Mud Grave

By Mark McDonough

When Tony challenged K to cross the mud, he was only hoping to win a bet. There was no way they or Tom, BJ or Dana, could have known that there was something buried there. Whatever it was, it let K walk across mud that he should have been buried in. And when their curiosity becomes too much, the pact to discover what’s buried in the mud plunges the five of them into the adventure of a lifetime.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark McDonough
• Release date: Dec 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310702853

Mark McDonough

Mark McDonough has lived his whole life in Queensland, Australia. After growing up in Ipswich, he lived for a short time in Brisbane while attending University. Work then took him to Far North Queensland for a number of years before he moved to his current home of Toowoomba. For as long as Mark can remember, there have been characters clamouring to have their stories told – everything from the depths of time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth through to the vast reaches of space where only the bravest spaceships dare to fly and everywhere in between. Most were written in secret until, one day, those characters demanded that their tales be spread far and wide. Thus, was born Stargon Books. When he's not sitting with laptop or notebook in hand, he can be found at work, with his family or out on the football field where he not only plays but also referees and Coordinates an entire competition. Ultimately, Mark dreams of the day when he can write full time but until then, as he says, "I'm a wordsmith, it's who I am; if I didn't write, I wouldn't be me".

Book preview

Mud Grave

Book 1 – THE PHOENIX CHRONICLES

By Mark McDonough

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Mark McDonough

Current Edition 2019

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to http://www.smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

###

Mud Grave

Book 1 – THE PHOENIX CHRONICLES

Chapter One – Unsinkable Mud

That’s the one! The one with the red sail, Kevin ‘K’ Larson stated firmly.

Tony Davis peered at his best mate from under the old, blue sailor’s cap that he’d pulled low over his eyes.

The red one? Are you nuts? he asked incredulously.

"Alright, if you know so much, which one do you think’ll win?" K shot back.

Tony sat back, tipping his battered cap up as he scratched his ear. His blue eyes looked critically over the fleet of eight small sailing dinghies as they beat up the river. The brown-skinned, black haired boy beside him had thrown down the challenge and there was no way that Tony was going to rush his decision.

He’d always been interested in boats – his grandfather was a sailor after all. Some of his best memories were of years ago when his Grandpa Sam still had the Lady, a small sixteen foot sailing dinghy. They’d spent hours sailing in the bay below his house.

Those days, though, were long gone. The Lady had been sold and now all that was left was his old, blue hat with a ship’s wheel emblazoned on it, a gift from his Grandfather.

Concentrating on the race before him, Tony could see that the red-sailed boat that K liked still had to come about which would put her on a port tack. The rules of the ‘road’ meant that she’d then have to give way to the white-sailed one and that’d put her too far behind.

And while the white one could win, he wasn’t willing to bet on it.

Green sail! he finally declared.

No way! K retorted. Bet you a buck red’ll win.

You’re on, Tony agreed, glad that his pocket-money had gone up last month.

The boats were already close to the finish line and with money now on the line, both boys jumped to their feet. Their voices escalated as the little fleet grew ever closer to the line. Just as he’d predicted, the red-sailed boat came about and immediately got stuck in traffic, having to quickly luff to avoid a collision.

By the time that it’d sorted itself out, both the white and the green-sailed boats had shot past it, crossing the finish line almost simultaneously.

Oh, crud, K huffed, kicking a rock into the water.

Pay up, Tony gloated, hand outstretched.

Oh, ah, could I, ah, pay you tomorrow? K mumbled into his toes.

Yeah, no worries, K, whenever, Tony replied, as he remembered that no-one in Kevin’s family ever seemed to have much money. Told you green’d win, though.

Yeah, yeah, alright, K conceded. Maybe you should be the one out there sailing in those races.

Just one problem. No boat, Tony pointed out. What I wouldn’t give for one, though.

Must be nice being out there, being free like that, Kevin remarked.

You’ve got no idea, Tony replied wistfully.

Hey, guys!

Tony and Kevin turned. Jogging along the path towards them was their best friend, Tom Parker. Ambling along in his wake was his twin sister, Belinda-Jane and her best friend, Dana Johnson.

Tom and Belinda, or BJ as most people called her, were as similar as twins could get, at least in looks. Both were tall and slim. Their light brown hair matched their eyes, although BJ’s hair was long, reaching half-way down her back, whereas Tom’s was short.

In every other way, though, they were as different as chalk and cheese.

Where Tom loved moving about, doing anything sporty, BJ preferred being quiet, reading and doing her schoolwork. You’d most often find BJ in a library; Tom, you’d find out on a field, especially if it was soccer season.

With how different they acted, most people were surprised at how well the two of them got on. It helped that they intrinsically understood each other and occasionally even spent time in each other’s ‘world’.

As strange as it was to see Tom and BJ together, it was stranger still to see BJ and Dana together.

Where BJ could be thought of as a ‘girlie’ girl, Dana was all tomboy. She was almost the same height as Tony, with shoulder-length brown hair, hazel eyes and a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Whatever she did, whether it was playing sports or down the river fishing, she did to win.

Word around the school was that she even learnt karate, but no-one, not even any of the boys, had wanted to test her out. Dana took her desire to be the best with her everywhere, even into the classroom, where only BJ could rival her for the top grades.

From the first moment that Tony had seen her on the soccer field and then later in the classroom, he’d thought that she was perfect. Not that he’d ever tell her that.

Catch anything? Tom asked, nodding at the fishing gear beside Kevin.

Nah, came down too late, Tony answered.

Yeah, and there were a couple of those speed boats around, K put in. "Reckon they scared