LEGO Friends: Mystery in the Whispering Woods (Chapter Book #3)

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LEGO Friends: Mystery in the Whispering Woods (Chapter Book #3) Page 3

by Cathy Hapka


  and shivered. “Let’s head back to camp and see what

  the others have found,” she said. “I don’t think we

  should stay here longer than we have to.”

  Chapter 8:

  Catching

  A Ghost

  47

  Back at the campsite, Mia and Stephanie raced

  toward Olivia. Their friend was on her knees by the

  picnic table.

  “Olivia, are you okay?” Mia exclaimed.

  “What happened?” Stephanie asked urgently.

  Olivia looked up. “I’m okay,”she said.“But my

  camera’s not. Look.”

  She held out the camera she had modified so her

  friends could see. The special timer attached to the

  top was completely broken.

  “The picture memory card was full, so I went

  48

  into the camper to get a new one,” Olivia explained.

  “When I came out, something had knocked the

  camera over. The timer is ruined. It’s like something

  didn’t want us taking pictures of it.”

  “Like the Phantom Horse!” Stephanie exclaimed.

  “Let me see,”Mia said, reaching out. She turned

  the camera over in her hands. “Ew—it’s slimy!”

  Stephanie cautiously touched the camera. “Yuck.

  You’re right. It’s wet—like ghost slime!”

  “Or animal drool,” Mia added. “Let’s check

  for pictures.”

  Olivia scrolled

  through all the

  photos on the

  camera. “I don’t see

  anything—wait!

  Here’s one!”

  Stephanie and

  Mia peered over

  Olivia’s shoulder.

  49

  “Is that . . . a tongue?” Stephanie asked.

  “It’s a little hard to tell,” Olivia said. “Does it look

  like a tongue to you, Mia?”

  Mia didn’t reply.

  “Mia?” Stephanie asked.

  With a shake, Mia snapped out of it. “Yeah,”she

  said. “It’s just,that picture gives me an idea.”She

  looked at her friends and smiled. “Guys, I think I

  know how we can solve our mystery!”

  As Stephanie, Mia, and Olivia were working

  at the picnic table, Emma and Andrea raced up

  to the campsite. “Guys, you’ll never believe what

  happened,” Emma shouted. “The Phantom Horse

  saved Andrea!”

  “The Phantom Horse did what?” Mia asked.

  Emma quickly explained what had happened.

  “Are you okay, A?” Mia asked, concerned. “You

  could have gotten hurt.”

  50

  Andrea nodded. “I’m fine. And I don’t know for

  sure the Phantom Horse saved me.” She rolled her

  eyes at Emma. “But something really weird is going

  on. Did you guys find any other clues?”

  Mia, Olivia, and Stephanie exchanged a look.

  “Actually,” Olivia said,“Mia has a plan to prove

  that there isn’t a ghost after all.”

  51

  “You do?” Emma and Andrea asked together.

  Mia nodded. “Whoever or

  whatever

  the culprit

  is left a clue on Olivia’s camera.” She pointed to the

  slimy box. “And it gave me an idea. We’re almost set

  up here. Andrea, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing the

  cooler, we’ll put the last pieces into place and catch

  our ‘ghost’ once and for all.”

  As the sun was starting to set, the girls put their

  new plan into action. “Places, everyone!” Stephanie

  whispered.

  Mia set a plate of hot dogs on the picnic table

  beside Olivia’s camera, and then hurried out of sight

  around the camper. Olivia hid behind a large tree

  trunk. She held a small remote in her hand that had

  come with camera. It would let her snap pictures

  from a distance.

  Nearby, Emma crouched next to a large rock.

  Stephanie and Andrea joined Mia behind the

  52

  camper. All five girls had chosen spots where they

  could see the whole clearing.

  “Do you think this will work?” Andrea whispered.

  “I hope so,” Mia whispered back. She pursed her

  lips and whistled:

  “Whooooo!”

  There was silence. Mia held her breath.

  53

  If the legend were true, that whistle should

  attract the Phantom Horse.

  Nothing happened. After a moment, Andrea

  leaned closer.

  “Try it again,” she whispered.

  “Whooooo!”

  Mia whistled.

  It grew darker and darker in the clearing as Mia

  continued to whistle.

  Soon the only light came from the campfire.

  “Whooooo!”

  Mia whistled a final time.

  Suddenly, the quiet was broken by loud rustling

  in the bushes nearby.

  “Look!” Andrea whispered. “Something’s

  coming!”

  Mia leaned forward and held her breath. A

  shadowy figure was creeping out of the woods!

  Chapter 9:

  Heading Home

  54

  Olivia jumped out from behind the tree and

  started snapping pictures as fast as she could. “I got

  it!” she cried. “I got its picture!”

  “It’s the ghost horse!” Andrea exclaimed. “Quick!

  Grab it!”

  “That might be a ghost, but it’s no horse.” Mia

  rushed out and switched on her flashlight.

