Phantom of the Haunted Church Read online

“Help . . . please . . . somebody. . .”

  Melissa hesitated only a moment before nodding. She grabbed her brother’s hand as he waded into the water.

  The current was strong. She could see him fighting to keep his balance as she held on tightly.

  He called out to them, “This way! The current’s coming toward me. Swim into it and I’ll catch you!”

  KC was the first to obey. She swam until she entered the current. It grabbed her and quickly pulled her toward him until

  “Oaff!”

  He got her. (Or she got him.) Melissa reached out to KC with her free hand and pulled her to shore, where she stumbled to her knees and then collapsed onto the sand.

  Next came Spalding. He also caught the Gurrent and was also slammed into Sean, but a lot harder.

  “OAFF!”

  And finally, Bear.

  “AUGH!”

  K-RUNCH

  The “AUGH!” was Sean screaming as he saw the mountain of a boy racing toward him. The K-RUNCH was Sean’s body when the mountain of a boy smashed into him.

  *

  A few moments later everyone was lying on the beach. And after their daily minimum requirement of coughing and gasping, they were finally able to start figuring out what had happened.

  “Was that you screaming on top of the waterfall?” Melissa asked.

  “Naw,” KC scorned. “I’m not the screaming type . . . that was Spalding and Bear.”

  Spalding and Bear nodded sheepishly.

  “What about the tunnel?” Sean asked. “When we were under the cemetery, we heard the same yelling.

  “That was us, too,” Bear admitted.

  “Back when we fell through the floor of the church,” Spalding added.

  “So all the screaming was coming from you guys and not the ZEEG REEED?” Melissa asked.

  They nodded.

  “However,” Spalding said, “that does not imply that the ZEEG REEED is no longer in our vicinity. There is still a high probability that he is searching for us.” Spalding lowered his voice and glanced around.

  “Needless to say, you recall what that homeless wretch at the church said. The creature’s sole purpose is to devour all those who seek the treasure.”

  A moment of silence crept over the group. Silence— and goose bumps.

  “So what are we supposed to do?” KC complained. “Just hang around, waitin’ to become some monster’s after-school snack?”

  Melissa shook her head. “Jeremiah says that cave behind us is a way out. He says it leads out to the beach.”

  “Who’s Jeremiah?” KC demanded.

  “Oh,” Melissa smiled. “He’s this little guy on my watch.”

  “You got a talking watch?”

  “No, he’s just this—well, here, see for yourself.” Melissa held out her wrist. “His name is Jeremiah. Actually, it’s J.E.R.E.M.I.A.H., which is short for the Johnson Electronic Reductive Entity Memory Inductive Assembly Housing, and as you can see he…” Melissa slowed to a stop.

  All three faces stared at her skeptically.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “There ain’t nobody in there,” KC said.

  “Don’t be silly,” Melissa answered, glancing at her watch. “Of course he’s—”

  She came to another stop. They were right. Jeremiah was no longer there. “Well,” she chuckled nervously, “he was here.”

  She glanced up. They continued staring. Melissa felt her face growing a little hot around the edges. “Sometimes, though,” she nervously cleared her throat, “sometimes he’s kinda shy. Fact, Sean and I are about the only ones he ever talks to. Isn’t that right, Sean?”

  They turned to her brother.

  He stared at her, pretending to be clueless.

  “Sean?” she said.

  He looked at her blankly. Then he blinked. “Yes, dear sister?”

  “Jeremiah,” she insisted. Her words grew more pointed. “Tell them about Jeremiah.”

  Again he pretended ignorance. Then suddenly his face lit up. “Oh yes, right. . . Jeremiah. Jeremiah usually stays with us, but right now he’s hanging out with the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.”

  “Sean!”

  “Yeah,” Sean nodded, continuing to make her look the fool (one of his favorite pastimes). “They’re all up at the North Pole giving Santa Claus and his elves a hand for Christmas.”

