Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 NEVEEN'S SUNSTONE DID MAKE THE Gloomy Woods not so gloomy. At least not the area right around the Junior Monster Scouts. As long as they stayed close to Neveen, they had no problem not tripping over roots, or not bumping their heads on branches. The scary scampering sounds were nothing more than bushy-tailed squirrels. The glowing eyes were just long-legged deer watching them pass. The fresh pine and purple lilac created a beautiful aroma. With a little light, the Gloomy Woods really weren't so gloomy after all. "Cleo?" called Neveen. "Cleopatra!"

They hollered her name. They howled. They made chicken noises. I'm not sure why they made chicken noises, but they did. But no matter how much they called, or how loudly they called, Cleo did not answer. "Maybe she's not here anymore," Vampyra said. "Yeah, maybe she went looking somewhere else to ask riddles," said Franky. Wolfy groaned. "She could be anywhere! The mayor, the villagers, even Baron Von Grump… They might be statues forever!" Fern tugged Wolfy's sleeve. "Look," she said, pointing at a nearby tree. "That looks just like your lucky beetle." "Scarab," Wolfy corrected. "Neveen said it's called a 'scarab.' But you're right, that does look just like it. Hey, everyone, check out what Fern found!"

One of the trees had an image of a scarab carved into the bark. "Nice job, Fern!" said Vampyra. "We would have walked right past that." Franky took a closer look at the tree. It looked like something sharp had carved the scarab into the tree. Something with claws. Something that just might be a sphinx. Franky scratched his bolts. He did this when he was thinking. A small blue bolt of electricity crackled between his finger and the bolt on the side of his neck. That happened when he was thinking really, really hard.

Franky unpinned his lucky scarab and placed it against the shape on the tree. It matched perfectly! As soon as he held the scarab against the matching shape on the tree, a bright golden line formed around it. There was a flash, and then a loud POP! Suddenly there was a stone tablet floating through the air. It was covered in strange symbols and pictures instead of the letters and words that the Junior Monster Scouts knew. "Magic!" said Vampyra. "No, hieroglyphics!" said Neveen. "That's how we write things back home. It's an ancient language. Cleo must have written this!" "Well, what's it say?" asked Wolfy. He tried to read it, but it was very confusing. "It says…" Neveen traced the pictures with her finger and read aloud. "What always runs but never walks, often murmurs but never

talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?" "That sounds like a riddle," said Vampyra. "Okay, Junior and Little Junior Monster Scouts," said Franky, "let's put our thinking caps on." "Do you have an extra?" Neveen asked. "An extra what?" asked Franky. "Thinking cap," said Neveen. "That's just a figure of speech," said Vampyra. "It just means that we need to think extra hard." "Well, that's for sure," Neveen said. "Because if I know Cleo, her riddles are not going to be easy!" "This visit is not going as planned," said Wolfy. It certainly was not. And are you thinking what I'm thinking, dear reader? Are you thinking that Neveen is right, that Cleo's

riddle is not easy at all? This riddle sure seems like a hard one! "Maybe we should think about this one part at a time," said Franky. "That's a good way to approach a riddle!" said Neveen. "Hmmm," said Vampyra. "What runs but never walks?" "A car!" said Wolfy. "A refrigerator!" said Fern. "My nose!" said Spike. None of those seemed like they would lead to the right answer. No one could figure out how a refrigerator, a car, or Spike's nose murmured, or had a mouth but never talked. "This is a really hard riddle," said Franky. "And the longer it takes us, the more of a chance that those statues will stay statues forever." "Or that we'll get turned to stone too!" said Wolfy.