The Secret in the Spooky Woods

by Carolyn Keene

  Just then there was the sound of loud giggling and talking from nearby. Nancy glanced over her shoulder and saw four girls from class walking into the park. Alison Wegman was in the lead, chattering with Lindsay Mitchell. Just behind them were Sarah Churnichan and Laura McCorry.

  As the four of them stopped just inside the park entrance and looked around, Nancy saw quick movement out of the corner of her eye. Glancing toward the playground, she saw Brenda Carlton jump up from the bench where she was sitting. Brenda hurried straight toward the girls.

  “Hey, guys!” she called loudly.

  Alison stared right at her. Then she spun on her heel and started marching away. “Come on, girls,” she called loudly. “I feel like singing, don’t you?”

  “Definitely!” Lindsay and Sarah chorused, while Laura nodded.

  The four of them started singing. Nancy didn’t recognize the song, but Brenda seemed to know it. Her face fell, and then she scowled.

  “What are they singing?” Bess whispered curiously.

  Nancy shook her head, trying to listen. She couldn’t hear all the words very well—the other girls were too far away. “It sounds like ‘long live the FFC’ or something like that,” she said.

  “The FFC?” George repeated. “What’s that?”

  Jennifer scooped up her puppy and stood up. “Oh, don’t pay any attention to them,” she said, looking rather uncomfortable. “They’re just kidding around. That song doesn’t mean anything—no big deal.”

  She tucked Princess under her arm. Then she hurried off toward Alison and her friends. A moment later she was walking with the other girls, and the song had stopped.

  Nancy looked at Brenda. She was still standing by herself near the entrance. She stared after Alison, Jennifer, and the others, looking embarrassed and angry. As Nancy watched, Brenda spun on her heel and stomped off toward the playground.

  “That was sort of strange,” Nancy commented. “Looks like Brenda and Alison are still fighting.”

  “Probably.” George shrugged, not sounding very interested.

  “Nancy! Hey, Nancy Drew!”

  Nancy looked up to see who was calling her name. She saw Jason Hutchings, Mike Minelli, and David Burger running toward her.

  “Hi,” she said as they skidded to a stop in front of her. “What’s up?”

  David flopped onto the grass, panting from the run. “We were hoping you would come to the park today,” he said.

  “Yeah,” Mike added. “We have a clue for your mystery.”

  “You mean the ghost stuff?” Nancy said. “What is it?”

  “We all got prank phone calls last night,” Jason said. He pointed to himself and the other two boys. “A few of the other guys did too.”

  “What kind of prank phone calls?” George sounded suspicious.

  Nancy didn’t blame her. Jason and his friends were famous for making prank phone calls. They even made them on each other.

  Still, she figured she should listen, just in case it really was a clue. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “The phone rang last night right after dinner.” Jason lowered his voice. “When I picked it up, all I heard was this loud, ghostly howl.”

  “A howl?” Bess leaned forward, her eyes as wide as saucers.

  Jason nodded. “But that’s not all,” he went on. “I said, ‘Who is this?’ and that’s when someone—or something—spoke back.” He took a deep breath. “A spooky voice moaned, ‘Beware of the haunted woods!’”

  6

  Back to the Woods

  Nancy wasn’t sure whether to believe the boys’ story or not. “You all got the same phone call?” she asked.

  “Uh-huh,” Jason said, and the other boys nodded.

  Nancy looked at her friends. George shrugged. Bess just looked scared.

  “You’d better write this down, Nancy,” Bess said. “It’s a clue!”

  Nancy opened her notebook. Then she looked at the boys again. Were they teasing her? She still couldn’t tell. But she decided to write down their story—just in case.

  She added the spooky phone calls to her clues list. “Are you sure you’re not making this up?” she asked the boys.

  “No way!” Jason said.

  Mike nodded. “You can ask my brother Carl if you want,” he said, pointing to a teenage boy getting a drink at the water fountain nearby. “He was sitting right next to me when I got my call.”

  Mike’s older brother, Carl, heard his name and wandered over. Carl was seventeen years old and in high school.

