Sasquatch Did It

By Patricia Komar

Join Faith and the Hollow Hills Explorers as they solve the mystery of the strangest happenings occurring right in their very own neighborhood. Marbles fall from the sky as the explorers observe bizarre goings-on at the neighbor’s house on garbage day. There’s a garbage can stuffed with hundreds of marbles. Then a discovery is made of a very large footprint. Of course, the Hollow Hills Explorers take off with their dogs, Spirit and Keeper, at their sides, tracking this new discovery through forests into the unknown and even other dimensions, where they witness mysterious paranormal happenings, secretive beings, and another meteor shower. These explorers have been through past adventures together, survived teen bullying, enjoyed friendship, and even learned how to track with their dogs helping them to sniff out the trail of a teen runaway. I dare you to come along and enjoy the adventure with the HHEs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546268543

Patricia Komar

Patricia Komar lives in a village nestled in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Weaving storylines through landscapes she has explored from the Canadian and Colorado Rockies to the severe hiking trails of the Swiss Alps, and lastly while meandering in her canoe and kayak in serene bays of the San Juan Islands, Patricia spends this time imagining characters and tales for her next book. She writes fiction books and has been a featured writer for Modern Dog Magazine and USA Today Magazine. Patricia studied Expressive Arts Therapy and Education at the European Graduate School in Switzerland along with studies in New York, Colorado and British Columbia. See more at www.patriciakomar.com

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© 2018 Patricia Komar. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/15/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6855-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6854-3(e)

Cover & Interior illustrations art are created by Sasha Figarella (CrisshasArt)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 The Stakeout

Chapter 2 A Hint of Something to Come

Chapter 3 A Mysterious Dark Figure

Chapter 4 Volcanoes and Marbles

Chapter 5 Portals and Other Dimensions

Chapter 6 Through the Portal

Chapter 7 The Candle

Chapter 8 Huge Footprints

Chapter 9 Cupcakes and Other Dimensions

Chapter 10 Tracking the Big Footprint

Chapter 11 The Lady with the Braid

Chapter 12 Haunting and Unwanted Guests

Chapter 13 Now Watch This!

CHAPTER 1

THE STAKEOUT

foot.psd

F aith crouched behind the rhododendron bushes in a spot where she had an unobstructed view of the weird action happening across the street at Mr. Wetherbee’s house. All was quiet. Beside her sat the other explorers—Finn, Dalton, Oliver, and Callie—all hunkered down and peering through the branches. Today was garbage and recycle day, and the Explorers were waiting for Mr. Wetherbee to come through the side door of his brown house.

"Shh, Finn, be quiet and stash those chips. It’s almost time, Faith whispered. He’ll be coming out soon. Stop moving around. You’re shaking the branches. We don’t want him to know we’re here. I just know it’s going to happen … any moment now."

What do think’s keepin’ him? What’s the holdup? asked Finn.

Don’t worry. He’ll come out. He always does. Every week, without fail—right about this time, explained Faith. I’ve been watching this happen since the beginning of fall, a little over a month ago. That’s about when it started. Just wait, Finn. Be patient, she told him even though she knew patience wasn’t Finn’s strongest suit. And put the chips down.

Okay, okay, replied Finn.

Faith looked around, noticing how quiet her neighborhood seemed. The wide-spreading yards appeared to blend into one another. Most of the houses were built of wood and sat quietly in front of the forested mountains near the tidal bays of the Pacific Ocean. Up and down the street, garbage, recycle, and greens carts lined the curb at every house except for one: the brown house. It stood next to the gray two-story house, kind of a Victorian movie-style haunted house. To Faith it always looked like no one lived there—all dark and desolate.

Faith never really believed rumors about anything but especially ones about that creepy house in every neighborhood that everyone was sure was haunted. But you had to check, didn’t you? You couldn’t just let people chatter about something and dismiss it without checking to see if it was true first. Could you?

Sometimes at night Faith saw a dim, orangey-yellow glow in the windows of the seemingly old house, making it look like candles burning throughout. Then there was the night the house lit up like fireworks exploding inside. Faith knew there was more to this frightening house than met most eyes. She’d been checking it out and had seen some weird stuff. Oh yes, she had, but this you might say took the cake.

Ever since Faith and her mother moved into the one-story white house at the very tip of this dead-end road in the town of Hollow Hills, very strange and mysterious things began to happen. At first, all Faith liked about her new house and town were the four stained glass windows in the kitchen. When the sun shone through, the house lit up with amazing colors. It was kind of magical. But that was it. Faith was not impressed—not even with the little garden in the front that her mom, Andrea Clancy, liked. Her mom said it made their house look charming.

At one time, Faith, a bright, intelligent young lady now in the ninth grade at Hollow Hills High School, went through a tough time. And that’s putting it mildly. Her parents were going through a tough time too and seemed not to notice when Faith was coming home late at night—at least that’s what Faith thought. She was being bullied at school and then started hanging out with what her mom called that bad crowd. They liked getting into trouble. So, Faith spiraled downward, especially at school.

