The Halloween Amulet

By Sally Startup

In the graveyard on Halloween night, Brendan Black finds he is no longer alone. When things start to get weird, Brendan and his new companions have to join forces if they want to understand what’s going on. A thoughtful story for 8- 12 year-old readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bees Nest Books
• Release date: Oct 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311908759

Sally Startup

Sally Startup lives in Hampshire, England. She writes books for children and young adults and has a PhD in writing for children from the University of Winchester, UK. She used to work as a medical herbalist and is interested in plants, nature and green issues.

Book preview

Sally Startup

The Halloween Amulet

Book One

Bees’ Nest Books

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this story are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

Smashwords edition published 2015 by Bees’ Nest Books

Copyright 2012 Sally Startup

The right of Sally Startup to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Cover picture copyright Sally Startup 2015

Smashwords edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share the 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 to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The Halloween Amulet stories were originally created as part of an academic thesis. Throughout that process I received kind support and advice from many people.

With thanks to all.

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 Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

About The Author

THE HALLOWEEN AMULET

ONE

Swirls of white mist flowed softly through the graveyard as the night air cooled. Brendan chose an old, low headstone and sat down on it, smiling to himself. He had always wanted to be alone after dark in a graveyard at Halloween.

He could hear every car that went along Doone Road, and all the creaks and rustles of the bushes that grew alongside the fence. Close by, a little owl screeched. The sound was so deliciously spooky that Brendan shivered with joy.

The moon was still visible beyond the clear air above the fog and mist. Moonlight shining down through the fog particles turned the air silver, giving everything a beautifully eerie sparkle.

Brendan had only lived in Doone Road for two months. As soon as he had caught sight of the old chapel graveyard he had known it would be the perfect Halloween place. There were ruined walls and mossy stones and graves, all surrounded by a long fence of iron spikes. On Halloween night he had crept out of the house while his parents were busy in the kitchen.

He knew how worried they were about his baby brother Jeremy, who was very ill. So Brendan, who was twelve, hadn’t wanted to bother them by explaining where he was going. He had left his bedroom light on. If either of his parents went upstairs they would see light shining from under his closed door and think he was in there, reading. It might be tricky getting back into the house without them noticing, but he knew they wouldn’t lock up before ten, at the earliest.

Taking a book from his pocket, Brendan began to read The Midnight Vampire. The moonlight was bright enough for him to see the words on the page if he stared hard. The trouble was, it was difficult to concentrate on the world of the book when the real night-time graveyard was so interesting.

After a few sentences, he gave up trying to read and watched the mist instead. When he replaced the book in the large pocket of his jacket, he was careful not to crush his last Raisin-chocolate Luscious sweet. They were his absolute favourite sweets and he had saved that one for his secret trip to the graveyard, but he wasn’t ready to eat it just yet.

All of a sudden, Brendan thought he heard voices. He stayed very still, trying to hear where the sounds were coming from. He hadn’t expected to meet anyone else in the graveyard. It was partly the loneliness that had made it all so perfect.

Stop doing that, Winter, said a girl’s voice.

Whoever the girl was, it sounded like she was talking to Winter Jefferson from school. Winter was a boy with hair as white as snow. Brendan had never spoken to him, but it was hard not to notice the hair and the nickname.

Brendan found it hard to talk to people he didn’t know, so he hadn’t really tried to make friends with anyone at his new school. He certainly didn’t have a nickname and he didn’t want one. If anyone spoke to him at all they called him by his real name, Brendan Black. He supposed he fitted it quite well. His hair was so dark it was almost black, although his skin was pale.

Whooooh! Winter was making ghost noises.

Brendan wished they would go away. He didn’t want company.

I’m not scared, Winter, so will you just shut up and stop flapping your arms at me like that! Let’s hurry up and get to the chapel, I don’t like walking through all these graves.

Brendan thought the girl speaking was probably Andrea Cotton, known to everyone as Wally. She was in Brendan’s maths class, and was one of the few pupils who had actually talked to him at school.

So you are scared then, said a different boy’s voice.

Winter and Wally always hung round with another girl and boy whose names Brendan didn’t know.

Isn’t this mist pretty in the moonlight? a second girl’s voice joined in, at that very moment.

One of the boys laughed, mockingly, and Brendan found himself feeling sorry for the girl. But as he continued to listen to the crunchy, squelchy sound of a group of four kids crossing damp grass, all the joy he had felt earlier was gone. The graveyard was not very big. If he stayed, he would always be able to hear the others talking and laughing, spoiling the atmosphere. Even worse, he was afraid the