The Halloween Surprise! Chapter 4

Chapter 4
The Menderson Cemetery
[Note--as expected, it looks like this was originally spelled "Cemetary."]

John and Mike dashed around the house. Meanwhile, Linda kept shrieking and screaming because of all the large, black spiders getting in her hair. She ran this way and that, shouting loudly. Then she stopped. She heard her name being called. It was John and Mike! She ran in the direction that they were calling from. It was the only way she could find them because there were no windows in this part of the house and it was like a maze. But finally she found them. "Come on, you guys, let's get out of this creepy house!" said Mike. "But how do we know where the door is?" asked Linda. "We're lost, remember?" "We'll just have to look," replied John. "Let's go."

At last they all found a door to get out. When they were out, Linda turned to John and asked, "How did you find me?" "First we followed your footprints--" "What footprints?" "You must've stepped in some paint." "Oh, so that explains the pawprints!" Linda said. "Pawprints?" asked Mike. "A black cat crossed my path," said Linda. John and Mike walked away from Linda backwards. They didn't want to get bad luck. "As I was saying," continued John, "it got dark. We could'nt [sic] see the footprints. So we listened instead. We heard you screaming. That's how we found you." "I was screaming because I had spiders in my hair," said Linda, before Mike had a chance to ask her. Mike and John had completely forgot [sic] that they were still walking, and they fell into a dug up [sic] grave. Linda shrieked and rushed over to the grave. It must've been about six feet deep. She helped them out and they brushed themselves off. Then they looked around. They were in a cemetery!

[Illustration: Linda running, her eyes wide and her mouth open; there's a little black spider in her hair, one on her shirt, one falling in front of her, and one descending on a web behind her.]

[Illustration: John and Mike in the dug-up grave; the view is a cutaway view from the side. There are some roots protruding from the grave walls, and grass growing around its edge; the boys are smudged with dirt, and peering up at the top of the grave, where Linda lies peering back down at them over the edge.]