The Mystery of Sherlock Lake

Nick looked over at Danny, noticing the sly grin on his friend’s face. “What are you cracking up about?” he asked, giving Danny a look.

“Because you’re scared,” Nick chuckled, shaking his head. “I never imagined that a big guy like you would be scared of a little ghost.”

“I’m not scared,” Nick said, rolling his eyes and focusing on the dirt path in front of them. The sun was starting to set, and the only light that he saw was the slight glimmer of the sun’s rays on the water.

They walked in silence for a moment while Nick tried to get his bearing. He wasn’t a big fan of ghosts or ghost stories, but Danny had dared him to come down to Sherlock Lake. He couldn’t resist a dare. Besides, if he didn’t go through with it, he knew that Danny would make fun of him.

Danny was new in town. He had moved into the house next to Nick’s parents, and he was the only kid in town that didn’t have to ask permission to leave when he wanted. He didn’t have to worry about annoying teachers or living up to the standards that high school life came with. He was homeschooled, and since Danny was so smart and had such flexibility in his home life, he also had a lot of time to get into trouble. That was something that Danny was good at.

“We’re almost there,” Danny smiled, pointing to the water that was almost at their feet.

“Okay, so what do we do when we get there?” Nick asked. “It’s not like we have a boat. How are we going to know if this ghost is even going to show himself if we aren’t on the water?”

“I got that taken care of,” Danny said, signaling to his left.

Nick looked over and noticed and old wooden boat sitting by a nearby tree. The boat looked like it had been made years ago. The paint was peeling, and the wood that was visible looked worn. “Is that thing even going to get us out there?”

“It should,” Danny replied. “Besides, it was all I could get. Don’t complain.”

“Fine,” Nick said as they walked toward the small boat and pushed it into the water. He seated himself across from Danny, grabbing a paddle from the side, and the two slowly pushed themselves on the water. “Where did you get this thing anyhow?” Nick questioned, wondering who in this town would have a boat so old.

“Don’t worry about it,” Danny said. “And don’t damage it either. I want to return it in the shape that it came in.”

“Well, it would hardly be a tragedy if anything happened to this thing,” Nick scoffed, noticing all the dings on the side of the boat and how the wood was beginning to peel.

“I said don’t damage it,” Danny replied, looking Nick straight in the eye. His face was stern.

Nick wasn’t used to seeing this kind of seriousness from his friend. Nothing ever seemed to bother Danny, so he knew that the boat must be important to him. “Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up while trying to maintain a hold on his paddle. “I won’t mess up the boat.”

“Good,” Nick said, his face relaxing as they began to paddle towards the middle of the lake. “So, what exactly are we looking for?”

“I told you,” Danny said. “We are looking for the ghost of Sherlock Lake.”

“So, you think that some kid that drowned in this lake is just going to appear to us and tell us what happened?” Nick replied. “The police haven’t been able to solve this mystery for years, and I don’t even think they recovered the body.”

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Danny grinned. “Besides, I already know some of the story.”

“Okay, then just tell me, so we can get this over with,” Nick said, shivering. The air above the water had started to take on a chilling temperature, and he was beginning to get creeped out.

“Okay,” Danny said, picking his paddle up as they made it to the middle of the lake. “It all started about forty years ago during the annual Forth of July boat race.”

“Yeah, I knew that part,” Nick replied. “Press on.”

“Well, Allen Garth was a junior at Sherlock High at that time, and he decided to enter the race. The problem was that Allen didn’t have anyone to help him get his boat ready. His mom had left him and his dad when he was three, and his dad had become a frequent at the downtown pub, so Allen barely saw him. Therefore, Allen had to figure out how to prepare his boat all by himself. He worked day and night, trying to patch up all the holes in the boat that he had found at the county dump, figuring the only way that he was going to be able to enter the race, and on the day of the race, he had that boat sanded, painted, and in tip-top shape, or so he thought.”

“Sorry, for interrupting,” Nick said, looking at his friend. “But why was this kid so excited about a boat race? It’s obvious that his parents didn’t have the money to take him boating on a regular, so why didn’t he get into something more feasible like baseball or basketball?”

Danny’s eyes lit up with excitement at that point, and he smiled. “Because back then, the annual boat race was a big thing, and though it had never been important to him in the past, Allen found out that Sally Jenkins had a thing for boaters, and he really wanted to get with her.”

