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    The Haunted Forest
    The Haunted Forest
    The Haunted Forest
    Ebook110 pages1 hour

    The Haunted Forest

    By Ross J. Caruso

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    About this ebook

    The woods on the edge of town are haunted. The locals are full of strange tales concerning witches, ghosts and buried riches hiding deep within the forest. This is why Jake and Samantha, swear they will never set foot in the Haunted Forest. That is what they think until a routine homework assignment leads them to the caretaker of the local cemetery, who tricks them into searching for a legendary fortune in the woods.
    Sam convinces Jake that they should visit Old Man Buzzard at his shack on Cemetery Hill with intentions of interviewing him for their report on local history. The one-eyed man welcomes them and agrees to help them with their history project in exchange for an unspecified favor. As Jake and Sam enjoy a cup of tea, the old man tells them a strange tale.
    According to legend an eccentric hermit, named Buffalo Jim, buried a great fortune somewhere in the woods. On the night of the full moon, at exactly the stroke of midnight, at the base of the oldest tree in the forest, Jim's ghost appears and points to the entrance of the cave where his fortune is buried.
    After telling his tale, Buzzard informs the unsuspecting hero and heroine that they will find the treasure for him in return for his help with their homework assignment. .
    Jake and Sam find themselves in the Haunted Forest several hours later under the light of the full moon. Informed by the distant chiming of the bell at Town Hall that they have two hours left before midnight, and not knowing what else to do or how to get home, they strike off in search of the oldest tree in the forest.
    Throughout the evening the friends encounter many obstacles that hinder their progress. As they make their way through the maze-like forest, they are chased and harassed by a phantom who refuses to let them rest. In the course of their travels they narrowly escape a herd of carnivorous creatures, are abducted by a witch and are stalked by a beast believed to be Buzzard's ferocious pet wolf, "Killer".
    Despite unfavorable odds, the pair manage to find the tree, the ghost of Buffalo Jim, the entrance to the cave and the fortune within.
    After surviving a final confrontation with the phantom, Jake and Sam escape the Haunted Forest to find Old Man Buzzard waiting to retrieve his prize. Much to everyone's surprise, the fortune isn't quite what was expected..

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRoss J. Caruso
    Release dateFeb 11, 2015
    ISBN9781310456046
    The Haunted Forest

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      Book preview

      The Haunted Forest - Ross J. Caruso

      THE HAUNTED FOREST

      R. J. Caruso

      Published by

      R. J. Caruso

      THE HAUNTED FOREST

      Written by R. J. Caruso

      Smashwords Edition 2015

      Copyright 2015 R. J. Caruso

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any

      manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the author/publisher;

      except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

      All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of

      the author and have no relation to anyone bearing the same name or names.

      Any resemblance to individuals known or unknown to the author are purely coincidental.

      Bibliographic Data:

      Caruso, R. J.

      The Haunted Forest

      Juvenile mystery/adventure Fiction

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      About the Author

      Chapter 1

      It was common knowledge that the woods on the edge of town were haunted. The old folks were full of stories concerning ghosts, phantoms, witches, goblins and all kinds of supernatural critters that like to hide in the shadows of ancient trees. Rumors of buried treasure and secret caves were common in these unbelievable tales and legends. The stories sent chills down the spines of youngsters like Sam and myself, who swore we would never enter the woods for any reason, especially after nightfall. Or at least that’s what we thought until we met Old Man Buzzard.

      No one knew his first name, so we always assumed that he never had one. He was simply known as Old Man Buzzard or just plain old Buzzard. Whatever you called him, he was a mystery. Little was known about this character, but it was widely assumed that he was quite mad.

      Buzzard lived in a little shack on top of Cemetery Hill. The cemetery was about the freakiest place in the world, if you didn’t count the endless Haunted Forest behind the cemetery. He never came into town. He just stayed up on that spooky hill of his, occasionally drifting down to the graveyard to mow the grass and pull the weeds around the cracked tombstones.

      It was said that he had no electricity or running water, and that his only companion was a large dog that watched over his shack. Some said it wasn’t a dog at all, but a wolf---a mangy, hungry beast that would eat anyone or anything found trespassing on its’ master’s land.

