The Mystery of the Secret Society Read online

  Just then, Mrs. Briar waved to someone on the sidewalk. “Well, hello there!”

  The twins looked up. It was Dimitrios—again! This was the third time they’d run into him in the past few days. If Ella didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was following them.

  Dimitrios waved back. “Hello! It’s very nice to see you all!”

  “Would you like to join us for coffee?” Mr. Briar invited him.

  “That’s very kind, but I’m on my way to—” Dimitrios paused and smiled at the twins. “Actually, you children may be interested in this. I volunteer at the community center on Tuesdays. It’s right over there.” He pointed to a white building down the street. “I teach a Greek language class for kids. Would you like to sit in?”

  “What a good idea!” said Mrs. Briar.

  Mr. Briar nodded. “Yes, indeed! I can teach you kids math anytime. I’ll join your mother at the art museum. We can all meet back in the hotel lobby for lunch.”

  Ethan and Ella both hesitated. They were starting to get a little suspicious of Dimitrios. But he was friends with Grandpa Harry. And this would give them an opportunity to ask about his hawk and globe doodles.

  “Sure,” said Ethan finally.

  “Yes, thank you,” Ella added politely.

  Dimitrios exchanged phone numbers with Mr. and Mrs. Briar, just in case they needed to contact each other. Then he led the kids down the street.

  As they walked, Ethan thought about how to bring up the subject of the doodles. But before he could say anything, he realized that they had passed the community center.

  “Um, did we miss it?” said Ethan.

  “Yes. But I need to run an important errand first. It will not take long,” Dimitrios promised.

  He turned the corner, the twins at his heels. Dr. Pappas’s site came into view.

  “Wait. Is that where we’re going?” Ethan asked, confused.

  “Our mom said it’s closed today,” Ella added.

  “Yes. I’m aware. But you children don’t know the whole story,” Dimitrios said with a worried expression. “I’ll explain everything when we get there. It’s a mystery that has to do with your grandfather. And it’s very important that we get to the bottom of it today!”

  A mystery having to do with Grandpa Harry? Dimitrios definitely had their attention!

  CHAPTER 7

  The Secret Room

  When Dimitrios and the twins reached the archaeological site, no one was around. There was a sign posted at the entrance.

  “We’re not going down, are we?” Ella said to Dimitrios.

  “It’s all right. I cleared it with Dr. Pappas on the phone,” Dimitrios explained.

  Ella looked nervously at Ethan.

  “We’ll be okay,” Ethan reassured her.

  The three of them put on some hard hats that were lying around and clicked on the headlamps. Dimitrios made his way down the stairs. The twins did the same.

  Where was Dimitrios taking them? What was going on?

  At the bottom of the stairs, Dimitrios started down a dark corridor. He pulled a flashlight out of his pocket to light the way.

  A short while later, he stopped, and Ethan and Ella stopped behind him. The twins peered around. Dimitrios had led them to the hawk and globe paintings!

  “Why are we here? And what’s this mystery about Grandpa Harry?” asked Ethan.

  Dimitrios turned to Ethan and Ella. “I can tell you, now that we are alone. Many years ago, your grandfather and I were members of a top-secret organization. Our symbols were the hawk and the globe. The group had a very important notebook. Unfortunately, that notebook has gone missing.”

  Ella gasped. Ethan was stunned, too. A top-secret organization? A missing notebook?

  “What was in this notebook?” Ella asked Dimitrios.

  “Valuable information. We think the notebook may be down here somewhere, and we need your help to find it,” Dimitrios replied.

  Ella thought this over. Something about Dimitrios just felt . . . off. Still, she wanted to help find the notebook, especially since it was connected to Grandpa Harry.

  “What about the crack in the wall?” Ella reminded Ethan. He nodded.

  Dimitrios frowned. “I’m sorry . . . What crack?”

  The twins pointed it out to Dimitrios.

  “Where does it lead?” Dimitrios asked curiously.

  “Nowhere, really,” Ethan replied.

  The three of them followed the crack. They soon reached the end of it.

  Ella squinted at the stone wall. There seemed to be another crack branching off from the first one.

  She traced her hand along it. The wall gave a faint creak.

  “What was that?” asked Ethan, surprised.

  “I’m . . . not sure,” Ella replied.

  She pressed against the wall harder. It creaked some more, then gave way. There was a hidden door!

  On the other side of the door was a small room. The three of them rushed in. In one corner of the room was a tall pedestal. On top of the pedestal was a leather-bound notebook!

  “We found it!” Ethan cried.

  Suddenly Dimitrios grabbed the notebook . . . and started running!

  CHAPTER 8

  The Surprise Visitor

  Ethan and Ella glanced at each other and then ran after Dimitrios.

  “Hey!” Ethan shouted.

  “Stop!” Ella yelled. The twins had to get that notebook back.

  Just then a shadowy figure appeared out of nowhere and blocked Dimitrios’s path. “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded. His voice sounded strangely familiar.

  “Who’s there?” Dimitrios asked sharply.

  The person stepped into a pool of light. It was a man with gray hair. And glasses. He looked kind of like Grandpa Harry.

  Wait. He was Grandpa Harry!

  “Grandpa Harry!” the twins burst out. They couldn’t believe it!

  “Harry Robinson! What are you doing here?” Dimitrios said angrily.

