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    The Grimbies of Agowadi
    The Grimbies of Agowadi
    The Grimbies of Agowadi
    Ebook133 pages1 hour

    The Grimbies of Agowadi

    By Vicki Shankwitz and Megan Pitts

    ()

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    About this ebook

    My name is Hailey. My twin brother, Harvey, and I had an all but boring life. That was until he came. My mischievous nature led our group into his house, where we stumbled upon a book. Since then, our quiet neighborhood started experiencing disappearances and our neighbors started turning into something else. What were these creatures? Zombies? Or worse? 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVicki Shankwitz
    Release dateOct 11, 2017
    ISBN9781386415749
    The Grimbies of Agowadi
    Author

    Vicki Shankwitz

    Born in Southern California, Vicki loved adventures whether they were real or in books. Retiring early, she and her husband traveled the country full-time for five years in an RV. During their travels, she caught the writing bug. Always having a love for science fiction and fantasy, Vicki started writing about dragons before branching into children’s books. Now settled on the Gulf Coast, she can write full-time and spend time with her family. Author of the award winning Grimbies of Agowadi, The Dragon Master Series and for kids, The Habitat Series: Goodnight, Gecko; Hello, Dolphin; and Peekaboo, Polar Bear.

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      Book preview

      The Grimbies of Agowadi - Vicki Shankwitz

      Prologue

      Friday, May 19, 2017

      I haven’t much longer. If you are reading this, the end is close.

      Harvey read the words over her shoulder, Hailey, you’re so dramatic.

      Well, if I die, I want someone to know what happened, so it doesn’t happen again, Hailey said. She wiped her brow and continued to write in her journal.

      At ten-years-old, Hailey’s life had started normally, but within a brief time her life had changed considerably. Perhaps she was dramatic, as Harvey thought, but then again, maybe she was only being cautious.

      Hailey continued to write:

      What we have experienced here, few have seen and even less will believe. Heed these words when I say that if you are not careful, the end could come for you as well.

      Harvey laughed again, and Hailey stopped writing.

      Hailey said, If you’re only going to laugh, then you need to leave. This is serious business. So far, we’ve lost twenty people; I think. There may be more, but then, I don’t know all that has happened. Either the adults are keeping things from us, or they have no clue as to what is happening.

      Harvey said, Ok, little sister. Write in your journal, and tell your tale. Then when you’re done, we can get back to this serious business you were speaking of.

      Little sister, she muttered under her breath. Then she said aloud, All right; this should take no time at all to finish.

      To Whomever May Be Reading This,

      My name is Hailey St. Claire. I live in a small town in the high desert of California, which is like any other small town—you know the kind where you’re born there, raised there, and die there. The town where everyone knows everyone else, and secrets are impossible.

      Except, this town has a secret—a secret so dangerous that I’m sure it will change the town and the people living in it forever. Fortunately for you, I keep a diary, or I guess you can call it a journal. I have all the details there, and for your safety, I’ll let you read it, or at least the important dates. Then if I die, you will know what to do.

      First, let me tell you a few things about myself. I have blonde curly hair, emerald green eyes, and my mom says that my height is average for a girl my age. As I am only a kid, I live with my parents and my twin brother.

      The neighborhood is small but... yes, ordinary. All about me is usual or, in other words, boring. My whole life, all ten years of it, has gone uneventfully, as a typical kid’s should. Like I said, boring.

      Plenty of kids live in our neighborhood, but only a small group are my best friends, like Marissa and Bruce. Jacob hangs out with us too, but he is more Harvey’s friend.

      Harvey is my twin brother. He and I have always been close, hung out together, and watched each other’s backs. It isn’t as if we are bad or anything; we’re just kids, which means that every now and then we get into trouble. Well, I should say, I’m the one that gets into trouble and Harvey is the one that usually rescues me.

      It seemed like the perfect life, a boring, uneventful life but a perfect one... that was until he moved in.

      Friday, March 10, 2017

      The day began like any other—my brother and I headed home from school after a long, and yes, boring day. It was a warm, late-winter afternoon; the sun was high and brilliant in the sky, warming the newly blossoming flowers in our neighbors’ yards. The trees were waking from their winter slumber, blossoming with their bright green leaves, as if to say hello to yet another beautiful year.

