Sophie and The Finn: Mystery of the Disappearing Dogs

By J Peter Clifford

Erica Stafford has just entered the sixth grade in Vermont after the family moved there from New Jersey just two years earlier.

She leaves behind her old friends and is forced to make new ones in her new home. Fortunately she meets Abigail Adrianna Post or Abby, who becomes her very best friend. Abby’s dog, Sandy, joins Sophie and The Finn and they form a bond that leads them on a number of adventures together.

Then one day, by chance, Erica gets thrown into a mystery that she just can’t let go of, but it could place her and her pups in imminent danger. She is torn between solving the mystery and turning her head as if it never happened. With Sophie and The Finn at her side she decides that she must see it to the end no matter the risk.

Erica has also recently discovered that something strange is happening to her that she can’t explain or understand. Is it something that she can control or does it only occur randomly without warning and what does it all mean?

She and her two constant companions, Sophie and The Finn embark on an adventure that will begin with a discovery, but as they unravel the clues will eventually lead them into a dangerous encounter that places everyone at great danger.

“Unfortunately she never heard Sophie’s warning because of all of the noise coming from inside the factory building.

The next thing she felt was a pair of large strong hands pinning her arms together. She struggled to try and free them, but it seemed like the more she squirmed, the tighter the grip became. It was as if she was caught in a vise. Next, she felt her feet being lifted off the ground, “Oh my God, she thought to herself, I’ve lost complete control of my body.” It felt like a giant had picked her up like she was a helpless doll. It all happened so fast, she didn’t know how to react. She thought, “What’s happening to me, I can’t even make a sound?” Finally she started to scream, but the odd thing was that there was no sound coming out of her mouth. Her legs were kicking out at this giant, but he was way too strong. To him it must have felt like nothing more than a mosquito attacking his tree trunk legs.”

It is a story of a young inquisitive girl and her two dogs that have built this incredible bond together and a sense of adventure that leads them into the Mystery of the Disappearing Dogs.

Look for the second book in the series, “Secret of the Box”, which will be out shortly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J Peter Clifford
• Release date: Apr 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781940745633

J Peter Clifford

Peter Clifford currently lives in New Jersey where he has spent most of his life, attending primary and secondary schools in and around the northern NJ area.He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from St. Francis College in Pennsylvania, which was followed by a three year tour in the United States Marine Corps as an officer.He is married to his wife, Carol, a 5th grade teacher, whom he met on a blind date, and has three children, Erica, Stephen, and Matthew. Growing up, the family spent many happy summers in Vermont both as a child and later as a parent.After a successful business career in both operations and human resources, where he further developed his writing skills, he has returned to pursue his lifelong passion---writing.The inspiration and subject of his books come from his daughter’s two dogs Sophie and Finn, who have been a constant source of enjoyment and companionship. He also draws on his lifetime of personal experiences to inject details and information into the plot of his stories to provide the reader with a sense of anticipation and participation.In his spare time he enjoys traveling, fly fishing, and spending time with his expanding family.

Book preview

Chapter 1

It started out like any other weekday—Erica woke up to the sound of her mother’s voice alerting her that she only had 15 minutes to get ready for school. She glanced over at the clock sitting on her nightstand.

Yup! she thought to herself. Gotta hurry. As she swung her legs over the side of the bed, being careful not to step on her two pups, she could see them both curled up on their favorite blanket within inches of each other. Although Sophie could be a little cool and standoffish, and even once in a while tease The Finn, she also felt the cold more and often took advantage of the nice, thick fur that covered The Finn.

Sophie was a schnoodle, a cross between a poodle and a schnauzer. The Finn was first thought to be a schnoodle when Erica picked him out at the pound, but it became apparent that he wasn’t, because of his shorter legs, longer body, and feather-duster tail. Erica’s mother said that they reminded her of Lady and The Tramp, from a Disney cartoon movie she had seen when she was growing up. Sophie was also a year older than her brother, The Finn. Erica loved them both and they seemed to get along pretty well, at least most of the time.

However, there was no doubt, right from the day that The Finn joined the Stafford family, that Sophie was the Alpha dog. Once The Finn accepted that, there was relative peace in the family. Sophie was very smart, which Erica said she got from her poodle side. She remembered the time she was trying to teach The Finn to sit. Sophie would stand next to him and place one of her paws on his backside. From that time on, Erica was convinced that Sophie understood most of what she said to her.

This morning was one of those crisp, cool days that are customary for early autumn in Clearwater, Vermont. Although there were a few scattered, puffy, white clouds, the sky was a clear, deep blue that reminded Erica of her favorite swimming spot. It was about a mile and a half from her house, in the opposite direction from her school, and on most summer days it was where all of the local kids would gather.

