The following are excerpts from my Water Street series. These chapter books are a fourth grade reading level.
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Mystery on Water Street
Prologue: The Watcher
Pressing harder against the attic window, Parker strained to see what was happening. The summer heat was still trapped in the small space, causing sweat to trickle down his back though the sun had set hours ago. There it was again! Five lots down, a beam from a single flashlight swept from left to right in the backyard of an abandoned house that had been empty for two years now. He couldn’t think of a good reason for somebody to be there at this hour. It was eleven o’clock at night and ten year old Parker was trembling with excitement.
Chapter One: The Detective
“I’m telling you, something’s going on! There could be a burglar creeping around, who knows? Somebody was sure there. I didn’t imagine it.” It was the following Saturday and Parker was sprawled across his bed, trying to convince his friends of the issue at hand. Tate, Geoff, Thomas, and Rudy had been his pals since the beginning of first grade.
“So what if there was somebody?” questioned Tate. “What can we do about it?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Parker, “but there was somebody there,” he insisted. “It was really late, too! Eleven o’clock!”
“That is strange,” said Geoff, “but whoever it was isn’t there now. We’ll probably never know.”
Parker looked thoughtful. “No. We have to find out. I’ll investigate! I’ll be just like a real detective.” His chest swelled with importance.
Thomas rolled his eyes. “Parker, what do you really think you’ll find? You aren’t even supposed to be over there. Your mom will have a fit!”
All the boys knew they’d be in trouble, probably grounded for a month, if they trespassed onto someone else’s property. Between that and the possibility that some dangerous person could be sneaking around, none of the boys wanted to go over there. No one except Parker.
“I know what to do,” said Parker, “I’ll take a guard dog!”
“A guard dog!” laughed Tate. “You mean Kipper? He’s just a poodle! He can’t guard anything!”
Parker felt like he needed to defend his mom’s little dog. “He can bark, can’t he? He’ll let me know if there’s trouble.” Parker got up from the bed and started toward his door, calling Kipper. His friends looked at each other. No one knew what to do. Parker seemed determined.
Parker had Kipper leashed and was standing near the front door when his friends caught up to him. Geoff cut him off. “Look, I know you’re curious about all this, but think about what you’re doing. We should all go together.”
Rudy shook his head. “Oh, no. Not me! I’m not getting grounded! I have my cousin’s pool party to go to next weekend. I’m staying right here!”
Thomas chimed in, “He’s right. We should stay here. If Parker isn’t back in ten minutes, we can call his mom or something.”
Parker nodded. “I won’t even be that long”, he promised. Parker headed through the door, his friends nervously checking the clock.
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Water Street Blues
Prologue:
Ten-year-old Parker was splayed on his back on his bedroom floor, glumly eyeing his window. Rivulets of water trickled down the pane, mocking him. It was finally here. It was Spring Break and Parker watched as all his plans for a fun-filled week flowed drearily down into the gutters.
Chapter One: Monday
“I can’t believe it’s supposed to rain all week,” whined Parker. “I was going to spend Spring break with my friends and we were going to go everywhere! To the ball field! To the park! We were supposed to play flag football with Rudy’s brothers!” Parker was depressed. He had been stuck in the house for most of the winter. There hadn’t been much snow to play in so it hadn’t been fun to go out into the cold.
Parker’s mom looked sympathetic. “I’m sure you’ll find ways to have fun, Parker. Just try to think of some indoor activities.” She glanced his way. “Just don’t try to spend all your time on video games.”
Parker slumped in his chair. He was at the kitchen table, staring listlessly across the room to the nearest window. He couldn’t help it. He watched the rain come down and tried to will it to go away. How could this week be any worse? His friends probably wouldn’t even come over. He was feeling very sorry for himself.
Mom had an idea. “How about this? I can take you over to Thomas’s house to play. You love his train sets.” It was true. Thomas and his Grandpa had turned half of his bedroom into a huge train yard. There were steam engines, diesels, and tracks heading in every direction. Some of them even had sound effects!
Parker cheered up. “That’s a super idea, Mom! Let’s go now!”
“Eat some breakfast first, dear.” Mom said. Parker shot up from his seat and rummaged around, looking for cereal. “Thomas’s house is just down the street from a little art museum I like to visit. I’ll drop you off on my way and pick you up in a couple of hours.”
