Skull Creek Stakeout (Caden Chronicles, The) (12 page)

O
n a crisp autumn afternoon we gathered in Aunt Vivian’s house to go through her things. Old cookie cutter tins, boxes of knitting yarn, drawers and drawers of dress patterns.

Meg sat on the bed riffling through one of Aunt Vivian’s old photo albums. “Is that your dad?”

I leaned over Meg’s shoulder and looked at the picture. “Yeah. No wonder
I
needed braces. I inherited Dad’s beaver teeth.”

“That’s the last of it,” Mom said, walking into the den. “Your father has the Cadillac loaded down. We’ll put the rest in storage.”

“You most certainly will not. It’s coming with me.”

Mom winked at me and, turning toward Aunt Vivian, said, “We’ve been over this already. You cannot put everything you own in that tiny apartment; there isn’t enough room.”

“Hon, I’m not taking everything, just the important stuff. You’ll help me, right, Nick?”

“Absolutely. Whatever you say, Aunt Vivian.”

After her heart attack, she agreed it would be best if she moved into the assisted living complex, but being Aunt Vivian, she insisted on setting the terms of the move.

I said, “And anytime you want to go to the storage unit, let me know and I’ll drive you there.”

“Lord, child, I’m not going to ask you to drive all that way from Kansas just for that. Why, that’s the most foolish thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Aunt Vivian, by the time you get around to missing this stuff, I’ll have my permit. I’ll need the practice, right, Mom?”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“Bless you, dear, but I couldn’t.”

“Come on,” I said, walking Aunt Vivian out of the room and toward the kitchen. “You promised me a batch of sugar cakes.”

“Oh, Nick, I am so going to miss having you around.”

“I’m not gone yet. We don’t leave until tomorrow. I still have to run by Raintree’s bookstore and apologize to him and Barlow for thinking they were involved in Forester’s death. I guess in some ways I feel responsible for putting the vampire slayer game out of business.”

“Don’t waste your time,” said Meg. “Raintree sold the store and is in the midst of setting up that nature conservancy. The store’s new owner read about the vampire murder, flew down, and made an offer the week after you left. And Barlow, oh wow, did he ever catch a break. One of the producers of that television show
Kill Me Now
contacted him about becoming a regular on the show. Wouldn’t have happened if not for your article. So in one sense your poking around in Forester’s death was a blessing for both.”

“Just the same, I’m coming back to visit. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Meg said.

“We’re not going there again, are we?” I said, trying to hide my smile.

“Just saying, the last time you promised someone …”

“Look at you two, arguing like an old married couple. Come on, let’s head over to my new apartment before I forget how to drive.”

“Shotgun!” I yelled.

“Fine. But you have to make sure she stays on the road,” Meg said, punching me on the arm.

From the foyer Aunt Vivian called, “Has anyone seen my wallet? I know I had it a second ago.”

I caught Meg’s eye, winked, and said to Aunt Vivian, “Is that it under your arm?”

“Oh, Nick, whatever will I do when you’re not around?”

Questions written by Sarah Lynn Phillips

1. Nick’s dad encourages him to visit Aunt Vivian and makes this statement: “Family is everything.” Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? How did Nick’s opinion of his great-aunt and the importance of family change? Why did he refer to her as “a Golden Globe—winning aunt”?

2. Nick unearthed legends, myths, stories, and alleged history about vampires. His discoveries led him to suppose people’s belief in them “isn’t all that new.” What’s your take on the lieutenant’s conclusion? “Only proves people today who believe in vampires aren’t any smarter today than they were back then.”

3. The note signed by Barnabas Forester read, “Fear the darkness, for it is in the black hearts of men that evil lurks … Take my warning seriously … Escape now while you still can, for if you do not, you too may find yourself forever bound by the curse of darkness.” How does this warning compare with the teachings of Jesus found in the Bible? Investigate the following:

• Jeremiah 17:9

• Matthew 15:17–20

• Mark 7:21

• Romans 1:21

4. Aunt Vivian said, “We make time for the things that matter.” Nick’s father
said
family mattered, but his busyness prevented him from visiting his aunt. What things matter enough to you so that you make time for them? What do you
say
is important but your actions show otherwise?

