For Colton, Elise, and Jude
CHAPTER ONE
This is one marvelous mutant. A bona fide scientific wonder.
The black and gold moth flutters to the overgrown honeysuckle bush. It’s the Hemaris diffinis, more commonly known as the bumblebee moth. But this is no ordinary specimen. This baby’s got a third antenna sprouting from the tip-top of its head––tall and skinny with a dusty bulb at the end.
I creep forward and focus the camera’s lens––it’s vintage 1998 and requires a little finessing. I’m milliseconds from snapping the picture of a lifetime when a door behind me bangs open. An orange sneaker zips past my nose toward the moth. The Hemaris diffinis dodges it, sailing high above my mobile home’s aluminum roof and well out of photographic range.
I whirl around. “Nate Fulton! Are you trying to ruin my life?”
“What?” Nate frowns, his face so red in the blazing Texas heat that his freckles nearly go camo. “I probably just saved your life, Mags. Remember what happened to my Uncle Tony last summer? Nearly died when that swarm of bees went up his swim trunks. Stung his butt, like, a hundred times. Got anna-flap-tick shock.”
“It’s anaphylactic, and that wasn’t a bee. It was an ultra-rare mutant moth. I needed that photo!”
“For the contest thing?” Nate retrieves the sneaker and stuffs his toes back inside.
“It’s more than a contest. It’s Vitaccino’s Junior Naturalist Merit Award. There’s five hundred big ones at stake, plus a meeting with the head honchos. For the winners, anyway.” I scan the sky. The moth is nowhere to be seen. I slump to the ground and lean my back against the side of the trailer. Without the Hemaris diffinis, there’s no Merit Award and zero chance to make my case in front of the board of directors. My one shot for smoothing things over for Dad and bringing him back home to Shady Pines.
Nate straightens his Darth Vader ball cap. “I didn’t know it was a mutant moth. I’m no bugologist or anything.”
“Entomologist.” I rip a honeysuckle from the vine.
Nate rocks forward on his toes. “I know something that’ll cheer you up.”
I sip the honeysuckle’s syrupy nectar. “What if I don’t want to cheer up?”
“Come on, Maggie. I’ve got news. I’m talking top-secret intel.”
I sigh. Nate’s intel could be anything from finding half a pack of gum in his shorts to buying a rare issue of Midnight Kingdom at the comic book store. “Spill it.”
Nate looks over his shoulder and drops his voice. “Not here.”
I follow his gaze. Glory, Nate’s hefty basset hound, is passed out in the weedy grass in front of his place. Otherwise, the trailer park is deserted.
“Headquarters.” He nods to the tree house between our trailers. The roof is rusty siding and the walls are discarded plywood. All of it’s held together with a combination of duct tape, nails, and bungee cords. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but behind those walls are treasures like binoculars, fun-size bags of chips, and loads of old Nat Geo magazines. Our own private paradise.
Normally I’d shoot up that ladder like nobody’s business, but Shady Pines summers are brutal. Sweat’s already dripping down my back from chasing the bumblebee moth and I’m not sure I feel like hauling up the rope ladder for a bit of alleged news. “Pass.” I tug my knees to my chest. This wasn’t my first try for a prize-worthy photo, but those got botched too. Turns out opening the film canister to check on things is a big no-no with these old-timey cameras. That moth was my last hope.
Nate raises one hand, shielding his eyes. “Her death-ray glare… saps the life from my… bones.” He stumbles forward with a moan like he’s dying a slow, torturous death.
When I don’t say anything, he cracks one eye open. “I’m dying here, Mags. You really want that on your conscience?”
I should probably stay mad to teach Nate to quit butting in where he doesn’t belong, but I know he’s got a bottomless repertoire of dramatic noises he’ll unleash until I give in. “Fine. You’re forgiven.”
I thrust out one arm.
Nate grabs my hand and pulls me up. “You’re a lifesaver, Mags.”
“Uh-huh.” I trudge up the tree house ladder. “This better be worth it.”
“Oh, it is,” he promises as we slide onto the well-worn wooden slats at the top. Up here, we can see half the town––from Marble Falls, the fancy-pants neighborhood with the bad luck to share a border with Raccoon Creek Trailer Park, to the humongous green forest beyond.
