byCarole Marsh

The Mystery of the

Copyright ©2008 Carole Marsh/Gallopade InternationalAll rights reserved.First Edition

Carole Marsh Mysteries™ and its skull colophon are the property of Carole Marshand Gallopade International.

Published by Gallopade International/Carole Marsh Books. Printed in the UnitedStates of America.

Managing Editor: Sherry MossSenior Editor: Janice BakerAssistant Editor: Michael KellyCover Design: Vicki DeJoyCover Photo Credits: ©Dirk-Jan Matlaar, istockphoto, ©Jupiterimages CorporationPicture Credits: Vicki DeJoyContent Design and Illustrations: Randolyn Friedlander

Gallopade International is introducing SAT words that kids need to know ineach new book that we publish. The SAT words are bold in the story. Lookfor this special logo beside each word in the glossary. Happy Learning!

Gallopade is proud to be a member and supporter of these educationalorganizations and associations:

American Booksellers AssociationAmerican Library Association

International Reading AssociationNational Association for Gifted Children

The National School Supply and Equipment AssociationThe National Council for the Social Studies

Museum Store AssociationAssociation of Partners for Public LandsAssociation of Booksellers for Children

This book is a complete work of fiction. All events are fictionalized, and althoughthe names of real people are used, their characterization in this book is fiction. Allattractions, product names, or other works mentioned in this book are trademarksof their respective owners and the names and images used in this book are strictlyfor editorial purposes; no commercial claims to their use is claimed by the authoror publisher.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyrightowner and the above publisher of this book.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via anyother means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable bylaw. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in orencourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the author’srights is appreciated.

Includes Five

30Years

Ago . . .

As a mother and an author, one of the fondest periods of my lifewas when I decided to write mystery books for children. At this time(1979) kids were pretty much glued to the TV, something parents and teachers complained about the same way they do about videogames today.

I decided to set each mystery in a real place—a place kids could goand visit for themselves after reading the book. And I also used realchildren as characters. Usually a couple of my own children served ascharacters, and I had no trouble recruiting kids from the book’slocation to also be characters.

Also, I wanted all the kids—boys and girls of all ages—to participatein solving the mystery. And, I wanted kids to learn something as theyread. Something about the history of the location. And I wanted thestories to be funny.

That formula of real+scary+smart+fun served me well. The kidsand I had a great time visiting each site, and many of the events in thestories actually came out of our experiences there.

I love getting letters from teachers and parents who say they readthe book with their class or child, then visited the historic site andsaw all the places in the mystery for themselves. What’s so greatabout that? What’s great is that you and your children have anexperience that bonds you together forever. Something you shared.Something you both cared about at the time. Something that crossedall age levels—a good story, a good scare, a good laugh!

30 years later,

Carole Marsh

Hey, kids! As you see—here we are ready to embark onanother of our exciting Carole Marsh Mystery adventures!You know, in “real life,” I keep very close tabs on Christina,Grant, and their friends when we travel. However, in themystery books, they always seem to slip away from Papaand me so they can try to solve the mystery on their own!

I hope you will go to www.carolemarshmysteries.comand apply to be a character in a future mystery book! Well,The Mystery Girl is all tuned up and ready for “take-off!”

Gotta go...Papa says so! Wonder what I've forgottenthis time?

Happy “Armchair Travel” Reading,

Mimi

Christina Grant Kyle LeahYother Yother O’Connor Clark

About the

Characters

Christina Yother, 10, from Peachtree City, Georgia

Grant Yother, 7, from Peachtree City, Georgia,Christina’s brother

Kyle O’Connor, 12, Painesville, Ohio, as Sean

Leah Clark, 7, Peachtree City, Georgia, as Sally

The many places featured in the book actually exist and areworth a visit! Perhaps you could read the book and follow thetrail these kids went on during their mysterious adventure!

