The Secret of Whispering Springs #4

The book I am reading is called "The Secret of Whispering Springs" and it is written by Jerri Garretson. This book has  204 pages and I read 132 pages this week. I finished the whole book.

   From what I read last week, the story was mostly about Cassie receiving mails from the antagonist and was confused if she should meet him at the graveyard or not (man vs. self.) 

   This week, I started reading the part when Cassie was deciding if she should go to the graveyard or not and she did. It turned out that the SPY believed that there was hidden treasure on the land somewhere and he wanted Cassie to find other letters because there might be clues about the treasures on it. The next day, Cassie and her mum went to visit the new house. In Cassie's new room, she heard someone whispering, it was Annie, the ghost. 

"Annie," Cassie whispered back, her knees weak. 
"Are you here with me, or is it my imagination?"
"Im here," the ghost replied. "I'm always here." (Garretson 109)

   Later on, Annie told Cassie all of her story and they started becoming friends. Annie wanted to find the letter her mother kept for her because inside was a secret her mother wanted to tell Annie when she became fourteen but sadly, Annie died at that age so Annie did not have time to read the letter that her mother left for her when her mother died of pneumonia. Annie's father told her that Adele (Annie's mother) and Johnnie (Annie's baby brother) were in Heaven, a place he never expected to see. Annie asked why would he go to hell and her father started shouted that greed is a deadly sin and she should remember that. 

   Annie died when she ran outside, when she ran under a cottonwood tree when suddenly the lightning struck her. She ran because it was the first time in four years that her aunt Marie sent a photo of her mother and a letter but Annie's dad threw it in the fireplace and threw the pieces of the letters in the room. Her dad just didn't want those memories coming back again. 

   Later on, Cassie and Annie decided to go downstairs, to check out the coal bin. There, they discovered a chest, full of Johnnie's toys and some clothes.

Annie gave a strangled cry and sank down beside it. She touched it gently. 

"Oh, Johnnie," she whispered. 

"Did father hide your toys under the coal?Why didn't he give them away or burry them with you?" (Garretson 132)

   When Cassie went home, she got more e-mails from the SPY/ Jason Campbell. 

"What did you take from the house today? Don't try to hide anything. Time is growing short. Don't waste it." (Garretson 140)

   He also told Cassie that her deadline was on sunday. When Jordan and Cassie decided to have a campout outside her new house, Jordan wanted to check the attic and suprisingly, they found the letter for Annie which had the secret in it. The problem is that Annie wanted the letter, and so as Campbell. Later on, they discovered that Ben was gone. They knew that Campbell kidnapped him AND Mrs. Mossman. 

   Thankfully, Annie saved Cassie from almost being shot by him and they got to save Ben and Mrs. Mossman. 

   The SPY was sent to hospital and according to the sherif, Campbell didn't pay a lot of debts so he wanted to find that treasure. 

   The secret that Annie's mother wanted to tell her was that her father KILLED his best friend, John Sellars because they couldn't decide how to split the gold they found equally at the Black Hills. That was why Annie's dad told her that he would go to hell and told her that greed is a deadly sin because her that became so greedy that he would kill his best friend.   

(I wish I could tell more but I don't want to give it away!) 

Character's Obstacles

   The first main obstacle that the main character, Cassie had to deal with is the SPY/Jason Campbell. He is the stalker who would always spy on the Wade family but Cassie doesn't know what he looks like; she only knew that he had a beard. As I said in my last blog post, he sent a lot of threatful mean cards and e-mails to Cassie to follow his directions and do the things as she is told. Cassie had to meet him at the graveyard near Whispering Springs; ALONE without telling anyone but she had to tell someone. She ended up telling her best friend, Jordan and Jordan's older brother, Kevin because she needed a ride to Whispering Springs. At the graveyard, something cold pulled Cassie over to a grave, it was Annie Gwynne's and she heard someone whispering, saying 

"Stay there... Don't move...Beware." (Garretson 82) 

   Then, the SPY came from the back and held Cassie. He told her that there is a treasure hidden in the land and he wants it but because he knew Cassie found some old letters, he wanted Cassie to find more letters that may have the clues to the treasure that he is searching for. (I said this in the summary)

   The second obstacle was when Cassie's younger brother, Ben and her neighbour, Mrs. Mossman got kidnapped by the SPY/Jason Campbell because it was the deadline for Cassie to bring the letter to him for the treasure. Cassie, Jordan, and Annie found his dugout and saw Campbell holding a gun. Jordan went back to tell Cassie's parents but Annie and Cassie stayed to rescue Ben and Mrs. Mossman. Campbell almost attacked Cassie but Annie saved her and Campbell flew over the edge of the ravine, landing on a gravel area next to the creek. His legs were broken and bent. Thankfully, both Ben and Mrs. Mossman were safe. 

Author

There were some informations about the author inside the book so I thought that I could tell a little bit about her :)

-She started writing stories in second grade when she started to spell.

-She got in trouble in school for reading too much.

-Loved to read and write.

-Grew up in Manhattan, Kansas.

-Lived in Germany, Japan, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Kentucky, and Virginia.

-She has a husband named Peter.

-Has two sons and three grand children.