      No one in his right mind would believe all of this business about a wolf. It was well known that there weren’t any wolves in this part of the country anymore. Nevertheless, we had reason to suspect that it was true. A rumor floated around school that year about a missing student named Billy Williams. Many of my classmates speculated that poor old Billy got a little too close to the shack on the hill and was, quite unfortunately, eaten alive by Buzzard’s wolf.

      My mother insisted that Billy was transferred to a private school because his grades were terrible. I never thought Billy was too bright, so this seemed possible, but parents are seldom right.

      Table

      Chapter 2

      It was a cold and blustery fall day when fate decided to pair us up with Old Man Buzzard. Sam and I were walking home from school.

      Sam was my best friend. She had lived next door to me for as long as I could remember. Her real name was Samantha, but everyone called her Sam because it took less time and effort.

      Sam was a nut. She would try anything, the more dangerous the better, and she had a terrible tendency to do the exact opposite of what she was told to do. If a parent or teacher told her not to try something, she would jump at the first opportunity to try it. Because of this, Sam had a knack for landing us in deep trouble.

      I was exactly the opposite. I simply wanted to stay out of trouble, get good grades and stay healthy, happy and free. I didn’t like danger or adventure because, quite frankly, they were dangerous. But for better or worse, I was stuck with Sam.

      Because of my sensible nature I was frequently the object of Sam’s ridicule and the victim of many cruel jokes. She would often sneak something dreadfully disgusting into my backpack, to be discovered later as I reached for a book or pencil in school. Snakes, dead frogs, stuffed mice, earthworms and cockroaches are a few samples of the type of specimen that would inspire me to shriek in the middle of class. More than once this resulted in mocking laughter from classmates and scolding from the teacher.

      Despite my good sense, Sam was often able to convince me to join in her mad escapades. Perhaps it was her girlish charm that enabled her to do such, I’m not quite sure. But this was the case as we walked home from school on the day she talked me into paying a visit to Old Man Buzzard.

      Earlier that day Mrs. Brickhouse, our teacher, had assigned the class a research project. We were split into pairs to do a report on a topic of local history. Sam and I were partners as usual. It was completely up to us to choose a subject.

      As we walked along and wondered what to research for our report, a startled flock of dusky, black crows took off from the roadside. There must have been hundreds of those squawking, feathered things. They flew up in a furious cloud and took roost in a nearby grove of trees. When the cloud cleared we were awarded with an eerie view of the shack on Cemetery Hill looming in the distance.

      ‘BONG! BONG! BONG!’ tolled the giant bell in the clock tower at Town Hall. It was three o’clock. The bell had a tendency to startle the heck out of me. It was pretty loud, and I never wore a watch, so it always caught me off guard.

      I stumbled and nearly fell on my face.

      I have an idea, Jake, announced Sam as she stared at the dark outline of Buzzard’s cabin on the hill. Her eyes were big and brown beneath her thick glasses. Her yellow pigtails danced in the wind. We should interview Old Man Buzzard for our report!

      I shuddered at the mention of it. You must be out of your mind, I insisted. Haven’t you heard the stories? Everyone says that he’s crazier than a loon. He doesn’t even have electricity, for goodness sakes. His wolf ate Billy Williams. If we go up there, he could sic it on us for trespassing!

      I thought your mom said Billy Williams was transferred to another school, Sam argued. Where is your sense of adventure? Or are you a chicken?" She flapped her arms and squawked like a chicken, then poked me suddenly and stiffly in the ribs.

      She had a point. If Buzzard really did sic his wolf on Billy, the police surely would have locked him up. And I refuse to admit to Sam that I was a little bit chicken.

      Of course I’m not afraid of a little old man, I insisted, blushing slightly and rubbing my side. Sam was pretty tough and it ached slightly where she’d poked me. But what do you think that old guy can tell us? He never leaves that hill of his except to mow the graveyard. In fact, those dead stiffs are probably the only people he talks to!

      Buzzard is older than anyone in the county, answered Sam. If anyone knows anything about local history it would be him. If you’re too afraid to join me, then I’ll just have to go up there and interview him myself.

      We walked the rest of the way home in silence. Sam had that determined look in her eyes. It

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