  KC and Spalding exchanged scornful snickers.

  Melissa’s face grew hotter. “SEAN!”

  “But she’s right about one thing,” he said. “This cave is our only way out.”

  “How can you be so certain?” Spalding asked.

  Sean shrugged. “After calculating the wind velocity, saline concentration of the atmosphere, and the barometric pressure, the fact becomes quite obvious.”

  Spalding slowly nodded. “Of course.”

  KC and Bear nodded, pretending to look like they understood.

  But not Melissa. She wore an entirely different expression. In fact, if looks could kill, Sean would be a dead man.

  “Then what are we waitin’ for?” KC demanded. “Let’s get outta here.” Without another word, she got to her feet and headed for the cave.

  The others rose and followed.

  *

  The cave was long and dark. Unlike the tunnel or the cavern, the floor was filled with water . . . and it was getting deeper. Soon it was up to their calves, then their knees.

  “You are certain this is the correct direction?” Spalding asked.

  Sean stuck his hand down into the water, tasted it, then spit it out. “We’re heading toward the ocean; this is definitely salt water.”

  “Excellent,” Spalding answered.

  “But we better hurry,” Melissa said as she watched the water swirling around her legs. “Looks like the tide is coming in.” The group continued forward. Well, most of the group.

  “Where’s Bear?” KC asked. She turned around. “Bear?”

  Melissa shined her flashlight around the cave until she spotted him. The boy was a dozen feet behind them. He stood on a slight ledge, shining his own flashlight toward the ceiling.

  “C’mon, Bear,” she shouted. “The tide’s coming in. We don’t want to get trapped in here.”

  But Bear didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to stand and stare.

  “He’s spotted something,” KC said. She turned and started back toward him. “What is it, Bear? What do you see?”

  Spalding and Sean also turned back to investigate.

  “Guys?” Melissa warned. “The tide is rising fast.” But no one paid attention. Not even Slobs. Reluctantly, Melissa turned and sloshed back through the water to join them.

  KC was the first to arrive. She followed Bear’s gaze up toward the ceiling. That’s when her mouth dropped open in astonishment.

  Spalding joined her and did the same open-mouthed routine.

  And finally, Sean. “Will you look at that,” he said in wonder.

  At last Melissa arrived. She followed everyone’s gaze. There was a shaft above them that veered sharply to the right. Up at the top was a type of ledge. And directly in the center of that ledge set a chest—three feet long, about half that wide, and made of metal. But not just any metal. By the blinding yellow reflection from their flashlights, it was obvious that this metal was nothing but pure gold. And attached to the gold were dozens of rubies, sapphires, and diamonds . . . each jewel reflecting and refracting their lights, filling the shaft with dazzling rainbows.

  For a moment everyone stood in silence. Until finally Bear said what everyone else already knew.

  “We found it!”

  8

  shake, rattle, and rolled

  Friday, 10: 21 PST

  It was hard to know exactly who had started the stampede toward the treasure. It really didn’t matter. Because within half a second, everyone was clambering up the side walls of the shaft toward it . . . even Slobs. And the more they clamored, the pushier they got.

  “Ouch!
That’s my hand.”

  “Get outta my way!”

  “You’re stepping on my face!”

  “If you can’t move it, lose it!”

  “Stop pushin’!”

  “Woof, woof, woof!”

  Yes sir, greed was in full gear. Who cared how rude they were? After all, that was a treasure up there! What difference did a few flattened heads, crushed ribs, and broken body parts make when compared to unlimited wealth.

  Unfortunately, the rudeness had barely begun. Once they arrived at the chest, they began arguing over who the rightful owner should be.

  “I was here first!”

  “I saw it first!”

  “I touched it first!”

  “I grabbed the handle!”

  “I grabbed the other handle!”

  “Howl, howl, howl!”

