The Ghost of Ontario (Part 1) (10 Grade Draft)

Chapter 9: Voices, Flowers, and Eagles

Song: "Spirit of the Eagle" - Patricia Lahoz

        Just as I wanted, I sat on the front steps of the station's staircase and thought about the disappearance of Ranger Kate's child. It was so bizarre. Come on, you have to agree with me. Thinking would've been a lot better for me if there weren't any bugs around. I remember they would not leave me alone. The entire time I sat on the steps, they whined by my ears and caused me to lose concentration. Seriously, what was with this? Yeah, I'm a bug magnet and all, but am I seriously this magnetic? Dad had blackmailed my soul. I knew he did. I couldn't think. Not with all those bugs around. While I sat and dealt with them, I thought about the mystery. I thought about Ranger Kate, her son, and connected the pieces.

"Hm," I elucidated to myself, "The disappearance of her son may be the very reason why she's so depressed. He's been missing for years?" I shivered, "Yikes. Years she said, but how many years?" How could a child go missing for years? How? This case was serious, but it wasn't anything Detective Kylie Juniper couldn't solve.

         I heard the ranger station's door open behind me, and before I knew it, Uncle Bart sat next to me. "Uncle Bart." I softly spoke. Uncle Bart and I together stared at the continuous trees. For a minute or two, we didn't speak.

Then, Uncle Bart peered into my face and smirked. "I know that look anywhere," he soon told me, "You're thinking aren't you, Kylie?" He put his fingers in between each other and rested his hands on his lap.

"Of course, I'm thinking, Uncle Bart." I said, and dropping my hand from my chin, I peered into his own face, "I can't stop thinking about that boy who went missing. Why would a boy go missing?"

Uncle Bart shrugged and answered, "Maybe he just wanted to start a lifestyle of his own, so he became a hermit." Normally, I would laugh at his jokes, but this time, I didn't. A case like this one was a case that shouldn't be taken lightly.

I slightly glared at Uncle Bart and said, "This is serious! A boy doesn't just go missing, Uncle Bart! I, Detective Kylie Juniper, want to solve this case! This will be the only thing that will keep me occupied on this worthless canoe trip!" A cloud of mosquitoes swarmed around me, and I quickly jumped to my feet, shooing them away. "These stupid bugs are really starting to get on my nerves!" I shrieked, and I forcibly rubbed myself down. I slapped a mosquito off my arm and started to pace back and forth. Perhaps if I paced, it would keep the bugs off me? That usually works, right?

Uncle Bart just watched me, and under his breath, I heard him mumble, "Welcome to Canada."

        After a few more minutes, the ranger station's door opened again, and Dad, along with the rest of Camp Juniper, exited it. I begged for all the campsites to be full so we could return to North Tonawanda, but of course, we just had to get the last two open ones. My demons were really putting on a show for me.

In one hand, Dad was holding a bunch of maps, and in the other, he was holding a notebook. He announced, "We've got our campsites, Camp Juniper! Ranger Amelia said they're pretty full right now, but lucky for us, Sites 1 and 2 are open."

"Terrific." I mumbled. I know why we had to get two sites. It was because we had a freaking party of ten people! People can't fit ten people in just one site!

Uncle Bart soon stood up, and he said, "Excellent, Azul!" to Dad and gave my shoulder a pat, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to Sites 1 and 2!"

"Everybody to the cars!" Dad yelled, and he gestured at the cars.

I groaned and lowered my head. Sigh, why couldn't the campground be full? However, now that I think of it, if it had been full and we never made it to the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, then I wouldn't have an amazing story to share with all you lovely people out there tonight. At this point in the story, I was still pretty grouchy.