chapter 1 SPARKING A mystery Amy Martinez stared at the flames She felt the warmth on her face but the fire offered more than that She felt at peace next to the campfire Her friends were joking around and laughing but she was quiet tonight Where are the marshmallows asked 6
Mitch as he dug through a backpack I was sure we brought them I already took them out said Stan Amy’s neighbor The friends were gathered in the forested hills between Woodland Cemetery and Hilltop Cemetery The two graveyards sat side by side above the town of Marshfield The small town had four cemeteries and each of the five friends lived on the edge of one of them They called themselves the Zombie Hunters and they’d shared many scary adventures 7
But tonight was just for fun I can’t believe we go back to school on Tuesday Mitch said This is our last blast of summer Amy nodded She loved school so heading back after the summer break didn’t bother her But she’d been looking forward to this Labor Day weekend campfire Just don’t get rowdy Amy said Let’s keep it quiet Mitch howled Like werewolves Or goblins said Barry We’ve seen our share of those around here 8
Amy closed her eyes and smiled I can be peaceful by myself she thought No ghosts tonight No zombies Stan nudged Amy and offered her a toasted marshmallow I’ll wait she said Not hungry The flames were always interesting It was similar to watching clouds and imagining what they looked like But the flames changed quicker than clouds Sometimes they looked like eerie claws One of the claws seemed to reach for her Hey she squeaked as the 9
