Sophie and The Finn: Secret of the Box

By J Peter Clifford

Once again Erica Stafford and her two sidekicks, Sophie and The Finn, find themselves thrust into the middle of another mystery.
This time she is on summer vacation, prior to entering the seventh grade, and while visiting her aunt who lives in a house on the ocean in Sandy Beach Island, New Jersey, there is a major theft in a New York City museum just days before she arrives at her aunt’s.
Her friend Abby, who has joined her at the Jersey Shore, will team up with a local boy Jake, and the three of them along with Sophie and The Finn will attempt to solve “The Secret of the Box.”
But they’re not alone as the manhunt for the thieves takes on an international element that brings together local and state police, the FBI, as well as several international special investigators.
During this adventure, Erica will also discover that the voice within her that appears unexpectedly and had previously warned her about impending danger is back. What does it all mean?
“She stepped out from behind the dune and started to walk towards the cottage. Her mind was racing; she didn’t know where she got the courage to face.....”
“The door suddenly flew open and this man stood in front of her. He was over six feet, big, but not fat with huge wide hands. He had a scraggly dirty black hair and a salt and pepper beard. Erica noticed a tattoo on his right forearm that was a picture of a skull with crossed knives under it.
The only thing between them was a screen door.
She felt her knees start to tremble and her mind telling her to run as fast as she could away from the cottage.”
Join Erica, Sophie and The Finn along with Abby and Jake as they begin a new mystery that places them in a new twist that leads them further from safety and draws them closer to danger.
Remember to visit us at: sophieandthefinn.com/comment

• Language: English
• Publisher: J Peter Clifford
• Release date: Jan 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781941536827

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

Erica neatly folded her favorite T-shirt and placed it in her suitcase, There; that should do it. I think I have everything that I need, she said.

She closed the suitcase, snapped the lock, and looked over at her two favorite companions, Sophie and The Finn, who were intently inspecting her every move. They had never seen a suitcase before and didn’t know exactly what it all meant.

It was the end of July and the summer was already half over. It wouldn’t be long before the new school year would commence and she would be entering the seventh grade.

Erica said, Well pups, we’re going on vacation. Aunt Kathie has invited us to spend three weeks at her house down at the shore. You guys have never been to the beach before, or seen the ocean, with its huge waves. It will probably look like a huge, angry lake to you both.

Erica was excited because it was the first time that she would be returning to New Jersey since her parents had moved to Vermont over three years ago. Her aunt had also said that she could invite a friend to join her. Erica thought of Abby first; they’d been friends ever since she moved to Vermont. They shared so much together: their love for the Red Sox, playing on the Xbox, listening to Katy Perry, and of course, Instagram. Abby was about the same height as Erica and had green eyes and short blonde hair, which was covered by a baseball cap most of the time. Her skin was fairer than Erica’s, which was a bit more olive in tone. Abby was also more talkative, whereas Erica tended to be a bit shy.

Erica said that they complemented each other, kind of like a set of salt and pepper shakers.

But this past school year she had made a new friend, Vivienne, and the three of them did everything together. Vivi was a lot of fun to be around and she shared Erica’s sense of mystery. She was about an inch or so shorter than Erica, with dark brown eyes and long black hair that was almost always tied up into a ponytail. She didn’t know why, but it was as if she and Vivi had a special connection. Sometimes it seemed that they could read each other’s thoughts.

But, Abby had never been to the Jersey Shore, or any beach for that matter, so she decided to invite Abby. When she told Vivi a couple of days before the trip, she promised that she would take her the next time. Vivi was fine with that; she understood that she had only met Erica this year and that Abby had known her ever since Erica moved from New Jersey.

***

Eri, we need to leave, called out her mother, It’s a six and a half hour drive to get to Aunt Kathie’s house.

Erica’s mom and dad had chosen to drive down, rather than fly, because her mom was exhibiting some of her paintings in an art gallery in another town in New Jersey later in the week, and because they didn’t want to put Sophie and The Finn in the baggage compartment on an airplane. The pups had never been apart from Erica and she was worried that they wouldn’t understand, and would be frightened.

Her parents were going to remain for a few days at Aunt Kathie’s, then drive back up to Vermont after the art exhibit. Erica’s dad said that he really couldn’t take much time off from the mill, since this was their busy season. Her parents would return to New Jersey towards the end of the three weeks to take Erica, Abby, and the pups back to Vermont just before the new school year started.

Erica grabbed her suitcase, put on her Red Sox baseball cap, and dashed out to the SUV with Sophie and The Finn trailing behind. Her dad lifted her suitcase into the SUV, looked at Erica and laughed. Are you really going to wear that cap down to New Jersey?