Titles in the Carole

Marsh Mysteries

Series

#1 The Mystery of Biltmore House#2 The Mystery on the Freedom Trail#3 The Mystery of Blackbeard the Pirate#4 The Mystery of the Alamo Ghost#5 The Mystery on the California Mission Trail#6 The Mystery of the Missing Dinosaurs#7 The White House Christmas Mystery#8 The Mystery on Alaska’s Iditarod Trail#9 The Mystery at Kill Devil Hills

#10 The Mystery in New York City#11 The Mystery at Disney World#12 The Mystery on the Underground Railroad#13 The Mystery in the Rocky Mountains#14 The Mystery on the Mighty Mississippi#15 The Mystery at the Kentucky Derby#16 The Ghost of the Grand Canyon#17 The Mystery at Jamestown#18 The Mystery in Chocolate Town#19 The Graveyard of the Atlantic Mystery at

Diamond Shoals#20 The Counterfeit Constitution Mystery#21 The Mystery of the Haunted Ghost Town#22 The Mystery in Las Vegas#23 The Mystery at the Graveyard of the Atlantic#24 The Ghost of the Golden Gate Bridge

Books and Teacher’s Guides are available at booksellers, libraries, school supply stores, museums, and many

other locations!

1 Takeoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Thunder, Clatter, Boom, Boom, Boom. . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 A Fateful Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Birds of a Feather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 I Want Black! But Pink is Prettier! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 What a Difference! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 A Scotch Bonnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Stair Climbing, Anyone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 Shipwrecks Galore!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

10 The Haunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5311 In Hot Water! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6112 Coast Guard to the Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6713 Permission Granted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7314 Row, Row, Row, Your Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7515 Shipwreck Treasure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7916 The Fiercest Pirate of Them All! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8317 The Eagle Has Landed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9118 Those Aren’t Real Ponies! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9519 What a Ride! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9920 The Beasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10321 Outer Banks Angel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10922 Mason’s Boy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11523 Thank You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11724 Home, Sweet Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Book Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Scavenger Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Pop Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Graveyard of the Atlantic Trivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Excerpt from The Mystery of the Haunted Ghost Town . . . . 135Excerpt from The Ghost of the Golden Gate Bridge . . . . . . . . . 139

Contents

“Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the fun I had at Cape Hatteras,” Mimi said, twisting around in the front seat of the plane to look at her granddaughter, Christina. “The ocean,beaches, sandbars, and history of the Outer Banksfascinated me.”

“Is that why you want to write a mystery aboutCape Hatteras?” Christina asked, leaning forwardfrom her back seat.

“Yes!” Mimi said. “But I want you and yourbrother to experience all the things I did. My friendsand I would take a rowboat out to the sandbars andsearch for seashells. Sometimes we’d row to anotherisland reef to search for treasure.”

“Sounds kind of boring,” Christina said.“Not at all,” Mimi said, winking. “We’d always

find something that entertained us. We found anisland of wild ponies, and snorkeled through severalincredible shipwrecks at Diamond Shoals, just offCape Hatteras.”

1

1

Takeoff

“How old were you?” Christina asked.“About your age,” Mimi said. “Maybe just a

couple of years older.”“So,” Christina said, smiling, “can Grant and I go

row boating by ourselves?”Mimi shook her head. “I don’t think so!” she

said. “You’re not familiar with the area and withboats. I think you’ll need to wait until you’re a littlebit older.”

CLANK!Christina looked out the front windshield. Papa

had closed the right side engine cowl. “I thoughtyou’d say that,” she said.

Papa opened the left engine cowl on the MysteryGirl, his little red and white airplane that he used tofly his wife, Mimi, a children’s mystery book writer,and him wherever they wanted to travel. There weretimes, like today, when their two grandchildren,Christina and Grant, joined them on a trip.

2 The Mystery of the Graveyard of the Atlantic

After performing his pre-flight check of theengine compartment, Papa closed the cowl andtightened the locking thumbscrews.

“Everything okay?” Grant asked, as he scurriedup to Papa’s side.