  No doubt about it, maturity was at a new low. We’ll skip all the bickering and threats on one another’s lives and just say that the argument went on and on. And just when you thought it was over, it went on some more. In fact, the words (not to mention barks and howls) were so heated that everyone missed two rather important facts.

  FACT 1: The chest was wedged so tightly against the shaft’s ceiling that it was actually holding part of it up.

  FACT 2: The water in the tunnel below them continued to fill with sea water.

  Other than that, everything was fine and dandy.

  Eventually, Sean managed to glance down.

  “Uh, guys?” he called. “Guys!” No one listened.

  “GUUUYYYYYSSSS!”

  That got their attention.

  “Didn’t there use to be a tunnel below us?”

  Everyone looked down.

  The tunnel below them was rapidly filling with water. In fact, there was less than three feet of space between the tunnel’s roof and the surface of the water. Make that two feet, eight inches . . . er, two feet, five inches . . . er, two feet—well, you get the picture.

  So did the kids.

  “We’re all gonna drown!” Bear screamed.

  “Let’s get out of here!” KC shouted.

  Once again the group moved along the sides of the shaft, only this time in reverse. And once again they did their usual arguing, bickering, and howling. Because if there was one thing everybody loved more than money, it was living.

  Well. . . almost everybody. It seems Spalding hadn’t quite figured out the difference.

  Melissa was the first to look up and spot him. He was still at the top of the shaft beside the chest. “Spalding, what are you doing?”

  “It’s imperative we not lose this wealth.”

  Melissa glanced down to the tunnel and the rising water. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

  Spalding nodded as he grabbed a handle on the side of the chest and pulled. “I am painfully aware of that fact; however, one must at least attempt to—”

  Sean was the first to see the dirt falling. “No!” he shouted. “Spalding, don’t pull.”

  “And why not?”

  “It’s holding up the roof!”

  “Nonsense,” Spalding scoffed as he gave the chest another tug. More rock and dirt fell.

  “Stop!” KC saw it, too. “Spalding, he’s right! Stop!”

  “If you think I am going to allow a little falling dirt to prevent me from obtaining this wealth, then you are sadly mistaken.” He gave the chest another tug.

  “Look out!” Sean yelled. Everyone ducked as more dirt and larger rocks fell.

  “Spalding!” Melissa shouted. “Spalding, don’t—”

  But that was all she managed to get out before Spalding gave the chest one final pull.

  It came loose. And with it about ten tons of dirt arid rock.

  “Look out!” Bear cried.

  “Avalanche!” Sean shouted.

  The dirt and rocks cascaded down on top of them—smashing them, bruising them, quickly covering them. Over the roar of falling debris, everyone shouted and screamed. But Melissa only heard them for a moment. .. until one particularly nasty rock scored a direct hit on her noggin.

  After that she heard nothing at all.

  *

  When she awoke, Melissa was half floating, half standing in thick brown goop. Either she’d fallen into a giant vat of liquid chocolate or the tunnel’s dirt and water had mixed together forming a giant pit of mud. Unfortunately, she knew it was the latter.

  The first person she spotted was KC. At least she thought it was KC. It was so dark, and the girl was so small and covered in mud that she could have just as easily passed for a chocolate-covered peanut with eyes.

  “Are you all right?” Melissa called. KC gave no answer as she paddled toward her in the murky darkness. “Are you okay?” Melissa repeated. Still no answer. “I said, are you-”

  SLURP!

  Suddenly KC licked Melissa’s face and started to bark. And suddenly Melissa realized it was harder to recognize her mud-covered companions than she’d thought. “Slobs!” she cried.

  The dog barked again and threw in a few more licks for good measure.

  “Oh, there you are,” Sean’s voice called. Melissa turned and spotted somebody swimming toward her.

  ‘Who are you?’’ she asked.

  “Who else?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, wiping the dog drool from her mouth. “I just didn’t want to take any more chances. Where are the others?”

  “We’re all here,” the real KC answered from behind.

