Table of contents:

Chapter 1 :pg.2 Chapter 6:pg.38

Chapter 2:pg.4 Chapter 7:pg.43

Chapter 3:pg.14 Chapter 8:pg.48

Chapter 4:pg.20

Chapter 5:pg.30

Chapter 1

Ouch! Eleven-year-old Kennedy Woods tripped on twelve-year-old Campbell Hogan; her cousin. Campbell awoke, startled.She raised an eyebrow and shot Kennedy a look that said Really? Kennedy grinned sheepishly,

"Oopsie," she said.

The girls were having a sleepover at their Gram's house along with Reese Hogan.Their siblings were going to come later for an end-of-school party.Campbell checked her phone.

"Kj its only 7:30. I just don't get you morning people," she said groggily.

Kj (Kennedy Jane) was already dressed and ready to start the day with her purple and blond hair in a braid , a backpack , and tennis shoes on.

"Sorry," she said, " but school is out for the summer and I'm ready for an adventure... also I'm hungry."

Campbell rolled her eyes .Kj was impossible to keep in one place.

"Ill get dressed while you wake Reese," she said.

To Kj's surprise and delight, Reese had already gotten ready and packed a drawstring bag. They went to see how Campbell was doing and she had gotten ready too , along with a backpack. The trio headed downstairs to find a stack of warm pancakes ,fresh fruit ,whipped cream ,maple syrup , and powdered sugar on the dining room table. They thanked the Lord for the food and dug in. Near the end of their meal they heard a shout,

"Oh my goodness!"

The girls would know that voice anywhere. It was Gram's.

Chapter 2

Kj ,Reese ,and Campbell ran into their Gram's bedroom. They stopped in their tracks when they reached the room. The window was open, curtains blowing in the wind and Gram was sitting by an open chest frantically digging through it.

"Grandma, what's wrong?" asked Reese.

Gram looked up, surprised to see them standing in the doorway of her bedroom. Kj and Campbell cautiously peered into the large chest. They had always wondered what was in there and, had made up stories about it when they were young. They were surprised to see that nothing was there accept a piece of paper.

"Sorry If I startled you kiddos," she said,"It was the strangest thing. I was in the bathroom brushing my hair, when I heard a 'woosh' . At first I didn't suspect anything. I thought It was just the wind. But then I heard footsteps and a creaking noise. That was when I remembered I didn't leave my window open. I rushed out but was to late,

the burglar was gone . The only thing I saw of him was that he was wearing green camouflage exercise pants with a white stripe at the shin and white shoes with turquoise paint splattered on them."

The girls stood there with puzzled looks on their faces. Then Campbell thought of something, something important.

"Wait wait wait," she said, "He was a man?"

Gram thought for a moment.

"No. I couldn't tell whether they were a man or a woman."

Campbell thought some more.

"Hold on a sec... if the burglar robbed this room only, how did he get in?"

Everyone tried to come up with a way they could have gotten in. Suddenly Kj remembered the window. Her eyes moved from the chest to the window to the deck. It hit her.

"Grammy," she said "the burglar came through the window ,correct?"

Gram nodded slowly.

"Well, the burglar came through the window and didn't go to the front door and, your house is on a slope. You can only get into your bedroom without using the front door by somehow climbing up to the deck. So-"

Kj didn't get to finish. The others were already out the door and onto the deck. There, was a grappling hook attached to a rope, hanging from the ledge.

"Girls don't touch anything. I'm going to call the police," said Gram

The next few hours were a blur. Kj ,Campbell ,and Reese's families had arrived, along with the police. They seemed to ask a zillion questions to Gram. Other officers looked for clues along the balcony ,chest ,and windowsill . Officer April Bailey

was finishing up with questioning Gram.

"Are you sure that is all you have seen of the thief?" she asked while jotting down what was stolen.

"Yes," said Gram.

Now Reese knew she wasn't supposed to interrupt but, Gram was forgetting one small but important thing.

"YES!" she yelled , loud enough for the whole room to hear "THE NOTE IN THE CHEST!"

Everyone in the room froze. Officer Bailey leaned down close to Reese.

"Young lady," she said seriously, "Tell us where that note is , now."

Reese led her to the chest and opened it. She pulled out a paper

"Kj," said Campbell,"You know what to do."

Twenty-seven minutes later, all the police had left and Kj Woods ,Cash Woods ,Shiloh Woods ,Dempsey Woods ,Riley Hogan ,Cooper Hogan ,Campbell Hogan ,And Reese Hogan were in the upstairs bedroom. All eight of them made up the Missouri Mysteries club.

"Well , tell us what happened already!" said Cooper.

