#4 Amber Oak and the Skeleton's Secret
by Ceara Comeau
Chapter 1
A long time ago there was a girl named Amber Oak. Now Amber was different than most girls, in fact she was a tomboy. She loved gross facts and she did the weirdest things that a girl her age wouldn’t do. She was a detective. She’d always try to find a mystery to solve but most of the time she’d find herself in danger. The next mystery she was about to solve she’d find out what danger really meant.
It all started on the 23rd of July. She was at her house along with her friends, Kendra, Sean, and Dylan.
“So, what do you guys want to do now?” asked Amber.
All three shrugged. Amber looked a bit disappointed. This was supposed to be the best day ever; after all she was turning sixteen.
“Do you guys want to go and play laser tag?” suggested Amber.
“Amber, we’ve played that five times already!” exclaimed Kendra.
Amber walked over to where an old house use to be. All that was left was an old cellar hole. She gave a loud sigh, and stomped her foot on the ground. Amber stopped suddenly which made her friends look up from pulling up the grass.
“Is something wrong?” asked Sean.
Amber motioned for them all to come to where she was standing. She then stomped again. The ground beneath her was hollow!
“I wonder if there’s a secret tunnel underneath here!” said Dylan.
“Hey! Let’s dig the ground up and see if there is!” suggested Kendra.
“Hold it! We can’t just go digging up the ground, my Dad would kill me!” exclaimed Amber.
“Then there’s got to be a way to get into this tunnel. Maybe a door or something,” said Dylan in his smart, logical voice.
“Yeah, but where?” questioned Amber.
Amber turned toward the cellar hole and got an idea. She ran toward it with the other teens running after her. She jumped in and told the other to do the same.
“What crazy idea do you have now Amber?” asked Sean in a slightly nervous voice.
You see, Kendra, Sean and Dylan all knew very well that Amber was a detective and when she’s got an idea about a mystery she never gives up and she goes crazy with the idea.
Amber started to knock on the rock wall to see if there was a hollow spot.
In answer to Sean’s question Amber replied, “I think this is where the tunnel begins.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Dylan.
“Believe it or not, I have heard some pretty strange noises coming from this wall. Like tapping for example,” replied Amber.
Sean gave a shudder. Amber found a rock and lifted it out and saw an opening. She told everyone to take out the rocks surrounding the hole. Eventually they found a very large tunnel.
“Wow! This is weird!” exclaimed Kendra.
"Hey, Sean, go get a flashlight in the kitchen,” said Amber.
Sean ran to the house and came back in no time at all. He gave her the flashlight and she walked into the tunnel and the others followed behind her. The tunnel seemed like it went on forever. Suddenly they came to an end and found a most startling sight. Dead in front of them was a skeleton of what appeared to be a woman who still had some of her gown on. It must’ve been very well preserved. The four teens were terrified at this sight.
"Oh my gosh! Look at that necklace!!!” exclaimed Amber.
"That looks like it could be worth a lot of money!” said Sean.
Sean reached for the necklace but Amber stopped him.
“Sean you can’t do that! It might upset something or rather someone,” said Amber.
“Oh come on Amber! What’s the worst that’s gonna happen?” questioned Sean with a laugh.
Amber was about to reply when Sean took the sapphire necklace. Suddenly the ground started to shake and the skeleton woman vanished. The teens dashed out of the tunnel and into open sky, which was baby blue, but now
turned a threatening color of gray. Lightning struck a nearby tree and thunder roared all around them. The cracks in between the rocks of the cellar hole oozed what looked to be green slime. The teens heard a malicious laugh above them and saw the skeleton woman. She then screeched a name:
“Paul! Paul!!!”
The teens were totally confused. They had no clue about what she was yelling about.
"Ma’am, what is wrong?” asked Sean in a terrified voice.