  “Hey, squirt,” Carl said to Mike. “Did you call me?”

  Nancy smiled at the older boy. “Hi, Carl,” she said. “Mike was just telling us about the prank phone call.”

  “Oh, yeah!” Carl nodded. “That howling noise was freaky—and loud. It sounded like a ghost or something.”

  “Did you hear what the caller said after the howls?” Nancy asked.

  Carl nodded again. “It said to beware of the haunted woods,” he said. He laughed. “Poor Mike was so scared he dropped the phone and ran out of the room.”

  Mike looked embarrassed. “Be quiet, Carl,” he mumbled as his friends started laughing.

  “Anyway, it sounded pretty scary,” Carl said. “But it was probably just one of these goofballs.” He pointed to Jason and David.

  “Thanks,” Nancy said. She glanced at her friends. “Come on, you guys, let’s go sit on the swings.”

  Carl wandered back toward his high school friends, while Jason and David kept teasing Mike about being scared. Nancy, Bess, and George left them behind and went over to the swingset on the playground. There were three empty swings side-by-side, and the girls sat down in them.

  “Do you think those boys were telling the truth?” George asked, scuffing her feet in the dirt beneath her swing.

  Nancy shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t at first. But why would Carl lie about it? If he said Mike got a spooky phone call, it’s probably true. But that doesn’t mean it was a ghost calling.”

  “It doesn’t mean it wasn’t,” Bess argued. “I still think the woods could really be haunted.”

  “Maybe,” George said. “Or maybe it is the boys, and they’re trying to scare each other now with those silly calls.”

  “Maybe,” Nancy agreed. “But I’m not so sure anymore that the boys are the best suspects. They all looked pretty scared when they were telling us about the phone calls.”

  “Then who do you think is doing everything?” Bess asked.

  Nancy was still holding her notebook. She let her swing rock back and forth as she looked down at the page.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. “We have a lot of clues, but I still can’t figure out the answer.”

  She read over her whole page of notes again.

  The Secret in the Spooky Woods

  Clues:

  1. Shadowy moaning figure (Laura M.)

  2. Spooky footsteps (Alison W.)

  3. Chip runs away from soccer game into woods

  4. Spooky laugh and rolling rock in woods

  5. Note on Chip’s collar: STAY OUT OF THE WOODS—OR ELSE!

  6. Brenda hanging around near woods by herself

  7. Spooky phone calls (Jason, Mike, David, other boys)

  Suspects:

  Suspect #1: Jason and his friends (trying to scare girls)

  Suspect #2: Brenda Carlton (needs exciting story for Carlton News)

  Suspect #3: Mr. Garrison (maybe doesn’t like kids in the park)

  George leaned toward Nancy on her swing and read over Nancy’s shoulder. She pointed to Brenda’s name.

  “Maybe it is Brenda,” George suggested. “She’s always causing trouble. And she’s been acting kind of different lately.”

  “That’s true,” Nancy said. “We already know she needs an exciting story for her newspaper. Besides that, she seems like she’s really mad at Alison Wegman right now.”

  George’s brown eyes widened. “That’s right!” she said. �
��Maybe she’s trying to scare Alison.”

  Nancy read over the list again. “We should also pay attention to Mr. Garrison,” she said. “Jennifer said he chased Brenda away from the woods this morning, remember?”

  “Yeah,” George said. “And it seems like he wants to stir up trouble for all the kids in the park. Maybe he wants to scare us away completely so we won’t bother him.”

  Nancy nodded thoughtfully. She still remembered what Hannah had said about the new park ranger. But she also remembered the angry look on his face the two times he’d talked to Nancy and her friends.

  “He’s a good suspect,” Nancy said. “He’s always at the park, and it would be easy for him to do most of the scary stuff people are talking about. Easier than for most kids, anyway.”

  Bess tossed her hair back and pumped her swing a little, swooshing back and forth. “I still think you two are forgetting some very important suspects,” she said. “Real ghosts! All the stuff that’s happening would be easiest of all for them!”

