The Timber Mountain Ghost

 I wrote this story when I was nine years old. It was inspired by 'The Hound Of The Baskervilles' by Sir Arthur Conan D

Off to the Timber Mountain

“Look at today’s newspaper, Steven! ‘So called ghost drives a person mad!’ A man who went camping on the Timber Mountain claims to have seen a glimmering figure of an animal, probably a dog. He also says to have heard a woeful moaning sound, but experts aren’t sure. They had to hypnotize him, because he wouldn’t speak much alone. People say he ran down the whole mountain screaming, ‘Ghost!’ Call the others, Steven! We’ll go to the Timber Mountain!”

“Uh, Jennifer, I’m not so sure. They might not want to come. They might have to work. Get off, Ellen!” replied Steven, shoving their puppy off a chair.

“It’s no use, I’m calling them! It’s the holidays! We all want a mystery!” said Jennifer, picking up the phone and dialling a number.

The next day, their two friends, Max and Christina came to their house. Jennifer and Steven got ready and they all sped away on their bikes, after trying to make Ellen understand that she can not come with them.

“Take care!” Jennifer and Steven’s mother, Aunt Jenny called after them. “I don’t want you going mad!”

After about half an hour of cycling, out of those fifteen minutes on the mountain, they found an abandoned hut on top of the mountain. They entered it and found out that it had gone wild. There was ivy on all the walls and had a very eerie look about it. They were so tired that they just crawled into their sleeping bags and went to sleep.

Exploring the hut

The next day, after a good breakfast of tinned sardines and bread, Steven and Max called out to the girls. “Come on, we’ll explore the hut!”

They all went around the hut, looking closely at every corner.

“Here’s a little rock shelf!” exclaimed Christina in delight.

“Here’s another big one!” said Jennifer.

“A place out here too, might be to store things!” called out Max to the others, as he was in what might have been the kitchen.

“Tell you what,” said Steven, “As we are finding so many storage places, why don’t we just shift our things there?”

So everybody started shifting their things there. Little did they know they had missed a secret passage, and that there was a person watching their every move and planning to set the ghost on them.

“It’s the Ghost!”

That night, everyone just dropped of to sleep. That is, all but Jennifer. She just lay awake; wondering what would happen if the ghost came.

“I’m feeling a bit scared!” she said.

The words had hardly left her mouth, when she saw a light near the door. A glowing animal figure entered the hut. She sat still, paralyzed because of the shock. Numbness filled her brain. It was a while before she found her voice.

“It’s the Ghost!” she gasped.

She didn’t even wait to wake the others. Without further ado, she rushed to her bike and sped off, she didn’t know where. After five minutes, the glow just faded away. She started to go back up. When she reached the hut, she noticed some writing on the wall, which they had not seen earlier. Just then she heard moaning sound.

THIS PLACE IS HAUNTED BY A GHOST. BEWARE!

The floor turns over

Christina woke up, as Jennifer entered the hut. “Don’t do that!” moaned Max, and he jerked awake too. “Huh?” He said. “Oh, must be a nightmare…”

Christina turned over and prodded Steven in the ribs. He woke up too.

Jennifer told them all what had happened. There was a silence.

Steve broke the silence. “It can’t be true,” he said. “We have to find out the secret.”

“You think I’m lying?” Jennifer said.

“Well, no. At least I don’t. I don’t know about the others,” said Max.

“We don’t, too!” said Steven and Christina.

“Well then!” said Max. And without warning, the floor, the whole floor, turned upside down.

The next thing they knew, they all were lying face down on a place tiled with flat rocks.

“Hey, look!” said Christina. “There are two handles coming out of the rock!”

They looked up and saw she was right.

“I’m the tallest,” said Max. “I’ll touch or pull it. Even the ceiling isn’t too high.”

Max hung on it. Nothing happened.

“Max, I’ve an idea! What did you say before the floor turned over?”

“I said ‘Well then’, but…”

His words were cut short, however, as the floor turned the right way up. He said ‘Well then’ again. As the floor turned over, he caught the handle and as the floor flipped over again, he went with it.

He kept on saying ‘Well then’ till everyone came up safely.

They all sat down and started talking. The subject then turned to the ghost and how to trap it.

“First we’ll check if it’s living or not. Someone might be fooling us,” said Christina. “How about... we put glue on the entrance?”

Everyone agreed.

An Answer at last

The day passed without any accident. Everyone was waiting for nightfall. At night, they put glue near the door and waited. Soon they heard a noise. They pretended to be asleep.

Suddenly a dog howled from outside their hut.

“I think this is it,” whispered Jennifer and they went outside. They saw a glowing dog.

Steven gave it some drugged meat and it ate it readily, only to become unconscious. Christina rubbed her hand over its body.

“Phosphorus!” she exclaimed.

“Yup,” said Max. “See how even a small harmless dog can make a person go mad.”

“Yeah,” said Steven. “But, sorry to interrupt, who is that out there?”

“A man,” said Jennifer, in a casual voice.

“A man?” repeated Max, slowly.

“Follow him!” cried Christina.

They sped after him and cornered him in just about one minute. They dragged him away to the hut, and questioned him there.

“What are you doing here?” asked Christina.

“Saving my old friend’s treasure” replied the man promptly.

“Explain what you mean,” commanded Steven.

The man sat up, cross-legged, for the story. Everybody did the same.

“As my old friend was dying, I remember he told me, ‘Jake, I have left my treasure in a hut on the Timber Mountain. I want you to pass it on to my son. But the problem is that he is in South America. Please tell him about the hut. He’ll know what to do. I have left you a dog. Rub phosphorus on it and it will act as a ghost. People in the hut will see it and flee. It will be about six months before my son comes back.’ I have been acting on his orders. I set the dog on you. I wrote the message which this young lady saw. I wanted to make you go away. Now you know the true, you can tell it to everybody. I also allow you to take the dog with you. My friend’s son is coming today. I have already told him about the hut. My job is over. I’ve to go.” He said and ran down the mountain.

“Woah, that was quick,” said Steven.

“But where is the treasure?” asked Jennifer.

Nobody answered. Suddenly Max shouted out.

“Well, don’t you see?”

“What”

“He had the treasure in the room under the floor!” Max shouted loudly, unable to contain his excitement.

“Well, when you think about it, I do remember seeing a box in the corner,” said Christina.

“Right!” said Max, “And he used the password ‘well then.’ ”

“And you said it!” said Steven crossly, as the floor tilted over.

“There’s really a box out there, see!” said Christina.

“Let’s check!” shouted Jennifer.

When they opened the box, they found fabulous jewels, rings, necklaces, pearls, diamonds and innumerable other things.

“Boy!” Max exclaimed, picking up a glittering ruby. “No wonder he didn’t want any thieves to come here!”

“I wouldn’t, too, if I was him,” said Jennifer, who with Christina, was trying on necklaces and checking her reflection in the pocket-mirror.

“One thing,” said Christina, looking up from an expensive emerald necklace. “How come there’s light out here?”

Everyone’s eyes set on the source of the light. It was a large jar of phosphorous. Everyone burst out laughing.

“Now our work is over. You know what to say!” said Steven, grinning at them all.

“Well then!” everyone said at once!

They all came up one by one. As soon as Jennifer came up, she ran out in into the sunshine. She spread out her arms, soaking in the sunlight.

“This is the best mystery we ever had!”