Shallow Grave

By Alex Van Tol

When they're hauled into the office in the wake of a stupid prank, schoolmates Elliot and Shannon have no idea that hiding the principal's Smart Car in the woods was the least of their problems. As part of their punishment, the pair is tasked to clean up the school boathouse. Should be an easy enough task, they figure: chuck all the broken stuff, organize whatever still works and get the weekend underway. But when Shannon talks Elliot into making a Ouija board, things take a turn for the horrifying. When the pair accidentally unleashes a dark force, they find themselves caught up in a mystery that must be solved if they have any hope of escape.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Oct 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781459802056

Alex Van Tol

Alex Van Tol grew up reading a wide range of books, from Enid Blyton to Stephen King. She taught middle school for eight years, then made the switch to writing for a living. She has published numerous titles with Orca. Alex lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with her family. For more information, visit www.alexvantol.com.

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Shallow Grave

Alex Van Tol

ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

Copyright © 2012 Alex Van Tol

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Van Tol, Alex

Shallow grave [electronic resource] / Alex Van Tol.

(Orca soundings)

Electronic monograph.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-1-4598-0204-9 (PDF).--ISBN 978-1-4598-0205-6 (EPUB)

I. Title. Ii. Series: Orca soundings (Online)

PS8643.A63S43 2012        jC813’.6        C2012-902578-X

First published in the United States, 2012

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012938213

Summary: Elliot and Shannon call forth a restless spirit when they are forced to clean up an old boathouse as punishment for a school prank gone wrong.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Cover photography by Dreamstime.com

www.orcabook.com

15   14   13   12   •   4   3   2   1

For Mrs. Finch.

Your presence makes our lives

interesting.

You can check out any time you like,

but you can never leave.

—The Eagles,

Hotel California, 1976

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter One

This is awesome, I say. Hard-core manual labor is exactly how I planned to spend my Friday after school.

With a loser goth weirdo in tow, I think. But I don’t say that part.

Well, it’s not like I want to be cleaning up the boathouse either, Shannon shoots back. She claps her mittened hands together as we walk along the gravel road leading away from the school.

I grunt. Who wears mitts anyway? What is she, five?

I wonder if her palms are pierced too, or if it’s just her cheek, nose, eyebrow, lip and tongue. And god knows what else.

I shudder at the thought.

And anyway, I wouldn’t exactly call it hard-core manual labor, she continues.

So sorting through piles of old life jackets and busted paddles sounds like fun to you?

She shakes her head. Not fun. But not hard-core either. Hard-core is hiding the principal’s Smart Car in the woods.

No, that’s what they call stupid, I say. The late October wind sneaks under the bottom of my hoodie and around my collar, making me shiver.

It wasn’t stupid. At least, it wouldn’t have been if those idiots hadn’t rolled it onto my foot. It would’ve been funny.

Funny for you, maybe, I say. Not so much fun for Mr. Harrison. And not funny for me. You should think twice before pulling dumb pranks that get innocent bystanders in trouble.

I can feel Shannon looking at me, but I don’t return her gaze.

Holy, she laughs. Ease down there, Mr. Perfect. I already said I was sorry you got caught up in it. It’s not like I planned for them to roll the car onto my foot. And anyway, I never asked you to come crashing through the bushes to save me, scholar boy.

Scholar boy?

Shannon ignores me. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, she says. And you got in trouble. What’s the big deal?

I look at her in disbelief. Ever heard the term ‘miscarriage of justice’?

She shrugs. Life’s unfair, she says. Then she gives me a sly smile. Must be a hard pill to swallow for a rule follower like yourself.

Since when is following rules a bad thing? Just because they’re rules?

Depends on your reasons for following, she says. I think you’re one of those people who does what they’re told because they’ve been brainwashed by the establishment.

I stop. Excuse me? I’m almost certain I didn’t ask to have my character assaulted. Especially by a freak with purple hair and multiple puncture wounds whose crime I’m about to serve time for.

Besides. She doesn’t even know me.

Never mind. Shannon waves a hand dismissively. She keeps walking.

I don’t move.

She turns and looks at me, then sighs. I apologize, okay? For the millionth time. Her ultrawhite face and red lipstick look stark against the flat gray sky. She’s dressed in a long black coat. A thick gray scarf winds around her neck. Docs on her feet. Those ugly boots are the only

Reviews for Shallow Grave

[dairyqueen84 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Caught for a prank he was not involved in, new-kid, good-boy Elliot must clean out the school’s boathouse with multiply-pierced, Goth girl, Shannon as punishment. They are serving their sentence late on a Friday afternoon and the boathouse looks creepy in the fading light which sets the stage for a scary story. A fairly predictable plotline follows with the polar opposites making assumptions about each other. After Shannon finds half of a best friend necklace, the door to the boathouse slams shut even though it was propped open with a brick. Shannon thinks she feels a “presence” in the boathouse and suggests they make a Ouiji Board to communicate with it. They discover the spirit of a murdered girl who demands that they solve the mystery of her death. Written for reluctant readers there are short chapters, a lot of dialogue, and short paragraphs with enough creepiness to keep readers on the edge of their seat.

[mjspear_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Meh hi-lo book about a couple of teens trapped in an old boat house who receive murder revelations from, yes, a Ouija Board. Elliot's first person voice is authentic and sometimes amusing but the premise is so far-fetched that all but most naive young adults will be put off. Most of all, it perpetuates an untrue stereotype regarding a harmless parlor game.