Kj ,Campbell ,and Reese told the entire story of what happened , from the pancakes to the police. When they had finished ,the entire room was in complete silence until Dempsey said"Wow."

Everyone laughed, but soon got serious again.

"Well," said Riley, the oldest "I think we should make a list of clues and facts we know

about this." Everyone agreed. Kj grabbed a piece of lined paper and a pen.

"Okay,"she began "Whatta we know?"

Everyone shared clues and facts about the robbery, while Kj scribbled it all down on the paper.

Wearing: green camouflage exercise

pants with a white stripe at the

shin and white shoes with turquoise

paint splattered on them.

Gender: to be determined

Stolen: ruby ring, diamond bracelet,

&emerald ,topaz ,and opal earrings.

Left behind: a note that said ;

PAYBACK

Suspects:

"Okay," said Cash "We have no suspects?"

"Well who would we suspect?" asked Campbell

"Let's ask Grammy who has been here recently," said Shiloh "Then we can investigate."

Everyone was proud of Shiloh for coming up with that solution,and agreed that it was a good idea.

"Kids, time for dinner!" shouted Becca. (Kj ,Cash ,Shiloh ,and Dempsey's mom.)

Everyone looked at one another.

"Lets put this whole thing behind us for the rest of the night and enjoy the party!" said Riley ,positively.

"Yeah!" said Dempsey and rushed out of the room and down the stairs.

Everyone had a great dinner of tomato soup ,grilled cheese ,a tray full of vegetables ,and ranch dip to go with it. They sat in their usual spots: Campbell ,Kj ,and Reese sat together ;Cash ,Cooper ,and Dempsey sat together ;and Riley and Shiloh sat together. After dinner they played a dancing game on the Wii ,and to everyone's surprise ,Dempsey scored the most points! Everyone went to sleep tired ,but happy.

Chapter 3

During the middle of the night,Reese awoke. Something was troubling her ,and she knew what.

"Campbell," she whispered ,trying not to wake Kj, "Campbell!"

Campbell was usually very difficult to wake up. But for some reason she was still awake.

"What is it Bubba?" she asked

Before Reese could answer Kj awoke. She turned the lamp on (which by the way was very bright,) and asked,

"What is going on? Why are you guys up?" she demanded

"So much for trying not to wake Kj," muttered Reese

"I dunno," said Campbell "Reese woke me up , but clearly I was still awake."

"Well," said Reese "I just couldn't stop thinking about what happened today. I guess I'm mad about that burglar. I hope we can solve this mystery!"

"I'm sure we will solve it Reesie," Kj reassured her ,"Besides the dum dum that robbed Gram's house obviously has no clue who their dealing with."

While Kj and Reese were chatting about how dumb the burglar supposedly was and making up nicknames for him or her , Campbell had all of a sudden gotten very quiet. Kj was the first to notice.

"Are you okay Cams?" she asked

"Yeah," said Campbell unconvincingly "But don't you think it's a little strange that the robber knew exactly where to go ,how to get in ,and where all that expensive jewelry stuff was?"

There was a silence as the girls contemplated this thought.

"Heyyyy," said Kj "I just thought of something. Gram's usual lawn mower guys are on a vacation so Gram is using different people!"

"And how is that relevant to this topic?" said Campbell.

"Well, Gram invited them inside for coffee and muffins when they were finished mowing the lawn. I bet one of them made up some lame excuse to go to the bathroom or something like that so they could snoop around!"

"Yeah!" said Reese "And they would know how to get in because the deck is clearly visible from the backyard."

"Now where getting somewhere!" said Campbell ,"Tomorrow lets get the rest of the club and go to the secret tree house to discuss our plan!"

Reese and Kj agreed with that thought and went to sleep.

The next morning Kj woke up to get ready for the day. Remembering the hike in the woods she was going to take , she dressed in similar clothes to the ones she had worn the day before ,put her hair in a ponytail ,and packed a backpack. When she came downstairs ,her siblings and cousins were already eating breakfast.

"Hey sleepyhead," said Riley playfully, "It's 'bout time you woke up!"

Kj glared at her, but than smiled. She sat down , poured herself a bowl of Crunchy Cinnamon Squares and began to eat.

"Hey Cams," she whispered to Campbell, "Did you tell them about the hike today yet?"

Campbell had a guilty look on her face.

"Ummm...no."

Kj was getting frustrated. Now she had to tell everyone about the hike and wait for

them to get ready.She whistled to get everyone's attention. No one paid attention.

She cleared her throat.

"People, listen up!" she yelled.

Campbell clanked her spoon against her bowl and everyone looked up. (It was lucky that Gram had let them all sleep over together again so they could go to the secret tree house together.)