I squish down into a red beanbag chair. “So, what’s the big scoop?”
“You’re gonna love it.” Nate grins. “My cousin Ricky came over this afternoon while I was nuking some corn dogs. He said he and his buddies were passing by Old Man Bell’s woods last night. Minding their own business, more or less. They saw something, Maggie. I’m talking confirmed paranormal phenomenon.” His eyes go all wide and mysterious, like the time he was sure aliens were making crop circles in Jerry Able’s cornfields. “Ghost lights.”
I stretch out my legs and cross my ankles. Ricky’s fourteen, and all he talks about are girls and racing his beat-up dirt bike. “It’s probably just security lights. All the houses in Marble Falls are getting them.”
“Ricky said the forest was glowing green and blue. The guys didn’t get too close, but Ricky was pretty sure the trees were moaning his name. This thing has The Conspiracy Squad written all over it.”
I should’ve known this had something to do with Nate’s YouTube channel. Every couple of weeks he puts out a new video and I usually get roped into it somehow or other. Last month it was snooping around the Thurston County Animal Shelter on the hunt for werewolves. It was a bust. But we did get to snuggle some super adorable calico kittens. Nate’s convinced The Conspiracy Squad is gonna go viral someday soon and rake in the big bucks. And maybe it will. But right now he’s only got about five subscribers, plus a few wack jobs who leave comments about Martians communicating with them through the fillings in their teeth.
Nate seems to read the hesitation on my face and starts up again. “You can’t pass up an opportunity like this. It’s once-in-a-lifetime good. Old Man Bell’s woods are already creepy and probably haunted by, like, a bajillion ghosts.”
“How’s that a selling point?”
“Uh, ’cause it sounds totally awesome. And now that we’ve got solid reports of paranormal happenings, we’d be nuts not to check it out.”
I don’t believe in ghosts, but the place does stir something cold and creaky in the pit of my stomach. Around town there are a thousand different rumors about the old man and his land. Some say the place is cursed and that strange people walk the woods at night. Others say he catches kids and cooks them up in his oven, like the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Either way, I’ve always steered clear.
Nate cracks his knuckles. “What do you say, Mags? You in?”
“Those woods have NO TRESPASSING signs all around them. I can’t risk getting busted. They don’t give Merit Awards to eleven-year-old criminals. Besides, I’ve gotta finish my application.” Though without the pictures of the bumblebee moth, I’ll need to come up with something else quick. The application has to be postmarked by tomorrow.
“You wanna study bugs and trees, right? What better place to go than Old Man Bell’s ginormous woods? I’m practically handing you your Junior Science Nerd badge on a platter.”
“There’s no badge. It’s a cash prize and a meeting with the board, remember?”
“Whatever.” He spins his hat around backward. “Are you going to investigate with me or not?”
I strum my fingers on the wooden floor. Nate has a point. Old Man Bell’s woods offer hundreds of acres of unexp
lored wildlife. “We’d have to be in and out. Snap a few photos and then scram.”
“Totally. In and out. No sweat.”
It’s risky, but I need that award. “Well, what’s the plan?”
Nate steeples his fingers like an evil genius plotting his Greater Thurston County takeover. “Assemble our gear and meet outside Headquarters after sundown. We’ve got to be ready for anything. Ghosts, vampires, aliens.”
“Or security lights. Don’t forget about that possibility.”
Nate reaches for the rope ladder. “Rendezvous at twenty-one-hundred hours.”
“Is that nine or ten o’clock?”
“Check the Zombie Apocalypse Survivor Guide I gave you last Christmas.”
“Couldn’t you just tell me?”
Nate’s already halfway down the ladder. “And don’t forget the garlic!”
I hang my head over the edge of the tree house. “Garlic?”
“In case of glowing vampires. Sheesh Mags, stay with me.”