The skeleton woman swooped down and landed an inch away from Sean. She raised her razor sharp fingers ready to strike when Kendra threw a rock and the skeleton’s head shattered into a billion pieces. She screamed really loud and said:
“You all shall vanquish! Let my wrath be upon you all. My people hear me! Attack these foolish children!”
The teens looked all around and saw red eyes glaring at them. When they looked back to where the skeleton lady was she had already vanished. The teens were even more scared for there were ten red- eyed zombies!
“What do we do?” asked Kendra.
Amber gave Sean a look. She was the only one who knew Sean was a master in the martial arts. Amber knew very little after all she was only a blue belt in her karate class.Sean caught her look and he nodded. They both took their positions and destroyed them all until one by one the all vanished. Kendra and Dylan were staring at Amber and Sean in disbelief. Amber and Sean finally told them about their practice in the martial arts.
“We need to get into the house! That’s probably the only safe place!” exclaimed Amber.
The rest agreed and they ran as fast as they could to the house.
Chapter 2
The teens got to the house and were deciding how they should fix this problem.
“I told you not to grab that necklace!” exclaimed Amber.
Sean glared at her and replied, “I thought it could be worth a lot of money.”
“Well, you thought wrong!!!” shouted Amber.
“Stop fighting! That isn’t gonna stop that woman,” said Kendra.
“I know I can karate chop them,” suggested Sean. Amber smiled at that. Then she had an idea, “I got it! We can sneak into the town hall and go into the section where there are old books. That might tell us what and/or who we’re dealing with.”
“Isn’t that dangerous and illegal?” asked Kendra.
“We just gotta be sneaky,” replied Amber.
“I’m not so sure about this,” said Dylan in an unsure voice.
“Well do you have any other suggestions?" questioned Amber.
Dylan said nothing.
“So everybody ready to go?” asked Amber.
Everyone nodded and they set off for the town hall. Once they got there they were surprised to find that it was guarded.
“I wonder why it’s guarded.” Said Sean.
“I think I have a pretty good idea. That skeleton woman has possessed that man and made him guard this place. She doesn’t want us to stop her from taking over.”
“Great! So how do we get in now?” asked Sean.
“It’s called lying your way in,” replied Amber.
Everyone was shocked by this Amber never lied unless she thought it was truly necessary.
“Here’s the plan. I’m going to go sweet talk the guard and I’ll have him look away. Then I want Sean to quickly and quietly get the key. Then I’ll lure the guard away and you guys go in. When I come back the key must be in it’s place. I’ll go around to the back door and you need to unlock it. Then we’ll take it from there,” explained Amber.
Everyone agreed to this and Amber approached the guard.
“Hello sir. I need your help. I need a strong, tall man to get my cat down from the tree over there,” said Amber pointing.
The man followed Amber and Sean quietly took the keys off the wall. He unlocked the door and slowly opened it. The door made a creak and the guard started to turn around but Amber stopped him with, “Sir, please, that cat in the tree needs a tall man like you.”
The guard felt proud of himself for that. Sean opened the door a bit further and the three teens walked in. Sean put the keys on the wall and locked the door on the inside. Amber and the guard got to the tree and Amber said, “Oh my gosh! The cat must have been brave enough and jumped down! Sorry about the trouble.”
“It’s okay, it isn’t your fault,” replied the guard kindly.
The guard and Amber walked back and Amber said good-bye. Then she walked around to the back of the town hall and Kendra let her in.
“Okay now we need to be extremely quiet so the guard doesn’t become suspicious and catch us,” said Amber.
Amber tiptoed to where the old books and documents were kept and took a few books. She gave some books for Dylan to hold and motioned for everyone to follow her out the door. The teens went the long way home so people wouldn’t see them taking these old documents.
After several hours they finally reached Amber’s house but what they saw was an unforgettable sight.
To find out what happened, click on the link below to purchase or
download the book "Amber Oak Mysteries - Volume 1
Copyright © 2008 Ceara Comeau