“Why didn’t he just ask her out then?” Nick asked. “Why go through all this work?”

“Sally didn’t like Allen,” Danny shrugged. “She thought that he was a bad boy, so she did her best to keep her distance from him. Allen on the other hand, did everything he could to get her attention. He blew up a couple of mail boxes downtown, thinking she would be impressed. He started dressing nicer, thinking she would notice him. He even tried to get A’s in class, so she would think he was smart, but no matter what Allen did, Sally didn’t pay him any attention. Then, one day, he heard her talking about the boat race, and he decided to tell her that he had signed up. Sally was ecstatic, and from that day on, she talked to him every day, asking him about his progress with his boat.”

“So, he did all this for a chick that didn’t like him?” Nick questioned with a raised eyebrow. “If a woman made me go through all that, I would just find a different woman.”

“Well, Allen wasn’t you,” Danny said, slightly disgruntled. “Besides, he was in love with Sally. She was gorgeous and sweet and he could picture his life with her.”

“It was that serious?” Nick said, shaking his head. “He was still in high school. Didn’t he think he would meet someone later in life? What about college?”

“Well, like I said before, Allen’s parents weren’t really in the picture,” Danny retorted. “There was no money for college or something better in life. He knew that he would be stuck in this town forever, so he figured that he might as well make it worth it and find a good girl that cared about him.”

“And that girl happened to be Sally?” Nick said, noticing his friend becoming agitated with his frequent interruptions.

“Yes,” Danny said. “It was Sally.”

“So, then what happened?” Nick asked, hoping that his friend would wrap up this story sooner than later, so they both could head back towards town.

“Well, like I said, Allen worked on his boat and got it to the race, knowing that Sally would be watching on the shoreline to see how well he performed. When the race started, all the boaters lined up, taking their places, the whistle blew, and the boaters began to paddle towards the finish line. Allen paddled as hard as he could but he started to feel water splashing on his face. He looked down, and he noticed a small hole that he had forgotten to patch on the boat. Allen panicked. He wasn’t a good swimmer, and his boat was suddenly filling with water. He didn’t know what to do. He stopped paddling and got nervous, swinging his arms and crying for help. That’s when the boat tipped over. Allen fell into the water, the cold water shocking his system, and though he was moving his arms and legs, he couldn’t seem to pull himself above water. Then, he saw someone swimming towards him. It was Sally’s brother. Now, Allen was almost out of air at this point, and he was sinking deeper and deeper into the lake. He moved his arm, signaling at Sally’s brother, but her brother just took one look at him before shaking his head and swimming away. Allen was left to drown.”

“So, that’s how he died?” Nick said, shaking his head. “Why didn’t her brother save him?”

“I don’t know,” Danny replied. “Maybe, he didn’t like Allen. Maybe, he didn’t want his sister to be with him. I’m not sure. What I do know is that Allen died that day, and ever since then, he has haunted this lake, trying to find one of Sally’s relatives to take his place so he can be set free.”

“Well, I don’t think that there are any members of the Jenkins family left in town,” Nick commented. “So, how would he seek his revenge?”

“Easy,” Danny replied. “The Jenkins married into the Tumbertack family, and the Tumbertack family married into the O’Reilly family. Therefore, the O’Reillys would be Sally’s relatives.”

“But I’m an O’Reilly,” Nick said, goosebumps coating his arms as he looked up at a smiling Danny.

“You sure are,” Danny replied with a creepy grin. “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you. My name is Allen Daniel Garth, and I’m glad that you decided to take my place.”

“But I didn’t,” Nick said, putting his hands out as Danny attempted to grab him.

Danny was stronger. He managed to get Nick into a headlock, flipping the boat as he did, and the two fell into the water. “I can’t swim,” Nick tried to yell, but his voice was muted by the water that filled it, and he began to sink. A wave of disappointment filled Nick as he slowly sunk to the bottom of the lake. He couldn’t believe that Danny had tricked him.

As he hit the bottom, Nick looked up, noticing that Danny was floating above him with a creepy smile. He thought that he had won. It was clear from the look in his eyes. Nick shook his head, looking at the man that he had once called his friend and mouthed, “It’s not over.”

Danny’s expression changed to one disappointment. Clearly, he hadn’t realized when he met Nick that he was already dead. He had spent his whole time consumed in the mystery of Sherlock Lake that he hadn’t bothered to look into the mystery of Whiskey Pines. Nick had died there ten years ago.