The Secret of Blackjack Woods

By Ashlen Brown

One summer evening, 12-year-old Jim Thomas is surprised by his mother and sister's account of seeing a mysterious creature in their woods. Is it bigfoot? Thinking there has to be a reasonable explanation, Jim sets upon discovering the truth. In short time, Jim is faced with a being that supposedly doesn't exist. Before long, his new friend is in trouble, and only Jim and his family can save him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ashlen Brown
• Release date: Jun 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781939927019

Ashlen Brown

Ever wonder what's hiding in the woods? Ashlen Brown has. She is the author of the exciting Blackjack Woods series. Her childhood was spent in the deep woods of Southeast Texas, where she was able to let her imagination run as wild as the woods surrounding her. After a strange and exciting encounter her mom and sister had with a hairy being, she developed the idea for The Secret of Blackjack Woods, her debut novel. Its popularity among people of all ages inspired her to continue the story with The Secret of Hoke Farm and Beyond Blackjack Woods.

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The Secret of Blackjack Woods

by

Ashlen Brown

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

THE SECRET OF BLACKJACK WOODS

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Copyright © 2013 Ashlen Brown. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

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ISBN: 978-1-939927-01-9 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-939927-02-6 (Paperback)

Version 2013.06.01

To my family.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

The Sighting

CHAPTER TWO

Strange Occurrences

CHAPTER THREE

Back to Normal

CHAPTER FOUR

Evidence Found

CHAPTER FIVE

Turned Upside Down

CHAPTER SIX

Watching

CHAPTER SEVEN

Close Encounter

CHAPTER EIGHT

Weekend Troubles

CHAPTER NINE

Jilly’s Scare

CHAPTER TEN

Charlie’s Story

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Discovery

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Whittles’ Search

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Snakes

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Ambush

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Friends and Foe

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The Search

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Re-group

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Found and then Lost

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sadness and Joy

CHAPTER TWENTY

Into the Summer Sun

The Secret of Blackjack Woods

CHAPTER ONE

The Sighting

Jim Thomas was sitting on the couch, watching TV in his family’s living room. It was late in the summer evening, so there was no school to worry about for the twelve-year-old, and he was taking full advantage. He was laid out on the sleep-inducing couch and watching a repeat of one of his favorite cartoons, which he figured he was too old for, but he told himself he just liked to laugh at them. His dad, Jack, was already asleep so that he could get up early for work. Jim was glad he didn’t have to go to sleep or wake up early these days because summer in Texas was amazing. These were the best days of the year.

A sudden crashing sound made him bolt upright, and he looked over to see the panicked faces of his mother, Karen, and eight-year-old sister, Jilly, as they flew through the front door. The family’s dog, Banjo, was right with them, looking excited. He was a big Catahoula, gray with big, black splotches all over and white on his feet, chest, and the tip of his tail. He always looked like he was smiling and loved to chase rabbits if he could.

What happened? Are you okay? Jim asked.

He knew his little sister had a flair for dramatic shows, but to see his mom with a look of panic on her face was unnerving.

We saw something out there! Jilly answered.

Jim’s little sister’s eyes were as big as the moon, and she was breathing hard. Her little hands were trembling. She was looking back and forth between her brother and mom and shifting her weight as if to soothe herself.

Something had really shaken her up.

In contrast, his mother was extremely quiet. She was breathing a bit harder too, but she seemed extremely perplexed and a little worried. Banjo was sniffing his bed and getting ready to lie down now that the mysterious excitement was over.

There was some sort of big animal out by the Jeep, Karen said.

Jim just stared. There were always animals, big and small, running around in the woods outside of their house. What made this different than those other times?

What sort of animal? Was it a deer? he asked.

Oftentimes, there were deer outside that let out extremely loud snorts and stomped their feet when alarmed. They would then go crashing through the woods. Even small animals like armadillos and raccoons could make huge crashing noises when they ran through the tall grass and bushes. Usually, that’s what it was—a small animal making big noise.

No. Definitely not, his little sister said. She seemed sure of it.

Karen and Jilly shared a look.

Well, did you see it? Jim couldn’t figure out why it was so hard for them to say what it was.

I did! Jilly was still breathing hard and looked about to pop. "I saw something huge and something hairy. I think it was a werewolf! It had shaggy hair and it walked upright, but bent over like this." She began to do a hunched sort of walk that reminded Jim of when he had sneaked and watched a werewolf movie that had secretly scared the daylights out of him.