“Yep!” Papa said. “Where are Christina and yourgrandmother?”

Grant pointed toward the plane’s cockpit.Papa looked up and saw them seated inside the

plane, talking. “Huh!” he huffed. “I didn’t notice themget on board. I wonder where they put their bags?”

Even though his mind was elsewhere, Grantpointed to the back of the plane. Mimi’s red suitcaseand Christina’s pink bag sat on the ground by the doorto the small cargo compartment.

Papa spied the luggage and nodded. “What’swrong?” he asked. “Cat got your tongue today?”

“No, sir!” Grant said, smiling. “I don’t let anythingaround my tongue except food. I was thinking aboutthe Outer Banks and remembered something Ilearned in school.”

As Papa unlatched the cargo door, Grant liftedone of the suitcases. He handed the bag to hisgrandfather. “I seem to remember something about aship made of iron sinking along the Outer Banks,”Grant recalled.

“Well,” Papa remarked, “you must be talkingabout the USS Monitor, which was an ironclad ship

Takeoff 3

developed by the North during the Civil War. It wentdown just off Cape Hatteras, which is where we’regoing to be staying.”

“What does ‘iron glad’ mean?” Grant asked.“Was the ship glad about something?”

“It’s ironclad, Grant,” Papa corrected, smiling.“It was the first ship built with an all-iron hull, whichprotected it from the cannon fire that sank ordinarywooden ships. It kind of looked like an armored raftwith most of the hull under water.”

“How did it happen?” Grant asked.“How did what happen?” Papa replied, trying to

cram one of Mimi’s overstuffed suitcases through thesmall cargo door opening. “She’s probably stuffedthis thing full of shoes again,” he muttered.

“How did the ironclad ship go down?” Grantasked again.

Papa latched the door and leaned up against it.He adjusted the cowboy hat he always wore, alongwith his chocolate-brown boots and jeans. “Well, firstof all,” he explained, “the Monitor was not only thefirst all-iron ship built by the North, but the first shipto have a rotating gun turret. But that gun was of nohelp on the night it sunk. I believe it was aroundChristmas in 1862.

“The Monitor was rounding Cape Hatteras duringa vicious storm at a spot the locals call the Graveyardof the Atlantic,” Papa continued. “It was right near

4 The Mystery of the Graveyard of the Atlantic

Diamond Shoals, which is ‘ground zero’ forshipwrecks.”

“Diamond shores?” Grant asked. “Are therediamonds there?”

“Not shores,” Papa said. “Shoals! It’s anenormous area of sneaky, shifting sandbars thatsnatch ships, causing them to run aground and sink!The Monitor got trapped in those fingers, and only ahandful of the crew survived.”

“It must be a scary place,” Grant observed, witha worried frown spreading across his face.

“It can be,” Papa said. “They say that during anOuter Banks storm, you can stand on shore and watchtwo oceans clash because the northbound GulfStream runs right smack into the cold currentscoming down from the Arctic.”

Grant’s blue eyes were wide with anticipation.“What happens then, Papa?” he asked.

“When they collide,” Papa said, “an explosion ofwater spews up to 100 feet into the sky, taking sand,shells, and sea life with it, and then dumping themback into the sea, just so it can repeat it over and overagain.”

“Coooooool,” Grant sighed.“Up and down the Outer Banks,” Papa continued,

“the skeletons of at least 500 ships lie buried. Someare covered only by water, with a single piece of metalprotruding above the surface to mark their final

Takeoff 5

resting places. Others have been covered in sandfrom the storm that sunk them.”

“Wow!” Grant said. “Do you think some of theships had gold onboard?”

“A lot of those sunken ships carried goods likecoffee and sugar, or salt and spices,” Papa said. “Butthere were many ships, like the Spanish treasureships returning to Spain from the mines of Mexicoand South America, that carried gold, silver, andjewels.”

Papa tousled Grant’s blonde curls. “Even today,”he said, “divers and treasure hunters still look forsunken treasure there.”