  Melissa turned around in the gunk and saw another pair of eyes staring at her through the darkness.

  “Where exactly is here?” she asked.

  “We’re still in the shaft.” Bear’s voice answered from the left.

  Melissa glanced at him and then up to the roof. The ceiling was so close she could practically touch it. “That’s impossible,” she argued. “We’ve got less than two feet of head room, and the shaft was at least fifteen feet high.”

  Sean nodded. “That was before our friend Spalding here decided to fill it up with his little avalanche.”

  “I heard that,” Spalding called from nearby. “I am only responsible for the dirt, not the mud. It is not my fault that this sea water keeps coming in from the, from the . . .”

  Suddenly Melissa remembered. “From the rising tide!” She glanced at the side walls. It was true—even as she spoke, the water continued to rise and the breathing space above their heads continued to shrink. “There has to be some way out of here,” she said nervously.

  Sean shook his head. “I’ve looked. Our only escape was the tunnel below us, and now it’s completely filled with mud and water.”

  “We’re doomed,” KC moaned.

  “Not only that,” Bear added, “but we ain’t going to live too long, either.”

  Melissa glanced up at the ceiling. “How much time do you think we have?”

  Sean watched the mud and water creep up the sides of the shaft. By now there was a little over a foot of air above their heads. “A minute,” he said. “Maybe two.”

  Melissa let out a long sigh. “This was all my fault.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I should have never let you talk us into this.”

  Sean looked at her. Even in the darkness, he could see her sincerity. And it was then he knew that despite all the handbooks on big brotherhood, it was time to admit that he was actually wrong. “Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “It was me.”

  Melissa looked at him. She was more than a little surprised. Come to think of it, so was Sean. But the honesty hadn’t hurt too much, so he figured he’d keep going.

  “I’m the one who got us all caught up in looking for that treasure.” He sighed heavily. “Dad was right, greed can really make you stupid.”

  Now it was Melissa’s turn for honesty. “When you’re right, you’re right.”

  Sean gave her a look.

  She smiled and shrugged. “Actually, I didn’t have to come with you. But I wanted to be rich as much as you. And
now look where it got us. Dad said something else, too. Remember? Real riches can’t be found in stuff—”

  Sean finished the phrase, “. . . but in friendship with God.” He gave another sigh. “And by taking our eyes off God, by looking for the wrong treasure . . . here we are.”

  Melissa nodded and sadly repeated. “Here we are.”

  “Shh . . .” Spalding suddenly whispered.

  They turned to him.

  He motioned toward the roof. “Up there. Listen.”

  Everyone strained to hear.

  CLINK . . . SCRAPE.

  CLINK . . . SCRAPE.

  It was directly above their heads—the sound of metal against dirt. The sound of digging.

  “Someone’s up there!” KC shouted. “Someone’s digging us out. Hey!” she cried. She began banging her little fists on the rocky ceiling. “Hey, we’re down here!”

  The others joined in. “WE’RE DOWN HERE! HELP US! WE’RE DOWN HERE!”

  The digging grew louder . . .

  CLINK. . . SCRAPE.

  CLINK . . . CLINK . . . SCRAPE.

  . . . as the water surrounding them grew higher. Now there was less than a foot of air space. They were having to tilt their heads back just to keep the mud and water out of their mouths.

  Sean had no idea how close the person rescuing them was or if he would even dig through to them in time. But remembering the X-ray goggles, he reached into his mud-drenched pack, found them, and slipped them on. They were cracked, full of gunk, and impossible to focus, but he adjusted them as best he could to try to see through the dirt and rock above.

  What he saw made his blood run cold. There was some sort of form less than a foot above them. That was the good news. But there was some bad . . .

  It was hard to tell with the cracked and out-of-focus goggles, but the form had a strange outline. As if it were part human, part . . .

  CLINK . . . CLINK . . .SCRAPE.

  CLINK . . . SCRAPE.