The Mystery of Shadow Lake

By Craig Damon Burrus

Come along on the first adventures of Chris and Luke, or as they would eventually be known, the 'Legend Busters.' You will be there as they meet for the first time and form a partnership that will uncover countless secrets that remained unresolved for years until these two brave youngsters combined their inquisitive minds. One such mystery was that of Shadow Lake. It had long been known that there were strange occurrences around its murky waters, but the boys would not be satisfied until they found out why.

Does the lake really have a strange resident? What was behind the unexplained disappearances? Who is the lady in the white gown?

Join the boys as they dare to question what no one before them ever had. They will solve clue after clue in their quest to uncover the truth. Will they come to regret their discovery? Be there and find out for yourself!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 15, 2000
• ISBN: 9781475968064

Craig Damon Burrus

Craig Burrus is an electronics engineer born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1961. He developed an interest in writing children's mystery novels from his own youthful reading experiences. Craig and his wife Renee reside in the Dallas, Texas area. They have two children, Reginald and Melissa.

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All Rights Reserved © 2000 by Craig Damon Burrus

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

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ISBN: 0-595-12542-5

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6806-4 (ebk)

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Luke

Chapter 2: The Big Pond

Chapter 3: The Neutral Zone

Chapter 4: Farm Boy

Chapter 5: The Shack

Chapter 6: Just Plain Mean

Chapter 7: The Gamble

Chapter 8: Glow Hill

Chapter 9: Answers

Chapter 10: The Sighting

Chapter 11: The Search

CHAPTER I

LUKE

It was to be just another typical summer; at least that’s what I thought. There was no way I could know what bizarre events would unfold in that small span of time in my young life. When school was officially over that year, I was no more excited than usual, just ready to get into something. Most of my friends lived in the city, but I was a country boy.

I lived about 10 miles outside of town, which may not seem to be very far, but in rural Arkansas that can be forever. It was an area that had been dubbed ‘The Neutral Zone’ by my city friends because it occupied this little belt that was within one mile of the county line. A lot of strange happenings occurred around these parts. Even though I lived out there for all my life, I never had a friend my age until I was about 14 or so. Luke and I discovered each other around that time, come to find out that we both had been around all those years and just didn’t know it. We took to each other right away. I don’t know if it was because we liked each other, or we were both just so desperate for a playmate that we didn’t care. We both liked the same things, like fishing & hunting, as well as motorcycles. In fact, that’s how we met.

One afternoon, I was riding my mini-bike in my folk’s yard when I saw my dream. It was a Kamazuki KZ900, the fastest production street motorcycle on the market at the time. Man, I wanted one of those bikes! There it was in all its glory! A lean, mean, riding machine! I imagined that I was on top of that monster bike as I made a pitiful attempt to keep up with it on my little scooter. I would race him up and down our fence line whenever I would get a chance. Every day I would wait for him to come down Ashley Road. When I heard him coming, I would get a start from the back of our property to build up some speed so I could time his entry onto the highway. As he revved up that powerhouse, I would be making my approach and then it was on! For about 2 seconds, I could actually keep up, but after that it was all over and he was long gone. Still, I derived some kind of satisfaction from those feeble attempts at matching him.

After several days of ‘racing’ against my dream machine, something happened that changed the whole outlook of my summer. On this particular morning, the dream bike came out at the usual time, and I had taken my customary approach knowing in my mind that today I could match him! As he entered onto the main roadway, I shot the gas to my little engine for all it was worth. I glanced over to check out my competition and to my amazement; I was hanging in there! Two seconds, three, four…Wow! I couldn’t believe it! I was pulling ahead! I was winning! I was King! I was…not paying attention. Number one lesson when racing within a confined area: Know where the boundaries are. As I was hypnotized by the splendor of winning, I lost track of where I was in respect to the fence line and BAM! Wipe out! My little bike and I had run out of yard, which I found out the hard way. Meanwhile, had I not been in La La Land, I would have noticed that the dream machine was not flying down the highway as usual. He had stopped and pulled into our driveway! Boy did I feel foolish! He was not racing at all (not that he ever was). He had stopped by to meet me!

He took his helmet off and I could see that he was a young man, maybe 20 or so. He walked toward the gate looking as if he wanted to come in, probably to check on me. Hey, are you all right? he asked.

Yeah, I’m OK, I responded, feeling pretty dumb.

I’ve noticed you out here the last few days and I just wanted to stop by and say Hi. I’m Warren. What’s your name?

Uh, Chris, I said, as I tried to untangle my body from a combination of fence wire and mini-bike parts.

Need any help?

No, I’ll make it.

How old are you Chris? I’ve got a younger brother who looks to be about your age, maybe you guys can hook up.

A younger brother? I repeated in my head. Someone my age I can run with? Out here? After all this time? FOURTEEN! I shouted, realizing that I sounded kind of desperate.

Cool! he said. My little brother is thirteen. You guys should get along great. I’ll bring him by tomorrow. With that, he turned, put on his helmet, fired up that monstrous engine and took off down the highway.

Yep, things were going to be different this summer. Little did I know just how right I was.

The next morning I took a break from my normal routine in anticipation of meeting my new friend. I guess I just assumed we would be friends because really, what choice did we have? We were all we had. It was Saturday, and it was a beautiful one at that. Warren showed up about noon with a passenger on board this time, his brother no doubt. They pulled up to the gate and I opened it for them. Hey Warren, I greeted.

Hey Chris, he responded. I want you to meet my little brother, Luke. His brother walked towards me and stuck his hand out to shake, which we did. He was a smallish fellow, kinda’ shy, but hey, I was no socialite myself. I was fairly popular at school, but I wasn’t known for my outgoing personality. So here we are, two kids meeting each other for the first time and neither of us knowing how to start a conversation. Just about then, we noticed a king snake doing battle with a huge copperhead in the ditch and Ah! The ice was broken! Warren cranked up his bike and left us. Pick you up in time for dinner Luke. See you later, He shouted as he rode off.

Man, Look at the size of that one! Luke exclaimed. I bet the king will still win.

Yeah, I bet you’re right, I chimed. We sat there for an hour, watching and talking, and getting to know one another. How long have you lived here? I asked.

All my life! he said.

How come I’ve never seen you before?

I don’t know.

Oh well, we’re here now, he said. It was in this first meeting that we discovered that we both liked the same things. Do you ever go hunting? Luke asked.

Only in our yard. All I have is a pellet gun and a .22 rifle.

That’s good enough, He said. I’ve got a ‘Marvelin’ semiautomatic. What kind of .22 do you have?

I have a ‘Lever-action’, I said.

Man, those are nice. Can I see it? he asked.

Sure, I said proudly. It was amazing how much we had in common. It was equally interesting that we had not met before now. Luke had been here for 13 years and me for 14. It was as if it was not meant for us to cross paths until this summer, for whatever reason. All I knew was that I had somebody to play with other than my older sister, which was a non-choice in any little brother’s eyes.

Do you ever leave your yard? Luke asked.

Not much, I said. My mom has a fit if I leave. She thinks four acres is enough.

Man, you’ve got to get out! There’s all kinds of places to see out here, He said.

Like what? I asked curiously.

Like Shadow Lake, the creek on Ashley Road, there’s even a stream that runs through the back of your folk’s property. It comes from Mr. Johnson’s big pond. He’s got two you know.

Really? I gasped. Have you seen it?

No, my brothers told me about it.

Man, I sure would like to see that! It was then that I begin to realize that though Luke was younger than I was, he had done things that I had only wished I could. I guess having big brothers (he had