He was—

"Wait a sec. ‘He’? How do you know it was a he?" Jim was smiling now.

I don’t! I’m guessing! He looked like a he, ya know? She was looking exasperated with him. Like come on, of course it was a he! I don’t think he had a tail and he was sitting in the bushes by the Y in the driveway next to the Jeep. Waiting, I guess.

Their driveway split into a Y-shape with the left arm leading to the house and the right arm bending farther right and leading to their two-story garage. Their Jeep was currently sitting near the bend on the right arm of the Y just beyond where the two arms met.

Jim looked at Karen to confirm all of this and she nodded, she actually nodded! She was actually confirming this crazy talk!

"So we were walking to the Jeep, and he’s waiting, and then we hear this gurgling sound. Like, like a stomach growling! And Mom goes, ‘Jilly, is that you?’ Like I could make that kind of noise! And I go, ‘No, that wasn’t me!’ And right then I see him running across the driveway from the middle of the Y to that bend by the Jeep that has all that tall grass, and I screamed and then Mom and I ran and jumped into the Jeep! We left Banjo outside, of course."

She was huffing from the exertion of telling the story.

Karen piped up now.

We waited in there, trying to figure out what it was until we figured it was safe. Then we got out and couldn’t see anything, so we called Banjo and started to run back to the house. When we got to the Y in the drive, Banjo sniffed and his head jerked up and then he ran straight at the bend on the other side of us, and we heard this giant thing rush through the grass away from us!

Jim was excited about this whole ordeal, although he didn’t believe that it was anything more than a deer or something explainable. He thought it was still fun to kind of imagine and get excited about it, though.

Then we called Banjo, and he actually followed us back to the house. It was like he knew it was something he shouldn’t chase. Karen had finished and Jim saw she was waiting to see what he thought.

It must have been a yeti! His sister squealed as she said this and her hands flew up to her cheeks.

Jim was laughing now. Maybe it was a … WEREWOLF! OW, OWWWWW!

His howling was quite convincing, and his sister shrank back from him with watery eyes. He was laughing really hard now.

Jilly did not think this was funny.

Jim, you butt-head! I saw it and it wasn’t anything I’ve seen before! I’ve lived here my whole life and never seen anything like that. Don’t make fun. She blinked her eyes solemnly.

Jim wanted to see this thing. He jumped up from the couch and went for the door. I’m going to see if it’s still there.

No, Jim! It’ll eat you! Jilly looked like she couldn’t believe her brother was going out there. Please don’t!

She was looking to their mom for help. Karen was looking at both of her kids and seemed to make a decision.

Let’s go. Karen had an adventurous streak, just like her son. Her eyes had the same gleam that Jim’s held right now.

Mom! What if he’s still out there? Jilly asked. Jim knew she couldn’t believe her crazy brother and mother. I’m going with you. I don’t want to be in here alone if he comes back while you’re out there.

Dad’s here, Jim pointed out.

Dad doesn’t wake up unless something really loud happens.

This would be loud, I guarantee it. He sniggered.

Jim!

While they were bickering, Karen had found the big spotlight that they used sometimes to look at deer or other interesting critters when they wandered into their yard at night. The Thomas family loved the great outdoors and everything in it.

She gave Jim the light so that he could lead the way. They left Banjo inside since he was now fast asleep on his bed, snoring so loudly that Jim thought he probably wouldn’t notice a snarling werewolf a foot away from him. Except that he always knew when raccoons were outside, even if they didn’t make a sound. He would be sound asleep and just pop up with a snuffing sound, his face in the window. Jim loved that about him.

Armed with a light, the small group stepped outside onto the front deck of the house and walked up to the gate that led to the driveway. Jim wanted to be able to catch whatever this animal was if it had wandered back, so he opened the gate without turning on the light.

Standing for a few seconds to let his eyes adjust to the lack of light, he scanned the area. The moonlight from the nearly full moon was bright enough to give a blue glow to the parts of the driveway and woods not covered by trees. He could see from the left arm of the Y in the driveway to where the arms met and disappeared together in a wooded bend of the path. Looking to the left, he saw the smattering of bushes and trees that stood between the house and garage. They were small and not too thick to really hide much.