“Awesome!” Grant exclaimed, as he climbed intothe plane. “I love shipwrecks. I think I’ll be one ofthose treasure hunters when I grow up!”

CLICK!With his seatbelt fastened, Grant had a sudden

image of himself standing on the bridge of a treasurehunting ship. A large chest, filled with overflowinggold coins, sat at his feet.

6 The Mystery of the Graveyard of the Atlantic

Grant squirmed in his seat. Christina slept curledup in a ball next to him, her long brown hair spillingover her face. He grabbed the headset from the hooknext to his seat and placed it over his ears. He pulledthe microphone close to his mouth and pressed thetransmit key. “Papa, are we there yet?” he whined.

The last rays of sun had disappeared over thewestern horizon about twenty minutes earlier. “Hangin there, big guy,” Papa replied, gazing out the frontwindshield. “We’re about 20 miles out.”

The Mystery Girl had already descended beneath ablanket of clouds, which magically appeared a fewminutes earlier, and was on final approach to theairport. Papa scanned the sky in front of him forrunway lights, but still couldn’t see any.

7

Thunder,

Clatter,

Boom, Boom, Boom

2

PING! PING!Hard rain began to pelt the airplane, slowly at

first, and then became a thunderous roar.The noise awoke Christina. She uncurled and

stretched. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Is thatrain? It’s really coming down hard!”

“Yes, dear!” Mimi said. “Just relax! Papa’s got itunder control.”

RAT! TAT! TAT!

THUMP!BANG!

Mimi and Christina screamed, as Grant pushedthe headset’s earpieces against his head to block outtheir ear-piercing shrieks.

“HANG ON!” Papa bellowed, pushing the yokeforward, and nosing the airplane down slightly.

“What was that?” Mimi shouted, looking back atChristina and Grant. “Are you two okay?”

Christina and Grant nodded their heads silently,their eyes wide with apprehension.

8 The Mystery of the Graveyard of the Atlantic

“Birds!” Papa yelled, his knuckles turning white ashe struggled to hold the yoke steady. Scanning hisinstruments, he said, “We flew through a flock ofbirds.” The plane pitched up and down and slid left and right as turbulence shook it violently aroundthe sky.

Christina leaned over and tightened Grant’sseatbelt. They looked at each other and claspedhands.

The turbulence grew worse with each passingsecond. “We’ve got to land!” Mimi shouted.

Papa couldn’t see the runway lights at all. Theywere still 10 miles from the airport. The Mystery Girlbegan to sputter. He looked down at his fuel gage andsaw the digital readout dropping rapidly.

“That’s not good!” Papa said. “It looks like a birdbroke through the air screen and took out the fuelline.”

“Kids, put on your life jackets—NOW!” Papashouted, as the aircraft skimmed just 200 feet abovethe violent waves beneath them.

FLASH! BOOM!Lightning lit the sky and powerful vibrations

thundered, like an immense bowling ball smashinginto electrically charged bowling pins.

Thunder, Clatter, Boom, Boom, Boom 9

Christina helped Grant fasten the buckle on hisbright yellow life jacket. She grabbed his hand again.“It’ll be all right!” she said to her wide-eyed littlebrother.

Grant shook his head up and down. “I know!” hesaid. “Papa won’t let anything bad happen.”

“Come on, girl,” Papa shouted to the Mystery Girl.“Just a little bit further.” Now they were just fivemiles from the airport.

Suddenly, the engine stopped! The immediatesilence was frightening.

“I’m going to try and land on the beach,” Papasaid. “Hold on tight, because I can’t see a thing.”

“What’s that?” Mimi shouted, as two foggy lightsappeared in front of them.

“Well, I’ll be!” Papa said. “Someone’s on thebeach, showing us where to land!”

