They didn’t have to go far to gather sticks and twigs to build a fire. Even though it was cold, the ground was dry. Soon they had a respectable pile of wood beside the ice block. Sally took out her lighter.
“Why do you carry a lighter?” Cindy asked. “Are you thinking of taking up smoking?”
Sally made a face. “You will recall how many times we wished we had a lighter in the last four weeks. Spooksville is unpredictable. If I wasn’t such a pacifist, I’d carry a gun in my other pocket.”
Cindy smiled. “You’re as much of a pacifist as a hungry mountain lion is.”
“What does pacifist mean?” Adam asked Watch.
“Sally when she’s totally unconscious,” Watch replied. “Light the pile, Sally, and move back. Adam, Cindy—you get back, too. I’ll take care of the fire.”
Sally flicked her Bic. In the deep shadows from the surrounding trees, the orange flame glowed bright. Sally moved it toward the pile of sticks and twigs.
“Are you worried something might jump out and grab us?” Sally asked.
“There’s no reason to risk all of us,” Watch said.
The flame caught immediately. In seconds they had a crackling campfire. The dark smoke gathered beneath the frost-covered branches. As the white flakes thawed, drops of water fell around them. But the block of ice thawed much more slowly. Taking Watch’s advice, Adam had moved back a few feet. But he could see that the block was hardly reacting to the fire. He pointed it out to the others.
“Just what I suspected,” Watch said. “This block can’t be frozen water. It must be some other substance, with a much lower freezing point. Hand me a couple of those logs, Cindy. We need a bigger fire if we’re going to get anywhere with this thing today.”
So Watch threw a couple of real logs on the fire. This wood took a few minutes to catch, but soon they had a roaring fire going. The smoke continued to gather beneath the branches, creating a black cloud that caused them all to start coughing. But now, finally, the block started to melt.
The liquid, as it dripped off, was a dull blue.
It puddled around Watch. Steam rose from it. Blue steam. It mingled with the black smoke, creating a ghostly color.
The block started to become clearer.
There was definitely something inside.
Humanoid shaped. It could be a man.
A very cold man.
“Watch,” Adam said softly. “I think maybe you should sit back with us.”
“Yeah,” Sally whispered. “I don’t like what I’m seeing.”
Watch shook his head. “I have to control the fire. I can’t burn him.”
“Is it a him?” Cindy gasped.
“I think so,” Watch said. “And if it is a person, he’s got to be dead. He can’t hurt us.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily make that statement about dead people in Spooksville,” Sally said.
The ice—or whatever it was—continued to thaw. A hand became visible inside the block, then an arm. The latter plopped out as the heat of the flames dug deeper into the block. The exposed flesh glistened in the light from the fire. Soon they were staring at a man. He was not naked but wore what looked like a blue jump suit. Yet his skin was very pale. Of course, he was a corpse—he was supposed to be pale.
“Is he alive?” Sally asked.
“He was frozen,” Cindy said. “He can’t be alive.” She paused. “Is he alive?”
Watch carefully poked his skin. “I don’t think so. He’s not moving or breathing and he’s too cold.”
“I don’t think you should touch him,” Adam said. “He might not like it.”
“Dead people don’t like or dislike anything,” Cindy said.
“I know a few dead people who have very specific tastes,” Sally said. “But I agree with Adam. Don’t touch him. You might catch some disease.”
Watch ignored them. He picked up the hand and studied the palm. “Incredible,” he whispered. “There are no lines on this hand. No prints on the fingers.”
“But aren’t fingerprints created in the womb?” Adam said.
“Yes,” Watch said. “I don’t think this creature was ever in one.”
“What are you saying?” Cindy demanded.
“He’s saying this creature was never born,” Sally said, her tone anxious. “And if that’s the case, it might never have died. Watch, get away from it now. You’re making me nervous.”
It was a pity Watch didn’t take Sally’s advice. If he had, maybe he would have gotten away. Maybe they all would have. But there were many maybe-mysteries in Spooksville that were never solved. Watch didn’t listen and he didn’t get away.
Watch was poking at the palm when the hand came alive.
The fingers moved. They bent into a claw shape.
Watch dropped the hand and sat back.
But the cold man’s arm was long.
It reached out and grabbed Watch by the foot.
“It’s got me!” Watch cried as he tried to shake loose. “Help!”
They jumped to his side, crowding around the fire. Adam went down on his knees beside Watch’s foot and pried at the fingers with all his strength. But they were like marble and didn’t budge. The hand began to pull Watch toward the block of ice. Sally grabbed a stick and began to pound on it. Cindy kicked at it. Still, the cold arm continued to drag Watch in toward the block.
“Grab a stick out of the fire!” Watch shouted. “Press it to its skin!”
Unfortunately they all turned to follow Watch’s advice at once. Which was a shame because at that exact moment, when their backs were to the block of ice, it exploded. The shards of ice fell over them like debris from a blast. For a moment they didn’t even know what was happening.
But then they saw that the cold man had broken free.
It was standing straight up. Holding on to Watch.
The cold man opened its eyes and stared at them.
The eyes were blue, completely blue. There were no pupils, no eyelashes. They shone with a strange light that sent shivers down their backs. The creature had its arm around Watch’s neck. Clearly it had no intention of letting him go.
“Use the fire,” Watch rasped, shivering uncontrollably. “Try to force him to release me.”
“Maybe we could ask it to let you go,” Cindy cried. “Hey, you big Popsicle, let our friend go!”
In response the creature only stared at Cindy, and the strange blue light from its eyes seemed to envelope her. Cindy backed up and screamed.
“It’s freezing me!” she said.
Adam had seen enough. He had a burning stick in his hand. He rushed toward the creature, waving it in the air. The cold creature turned away from Cindy and retreated. But it continued to hold on to Watch, using him as a shield.
“Let him go or you burn!” Adam shouted. “Sally! Go around his back.”
“Gotcha,” Sally said, a burning stick in her hand as well. She split from Adam’s side and tried to get behind the creature. But the trees were too thick, so she only made it to his right side. The cold man’s head darted from side to side. Clearly it didn’t like the fire, yet it was willing to risk it to hold on to Watch. Every time Adam tried to make a stab at the thing with his torch, it blocked his way using Watch as a shield.
“What should I do?” Adam called to Watch.
“It’s so cold,” Watch moaned, his lips actually turning white, as if he were freezing to death. “Try threatening one of its partners.”
“I’m on that,” Cindy said, grabbing a particularly big burning branch and taking it over to another block of ice. She held it close to the ice and called back to the cold man. “Let him go or I fry this one!”
Once more the cold man concentrated its weird glowing eyes on Cindy. The blue light seemed to leap toward her. Before Cindy could even raise her torch to ward off the freezing beam, her arm grew numb. She tried to speak but only choked sounds came out. Adam thought she might freeze or suffocate in the next minute. Not having a chance to think of another plan, he threw his torch in the air, at the creature’s head. The torch landed behind it, and the cold man turned and was forced to withdraw its icy gaze. But this time it didn’t give them a chance to regroup.
Tightening its grip on Watch, it yanked him into the trees. It was very quick and out of sight before any of them could react.
In the shadows of the forest, they heard Watch scream.
Then there was nothing but silence. Horrible silence.
The cold man had taken their friend.