This is a simple one! You learned to read! For me I was lucky to have a Mom who went to the library all the time, and made sure that I had a library card at a really young age. This was better than going to a candy store – all those great stories and adventures practically jumping off the shelves at me. Wow! Some of my best memories of childhood were getting into a bed at night in soft and warm flannel jammies with sheets smelling like the outdoors. My bedside light glowed a gentle yellow, a book rested on my tummy and I was off into another world of fun, mystery and adventure that gently entered my dreams as I slipped off to sleep. What fun!
And so, years later as I continued to roam my neighborhood libraries I found the shelves on comparative religions and metaphysics and a whole new world of fun, mystery and adventure opened up. Discovering yoga philosophies, “A Course in Miracles” and co-dependency recovery naturally followed, step by step.
The first step, however, was learning to enjoy reading. And with that in mind I began a series of mystery stories for that special age when reading needs to ‘click in’ – the preteen years. I wrote for my grandchildren and grand nephews, sending them one chapter at a time. They loved it and I so loved doing this for them. The first, “The Mystery at the Everything Exchange” was published two years ago and I am now working on the second one in the series.
And so, for the young at heart, and for those who may like to share a neat reading experience with a preteen, I thought it would be fun to share, chapter by chapter as I finish them, the second book in this series. . .
The Mystery of the Magic Marble
With Pierre Perro and Captain Blend
By Bette Jean Cundiff
Prologue
“Evil hunts at night”
Meadowlark, a village like all other villages was preparing for evening. The Ground Squirrel family of eleven was sitting down in their hill condo for a meal filled with whistles and laughter. Mrs. Toad was croaking loudly for all her tadpoles to come home from an afternoon of swimming in the nearby pond. Tired and hungry youngsters all around town were saying good-bye to friends and heading home for dinner.
On the edge of the forest by a small clearing, a group of youngsters were doing the same thing. They had just finished a game of marbles and each was collecting several colorful glass balls and putting them in pockets and small sacks.
“Are you coming along, Jamie?” asked a small raccoon. He was placing the last of his marbles in the pocket of his blue overalls. “My Mom will kill me if I’m late for dinner again.”
“Go ahead, Timmy,” answered a gray rabbit with red shorts and white t-shirt. “My lucky marble rolled under a bush. You know the one, my silver and blue one. I’ll find it in a minute. You go on ahead with the others. I won’t be long.”
“I could help, if you want,” suggested Timmy as he pushed grasses around with his foot and looked down.
“Oh, go on,” answered Jamie as he moved branches aside to look under a low bush. “If you get in trouble one more time your Mom will keep you grounded for a week.”
“Yea, but I don’t like these woods when they get dark, they’re real scary. You shouldn’t be here by yourself,” Timmy said. His eyes were wide as he studied the darkening shadows between the trees. “Our parents always tell us to stay away from the woods when it’s dark.”
“I’ll be fine. Go on. I’ll be right behind you,” said Jamie as he moved to the next bush and got down on his knees to look underneath.
Timmy waited for a minute while he watched his friend. He turned to look toward the village and could see the lights coming on in all the cottages. He didn’t know whether to stay and help his friend, or get home and make his Mom happy. When he caught the faint whiff of dinner floating on the air he made his decision.
“O.K. I’ll take off. You hurry up,” and off Timmy scurried leaving his friend alone by the edge of the forest.
Jamie continued to carefully search in the grasses and under the bushes all around the circle of dirt that the boys had cleared for the game of marbles. He never noticed the shadows getting darker all around him. He never noticed the one shadow that moved from tree to tree just behind him.
“Now where could you be, marble?” Jamie softly called, just as if the marble could hear him and answer.
“I saw you roll when Oscar’s gold and red marble pushed you out of the circle. But I forgot in which direction. So come on now, where are you?” Jamie stood up with his paws on his hips. He put one paw in his pocket and jiggled the marbles that were already there. Frustration created a little crease in his forehead and one of his ears bent softly over his face.
The shadow that had been following him around the outside of the circle stopped when Jamie did, and watched, and waited.
Jamie turned and looked directly at where the shadow hid. “Ah! There you are! Come on out now. I see you,” Jamie called and then moved forward. “You can’t fool me, I know where you are!”
Jamie walked quickly over to the tree and bent down. He picked up a bright marble. The glass glittered in the dim light. Streaks of silver and bright blue rolled around inside the marble, just as if it were a small ocean. Jamie stared at it with pleasure for a moment and could almost make out a small orange flame inside. “Gotcha!” he said. “Now let’s go home for some dinner.”
Jamie turned and started to place his lucky marble in his pocket. It never got there. Instead a large curved beak reached out from behind the tree and grabbed Jamie by the neck. The young rabbit started to squeal and dropped the newly found marble on the ground. An arm of maggot filled black feathers clamped tightly over Jamie’s nose and easily dragged the youngster behind the tree.
If anyone from the village had been looking up to watch the sun dip below the tree, they would have seen a dark form lifting up from the treetops with something small kicking wildly in its grasp.
But down in the clearing near the edge of the forest the blue and silver marble rolled to a stop almost in the center of the cleared circle. The last of the evening light shone upon the round glass and a small bit of ocean seemed to move within it. In the center, a bright orange flame dimmed.
(To see the first in the series, Mystery at the Everything Exchange, scroll down on the left and click the book)
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