  Nancy sighed. “All right,” she said. “I guess I should write down all the possibilities.”

  She added another entry to the suspect list:

  Suspect #4: Real ghosts

  “I still don’t believe in ghosts, though,” she told Bess. “Besides, why would a ghost use the phone?”

  Bess shrugged. “Why not?”

  Nancy sighed. No matter how much they talked about it, she couldn’t settle on one suspect. She decided it was time to start snooping around for real.

  “Come on,” she said, standing up. “Let’s go investigate.”

  Bess looked nervous. “What do you mean?”

  “We need some more clues,” Nancy said. “We’ve got to go back into the woods.”

  She tucked her notebook into one of her pockets. Then she reached into her other one and pulled out a flashlight.

  “See?” she said with a grin. “I’m prepared this time. Even though the sun’s still out, the woods get pretty dark.”

  Over Bess’s protests, Nancy led her friends toward the woods. They entered on the same main trail.

  “Hey! Where are you going?” Jason called to them from the soccer field.

  “Are you ghost hunting?” David added. “Whoooooo!”

  The girls ignored them. They continued on into the woods.

  “What are we looking for?” George asked.

  Nancy shrugged. “Anything suspicious,” she said. “I want to go back to that clearing where we found Chip yesterday.”

  Bess gasped. “You mean where we heard the ghosts?” she squeaked, sounding scared.

  Nancy nodded firmly. “That’s the best place to look for clues.”

  They hurried down the trail until they reached the clearing. Bess hung back at the edge, staring around fearfully. Nancy snapped her flashlight on and starting searching the edges.

  “Do you remember which way that rock rolled from?” she asked George.

  George pointed. “I think it was over there.”

  The two of them hurried toward the spot. Nancy shined her flashlight on the ground. There was a stream nearby, and the ground was a little muddy in the whole area.

  “D-do you see anything?” Bess called. She walked carefully toward them, still keeping a careful lookout for ghosts.

  Suddenly she let out a yell of surprise. When Nancy looked over her shoulder, she saw that Bess was staring at the ground nearby.

  “What is it?” Nancy asked.

  Bess pointed. “Footprints!” she cried.

  7

  Sneaky Sneakers

  Nancy and George raced over to join Bess. “Where?” Nancy cried.

  Bess pointed again. This time Nancy saw the footprints. There were two of them, right in the middle of a muddy spot. She aimed her flashlight at them for a better look.

  “Sneaker prints,” George declared, leaning closer. “Small ones—kid-size.”

  Nancy sighed. “That doesn’t narrow things down much,” she pointed out. “Most kids wear sneakers to the park.”

  “True,” George said. “But it means Mr. Garrison didn’t do it.”

  “You’re right,” Nancy agreed. “Unless he was chasing whatever kid left these prints. Didn’t Alison Wegman say she heard someone behind her in the woods the other day?”

  “I guess.” George shrugged.

  Nancy leaned closer, still looking at the prints. “Hey,” she said suddenly. “Check it out. These prints are from two different brands of sneakers!”

  She pointed. The print on the left had straight treads. The one on the right was decorated with swoops and swirls.

  “That’s weird.” George leaned closer too. “It looks like they were left by someone wearing mismatched sneakers.”

  “Maybe we should go back out to the park and find out who has sneakers like that,” Bess suggested. She still sounded nervous.

  Nancy smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Bess,” she said. “I think these footprints probably mean there are no real ghosts around here.”

  “Right,” George agreed. “I’ve never heard of a ghost wearing sneakers. Especially mismatched ones.”

  Bess giggled. “You’re probably right,” she said. “Still, these woods are awfully spooky. Anyway, all we have to do is find someone wearing mismatched sneakers, and the mystery will be solved. Right?”

  “Maybe,” Nancy murmured. She was staring into the woods beyond the clearing. Were there more clues waiting in there? She had a feeling they might be getting close to the truth. “Let’s just look around here a little more, okay?” she said to her friends.