Erica looked up, surprised at the question, since her dad knew it was her favorite cap. Yes, of course! Why wouldn’t I?

Well, you know that you’re going down into New York Yankee territory and they’re not too fond of the Red Sox, her dad said.

Erica replied, Dad, it’s OK. I’m sure that Abby and I won’t be the only Red Sox fans in New Jersey, and besides, Aunt Kathie likes the Red Sox, too.

Her dad smiled and looked over at his wife and said, Well, I guess we did a good job raising our daughter to think for herself and stand by her convictions, although in this case I’m not quite sure she understands the rivalry between the two teams.

As they were talking, Abby’s mom drove up the driveway. The car had barely stopped when the passenger-side door flew open and Abby jumped out and ran over to Erica.

Erica smiled and turned to her father and said, See! I won’t be the only one.

Sure enough, parked on Abby’s head was a blue baseball cap with a large red ‘B’ on it.

Her dad just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

As Abby approached, she blurted out, All right, I think I packed all the things I need, but they do have stores at this Jersey Shore, right?

Yes, of course there are stores! Do you think we’re going to some deserted island? responded Erica.

Everyone laughed, and Erica went back to Abby’s car to help her unload her suitcase, and whatever else she was bringing, to put in the SUV.

Abby’s mother, who went by the nickname MJ, which was short for Mary Jane, asked, Carolyn, are you sure this is OK with your sister-in-law?

Carolyn replied, Absolutely. She’s looking forward to spending time with the girls. She lives there alone except for the occasional visitor, and she hasn’t seen Erica in a number of years.

Well, Abby’s certainly excited, answered her mom. She packed two nights ago and then woke up early this morning just to make sure she didn’t forget anything.

Believe me, MJ, said Carolyn, you know we’ll get about half way down and one of them will remember something that she forgot.

And it will probably be something that they can’t live without, replied MJ.

They both chuckled as Abby’s mom headed back over to her car and called out, OK, girls, have fun and I’ll see you in three weeks.

The girls waved goodbye and went immediately back to their conversation.

Erica’s dad was always fascinated by these conversations between the girls. The rapid, back-and-forth exchanges almost defied logic. He wondered if either girl actually heard what the other was saying before she launched into her own response.

Oh well, he thought. They seem to have figured out a way to communicate.

He quickly announced, All aboard! Next stop: Sandy Beach Island, New Jersey.

Her dad opened up the back of the SUV, which was actually her mom’s car, and Sophie and The Finn jumped up and into the special travel cage he had made so that they could ride in comfort and safety.

Erica knew that the trip to Aunt Kathie’s house would be a lot longer now that they were driving from Vermont. The last time they had visited Aunt Kathie at the beach, Erica was only six years old and was still living in New Jersey. Even though it only took two hours back then, to a six-year-old it seemed like forever. But, she reasoned, this trip really wouldn’t be too bad because she had Abby to keep her company. They could play games and chat on her mom’s iPad with her two girlfriends, Michelle and Denise, from the old neighborhood. She hadn’t seen them for so long! She really wanted Abby to meet them.

She planned on asking Aunt Kathie if she could invite them down for a couple of days to be with her and Abby. She was certain that Aunt Kathie wouldn’t object. She would call it the girls-only weekend.

Before the girls even noticed, they were halfway through their trip. Traveling down the highway, Erica’s dad pulled into a rest stop. Hey, anybody need to go to the restroom? I’m sure Sophie and Finn could use a break—maybe stretch their legs, he announced.

After a short rest stop, they all piled back into the SUV—all but The Finn, who, as always, was reluctant to leave a new location until he had taken in all of the odors. Erica called out to him, Finny, come on! Let’s go; there will be a lot more scents to smell where we are going! Come on. The Finn reluctantly walked back to the SUV, hopped in to his special travel cage, and they were off again, headed to the Jersey Shore.

Erica was so busy talking to Abby that she didn’t realize how far they had traveled until she heard her mom on the cell phone. Hey Kath, we’re about twenty minutes away. Do you need us to stop and get anything? OK, we’ll see you soon. They were driving over the bridge that connected Sandy Beach Island to the mainland.

As they passed a flock of seagulls sitting on the bridge railing, Erica suddenly felt a strange sensation—what some people might call a premonition. It wasn’t a voice in the back of her head like before, but rather a chill that ran completely through her body, as if a cold breeze had passed over her. She looked over at Abby, wondering if she should tell her about it, but Abby was completely engrossed in her iPad, and didn’t notice Erica staring at her.

Erica remembered the other times she had felt these strange sensations—last year around the time of the dognapping incident, and the time she got lost in the woods. She’d had only one other occurrence, right around the holidays.

There had