Nate drops to the ground and trots off to his trailer. As I head down the ladder, there’s a hum in the distance. Right on schedule, a crop duster flies low over Old Man Bell’s land. White rains down from the little plane. I’ve always wondered why a place that doesn’t produce any crops needs a daily dose of herbicides or whatever’s in that thing. But who knows what Old Man Bell’s thinking? He’s an eccentric hermit. Maybe he just really hates weeds.
CHAPTER TWO
I open the fridge and peek in at an assortment of leftover casseroles. Ever since my older brother, Ezra, and I moved in with Gramma six months ago, I’ve eaten about a thousand pounds of tuna noodle skradoodle and kitchen sink cowboy stew.
I lift the foil on a pie pan, only to discover Ezra’s polished off the last of the lemon meringue and left the empty plate in the fridge. Greedy guts. I put the pan in the sink and grab a tub of cheesy shells with sliced hotdog weenies. While the bowl spins in the microwave, I scan the spice rack. Gramma’s got three different types of garlicky powders. I toss a half-empty bottle of garlic salt in my backpack. That’ll have to do for warding off Nate’s glow-in-the-dark vampires.
There’s still a few hours till we kick off Operation Get Arrested for Trespassing on Creepy Old Dude’s Property. I eye the desktop computer in the breakfast nook. It’s been three days since I last talked to Dad. That’s close to a record for us. He’s been working at a remote site this week and hasn’t had cell or e-mail coverage. I munch a mouthful of cheesy shells. It’s not like it’ll hurt to send him another message. He can just read them all at once when he gets back to civilization. I slide into the swivel chair, open my e-mail, and start typing.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Hemaris diffinis
Hi Dad,
I almost got a photo of a rare moth today. It looked just like a huge bumblebee and reminded me of the ones buzzing around the bluebonnets on our trip to Fredericksburg.
Anyway, I saw a For Sale sign on a little house down the street from our old place. I know you said I should let you handle that kind of stuff, but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Just think, if we bought it, things could go back to the way they were before. This new place won’t have Long-Legged Louisa or the Explorer room, but that’s okay. We could plant another willow tree and wallpaper a new room with maps and pictures of volcanoes and rivers.
Also, I think Gramma’s trailer might be shrinking. Probably because Ezra has been eating so much pie. He’s taller than Gramma now. I’m getting tall too.
Just say the word and I’ll call the realtor. I bet she’d give me a free tour.
Love you to the moon and back,
Maggie
Six months ago, Dad got fired from his lab assistant job at Vitaccino headquarters. I don’t know all the details, but somehow a bunch of rats ended up swimming around in a vat of the company’s health drink. It turned out to be terrible timing. The health department showed up that morning and shut the whole place down for a week.
Dad looked around for other work but didn’t have much luck. He said science jobs were hard to come by in a small town. A month later, we were packing up our perfect blue house on Maple Street. Dad got hired as a park ranger in Yellowstone, and Ezra and I moved in with Gramma. But this is all temporary.
Dad’s old company is big into giving back to the community. The owners, Charles and Lydia Croft, are always doing nice stuff like sponsoring school pizza parties or giving smart kids college scholarships. And now they’re offering the Junior Naturalist Merit Award, plus a face-to-face meeting with their board of directors. When I score that award and get in front of the powers that be, I’ll be on my way to getting Dad his job back and moving him home where he belongs.
I jiggle the mouse, ready to hit send.
“Tell your daddy I mailed him a package of those turtle brownies he likes. But he better eat this batch quicker or the critters will steal it, too,” a voice over my shoulder advises.
I frown. “You shouldn’t read other people’s mail, Gramma.”
“I only skimmed it.” Gramma shrugs. She’s already in her white cook’s uniform for her shift at Sunny Day Nursing Home. One wrist is loaded with jingling bangles and her short silvery hair is puffed up with too much hairspray. Streaks of bright pink blush stand out against her otherwise pale and slightly wrinkly skin. “And let him know I saw a NOW HIRING sign at Lenny’s Supermarket. I could put in a good word for him, you know.”
“He’s a biologist, Gramma. He doesn’t want to work as a check-out boy.”
“Well, beggars can’t be choosers. That’s what I always say.”
I don’t bother arguing with Gramma. We both want Dad home, but we’ve got different ideas on how to go about it.
