The Mystery of the Griefer's Mark Read Online Free PDF Page B

and the sun beating down on his roofless living room.

9
    DON’T GIVE UP
    â€œ M y house!” Adam screamed out in horror. “All my stuff was in there, too.”
    â€œMaybe the griefer emptied it out before he blew it up,” said Steve.
    â€œThat doesn’t make things better!” cried Adam.
    â€œWhen we catch the griefer, we’ll make him give back all the stuff he stole from us and you can have all of your potions, too,” Steve said hopefully.
    â€œYou really believe we’ll find the griefer, don’t you?” asked Kyra.
    â€œWe have no other choice. We must find this evil griefer,” said Steve as they walked toward the new house. “Luckily we have this new house. And I’m pretty sure that after what the griefer did to Adam’s and Kyra’s houses, the new house will be a target.”
    â€œCan we look at my house?” asked Adam. “I want to see how badly damaged it is.”
    The group quietly followed him to his house. The door was blown off the hinges, and the living room was burnt down, but the back of the house hadn’t been touched.
    â€œIt’s not as bad as we thought,” said Steve. “You can still use the bedrooms. All you have to do is rebuild the living room.”
    â€œIf we could build the decoy house in one day, we can certainly rebuild this one,” said Kyra.
    The others agreed with Kyra; they would help Adam rebuild his house. Steve looked at the burnt living room and then jumped over the remains of a wall and looked at the devastation around him. On the floor, next to the burnt couch, was a small piece of wool.
    Steve picked up the wool. “What is this? I keep seeing wool every time the griefer strikes.”
    â€œDo you think it’s a sign?” asked Lucy as she took the wool from Steve’s hand.
    â€œWhen the griefer blew up my wheat farm, he also stole my sheep,” said Steve.
    â€œI bet he is using the wool from your sheep!” said Kyra.
    â€œAnd what about that wool maze?” asked Adam.
    â€œYou’re right. This has to be some sort of sign, but what does it mean?” asked Lucy.
    The group was dumbfounded. They weren’t sure what the wool meant. Then Steve said, “I think it’s the griefer’s calling card.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?” asked Lucy.
    â€œThe griefer is using the wool to show that each of these horrible acts was done by the same griefer, and he’s taking credit for it,” explained Steve.
    â€œWhy would somebody want to do that?” asked Lucy.
    â€œYou know how griefers act,” said Adam. “They are very mean and they want people to know they can pull off such risky and complicated crimes.”
    Kyra started to cry. “With all of our stuff damaged and Henry and Thomas missing, I feel like just giving up,” she said. “It seems like we’re getting nowhere.”
    â€œWe can’t give up,” said Steve. “We are going to solve this mystery and rebuild.”
    As the group walked back to the new house, Adam trailed behind them. Just then, he saw someone running past him. “Thomas!” he called out.
    The gang turned around, but they didn’t see anybody.
    â€œAre you imagining Thomas again?” asked Steve.
    â€œNo, I just saw him run by. When I called his name, he seemed to disappear.” Adam sounded defeated.
    â€œWhy would Thomas do that?” asked Steve.
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWhere did you see him?” asked Steve.
    â€œBy that apple tree,” said Adam.
    Steve walked to the tree and checked for signs of Thomas. Most of the apples had been eaten off the tree. He wondered if Thomas was the griefer and was hiding in the tree and eating the apples to survive. Besides the almost barren apple tree, there was nothing there. Steve walked slowly to see if there was a hole in the ground. He thought Thomas could be hiding underground, but the grass