To the right was pure, heavy woods. Oftentimes, during the day Jim saw deer, rabbits, and squirrels. He had even seen coyotes skulking through there on their way to the thick part of their land, where he imagined they had a den. This was where he could picture a werewolf or bigfoot or something hiding out, but that’s not where it had been.

Tonight, though, he could even see in these woods and nothing was there. Nothing that he could see, anyway, so he felt safe enough to venture out.

Let’s go, but be quiet. He looked at Jilly as he said this.

She was right behind him, and he knew it was because she wanted to be sandwiched between her big brother and her mom. Jim led them down the driveway to where they had seen this mystery creature.

He stopped and Jilly bumped into his back. Shhh! he hissed. His sister and mother seemed to be holding their breath. At least they were being quiet. He couldn’t hear anything unusual, so he turned on the light. Shining it quickly, but methodically, he probed the two spots where he was told the animal had been seen. Nothing.

So where was it? Go through it again, he said.

Jilly and Karen told the story again, but this time were able to walk through it as they told it. Jilly did an even better impression of the way it had walked, and Jim was starting to get more excited about the possibilities.

Of course, he didn’t really think it was a werewolf or bigfoot like his sister did—she was positive about this—but he was starting to think that maybe it was a small black bear. He had heard on the news a few weeks back that black bears were making their way back into this part of the state. The prospect of seeing a real black bear was thrilling to Jim. He and his dad were hunters, so big game was exciting, but he also just loved wildlife and seeing a bear would be awesome.

He was hesitant to voice his idea of it being a bear in front of Jilly, but excitement got the better of him. Maybe … it was a bear. What do you think?

Jilly’s face froze in a look of pure terror. She made a small squeaking sound. That would be terrible! Hey! No way was that a bear! He was walking on two feet!

But bears sometimes rear up on their hind feet, Jim pointed out.

Karen had seen the same news stories, so she seemed to be mulling it over.

Let’s get inside, she said. We’ll talk to your dad about it tomorrow, see what he has to say. Enough excitement for the night.

And Jim was excited.

CHAPTER TWO

Strange Occurrences

The next day, Jim woke mid-morning. His dad was already at work, so he couldn’t ask him about what had happened just yet. After a quick breakfast of cereal, Jim ran upstairs to his room.

Jilly was still asleep, so he couldn’t ask her about her scary encounter the night before. He wanted to get a good description of what she had seen so that he could compare it to animals in the area. Sitting in his sleep shorts and t-shirt, his brown hair tousled, he figured he would get started without her and maybe have some pictures to show her later. He decided to look up bears on the Internet and see where exactly they had been spotted recently.

Doing a quick search, he found the news article about bears making their way back into the state of Texas, but they were mostly in West Texas, and Jim lived in the Southeastern part of the state. Maybe one had ventured farther east than usual, he thought.

There were also instances of people keeping big game animals hidden away on their property. He had heard about a tiger getting loose a few counties away sometime a while back. Maybe that’s what’s happening here.

Jim started mumbling through the physical description. Five to six feet in length … two to three feet high … two to three hundred pounds … color ranges … longer front claws … long and coarse fur.

He read that they generally avoid humans, but they can be very dangerous if provoked or feel threatened. He figured that was why it ran away—to avoid humans. Jim saved a picture of a black bear to show Jilly later and took some notes.

Reading on, he found out ways to tell where bears had been. This could be fun!

He decided that later he would go out for a hike and see

Reviews for The Secret of Blackjack Woods

[mrslabraden · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The Secret of Blackjack Woods is an unbelievable tale about Jim and his family finding something scary in the woods near their house. The characters in this short tale are one dimensional and the dialogue is over dramatic and unrealistic. Descriptions and characterizations are underdeveloped and most are told to the reader rather than shown. The ending of the story is much too easy and too pat to be relatable. The idea for the story is a good one, but the execution is poor. Overall, a very disappointing read.

[ftbooklover · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The Secret of Blackjack Woods is an unbelievable tale about Jim and his family finding something scary in the woods near their house. The characters in this short tale are one dimensional and the dialogue is over dramatic and unrealistic. Descriptions and characterizations are underdeveloped and most are told to the reader rather than shown. The ending of the story is much too easy and too pat to be relatable. The idea for the story is a good one, but the execution is poor. Overall, a very disappointing read.