Erica was starting sixth grade in Calvin Coolidge Middle School and would be turning eleven in November. She really did enjoy school and her grades were pretty good, but she would at times find herself day-dreaming about her old house and neighborhood back in Stockwell, New Jersey.

The Staffords only moved up to Clearwater three years ago, when Erica’s father decided that the high-pressure job that required him to drive in to New York City every day was not what he really wanted to do. He traded in his suit and tie for something a bit more comfortable, working as the foreman in the town’s lumber mill. He was also the town constable; a kind of part-time policeman, and wore a uniform on the weekends. Most of the smaller towns in Vermont also used a constable to enforce local laws.

When the family first moved, Erica was a bit uncomfortable. She really didn’t know anyone, but soon grew to like her new home, and it gave Sophie and The Finn more room to explore. For her dad the move to Vermont was like a homecoming, since he grew up in the town of Racine, only thirty miles south of Clearwater.

She still missed her old house and especially her two girlfriends, Michelle and Denise, from her old neighborhood, but when she met Abby, on her first day of school in the 4th grade, they became fast friends. Abby, whose full name was Abigail Adrianna Post, was a lot like her; she liked to discover new things and had a dog named Sandy, a cocker spaniel. The three dogs also became best buds and traveled with Erica and Abby on most of their weekend adventures.

Erica quickly brushed her teeth, washed her face, and brushed out her long, dark-brown hair. After dressing, she ran out of her room and down the stairs with her pups close at her heels.

Mrs. Stafford had already prepared a couple of English muffins with Erica’s favorite jam, which came from a local farmer who grew his own berries. She liked his entire line of berry jams—strawberry, blueberry, raspberry—but her absolute favorite was Mr. Cudworth’s blackberry jam.

Mr. Cudworth had a small farm out in the countryside, miles from town. It was so remote that there wasn’t a street or road sign, and if you were driving more than 40 miles per hour you would surely miss the cutoff to the dirt road that lead to his farm. She had often thought about riding her bicycle down that road to discover Mr. Cudworth’s secret to making such delicious jams.

Erica’s mom and dad, and for that matter most of the people who lived in the area, called his jams the best in the state. People would show up at the Farmer’s Market early every Saturday morning in the town square and wait on line for him to pull up in his rickety, old, red pickup truck. Within 15 minutes of Mr. Cudworth’s setting up his booth and unloading his boxes of berries and jars of jam; he would be packing his truck back up with the empty crates. When it came to Mr. Cudworth’s berries, Erica’s dad would often say, The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the berries.

His berries were also a favorite of several of the local restaurant and diner owners who would turn those delicious whole berries into pies, muffins, pancakes, and other dessert favorites for the town people and the many tourists who visited Clearwater, Vermont.

Each year around this time, the towns surrounding Clearwater would attract busloads of tourist who came to see the leaves changing colors. The local people referred to them as Leaf Peepers, a term that Erica always found amusing.

As she entered the kitchen she was greeted by her mom, Good morning Eri. Long weekend ahead.

I know Mom—three whole days to spend with my puppies. I’m going over to Abby's house after school today.

OK, honey, just remember to be home for dinner; we’ll be eating sometime around 6:00 o’clock.

Her dad was already at the table reading the newspaper and drinking his morning cup of coffee, Morning Eri. Got any plans for the weekend? he said.

No, not so far, she responded.

He added, It says here in the paper that there have been a couple of homes broken into, over in Chester County.

Erica was half-listening to her dad, when all of a sudden it was happening again—the same strange feeling that had crept into her subconscious several times before—and she just knew that this wasn’t going to be an ordinary day. She really couldn’t explain it, and she didn’t know if it was something that her dad read that triggered the sensation, but the feeling was back and it made her feel a little uneasy.

She quickly stuffed the two English muffins heaped with blackberry jam in her mouth, gulped down a glass of OJ, and gently bent down to pat Sophie and The Finn. She grabbed her jacket and backpack and blew a kiss to her mom and dad as she bolted out the front door.

In no time she was peddling her bike down the driveway towards the school, which was about two miles away on the edge of town. Actually it was 1.9 miles, she knew, since she had clocked the mileage one day when her dad drove her to school.

Both Sophie and The Finn took up their usual positions in front of the large glass door to watch Erica peddle her bike feverishly down the road, trying to make up for lost time that, on most school days, was due to the extra couple minutes that she remained curled up in her soft, comfortable bed.

As Erica started to disappear from sight, The Finn turned his attention to the kitchen, where Mrs. Stafford was preparing their breakfast. You see, The Finn loved food. It didn’t matter what kind of food; he liked it all, so he would break for the kitchen, while Sophie would continue to watch Erica until she completely disappeared down the road.

Every