5. What do you think Aunt Vivian meant when she quoted Jesus from Matthew 10:16, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves”? Do you think she bribed the doctor by paying him to let Nick see the body, or did her action demonstrate shrewdness? Why?

6. Forester’s widow said, “Seeing how the rest of the world lives really makes you appreciate where you’re from [and] … what you have.” Do you think this is true? Can you recall a time when you or someone you know visited a third-world country? How was that person changed as a result?

7. The phantom figure in the room of caskets asks Nick, “Do you believe a person can gain eternal life through the blood of another?” How would
you
answer this question? Compare your response to the clues written on ancient scrolls two thousand years ago:

• Romans 5:8–9

• Hebrews 9:22

• 1 John 1:7

8. Consider the age-old quest for immortality. Is it possible for a human to be immortal (Hebrews 9:27)? How do mortal people gain eternal life? How would you assist Nick in his quest “to unravel the mystery” and live forever? Take a close-up look at John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:4–9.

9. Aunt Vivian asserted, “Where I’m going they pave the streets with gold.” Examine Revelation 21:21 to see why she seemed so confident. Take a virtual tour of Heaven by investigating Revelation 21:1–5, 15–27, and 22:1–5. If you knew with certainty there was life after death, how would that change your view of your present problems?

10. Nick knew he couldn’t change the past, fix his mistakes, or save himself. He realized some things, such as death, were out of his control. Where would you advise Nick to seek help? How do Matthew 7:7–8 and Hebrews 4:16 relate to Nick’s new attitude?

Eddie Jones
is the author of nine books and over 100 articles. He is a three-time winner of the Delaware Christian Writers Conference, and his novel,
The Curse of Captain LaFoote
, won the 2011 Selah Award in Young Adult fiction. He is also a writing instructor and cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries, and his
He Said, She Said
devotional column appears on
www.christiandevotions.us
. When he’s not writing or teaching, he can be found surfing in Costa Rica or some other tropical locale.

Also by Eddie Jones

The Caden Chronicles

Dead Man’s Hand (Book 1)

Skull Creek Stakeout (Book 2)

The Curse of Captain LaFoote

My Father’s Business: 30 Inspirational Stories for Discerning and Doing God’s Will

ZONDERKIDZ

Skull Creek Stakeout
Copyright © 2013 by Eddie Jones

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan e-books.

EPub Edition © JUNE 2013 ISBN: 9780310723912

Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zonderkidz,
5300 Patterson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jones, Eddie, 1957–

Skull Creek stakeout / Eddie Jones.

     pages cm. — (The Caden chronicles; bk. 2)

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Nick gets a job as a roving reporter for The Cool Ghoul Gazette, a website on paranormal disturbances, and, on his first assignment, finds a corpse with fangs, bite marks, and a gaping hole in its chest, courtesy of a wooden stake.

ISBN 978–0–310–72390–5 (softcover)

[1. Supernatural—Fiction. 2. Reporters and reporting—Fiction. 3. Vampires—Fiction. 4. Web sites—Fiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.

        PZ7.J68534Sku 2013

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version
^®
, NIV
^®
.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with Hartline Literary Agency, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235.

Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan.

Cover design: Sammy Yuen
Editor: Kim Childress
Illustrations: Owen Richardson
Interior design: Sarah Molegraaf
Interior composition: Greg Johnson/Textbook Perfect

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 /DCI/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Founded in 1931, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins
Publishers
, is the leading international Christian communications company, producing best-selling Bibles, books, new media products, a growing line of gift products and award-winning children’s products. The world’s largest Bible publisher, Zondervan (
www.zondervan.com
) holds exclusive publishing rights to the
New International Version of the Bible
and has distributed more than 150 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the top Christian publishers in the world, selling its award-winning books through Christian retailers, general market bookstores, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, and the Internet. Zondervan has received a total of 68 Gold Medallion awards for its books, more than any other publisher.