The Crazy Christmas Angel Mystery (2 page)

Eric turned left at the end of the cul-de-sac. He had a bunch more houses to go.

The sky was turning grayish pink. It would be dawn soon.

At last, Eric headed home. His mother's hot blueberry oatmeal was waiting.

In the corner of the kitchen, his grandpa's birds chirped their morning song. Three canaries and a pair of parakeets.

Soon, Eric heard Abby Hunter's whistle. The Cul-de-sac Kids were heading for Blossom Hill School.

Eric's mother hugged him. Then he pulled on his boots, jacket and scarf. Again.

He dashed out the front door, letting it slam.

Across the street, Abby and her new Korean brothers, Shawn and Jimmy, packed clumps of snow into balls.

Stacy Henry hid behind her snowman. She laughed as the snowballs flew at her.

Dee Dee Winters was halfway down the cul-de-sac, skipping through piles of snow. She strapped on her red backpack. It was probably filled with Christmas cookies for her teacher. Dee Dee was the best first grade cookie-maker ever.

Carly Hunter, Abby's little sister, followed
Dee Dee. They were best friends. They giggled and kicked the snow in the street.

Dunkum and Jason Birchall raced and slid. They zoomed up and down Dunkum's driveway. After school they would go sledding down Blossom Hill—mean and steep—three blocks away. Eric, too.

Eric hurried to catch up. His pants stuck to his knees. It was from kneeling in the snow, spying on the new neighbor. “Wait up!” he called to Dunkum and Jason.

Abby ran up to him. “What took you so long today?”

Eric pointed to the house with the moving van. “I wanted to see who was moving in.”

Stacy tossed a snowball to Abby. Abby caught it and threw it back.

“Were you spying, Eric?” Stacy asked, grinning.

“Just welcoming the new neighbors,” Eric said, grinning.

“There's only one,” said Stacy.

Eric pulled at his wet jeans. “Who says?”

“Abby does,” Stacy insisted.

“You sure there are no kids?” Eric said.

Stacy nodded. “Right now, Shawn and Jimmy are the newest kids on the block.” She chased Abby's brothers. They were too fast for her.

Eric tramped through the deepest snow he could find. He grumbled under his breath. “I hope they're wrong,” he whispered. “Who wants to live all alone?”

Eric felt sorry for the old man. He remembered when he and his mother were alone. It was after his father died in Germany. Then his mother invited Grandpa to live with them. That's when they came to America.

That was two years ago—when Eric was in first grade.

Eric turned around and looked down the cul-de-sac. Just as he did, the man with the pointy chin stood in the window of his house. He was leaning on his cane. He seemed to be looking right at Eric.

Eric froze in place.

The man
was
looking at him!

Eric shivered. His stomach flip-flopped.

Then the curtains closed.

Eric turned around. He ran to catch up with his friends. But all he could think of was the man at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Why is he alone? Is he as creepy as he looks?

The bell rang as Eric started across the schoolyard. “Wait for me!” he called.

“Hurry up,” shouted Dunkum. “Well be late!”

The school bell rang.

Eric slid down the sidewalk and hurried into the school.

THREE

Eric pounded down the hall toward the third grade. He pushed the door open. Miss Hershey was writing on the board.

Eric pulled his boots off and hung up his jacket. Then he slid into his seat behind Dunkum. He tapped his friend on the shoulder.

Dunkum turned around. “What?”

“There's an old man at the end of the block. And he's uh, real scary,” Eric whispered.

Dunkum frowned. “There is?”

Eric described the old man's long dark coat, the cane, his face and . . .

“Eric Hagel,” Miss Hershey said.

Eric looked up. “I'm here.”

Miss Hershey was calling roll. Eric would have to tell Dunkum the rest of the story at recess.

Abby was passing back the spelling tests from last week. Eric made a 100. Yes!

He leaned up to look at Dunkum's. But Dunkum put his hand over the grade at the top of his paper.

Too late, Eric saw it.

“Don't worry,” Eric said. “I'll help you drill for the next test.”

Dunkum picked at the eraser on his pencil. “OK,” he muttered.

Eric looked at the new spelling list. The words were:
Yule, candlelight, carols, wreath, tinsel, holly, angels
, and
mystery
.

Mystery?
Eric stared at the word. What was it doing on the Christmas spelling list?

Squeezing his pencil, Eric began to write the words in his best cursive.

It wasn't easy. Eric kept seeing the old man's face. It showed up when he wrote the date in the lefthand corner. It appeared when he wrote his name on the right side.

Eric rubbed his eyes. He had to get the man's face out of his mind!

He looked at the flag. He counted to ten under his breath. Then he looked at Miss Hershey. Her bright red and green Christmas sweater might help him forget the scary face.

“Eric, are you all right?” Miss Hershey asked.

He nodded. Everything would be all right soon, he told himself.

After school, Eric went sledding down Blossom Hill with Dunkum and Jason. Eric forgot about the scary face. It was almost dark when the boys headed home.

“Are you still gonna help me with my spelling?” Dunkum asked Eric.

“Sure am,” Eric said. “But I have to get
home after that and finish my book report.”

“What's your book about?” Jason asked.

“It's a mystery” Eric answered.

“Sounds good,” Jason said. “I like mysteries.”

Dunkum's sled got stuck in the snow. He pulled hard on the rope. “Mysteries are OK, I guess.”

Jason laughed. “The scarier the better.”

“Don't they give you bad dreams?” asked Dunkum.

“Sometimes,” Jason said. “But if I pray before I go to bed, it's better.”

Eric pulled his scarf tighter. “Why don't you just skip the scary stuff?”

Dunkum said, “Yeah, remember that Bible verse about only thinkin' on good stuff?”

“The Bible says that?” Eric said.

Dunkum smiled. “I learned it when I first went to Abby's church. You should come see the Christmas program. I'm gonna be Joseph this year.”

“Who's Mary?” Jason asked.

“Abby Hunter,” Dunkum said. His cheeks turned red. But not just from the cold.

Eric scooped up some snow and licked it.

FOUR

Eric pulled his sled toward his house. Before going inside, he glanced next door.

The moving van was gone, and the garage door was closed. Everything looked dark . . . till someone lit a candle in the living room. And another and another. Soon the room was filled with a spooky glow.

What was going on? Didn't the old man have electricity?

I saw lights this morning
, Eric thought.

Leaving his sled on the porch, Eric kicked his boots off inside the front door. He smelled German sausage. Yum!

Eric's mother was setting the dining room table. Grandpa was talking to his birds.

Eric went to the kitchen to wash his hands. They were frosty from sledding.

His mother came into the kitchen. “I've been thinking about inviting Mr. Tressler for supper sometime.”

Grandpa turned away from the bird cages. “Who?”

“Our new neighbor” Mrs. Hagel said.

“Very thoughtful,” said Grandpa. “I'd like to meet the old fellow.”

Eric dried his hands and hurried into the dining room. He didn't know what to say. How could he tell his mother he was scared of Mr. Tressler?

Eric's mother brought in the steaming sausage, and potato salad mixed with caraway seeds.

Eric's grandfather chuckled. “I think those birds want a taste of sausage.”

Eric pulled his chair out and sat down. Grandpa was bird-crazy.

“Give them some caraway seeds instead,” Eric suggested.