Gramma pulls her purse strap over her shoulder and heads for the door. “I’ll be back by ten. There’s a pot of beef and barley stew in the fridge and a fresh batch of molasses cookies in the jar. Make sure you turn off the burner when you’re done warming things up.”
“Yes, ma’am.” But there won’t be time for beef and barley tonight. Not with the Merit Award at stake. I grab my backpack and head to my room for the rest of the supplies.
Lennox, my leopard gecko, scurries in his terrarium, as my orange tabby, Pascal, flicks his tail and gazes devilishly at the black and white spotted lizard. “Don’t get any ideas. Lennox is family.” Pascal stares back at me with unconvinced golden eyes.
I rummage under my bed to find my old Dora the Explorer flashlight. It’s too babyish for an up-and-coming naturalist, but it’s Dora or we walk in the dark. I reach for my camera––really, it’s Dad’s. It’s got a telescoping lens, detachable flash, and takes 35mm film. I found it on the top shelf of the hall closet a couple of months ago. Gramma said it was finders keepers, and that Dad could reclaim it when he came on home.
The light in my room gradually shifts to a dingy yellow. I lift the blinds. The trees are dark silhouettes against a gray sky. A streaky cloud drifts across the horizon. If I squint, it looks like a face with a gaping mouth and too-sharp teeth. My stomach does a mini-loop, and I pull the jar of garlic salt out of my bag. I sprinkle a good-size pinch on my tank top and shorts, then head for the door. I’m not being superstitious, just prepared. Vampires aren’t real, but vampire bats are. And they carry rabies.
CHAPTER THREE
The sky is murky purple when I lock the trailer’s door. I jog to Headquarters, where Nate waits under the old oak tree.
He sniffs. “We’ll definitely be safe from vampires tonight.”
“I may have over-sprinkled.” I shake the collar of my shirt and garlic salt drifts to the ground.
We pass a few trailers on the gravel road out of Raccoon Creek and then turn onto the path that winds toward the gated entrance of Marble Falls. That’s when I spot trouble.
My brother coasts down the middle of the road on his skateboard. Like me, Ezra’s kinda skinny with lanky brown hair. Only he
’s pastier from spending too much time holed up in his room staring at his phone. Tonight he’s wearing his usual black T-shirt, black skinny jeans, and black high-top sneakers. I don’t know if it’s some kind of fashion statement or if he just hates color since turning thirteen. His friends Jack and Zion skateboard nearby.
“Hey, Ezra.” Nate waves with way too much enthusiasm. “What’s happening, my man?”
“Not a lot.” Ezra ollies two feet into the air, lands it, then glides our way.
I pull Nate’s arm. If Ezra finds out we’re going to check out an alleged ghost light, he’ll never let me live it down. “Come on. We’ve got places to be.”
“Oh yeah, and where’s that?” Ezra pops his skateboard into one hand. The back wheels cling on with a thick band of duct tape.
“None of your––”
“We’re investigating the greatest mystery Thurston County has ever known,” Nate blurts.
I jab him in the side. He’s always falling for Ezra’s cool-older-brother vibe.
“Impressive,” Ezra says in a tone that’s anything but impressed.
“Yup.” Nate bobs his head. “Confirmed paranormal activity. We’ll probably be on the news tonight. Stay tuned.”
My cheeks heat up. Ezra’s barely stopped teasing me about sneaking into the Marble Falls cabanas last spring in search of what Nate had deemed “irrefutable proof of Bigfoot.”
Jack and Zion quit skating and come to Ezra’s side. Jack swings his skateboard into one hand. Jack’s like a taller, bulkier version of Ezra. All black clothes, slouchy shoulders, and a perpetual look of boredom. “So what mystery are you two gonna solve today? Somebody pee in the Shady Pines city pool?”
“It’s nothing,” I say. “Just some lights.”
“It’s not just any ol’ lights,” Nate cuts in. “We have it on good authority that some crazy ghost lights are flashing down at Old Man Bell’s place.”
I stomp his foot with my heel. “It’s really more of a scientific exploration than anything.”
The Mutant Mushroom Takeover Page 1