      In the distance, even the Joshua trees seemed brighter, more alive. The desert surrounded our neighborhood, stretching out for miles until it hit the purple, snow-capped mountains, still slumbering under winter’s cold fingers. An icy blue river, made up of frosty tears from the distant mountain, mourned the ending winter. At night, you could see the lights twinkling from the distant ski lodges and ski runs up on the mountainside.

      The Native Americans, who lived here years before, named our town Agowadi. Agowadi means Paradise. It was anything but that! Anyway, encircling our town, the river naturally secluded us from the rest of the desert. The only way into the outside world from our little island was by a bridge, the one to the south. A second bridge to the north, led onto the hills, which contained an old mine, a ghost town and one house.

      Can you believe this used to be a mining town? Harvey said, scratching his head of short brown hair as he walked by my side.

      Boring, I replied, as my hair brushed across my face by the sudden breeze, and covered up my eyes. What’s more exciting is finding out who’s moving into the old McLaine house. It’s been empty for longer than we’ve been alive. It’ll be nice to have a new neighbor. Fresh blood, you know, instead of the same faces as always. I wonder if they have any kids.

      I rambled on as usual while I looked down across the bridge to where the lonely house stood. It was a huge one-story-house that overlooked our neighborhood and the desert beyond. Known as the McLaine House, the last owner, Mr. Rudolph McLaine died in the house under mysterious circumstances. No one wanted to buy it, thinking it to be haunted. It sat empty for hundreds of years, or so it seemed.

      As my eyes roamed the hilltop house, I unexpectedly spotted a storage pod, which sat at the end of the house’s driveway. It hadn’t been there when we left for school, so I wasn’t sure when it had arrived. It was a medium-sized pod, which would hold all the furniture and stuff used in a three or four-bedroom house—which the McLaine house was, like all the rest of the houses here.

      I should explain. For the entirety of our lives, Harvey and I had never had new neighbors. No one moved in or out of our town, ever. So, a storage pod was a big deal. This was bigger than the history of the town’s mine, which was this weekend’s homework.

      Excited, I was thinking about checking out the pod, but it would have to wait until later because right now Mom was calling us. Moms can be such spoil sports.

      She and my dad are History Professors at the local college, which is down the road from here. They brag that they have great jobs, but what they really do is teach and research history; who would want to do that? Boring! And they have no sense of humor!

      Like the other day, when one of the neighbor girls came to our front door trying to sell cookies for a school fundraiser. I don’t like the girl, and wanted to buy cookies from a friend. I could have answered the door like my mom told me to, but no, I must be creative. Instead, I went to the door and started barking like a dog. Then I started to growl, and become feisty. The girl soon left, and I was happy. Mom didn’t think it was funny. Well, I thought it was.

      Anyway, it is kind of nice that some days Mom is there when we get home from school because of her work schedule.

      Hello, kids, Mom said, greeting us each with a kiss on the cheek, as we walked in the house and set our backpacks on the floor. How was school today?

      Good, we both replied in unison.

      Mom, did you know... Harvey started, excited about his newest discovery of whatever subject he was interested in now. Harvey, older than me by three minutes, was supposedly smarter than I was, though that was debatable. Granted, he was a bookworm; the type that only read non-fiction, and was a know-it-all about everything. Ask him about anything he’d read, and he’d quote exactly what he’d read, and probably give you the name of the book and page number as well. His favorite subject was history. Gross. Who liked history? I, on the other hand, liked mischief.

      Mom interrupted, and looked at me. Hailey, please tell me you stayed out of trouble today. Principal Jenkins is still upset about that trick that you pulled in his office.

      I tried not to be a troublemaker, but I couldn’t help it. I was too curious to let things go. People always said, ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’ Well, all I’d gotten was detention.

      Yes, Mom. I did. I sighed, pulling my lanky body out of the hug my mom still held me captive in. Who’s the new neighbor?

      I don’t know honey, but you’d better leave him alone. He is new and doesn’t know you. I won’t have the police dropping you off at the house for trespassing again, my mom said waving her slender finger at me, as her green eyes glowered, and her lips tightened with frustration.

      That was only one time, and she would never let me forget it! Mrs. Clemmons overreacted to my investigation of her basement. I had

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