"Okay everyone!" yelled Kj "Today we are going to hike through Gram's woods to our tree house. Me ,Campbell ,and Reese have a theory of how the robber could have gotten in and knew where the jewelry was. We need you all to get pants ,hiking shoes ,t-shirts ,and backpacks on. Actually Dempsey ,Reese ,and Shiloh don't need bags but they need to help everyone else ,got it?"

Everyone nodded in unison and put their dishes in the sink to get ready. Once

they had all gotten prepared (which with eight people took a very long time,) they told Gram they were hiking (that technically wasn't a lie) and set off into the woods. Then they came to two paths. The right path was the shortcut but it was a lot more difficult than the left because it had lots of low branches and fallen trees. The left path was longer, but easier and there were lots of bird's nests to spot.

"Which way should we go?" asked Cash.

"It's a beautiful day out," said Riley "Let's take the left one."

No one objected and the MM club went the long way.

About fifteen minutes later they were almost there. Cooper was just about to complain that he was thirsty , when he fell into a ditch!

"COOPER!!!" everyone shouted

Chapter 4

The group sat on the ground and peered into the hole.

"Coooooooooooper," said Dempsey "Cooper are you okay in there?"

"Yeah," he said "I'm going deeper into the hole to see if there is a way out"

Cooper ventured deeper and was surprised at how large the hole was. Then he banged his arm on something metal.

"Ouch!" he shouted.

Cooper realized he had scraped his arm during the fall and it was starting to hurt. Suddenly ,a dim light flickered on and a figure appeared in the darkness.

"Hello?" said the figure.

"Whose there ?" said Cooper

The person shined the light on their face. But because of the darkness and how dim the light was ,all Cooper could see was a pair of sparkling blue eyes. The person

shined their light on Cooper's arm.

"Hmmmmm..." they said.

By now Cooper could tell that the person was a girl.

"Ummmmm...yeah but who are you? How did you get in here? Why are you here? When did you get here?"

The girl didn't answer. Cooper heard rustling and guessed she was going through a bag of some sorts. She pulled out a plastic container and opened the lid. The girl handed Cooper a band-aid. It took him a couple seconds to find out which side to place on his arm because of the darkness.

"Um thanks but-" Cooper started to say.

"Look up there." the girl interrupted.

A light was shining down the hole and a rope was dangling down.

Meanwhile, Riley, Campbell, Kj, Reese, Cash, Shiloh, and Dempsey were standing near the edge of the ditch trying to figure out a way to get Cooper up. Kj pulled a long rope out of her bag and sighed.

"Will this work?" she asked.

Everyone stared at her with annoyed looks on their faces.

"You have had that with you the WHOLE TIME???" yelled Shiloh.

"Um, why didn't you get that out like,five minutes ago!?!?" yelled Cash.

"I could have gone a few more weeks with him in there," said Campbell.

Everyone gave Campbell "The Look".

"What?" she said "I could have."

"Sorry," said Kj (though she wasn't sorry and it was pretty clear) "I wanted to see the reactions you guys would give after I pulled the rope out."

Everyone sighed and Riley began to tie one end of the rope to a nearby "sturdy-looking" tree. They lowered it into the ditch and shone a light so Cooper could find his way out. A few minutes later , Cooper climbed up the rope.

"Hey guys thanks," he said.

Everyone was glad that he was out and breathed sighs of relief. Until Riley got up and slapped him in the shoulder.

"Ouch!" he said ,"What was that for?"

"That ," began Riley ,"Was for giving me a heart attack, you turd bucket."

Cooper rolled his eyes and made sure Riley saw it.

Suddenly the rope started moving.

"Who or what is down there?" asked Riley.

"Oh," said Cooper "She helped me and gave me a band-aid."

"Cooper this had better not be a raccoon or bear that 'helped' you."

"Don't worry, everything will make sense in about five seconds."

A very pretty girl climbed up the rope. She had thick, silky ,caramel-colored hair that spilled down her shoulders and fell to her waist, a tan, and sparkling blue eyes. She wore black exercise pants and a chic black hoodie. There was a small silence.

"Who the heck are you?" asked Reese.

"Reese! Don't be rude." scolded Riley.

But the girl just laughed.

"That's fine," she said," I would have done the exact same thing. I'm Blaire. Who are you?"

Everyone immediately liked her and one by one the kids introduced themselves.

"So what are you doing here?" Asked Blaire.

"Well, we have a secret tree house that we're going to." said Kj.

Blaire's eyes widened and sparkled even more.

"A secret tree house? Coooooooooool!!!" she squealed.

"Wanna come with us?" asked Campbell.

"Oh yes I would very much! It's been a while since I had an adventure." said Blaire excitedly.