As the Mystery Girl floated quietly down towardthe lights, without any power, the rain began tolighten and the fog began to lift. Papa watched thelights gently bounce up and down. He realized thatthe person waving the lights was not on the beach,but in a small boat. Now he could see the beach 50yards off to his left, but didn’t have enough altitude toturn the plane toward it.

As the Mystery Girl flew over the lights, Papashouted, “Brace yourselves, we’re going in!”

10 The Mystery of the Graveyard of the Atlantic

“Look!” Mimi shouted, pointing out the frontwindshield. “There’s a sandbar!”

“I see it!” Papa said, pulling back lightly on theyoke to keep them in the air just a few seconds longer.The Mystery Girl glided down onto the sandbar just 20feet from the water. She sped silently through thehard packed sand and came to a stop.

Papa and Mimi immediately turned to look atChristina and Grant. They were both wide-eyed andghostly white.

Grant suddenly relaxed. “That was awesome!” hesaid, with a big grin.

Christina craned her neck to look out the window.I wonder where that boat is, she thought. Who was outthere, lighting our way? Goosebumps crept up her arms.She had a feeling something mysterious was waiting forthem in Cape Hatteras!

Thunder, Clatter, Boom, Boom, Boom 11

“That was some great flying, Papa,” Grant said. “Iknew you’d get us down safe.”

“You did great, Papa,” Christina agreed. “But,let’s not do that again!” She looked out the windowonce more. “What about the person in the little boat?They may need help!”

Papa looked at Mimi, who was patting her blondcurls back into place after all the excitement.“Christina’s right. The rain has stopped so I’ll gocheck—”

“Not by yourself!” Mimi interrupted. “I’ll go withyou!”

“Hey,” Christina added. “Grant and I don’t want tostay here by ourselves! Can we go, too?”

“All right!” Papa replied. “But we all have to stayclose together so we don’t get separated in this fog.Do you understand?”

13

A Fateful

Fall3

Christina and Grant nodded.“Let’s take off our shoes then,” Papa suggested.“Holy moley!” Grant said, as he crawled out of the

plane into the thick, hot, muggy North Carolinaevening. “This is like taking a steam bath!” He wipedaway the sweat that instantly appeared on hisforehead.

“Let’s go this way,” Papa said, heading back towhere the plane had touched down.

Although the rain had stopped, the wind gustedstrongly. Christina was having trouble keeping up.The turbulent roar of the ocean and the howling windalarmed her. Each strong gust threatened to blowover her slender frame. Plus, she couldn’t remembera time she had sweat so much. Who would want to livein a place like this, she thought.

Grant was also having second thoughts aboutleaving the airplane. Every few seconds he had towipe sweat from his eyes. Between the sweat and thesalty ocean air, his eyes began to burn. The fog blewaround in patches, but every now and then, he caughta glimpse of the washing-machine ocean, churning thewater around violently. He was thankful they’d madeit to land safely. A warm gust of wind pushed himbackwards, sending shivers up his spine.

“I think I see something!” Papa shouted, as hejogged down the packed sand.

14 The Mystery of the Graveyard of the Atlantic

Everyone ran after Papa, trying to keep up.Suddenly, he disappeared!

“WHOOOOAAA!”“Papa!” Mimi called. “What happened?” She put

her arms out to grab Grant and Christina’s hands.“Mimi!” Papa shouted. “Be careful, there’s a

drop-off!” Mimi, Christina, and Grant appeared at the edge

of the short embankment that Papa had fallen off andscurried down to him.

“Are you okay?” Grant asked, reaching hisgrandfather’s side first.

“Ahh!” Papa said. “I think I twisted my ankle.”Mimi felt down Papa’s leg until she reached his

already swollen ankle.

“OWWWW!”Papa screamed.

Mimi lightened her touch. “It’s okay,” she said, ina calm voice. “But you did more than sprain yourankle. It might be broken.”

Something caught Christina’s eye. Was that a lighttwinkling just over the embankment? Or was it anotherlightning flash in the distance? This place was gettingmore mysterious by the minute!

A Fateful Fall 15