What saved her was when late one night while hanging out in the dark city lit only by the globed streetlights, something caught her eye. Faith sat down on an old wooden bench and began watching through the large windows of a storefront across the street. She saw a flow of colors as dancers at the Dance Around the Corner Studio moved with the music, which even Faith could hear from where she sat. She was totally amazed at the pictures they painted with their choreography and multicolored costumes of blue, pink, and purple. One night they noticed their audience of one and offered her a chance to learn to dance in exchange for helping with occasional chores, like sweeping the floors or setting up music. She jumped at the chance. So instead of hanging out with that bad crowd, she began hanging out at the Dance Around the Corner Studio and learned to dance. But soon her world seemed to crumble. Her parents separated, and she and her mother had to move. That’s when they discovered a new life in the town of Hollow Hills.

Faith’s life soon changed—new house, new school, new friends, and a sort of new Faith. Prior to the move, she’d dyed her long hair the blackest black and hid her eyes with the thickest, darkest eyeliner she could find and even painted her nails with blood-black fingernail polish. Eventually, all her dark décor filled the garbage can at her new house, the black hair dye faded, and her nearly waist-long tresses glowed a natural, warm auburn.

Faith was glad to be rid of her former school’s bullies. Of course, being the new kid on the block, she hadn’t escaped the torment of bullies entirely. She made some new friends who invited her to be a member of the Hollow Hills Explorers’ Club, HHE for short, the exclusive club that welcomes new adventures, investigates apparitions, explores the unknown in this dimension and others, and travels back in time. With their help, Faith was able to stand up against the bullying. She even learned a little bit about trust and believing in herself.

On this particular morning, which was Wednesday and garbage day, Faith wanted to show her explorer friends something new—something even she couldn’t explain. So, Dalton, Finn, Oliver, Callie, and Faith all met at the stakeout point where they were still as mannequins, staring through the leaves of a huge rhododendron bush, waiting for something across the street to happen … anything. And then … movement! Faith saw something … yes! The screen door of the brown house opened very slowly.

Oliver whispered, He’s coming out!

Mr. Wetherbee, the man who lived right next door to the creepy house, took two steps outside of his door, looked around, yawned, and gave a big stretch. Faith pinned his age down to sixty-something and still going strong. She’d seen him doing his own yard work and handling the lawnmower and other power tools as if he knew what he was doing, as if at one time he’d been a professional landscaper. He lumbered over to his garbage can in his side yard, grabbed the handle, tilted it, and wheeled it out to the curb.

Quiet, everyone. Don’t move, Faith ordered.

Mr. Wetherbee was dressed in a blue-and-red checked robe over matching house pants and blue slippers that changed his walk to a shuffle. He was almost as wide as he was tall, and he wasn’t that tall at all. Faith thought he looked like a walking checkerboard. He positioned the garbage can squarely against the lines of the curb and then quickly turned around, scuffled back to the side of his house, and wheeled out his greens bucket, leaving it next to the can filled with garbage. He did the same with his recycling cart.

Then he began to do something very strange. With one eyebrow raised, Mr. Wetherbee slyly looked down the street to the right and to the left. He waited for a few moments and then turned toward the house on his left, the gray Victorian house. Quickly, with squinting eyes and furrowed brow, he hunched over as if to make his body smaller, like he was trying to hide from something, he headed toward the gray house next door, his robe flapping against his knees and slippers shuffling. To Faith, he looked like he was on a mission—the garbage can mission.

Where’s he going? Finn asked.

"Shh! Just watch," Faith whispered.

Mr. Wetherbee opened the lid to the garbage container, and with a sneaky grin, he peered in and then quickly yet quietly shut the lid. He then moved to the recycle bin, looked in, and shut that one. The last one, the greens bin, captured his attention. That was when he did it.

He grabbed the handles, circled the bin away from the lineup, and then wheeled it down the sidewalk toward his own house, all the while looking suspiciously up and down the street. Then, without hesitation, he continued shuffling up his driveway and, with the greens cart, disappeared around the corner to his backyard.

What just happened? Dalton asked.

Oliver replied. Why would he do that?

What’s he doing with it? Dalton asked.

Faith knew what was coming, and she didn’t want to spoil it for the others, so she simply said, Keep watching. You’re not gonna want to miss this!

After a few minutes, Mr. Wetherbee appeared from his backyard with the stolen cart and rolled it down his own driveway.

Here he comes. Here he comes. Quiet now. Watch … It’s gonna happen, Faith whispered as she tried to conceal a smile, but she couldn’t help herself. She loved weird stuff like this Mr. Wetherbee.

What’s gonna happen? Finn asked.

Shh, Dalton ordered with his finger up to Finn’s face.

Okay, okay, okay, Finn whispered.

Then, right in front of their eyes, Mr. Wetherbee rolled the cart toward the curb in front of the Victorian house, all the while looking back and forth as he sneakily continued his weekly business. However, the stolen cart was now overloaded with sticks and branches sticking out between the lid and