Body Swap

By Barbara Joan Russell

When Justin agreed to go on a high school camping trip, he thought it would be a good chance to get to know the cute girl, Riley, better. But Brandon won't leave her side. And worse, as soon as Brandon notices that Justin has an interest in her, he chases Justin and Justin's friend, Craig, deep into the forest.

Just when Justin didn't think things could get worse, Craig ends up missing. Never mind the fact that it's dark and spooky and he's all alone. He can't go back to the camp without Craig. So he sets out to find his friend, and when he does, he'll end up having to make a deal with an old man who was thought to be dead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barbara Joan Russell
• Release date: Jan 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386368830

Barbara Joan Russell

Barbara Joan Russell lives in Montana with her husband and four sons. She loves writing Young Adult Thrillers/Suspense and Fantasies. Usually, there is a romance somewhere in her tales.

Book preview

Ol’ Man Wickleberry never dies, the cute blonde girl, Riley, told everyone who sat around the campfire in a circle.

She paused in a way that commanded everyone’s attention.  I think she did that because she loved being the center of attention.  But who could blame her?  When you were the most gorgeous senior in high school, it was expected that everyone would focus on you.

Sure, Ol’ Man Wickleberry seems to die, Riley continued, but it’s never his soul that goes into the ground.  He swaps bodies with those who are younger than him.  When his old body gives out, they’re the ones who really go into the ground.  Some say he’s as old as time itself, and when he’s ready for a new body, he comes back to his old cabin in the forest just beyond this beach.

That’s not true, Brandon said from where he was sitting next to her.

As always, Brandon made it a point to sit right next to her.  Which was super annoying.  Every time I, or any other guy, tried to gather up the courage to talk to her, he was there.  One of these days, I was going to get the nerve to do it.  I was going to go right past him and just start talking to her.

Brandon took the hot dog he’d been roasting out of the fire and placed it in the bun.  Wickleberry died in 1929 right after the stock market crash.  They said he was so depressed after losing all his money that he drowned himself. He nodded toward Lake Hudson, which wasn’t too far from where we were sitting.  Once someone is dead, that’s it.  He isn’t coming back.

He didn’t kill himself, Riley protested.