Davina's Magical Radio

By Steven D. Bynum

Davina Gonzales doesn't think she's anything special. She and her friends Fabiola and DeBrina are like most seventh-grade girls in rural California. But her life takes a strange twist when she gets an old radio for her twelfth birthday. It runs without electricity or batteries. It always plays her favorite songs. And it warns her that if she doesn’t solve a mystery her best friend will die! The radio gives out riddles and puzzles to help her solve the mystery. Follow the three friends as they race against time to crack the clues and save DeBrina.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steven D. Bynum
• Release date: Mar 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9780972154628

Steven D. Bynum

Steven D. Bynum lives in Central California. He is married and has two children and six neurotic cats. Innate curiosity has led him to work as a beekeeper, cattle rancher, youth-minister, behavior analyst, grant-writer, law enforcement consultant, well, the list is too long to complete. He’s thrilled to add author to the list, and he thinks he may stick with that one for a while. For the last few years he’s fought a debilitating disease which limits his ability to get out and about, but the upside is that now he has more time to write. For now he plans to follow his imagination and write the stories he finds there.

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Davina’s Magical Radio

(A KDDF Radio Mystery - Book One)

by Steven D. Bynum

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 by Steven D. Bynum

All rights reserved

http://www.stevendbynum.blogspot.com

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This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, either living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever, mechanical or electronic, without written permission from the author, except in brief quotations, or summaries in articles or reviews.

Davina’s Magical Radio

Chapter One

Should we kill her again, boss? the big man asked, scratching his sweaty armpit. He smiled, showing his ugly, yellow teeth. It was obvious he wanted the answer to be yes.

The blue van rocked slightly as the three men shifted their weight.

Yeah! said Weasel, licking his lips nervously with excitement. Yeah! Let's kill her. His name fit him perfectly. He looked like a weasel. Small, wiry. With beady eyes and a pointed nose.

Stone, clearly the leader, didn't answer at once. Instead, he studied the other two men carefully, his ice-cold, coal-black eyes burning into them. His lean, wolfish face told them nothing about his thoughts. It never did. Both men looked away, nervously. They were deathly afraid of him.

Pit, the big man, shifted in his seat again. The van rocked more violently than before. He cleared his throat. Should we kill her? he repeated.

What concerns me, Stone began menacingly, is that I don't know how stupid you really are! His voice was colder than his eyes.

Weasel was sure that frost was collecting on the inside of the windows. He knew for certain it was collecting on his heart. He fought to control the chills that raced up and down his spine.

Of course we're going to kill her! Stone continued, angrily. But we’re not going to do it now. Not here at her friend's house. Not in broad daylight. I hope that isn't what you meant?

Pit and Weasel exchanged glances. That was exactly what they had meant. But they weren't going to admit it. Not now.

When? Pit managed to gasp. He wasn't as smart as Weasel. Weasel kept his mouth shut.

When I say so, Mr. Pit, Stone answered impatiently. He waved his hand. Let's go.

The van pulled away from the curb, leaving the quiet residential neighborhood intact, for the moment. Stone's cold, dead eyes were still locked on the house where the girl was.

Inside, the birthday party continued. The music blared. The children laughed and danced. They were happy. No one was aware that death lurked at the doorstep!

Stone smiled wickedly as he looked back at the house one last time. He just might kill her himself.

Chapter Two

Just six houses down the street from where the van was parked, a little gray kitten sat perched in a second story window. The kitten watched as the blue van sped away. The kitten thought about watching from the window longer, but she couldn't. She reminded herself that there was important work to be done. Mouse hunting! She turned from the window ledge.

If the little kitten had known the terror that was ahead, she might never have left the safety of the window. Instead, she bounced happily down the carpeted hallway, following the scent of the mouse. She was on the greatest adventure of her life!

The kitten stopped in front of an open closet door, checking for the mouse. Inside, several objects were stacked neatly. She looked carefully at each one of them. There were pairs of shoes hanging from metal hooks, rolls of brightly colored wrapping paper, and an old clothes hamper filled with books. There was also a new tan suitcase resting on its side, with several dark bath towels neatly stacked on top, and a blue plastic box with a pink handle — the kitten's traveling cage.

She studied each of the items, one at a time. Still, no mouse! Suddenly her ears shot up at attention. There was a small scratching noise coming from the clothes hamper. It sounded like a mouse rustling around in a pile of paper!

The rustling sound got louder! The kitten tensed, ready to spring. Looking closely, she could just see the edge of a book that looked like the pages had been eaten away to make a small hole. The sound was coming from inside that hole. The mouse's home!

With all of her attention focused on the mouse, she didn't hear her owner, Mrs. Havershaw, coming down the hallway.

The mouse stuck its nose out of the hole, and the kitten launched herself through the air. In mid-flight, just as she was about to land on the evil intruder, the closet door swung shut behind her. It made a loud, solid, thump.

Mrs. Havershaw checked the closet door to make sure it was closed tightly. Satisfied, she pushed her wire-framed glasses up on her thin, bony nose, and then brushed a wisp of gray hair from her forehead. She leaned against the closet door for a moment, catching her breath.

One Saturday morning a month, she went through the entire upstairs, cleaning it from top to bottom. She never used the upstairs, now that it was just her and her little kitten Fluffball. However, enough dust collected in the old rooms that she thought all the furniture would sprout weeds if she didn't clean it. At least that's what she told Fluffball.

Checking the door again, she headed back down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she shut and locked the heavy door that sealed the upstairs closed. She had installed it when her husband passed away. She had decided then that she would never sleep in their room upstairs again, so she had converted the downstairs den into her bedroom. That was where she now stayed with Fluffball.

She called the kitten's name. Nothing! That was odd. She began looking for little Fluffball. It wasn't like the kitten to not come when she called.

Upstairs, in the pitch black closet, Fluffball scratched at the heavy wooden door. Her tiny kitten claws only made a faint whisper against the thick wood.

She let out a faint little cry for help. Meow! The noise sounded loud in the dark closet. She meowed again. And again. Meow, meow, meow, meow. No one came!

Chapter Three

DAH-VEE-NAH, I heard my mom call from downstairs. There's someone here to see you.

(DAH-VEE-NAH - that's me. But my name is really spelled: Davina.) I popped my head over the banister at the top of the stairs. I looked down, but I couldn't see anyone.

I yelled, Who is it, Mom? I'm not expecting anyone.

It was the truth, I really wasn’t expecting anyone. My birthday party had been over for more than an hour. I just turned twelve, and I had a big party. All of my guests had gone home except for Fabie and DeBrina. They're my two best friends. They stayed because they're spending the night.

Come down and see for yourself, honey, my mom called up.

I could tell by the tone of her voice that I wasn't going to find out who it was unless I went downstairs. Oh well, it had been worth a try.

Fabie and DeBrina came over to the rail where I was standing. They peered down curiously, trying to see who was there.

Yeah, who is it Mrs. G? Fabie called. We're not expecting anyone.

Mom looked up with that aren't they adorable smile on her face. I could tell she had noticed