---
Ryan walked into Homeroom and Shantel slipped him a note. He read it:
Ryan,
Visit me at 31 Token Road
anytime between three
and four pm Monday
through Thursday. Just
knock. No need to call.
You have to leave at six.
Shantel
Ryan slipped the note in his pocket.
---
After school, Mr. Ross dropped Grace off at home and drove Ryan to Ethon's Gas. He filled the tank and went inside. The figure with the troll-like face and gray robe appeared in the back seat.
"Shantel won't like you," it said and disappeared.
Ryan shivered.
Mr. Ross came back with two bags of peanuts. "Snack up, Rye. You don't want your stomach growling around Shantel."
---
Enormous trees grew on the sidewalk along Token Road all the way down to a woodsy cul de sac.
Ryan looked for the number thirty-one on the two-story homes.
A stockade fence with an iron gate protected a red house and giant arborvitaes surrounded a yellow one. A dark-pink house stood on a hill with "31" on the wooden door.
"It's that one," said Ryan and Mr. Ross stopped. Ryan got out of the car anxiously.
"I'll pick you up at six," he called, driving off.
Ryan walked up the stone steps built into the hilly, front yard and climbed a second set of steps at the porch. He knocked on the door and the stained-glass windows around it reflected the sunlight.
A young woman with long, black hair and green eyes answered the door, wearing a black blouse and tight, dark-blue jeans.
"Hi, can I help you?"
"Is Shantel home?" asked Ryan nervously.
"Who are you?" she asked curiously.
"I'm Ryan. Shantel invited me over . . . ah . . . Monday through Thursday."
"Oh, okay. I'm Sigourney, her sister. Come in."
A giant, green vase filled with violet carnations sat on a tiny table in the hallway beneath a round mirror on the wall. A picture hanged nearby. A pretty, elderly woman with white hair and big, brown eyes smiled demurely.
"Shantel!" called Sigourney. She stood at the bottom of a wooden staircase. "Ryan's here!" She turned to Ryan. "Have a seat in the living room."
Sigourney walked to the opened, dining room and a lace cloth covered a long table there with an enormous basket on it filled with red and green apples.
Two electronic candles shined on either side of a crystal bowl on a small table against the wall and Sigourney took a piece of cinnamon candy from it. Then she went in the kitchen.
The smell of baking bread filled the living room.
Ryan sat on a white couch near a glass, coffee table with fashion magazines on it. Giant, green and violet pillows covered a white, love seat nearby.
Ryan waited, looking into a side room with white, patio furniture inside it. Sunlight shined through the many windows.
A young woman with her brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a purple, tank top and blue jeans carried a tray of dinner rolls into the dining room and placed them on a cutting board on the table.
YOU ARE READING
Sing Today Die Tomorrow
Mystery / ThrillerSomething wants him to die. Something else wants him to misbehave and another something wants him to hear lies. And he just turned thirteen. Ryan Ross doesn't understand what on earth is haunting him until a mysterious stranger leads him to a secret...
Chapter Ten
Start from the beginning
