looked back only once. No one was behind her. Ahead of her, and closing fast, was the fence. She could see the amazement on her friends' faces. Just a few more feet, and Amanda was home free.
"Move!" Amanda ordered the rest of them as she hit the fence hard. "Get out of the way!"
Jarrad, Kevin, and Laura stepped back to make room for Amanda to squeeze through.
"You did it." Laura congratulated.
"I can't believe it!" Kevin chimed in. "You made it!"
But Amanda was only halfway through the fence when she felt icy, skeletal fingers clamp down on to her wrist, as cold and as inescapable as handcuffs.
CHAPTER 2"Noooooooo!!!!"
Amanda screamed as she felt the bony fingers tighten around her wrist, practically crushing it.
She was halfway back into the safety of her own yard! But now she wasn't going to make it the rest of the way!
"Where do you think you're going?" Barnsey's voice croaked.
"Help me!" Amanda shouted frantically at her friends. "Don't let her take me to the dungeon!"
Jarrad had already grabbed her other arm and was pulling as hard as he could without hurting her. Kevin grabbed on to Jarrad and started pulling him. And Laura grabbed on to Kevin. It was like a giant tug-of-war. But even though Barnsey was outnumbered, she was still winning. For a scrawny old woman, she seemed to have superhuman strength. Because Barnsey was holding Amanda in a death grip from which there seemed to be no escape.
"Oh, I don't think I'll bring you to the dungeon," Barnsey cackled. "Maybe I'll just drag you over to the shed and bite your head off!"
They all shrieked in terror as they struggled frantically to pull Amanda free. As they tugged with every ounce of strength that each one of them could muster, Barnsey suddenly released Amanda's wrist. The four of them toppled over like dominoes. But they'd barely touched the ground before they were up and running. And they didn't stop until they hit the back door of Amanda's house. Only then did they turn to look behind them.
Luckily, Barnsey hadn't followed them. She wasn't even watching through the fence.
"That was a close call," Jarrad gasped, doubling over to catch his breath.
"Way too close," Kevin agreed.
"I thought I was a goner." Amanda had to struggle to hold back tears. She had never been so terrified in her life. It had barely sunk in that it was over and she was safe.
"How did Barnsey get you?" Laura asked. "Didn't you see her out there?"
"Didn't you?" Amanda shot back. "You guys were supposed to be looking out for me."
"We were," Jarrad assured her. "But I never saw her coming."
"Me neither." Kevin backed him up. "It's like she appeared out of nowhere."
"It's because she's a witch," Laura said. "She's got all kinds of evil powers we don't even know about."
"She does not." Jarrad tried to stop that conversation from starting all over again.
"Then how did she just appear like that?" Amanda demanded.
"I don't know." Jarrad shook his head in frustration. "Maybe she was there all the time and we just didn't see her because she was hiding behind a tree. There are lots of trees back there big enough for her to hide behind." Jarrad always had a logical explanation for everything.
"Maybe." Amanda shrugged. She wished she could believe that Jarrad was right about Barnsey. But after what had just happened, it was getting more difficult.
"Besides," Jarrad continued, "what difference does it make now? You got the ball, and you made it back in one piece."
Amanda hadn't even thought about that. She looked at the baseball in her hand and laughed in relief. But when she tried to toss it up into the air, her fingers wouldn't let go. She'd been clutching it so hard, for so long, that her fingers had gone a little bit numb.
Jarrad gently pried it from her hand. "You're pretty brave," he told her.
"Not really," Amanda admitted. "I was scared to death the whole time. Especially when Barnsey grabbed me." Amanda rubbed her wrist, trying to forget what Barnsey's fingers felt like wrapped around it. Then, her heart started to pound. "Oh no!" Amanda cried.
"What is it?" Laura asked, her nerves still on edge.
"My bracelet!" Amanda held out the wrist she'd been rubbing. "It's gone! I've lost my bracelet!"
"Your friendship bracelet?" Laura touched her own bracelet, the one that matched Amanda's. "Are you sure?"
"It's gone." Amanda's voice rose in dismay.
"Are you sure you were wearing it?" Jarrad tried to keep her calm.
Amanda nodded, looking terrified. "What if I lost it in Barnsey's yard? Or what if she ripped it right off my wrist while she was holding on to me?"
"Oh, man," Kevin said, staring wide-eyed at Amanda. "If Barnsey's got your bracelet, you're doomed!"
"Shut up, Kevin," Jarrad warned. "You probably just lost it while we were playing ball," he said to Amanda. "I bet it's right here in your own yard."
Jarrad didn't wait for anybody to agree or disagree with him. He just started looking for the bracelet.
The rest of them followed his lead. There was nothing else they could do.
The grass was long, too long to be able to spot something as small as a bracelet easily. So they got on their hands and knees and combed the lawn carefully, inch by inch.
Amanda prayed that Jarrad was right, that if they searched long enough and hard enough, they would find her bracelet. Think positive, she told herself as she ran her fingers through the grass.
Amanda's face was so close to the ground, she didn't see what was ahead of her ... until she crept forward and found herself face-to-face with something so awful, the scream stuck in her throat, and when she opened her mouth, no sound escaped at all.
CHAPTER 3When Amanda finally managed to scream, it was loud and shrill, and seemed to go on forever. And before she finally ran out of air, her friends were beside her.
Laura gasped the moment she saw what Amanda was screaming about.
"Oh, gross," Jarrad groaned as he pulled Amanda to her feet.
Kevin didn't flinch. In fact, he bent down to take a closer look. "This guy's been dead for a while," he announced, nudging the dead squirrel with the toe of his sneaker. "He's already got like riga-morphasis and all. You see?" Kevin nudged the squirrel again. "He's hard as a rock."
"It's rigor mortis, you idiot," Jarrad corrected him. "And I don't wanna see."
"Poor little guy," Amanda said, brushing herself off. "What do you think happened to him?"
"I don't know," Jarrad told her. "Maybe he was just old."
"Or maybe he fell out of a tree." Laura offered her own explanation.
"Squirrels don't just fall out of trees," Kevin said.
"Oh, yeah?" Laura shot back. "Well, maybe this one did."
"Or maybe somebody killed him," Kevin suggested ominously.
Laura laughed. "That's so stupid," she told Kevin. "Who would kill a squirrel?"
Kevin turned his head to look at Barnsey's house. And Laura stopped laughing immediately.
"Cut it out, Kevin," Jarrad scolded before Kevin could open his mouth. "Barnsey did not kill this squirrel."
"Oh, yeah?" Kevin opened it anyway. "Well, maybe she did!"
"For what?" Jarrad asked impatiently.
"Yeah," Laura chimed in nervously. "For what?"
"I don't know," Kevin said. "Maybe she was gonna eat him or something."
"Everybody knows she eats rats," Laura reminded him. "Not squirrels."
"Yeah, well, maybe she's sick of rats," Kevin went on. "I mean how many rats can a person eat? Or maybe she was just gonna have him for dessert."
"Oh, brother," Jarrad huffed. "If Barnsey wanted to eat this squirrel, what's he doing over here?"
Amanda didn't believe for a second that Barnsey was going to eat the squirrel for dessert. Or even for dinner, for that matter. In fact, she was beginning to think the whole conversation was pretty funny. Until Kevin finally spit out his response.
"Maybe she threw him over here to send us a message," Kevin told them.
"What kind of message?" Laura asked, wide-eyed.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Grave Secrets by Annette Cascone, Gina Cascone. Copyright © 2011 Annette Cascone and Gina Cascone. Excerpted by permission of Tom Doherty Associates.
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