The Return of Skeleton Man Read online

  Some things can never be explained. One of them is Corazón. My mom and I both remember meeting her and talking with her. I know she was my friend. Her face was one of those I looked for in the crowd of people gathered inside Mohonk when I came walking up the snowy road that night—well, more limping than walking. And I think I did see her at the edge of the light from the flashlights. She was dressed again in those beautiful traditional Mayan clothes.

  I saw her smile at me, put her hand on her heart, and mouth words that I am sure were net tsoi. I’d never heard those words before, but somehow I knew they meant “all is good” in Mayan. Then Mom and Dad were hugging me so hard that all I could see or think about was how happy I was that we were all together and safe. When I looked around again, Corazón was nowhere to be seen.

  But yesterday, when Mom and I went looking for Corazón after I’d finished my first interviews with the state troopers, we couldn’t find her. And when we asked, we were told that there was no one by that name employed by the Mohonk Mountain House. Mom and I just looked at each other when we heard that. Then Mom finally told me the proverb that Corazón had shared with her. “Take heart when you feel lost, for a friend may find you.”

  So, that’s the end of my story. I’m the girl who got away from a monster not just once but twice. Even though they say that lightning doesn’t strike twice, I know now that it does. I know that just as surely as I know that love and courage are strong enough to defeat hatred and greed.

  And I also know Skeleton Man is gone again from our lives. This time, I hope, he is gone for good.

  Also by Joseph Bruchac

  SKELETON MAN

  THE DARK POND

  WHISPER IN THE DARK

  BEARWALKER

  Copyright

  THE RETURN OF SKELETON MAN. Copyright © 2006 by Joseph Bruchac. Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Sally Wern Comport. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Bruchac, Joseph.

  The return of Skeleton Man / Joseph Bruchac; illustrations by Sally Wern Comport.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Sequel to: Skeleton Man.

  Summary: When Molly and her parents attend a conference at Mohonk Mountain House, Molly begins to fear that she is being watched by the very man who kidnapped and tried to kill them all the previous year.

  ISBN 978-0-06-058092-6 (pbk.)

  [1. Psychopaths—Fiction. 2. Mohawk Indians—Fiction. 3. Indians of North America—New York (State)—Fiction. 4. Mohonk Mountain House—Fiction.] I. Comport, Sally Wern, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.B82816Ret 2006 2005022891

  [Fic]—dc22 CIP

  AC

  First Harper Trophy edition, 2008

  EPub Edition © March 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-190887-3

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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