After that, I would need to hide my own story and the pendant where they would be protected. The idea for the perfect place came to me from another of my books.

The lake.

If anyone ever came close to the water, just like in The Rumor of the Haunted Nunnery, the dogs would chase him away. The animals would guard my two relics-the pendant and my book. After trying to destroy The Wish of the Woman in Black, I already knew that the water would not hurt my new book’s pages. If the pendant eventually became oxidized and rusted, then no one would ever be able to open the gate again, though I doubted such good fortune.

I buried The Wish of the Woman in Black under the stone in my basement. That night, I brought the still-unfinished story of my life, the pendant, a canvas bag, and a metal box with me into the woods.

In the clearing, my flashlight swept across the stone girl’s face. Ignoring her, I made my way down the hill toward the lake. The water reflected the stars. I placed the bag onto the shore and reached inside. I pulled out the pendant and the notebook. I turned to the end and began to write. I have been doing so ever since…

I’ve written everything on the past two pages only moments ago. Here I stand on the edge of this nameless lake in the middle of these nameless woods. I’ve finally caught up to myself.

When I finish this last paragraph, I will stand up and place the notebook and the pendant into the bag. I will place the bag in the box. After that is done, I will close the box and throw it into the lake as far as my strength will allow. I will watch the box sink. Finally, I will climb the hill toward the clearing where the statue will be waiting, I hope, to let me through. What happens after that is a story for when I return… if I return. Even though this isn’t over, I must write The End or it won’t work. So here goes…

The End.

There was silence.

Finally, Harris said, “But what did happen after that?” “Maybe there’s more,” said Eddie. “Maybe there’s another book.”

Harris flashed him a grimace. “There’s no other book, Eddie. This is it. The end. He wrote it right here.”

“But it’s not the end,” said Eddie. “We can’t give up now. The Woman in Black is still haunting Gatesweed, which means that Nathaniel didn’t succeed.”

“Does that mean we should try?” said Maggie.

“Of course we should try,” said Eddie.

“Hold on a second,” said Maggie. “According to this book, the Woman in Black really has no power to harm us or anyone in Gatesweed, right? Other than her being truly creepy, what’s the real danger of just leaving her alone?”

“The danger,” said Eddie, “is the possibility of danger. We’re talking about the end of the world! If we have the power to stop her, we should do it. She’s there, watching and waiting for someone just like Nathaniel to come along so she can use him to do what she wants. As long as she exists, she’s going to want someone to open the stone child’s gate.”

“But in order for that to happen,” said Maggie, “someone would need to have the pendant. The one he used to write all of his books. And it’s at the bottom of the lake, right?”

Harris and Eddie glanced at each other.

“What’s wrong?” said Maggie.

“I guess you should show her,” said Eddie.

Harris went over to his desk. He turned on his computer. After typing Nathaniel Olmstead’s name into the search engine, he said, “Here. Look.” On the screen was the article that Harris had showed Eddie at the beginning of the month. Harris read part of it aloud, “‘When the lake was dredged, police discovered a small metal box. The nature of its contents is being kept secret as the investigation is ongoing. However, an anonymous source has exclusively revealed that this secret evidence has itself mysteriously disappeared.’”

“Oh no,” said Maggie. “The book and the pendant were in the box.”

Harris nodded. “The police pulled the box out of the lake. If we have The Enigmatic Manuscript, that means it’s possible that someone else has the pendant.”

“Right,” said Eddie. “It’s only a matter of time before this all happens again to someone else. The Woman in Black is not going to stop until she gets what she wants.”

“Unless we stop her,” said Harris. “Like Nathaniel tried to do.”

“But how?” said Maggie.

They sat in silence for a few seconds.

“Maybe the answer is still in The Enigmatic Manuscript,” said Eddie. “Could we have missed something?”

Harris’s bedroom door swung open, and they all screamed.

Frances stood in the doorway, smiling. “Gosh, you are jumpy today! Sorry to interrupt,” she said, “but soup’s on.”

Harris groaned, “Mom! You have to stop scaring us like that.”

When they finished eating dinner, Eddie, Harris, and Maggie decided to spend the rest of the night thinking about what they’d read.

After everything that had happened, Eddie was frightened to ride home alone, but he knew he needed to be brave. He pedaled as fast as he could, and by the time he made it up the steep road, Eddie was out of breath. He parked his bike in the barn but paused at the walkway that led to the front door. He looked down at Gatesweed. The streetlamps glittered in their concentric circles at the bottom of the hill, like firelight reflecting off ripples in a dark pool of water.

Tonight, a shadow was descending, a gathering darkness, and it was not merely the fallen night. Something sinister is hiding in the corners of this town, and everybody senses it, Eddie thought. They’re too scared to acknowledge it. Even if people could comprehend what had happened to Nathaniel, Eddie had a feeling they still would keep it a secret.

Harris, Maggie, and Eddie were different. He now understood their responsibility.

Part of him wanted to beg his parents to take him away, yet something was telling him to stay. He had found his first true friends here. The secret of the stone child had bound them together. They couldn’t leave the mystery unsolved. A character in a Nathaniel Olmstead story would never allow that to happen.

The wind tickled his neck and mussed his hair with its cold fingers. Eddie shivered. It was time to go inside.

16

When the phone rang on Saturday morning, Eddie was still in bed. Moments later, his mother knocked on his door.

“It’s for you,” she said, and handed him the phone.

Eddie sat up and said, “Hello?” Harris was on the other end of the line. He asked Eddie to come apple picking with him and Frances. Eddie had never done anything like that before, but it sounded fun. It would be a pleasant distraction from everything else.

“I thought your mother’s store was open today,” Eddie said.

“It is,” said Harris, “but since we’re open later for the reading tonight, my mom thought she’d take the morning off. I heard your mother’s gonna read something she wrote. That’s so cool!”

“Yeah,” said Eddie. “I know.”

Around noon, Frances and Harris picked him up, and they drove west along Black Ribbon Road. To Eddie’s surprise, she turned left into Maggie’s driveway. Maggie was waiting for them outside the small house. She wore a long black coat and a red scarf. She ran to the car and got into the backseat, next to Eddie. “Hi, Ms. May. Hi, Eddie,” she said. Then she quietly added, “Thanks for inviting me, Harris.”

Harris mumbled something that sounded like “You’re welcome.” As Frances looked over her shoulder and backed out of the driveway, Eddie noticed that she wore a tiny smile.

The apple orchard a few miles north of Gatesweed was much larger than the overgrown one behind Nathaniel Olmstead’s house. Together, they picked four big bags of apples, tasting them as they went along. McIntosh were the sweetest-Eddie’s favorite. After that, they each chose a pumpkin from the farm stand.