After wolfing down his breakfast and changing clothes, Parker was in his mom’s van. “Come on, Mom!” Parker didn’t know what took his mom so long. “Thomas is probably out of bed and as bored as I am!”
It seemed to take an hour to get to Thomas’s house. Parker jumped out of the van as soon as his mom pulled into the driveway and came to a stop. He ran to the door and knocked hard, three times. Thomas opened the door and stared at his friend in confusion. “What are you doing here?” he questioned.
“I’m here to play with your train sets with you!” Parker was thrilled. Finally there was something to do that couldn’t be ruined by the soggy weather.
His friend regarded him strangely. “Sorry, Parker, but I can’t play. We’re leaving for Florida. We just finished packing.”
“That’s not possible!” cried Parker. “You never said anything about this to me or the guys!”
“I didn’t know,” explained Thomas. “We just decided yesterday. The rain isn’t going to let up all week so we thought we’d join my aunt at her beach house for a few days.”
Parker could not believe his luck. Sadly, he told his friend to enjoy his vacation and trudged back to the van. He barely even noticed the rain.
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Welcome To Water Street
Prologue:
Summer was awesome! No place to be, no work to do… Well, almost no work. Parker was lounging on the front porch at his home on Water Street. He had just helped his Mom clean up the yard and weed the small flower garden she kept, when he spied a moving van pull over in front of a house across the street. New neighbors, he thought, maybe they have a boy I can hang out with! All of Parker’s friends lived across town. With school being out, he didn’t have anyone to play with most days. Just then, the family pulled in behind the van and got out of their car. It was a Dad and a young girl. A girl, Parker sighed. I knew it was too good to be true…
Chapter One: Strange Strangers
“Parker!” shouted Tate, “try and catch this!” Tate threw the baseball as hard as he could, aiming high above Parker’s head. The ball sailed high above him and landed in the yard across the street. “Oops, sorry.” Tate apologized.
“No big deal,” replied Parker. Looking both ways, Parker loped across Water Street to get the ball. There was never much traffic on their road, but his Mom would have had a fit if she looked out the window and saw him cross the street without looking first. Retrieving the ball, he glanced up at the house and saw a curtain move behind a window. The girl had moved in a few days ago and he hadn’t seen her since. He thought that was odd.
“Come on, Parker” urged Tate. “Let’s play some more before my mom gets here.” Parker looked for cars again, and crossed back to his own yard.
The boys played for a little while, then Tate looked up and asked, “Who’s that?” Parker glanced over. It was the new girl! She was standing in her yard, staring at them. She didn’t wave or call out. She just stood there, staring.
“She’s kind of weird, isn’t she?” said Tate. Parker wanted to ignore her. His friend would be going home soon and he wasn’t interested in meeting the girl anyway.
“Don’t look at her, Tate,” Parker demanded. “She might try to come over and bug us.” Tate looked away quickly and the boys continued their game. When Tate’s mom pulled into the driveway, the girl was still outside, watching them. She had moved to sit under a shade tree in the front yard. It bothered Parker that she watched them so much. She should mind her own business, he thought, unkindly. Tate left with his mom and after a peek behind him at the strange girl, Parker went into the house.
The next day, Parker was talking to Geoff on the phone. “I heard you have a new kid across the street,” said Geoff. “Tate said she’s a weird-o. Have you met her yet?”
Parker was annoyed. “No, and I’m not going to.” He replied. “He’s right that she’s weird. She stares at me when I’m outside and never says anything! Her clothes are different, too.”
“Different, how?” Tate was intrigued. “Is she from another country?”
“Nothing like that. At least, I don’t think so. She’s just different. I can’t explain it any better than that.” Parker had noticed that the girl’s clothes were a little small on her. He knew that to live in his neighborhood, the family wasn’t really poor. He wouldn’t think less of someone for not having as much as he had. His mom had taught him better. Still, he wasn’t planning on being friends with her either. He wasn’t sure that girls were all that different from boys. He had seen some of them play sports and do other fun things that he liked, but this girl was just too weird.
“Well, when school starts, she’s going to have a rough time.” Geoff sounded sympathetic, but Parker dismissed the idea. Other girls will like her just fine, he thought. Maybe.
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Thanks for reading! These books are fully written and have been submitted to literary agents and are ready for publishing if I can get a bite! Wish me luck!