  Instantly, the clearing was bathed in bright, white

  light. A small figure crouched by the picnic table,

  blinking at them.

  Mia gasped. The creature looked awfully familiar.

  55

  “Charlie?”

  Mia cried. “What are you doing here?”

  At the sound of her voice, the little dog wagged

  his tail. He barked and leaped onto the picnic

  table—straight for the hot dogs!

  Andrea burst out laughing. “It

  is

  Charlie!”

  Mia grabbed the puppy in a hug. “How did you

  get out?” she asked. “I shut the door before I left.”

  Olivia thought back to the previous day. “Wait,

  didn’t your mom come out after you?” she asked.

  Mia’s eyes grew wide.“You’re right! He must have

  sneaked back out when she opened the door.”

  56

  “But how did he get all the way up here?” Emma

  asked. “Did he follow the camper? Or maybe he

  stowed away in the trailer?”

  “Of course.” Mia smacked her head with her

  hand. “He went after the cooler! He saw me put the

  hot dogs in. He’s always trying to pop the lid off.”

  “But why haven’t we seen him?” Olivia asked.

  “I don’t know.”Mia shrugged as Charlie licked

  her face. “That part is still a mystery.”

  Suddenly, a loud whistle pierced through the

  darkness. Everyone froze.

  “Did you hear that?” Emma squeaked.

  “Here, boy!” a voice called.

  “Where’d you go?” another voice shouted.

  A moment later, a man and a young boy with

  flashlights stepped into the clearing.

  “Oh, hello,” the man said. “Sorry to bother you.
<
br />   My son and I are looking for a lost puppy.” He

  smiled when he spotted Charlie in Mia’s arms.“Hey,

  that’s him right there!”

  57

  “Actually, this is my puppy, Charlie,” Mia said.

  “He came camping with us by accident.”

  “Oh, that explains it!” The man laughed. “That

  fella sure has an appetite. He came sniffing by our

  tent last night. We thought he was a stray.”

  “We’ve been feeding him!” the young boy

  chimed in. “He really likes hot dogs.”

  Mia shook her head. “So

  that’s

  where you’ve

  been going.” She ruffled Charlie’s fur. “You followed

  your stomach!”

  “Well, I’m glad he has an owner,” the man

  chuckled. “At least he’s safe and sound now.”

  The girls thanked the two campers for taking care

  of Charlie. Then the father and son headed away.

  58

  “Silly Charlie,” Andrea said. “You made us think

  you were a ghost horse.”

  “That’s why we kept hearing whistles,” Olivia

  realized. “It was that man calling for Charlie when

  he wandered off.”

  “I

  told

  you guys there was no ghost horse,”Mia

  said. “All our evidence points to Charlie.”

  “Well, not quite

  all

  of it,” Emma said. “Why did

  Charlie drool on the camera?”

  59

  Mia grinned. “Actually, that’s what gave me the

  idea for our experiment. I noticed Olivia licking

  peanut butter off her fingers right before she went to

  set up the camera. When I saw there was drool on it,

  and the picture of the tongue, I figured all we had to

  do was set up more bait, and our thief would come.”

  Olivia nodded. “It was a hungry little dog the

  whole time.”

  “But what about what happened to Andrea in the

  woods?” Emma insisted. “She said the whistle she

  heard didn’t sound like the others.”

  All four girls looked at Andrea.

  After a moment, Andrea shrugged. “It must have

  just been the wind,” she said finally. “And I was lucky

  that the root was there.”

  “Yeah,”Stephanie agreed. “You could have really

  gotten hurt. No more wandering off for any of us.”

  She rubbed Charlie’s belly. “That includes you, you

  hungry puppy.”

  Charlie barked. All the friends laughed.

  60

  By the next morning, the girls had fully planned

  their project presentation.

  “When we get home, we’ll shoot some video of

  Andrea telling

  The Tale of the Phantom Horse

  ,”

  Stephanie said as she rolled up her sleeping bag.

  Olivia nodded. “I have pictures of Charlie, his

  paw prints, and the spilled food. We can use them

  to explain how we searched for clues and how Mia

  came up with her experiment.”

  “Sounds good.” Stephanie brushed off her hands

  and looked around. Everything was packed away.

  “This was great, wasn’t it?”

  “Definitely.” Emma grinned. “I wish

  all

  our

  homework was this much fun!”

  Just then, a car horn beeped. Olivia’s parents

  pulled up to the clearing. “Did you have a good

  time?” Olivia’s dad asked as he hopped out.

  “The best!” all five of them replied.

  Mia, Emma, Stephanie, and Olivia clambered

  61

  into the camper. But Andrea hung back. She glanced

  over her shoulder, out at the trees. The wind rustled

  past, swirling the leaves across the ground.

  “Thank you,”she said very quietly.

  “Everything okay, A?”Olivia poked her head

  back out of the camper.

  Andrea turned. “Yeah,” she said with a smile.

  “Let’s go home.”

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