Everyone continued on their journey, pointing out birds, flowers, and animals along the way. They soon came to a creek. Cooper began searching through it.

"Over here guys." he said.

There was a small bridge made out of wood planks carefully placed on top of some rocks. Everyone carefully walked across to the other side where a path of large, smooth stones awaited them. After a few more minutes of walking, Blaire let out a small gasp.

There, right in front of them was a tree house.

One day when Kj and Cash were hiking in the woods, Kj saw something blue peeking of of the greenery around them. She carefully walked closer, as not to slip and fall on the moist earth beneath her.

"Cash!" she exclaimed "Come look at this!"

And right there, was an old, run down, one-corner-of-the-house-is-resting-on-a-fallen-log, tree house. Kj and Cash had showed it to their siblings and cousins and they all agreed that it needed a renovation. So for the past year, they had all worked on it together. They had repainted it blue with a white trim, sanded the floor, fixed up the ladder, added a slide , put in a table , chairs, and shelves. And (with the help of their

dads) they had added an observation deck on top.

"Do you know how hard it was to drag those stones up-mmphhhh?" Cooper had covered up Campbell's mouth.

"Woah," sighed Blaire.

"What are you waiting for?" said Kj ,"Climb on up!"

Blaire climbed up the ladder and sighed in awe. The others followed her and sat at the table.

"It's amazing!" Blaire exclaimed.

"it's also a bit hot and stuffy up here," said Cash, turning on the big fan in the corner.

"Yeah," said Blaire , while taking off her hoodie.

Riley began taking their lunch out of her backpack.

"Blaire do you want some lunch...' Kj's words trailed off as Blaire tossed her hoodie in a corner.

There was something in the corner of her shirt. It looked like a symbol of some sorts. It was in the shape of... Kj felt like the wind had just been knocked out of her. He eyes grew very large.

"Is something wrong?" asked Campbell ,who was the first to notice her startled expression.

Kj whispered her observation in Campbell's ear. Her eyes also grew large and she wasted no time with her accusation.

"BLAIRE IS WITH THEM!" she yelled

Chapter 5

Everyone stared at Campbell (who was currently standing on her chair).

"Why would you think that?" asked Cooper and Riley in unison.

"Look at the symbol on her shirt!" exclaimed Kj,"It is the same as the one at the bottom of the note that said PAYBACK!"

"Is this true?" asked Riley.

Blair's face was flushed as she sighed a quiet "Yes."

Everyone shouted "WHAT?" at the same time. Seeing everyone's angry faces made Blaire squirm in her seat. Reese and Shiloh were the only ones who weren't standing over her angrily but, even Kj could see a silent storm, brewing deep within them.

"Just let me explain-" Blaire began,

"Who are you really? Is Blair your full name? Do you work for the bad guys? How many people are in the gang? Are they plotting something bigger? Wh-," Cooper interrupted Blaire, but Riley stopped him before he could bombard her with anymore questions.

"Okay," said Riley "You can start."

Blaire took a deep breath.

"This organisation is called 'et quietam ones' or EQO.'et quietam ones' means 'The Quiet Ones' in Latin. It all started when your Grandma was publishing her first book.

A man named Mason Lucas was publishing a book exactly the same as hers. Why? Because he copied her. But little did he know, your Grandma had added to her script to make the book even better than before. Your Grandma's book was chosen over 'his book' because it was better. Well, Lucas got so mad that he vowed to

make everyone see that he is the best author in the world and that he is better than everyone. He has recruited enough criminals to start a large gang and prove his power. Unfortunately , the power went to his head and he now is one of the biggest jewel thieves in the city. Lucas has been practicing his skills and is now robbing all of the people who doubted him. I know this all because Mason Lucas is my dad" she explained.

There was a small silence as everyone contemplated what Blair had said.

"Are the EQOs dangerous?" asked Riley.

"No, but they are very quick and stealthy, which gives them a mysterious appearance."

"On a level of ten to one , how smart are they?" Kj wanted to know.

"Three- actually two, they aren't that bright. Remember, copying the book?"

"Are they planning anything big? I have a hunch that there is more to this story than

meets the eye," said Cooper.

"Actually, I'm not sure. I'll have to look in on that."

The rest of the tree house went silent, until-RING-DING-RING-RING! Riley's phone went off.Riley checked her phone.

"Gram says we have to go home," said Riley.

Everyone glanced at one another.

"Should we meet here again tomorrow?" asked Cash. "Same time , same place?"

"I will," Blaire peeped nervously.

"I just texted our parents," said Riley, "They said that they were going to come over tomorrow anyway,so their fine with it."

"Okay," said Kj ,"See you all tomorrow."

She directed that statement towards everyone ,but everyone knew she was talking to