  They finished investigating the clearing, but they didn’t find any more clues there. Next they followed the trail out of the far side of the clearing. Nancy kept her flashlight on and shined it on the ground as she walked.

  “How come you are using the flashlight, Nancy?” George asked her. “There’s plenty of light on this part of the trail.” She gestured upward. Sunlight was filtering through the treetops, making it easy to see where they were going.

  Nancy moved her flashlight beam back and forth on the ground. “The ground is pretty dry here,” she said. “I thought the flashlight might make it easier to spot more footprints in the dirt.”

  “Oh,” George said. “I guess that makes sense.”

  As they walked around a bend in the trail, the moving flashlight beam sparkled off of something at the edge of the trail just ahead—but it definitely wasn’t a footprint.

  “What was that?” Bess asked, blinking. “It looked like something shiny.”

  Nancy moved the beam until she saw the small flash again. She leaned over and picked up the shiny object. “It’s a barrette,” she said, holding it up for her friends to see.

  “Is it a clue?” Bess asked.

  “Maybe,” Nancy said. “The ‘ghost’ could have dropped it.”

  “That would mean the ghost is a girl,” George pointed out. “Like Brenda!”

  Nancy shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “She’s got long, thick hair, remember? This barrette is way too small for hair like hers.”

  “Hmm,” Bess said, thinking. “I guess that means the ‘ghost’ has thin hair, right? I wonder who it could be?”

  Nancy tucked the barrette carefully in her pocket. “I don’t know,” she said as they walked on. “Maybe there’s another suspect we haven’t thought of yet.”

  “It could be older girls,” George suggested. “Someone we don’t know, even. Or—”

  Suddenly a loud, ghostly scream ripped through the woods. All three girls jumped, startled.

  “Wh-what was that?” Bess gasped.

  “LEAVE THESE WOODS AT ONCE,” an unearthly voice howled, seeming to come from all around them, “OR THE GHOST OF THE PARK WILL GET YOU!”

  8

  Ghosts Busted!

  Bess screamed again and again as the ghostly words echoed around them. Then there was another loud howl.

  Her heart pounding, Nancy stared at George. George looked
very pale. Nancy still didn’t believe in ghosts—but she was a little scared.

  The echoes of the last howl faded away. Just then Nancy heard something else.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  Bess grabbed her by the sleeve. “Come on,” she wailed. “We’ve got to get out of here before it’s too late!”

  Nancy shook her arm free. “No, wait,” she said. “I heard something . . .”

  Yip! Yip!

  “Hey!” George said. “I heard that too. It sounded like a bark.”

  “A tiny little bark,” Nancy added. “Like Jennifer’s new puppy!”

  The sound came again: Yip! Yip!

  “Come on,” Nancy said. “It’s coming from this way!”

  “Are you crazy?” Bess cried as Nancy and George leaped off the trail and into the woods.

  But a moment later Nancy heard Bess’s footsteps following them. She guessed her friend was too scared to stay behind by herself.

  “BEWARE!” the ghostly voice came again, louder than ever. “YOU MUST TURN BACK NOW, OR ELSE!”

  Bess let out a little cry of fear. But Nancy only ran faster toward the voice. She pushed through branches and vines, following the sound.

  A second later she burst out of the woods into a different clearing. George and Bess were right behind her.

  They all stopped short, out of breath. Five girls and one poodle puppy stood staring back at them.

  “What are you doing here?” Alison Wegman asked, sounding annoyed and a little embarrassed.

  Nancy looked around. Standing next to Alison, she saw Sarah Churnichan, Lindsay Mitchell, and Laura McCorry. Jennifer was also there, standing a little bit behind them with Princess in her arms. The puppy let out a loud Yip! and wriggled to get free. Nancy noticed that the poodle was wearing a tiny, sparkly barrette in the curly hair on her head. Suddenly she realized it was almost exactly the same as the one they had just found on the trail!

  Nancy also saw that Laura was holding a megaphone. She pointed to it. “So that’s how you made your voice sound ghostly,” she said.