7. The Statue's Face

THE STATUE'S FACE 7 The huge, towering man did not move. Neither did the crow. Fog swirled around them. Very slowly, Sam inched forward. The hall monitor sash tugged at Lucy and Antonio to follow him. There was a gust of cool wind and the fog cleared. They saw, then, that it was not a man. Not really. "It's just a statue!" Lucy exclaimed. Antonio breathed a sigh of relief. "We were worried over a big hunk of stone!"

The statue was cracked and chipped. Large black insects crawled in and out of it. Green moss covered much of the statue, including its face. The statue stood atop a stone base covered in vines. "The soccer ball!" Antonio said, pointing. The ball rested against the base of the statue. "Hey, we found it!" Lucy said. Antonio scooped it up and wiped mud off of it. Sam barely heard his friends. He was too busy staring at the statue. He wondered who the man was... SQUAWK! SQUAWK! The crow flapped its wings and flew into the fog. Sam untied the sash and threw it over his shoulder. "Can you two help me up?" he said. "I want to peel away that slimy green gunk, so we can see the statue's face."

Moments later, Lucy stood on Antonio's shoulders. And Sam was climbing up Lucy's back. Antonio groaned. "You guys, how strong do you think I am?" "Pretty strong!" Sam said with a grin. "Just hold still for one more second." Antonio stumbled a bit, but Lucy held tight to Sam's ankles. Sam grabbed on to the top of the statue. They were steady, now. Sam's fingers clutched the moss. Slowly, he began pulling it off the statue's face.

The moss was wet, and cold as ice. It smelled of mud and earth. As Sam peeled it away from the statue's mouth, he felt cold air rush at him. It was like something old and lifeless had just breathed on him. Sam gulped. He continued peeling away the moss. At last, a large bit came free. Sam saw a face staring back at him. He cried out, "The st-st-statue... it's a statue of Orson Eerie!"