  “I’m here on behalf of the Society of Apollo, of course,” replied Grandpa Harry.

  The Society of Apollo?

  “And you know that the notebook in your hands belongs to us,” he said.

  “Well, you can tell the rest of the society that their precious notebook is mine!” Dimitrios snapped. He pushed past Grandpa Harry and broke into a run.

  But to the twins’ amazement, Grandpa Harry didn’t try to stop him.

  “Grandpa Harry! He has the notebook!” Ella cried out.

  “Aren’t you going to stop him?” Ethan asked.

  Then their grandfather did something surprising. He smiled! “Dimitrios has a notebook,” he told the twins with a wink. “Come with me, my dears. I must show you something.”

  He led the twins back into the secret room. When they got to the pedestal, Grandpa Harry knelt down in front of it. He grabbed it and turned it one, two, three times—then yanked it out of the ground!

  Dust kicked up as the twins blinked in surprise. Underneath where the base had been was a small, shallow hole. Grandpa Harry reached inside and carefully pulled out a package wrapped in plastic.

  “What is that?” Ella murmured.

  “The real notebook,” replied Grandpa Harry.

  “Wait. Why are there two notebooks?” asked Ethan.

  “And what’s the Society of Apollo?” Ella added.

  Grandpa Harry rose to his feet. “A long time ago a group of people, including myself, formed a secret organization. We called ourselves the Society of Apollo,” he began. “Our mission was to solve mysteries all over the world . . . to discover the truth.”

  The twins looked at him, mouths open.

  “This was—is—our notebook. It contains the names of our members as well as detailed notes about each of our cases—the solved ones and the unsolved ones. The information is top secret and very valuable,” Grandpa Harry continued. “We hid the notebook in this secret room to keep it safe. We also put the fake notebook there, as
a decoy, just in case anyone came looking for the real one. Then we painted our hawk and globe symbols on the wall so we would be sure to find the secret room again.”

  “What does Dimitrios have to do with all of this?” asked Ethan.

  “He was one of our members, in the beginning. He used to be a respected archaeologist, too. But he decided that he preferred being a criminal,” Grandpa Harry said, shaking his head. “We hid the notebook here way after he left the group. But he must have found out about the location somehow. He obviously started working here so he could look for it.”

  He added, “As soon as I read your e-mail about the hawk and globe paintings and a ‘volunteer’ named Dimitrios, I alerted the Society of Apollo. We had an emergency meeting, and it was decided that I would come to Athens immediately.”

  Ethan nodded slowly. “Hey, Grandpa Harry? Dr. Pappas told Mom that a couple of guys tried to break into the site last night. Do you think one of them was Dimitrios?”

  “I’m sure it was,” Grandpa Harry replied. “He and one of his cronies probably wanted to search for the notebook without anyone around. When he still couldn’t find it, he decided to trick you guys into helping.”

  Ella frowned. “Wait a second. Back up. You said you alerted the Society of Apollo . . . and you had an emergency meeting. Does that mean it still exists? Are you still a member?”

  Grandpa Harry’s eyes twinkled.

  CHAPTER 9

  The Gift

  At lunchtime the twins strolled into the hotel lobby. Mr. and Mrs. Briar were waiting for them.

  “Hi, you guys! Did you learn a lot of Greek words in your class?” Mrs. Briar asked.

  Ella grinned. “Naí. That’s Greek for ‘yes.’ Guess who taught us that?”

  “Dimitrios, right?” Mr. Briar said, puzzled by the question.

  Ethan shook his head. “Óchi. That’s ‘no.’ ”

  The twins stepped apart and waved their hands at the double doors. They swung open . . . and Grandpa Harry strolled in.

  “Dad!” Mrs. Briar cried out.

  “Hi there, JoJo. I’m awfully glad to see you,” Grandpa Harry said as they hugged.

  “What are you doing in Athens?” Mr. Briar asked, hugging him, too.

  Grandpa Harry turned and winked at the twins. They winked back at him. “Had some important business to attend to. In fact, I worked up quite an appetite! Did someone say something about lunch?”

  “Yes! And since you’re here, we should celebrate. Have you ever had fried snails? They’re a Greek delicacy!” Mr. Briar explained.

  Fried snails?

  While Mr. and Mrs. Briar discussed which restaurant to go to, Grandpa Harry pulled the twins aside. “I almost forgot. I have a gift for you kids,” he said in a low voice.

  “Really? What is it?” asked Ethan.

  Grandpa Harry pulled the leather notebook out of his bag. “Here you go.”

  “But . . . but . . . ,” Ella sputtered.

  “You said it belonged to the Society of Apollo!” Ethan protested.

  Grandpa Harry smiled. “Actually, they asked me to keep it safe for a while. I’m passing that job on to the two of you.”

  “You said there were unsolved cases in there,” Ella reminded him.

  “They’ll be solved eventually.” Grandpa Harry leaned over and slipped the notebook into Ella’s messenger bag. The weight of it tugged at her shoulder, but she liked it. “In the meantime, read it. Learn from it,” he went on. “And maybe, just maybe, you can help the Society of Apollo out someday. In fact, there are a couple of unsolved cases in there that would be just right for the two of you!”

  Ella didn’t know what to say. Neither did Ethan. They’d solved a lot of mysteries on their trip around the world. But standing here and being entrusted with the Society of Apollo’s notebook, they felt like real detectives.

  “Who’s ready for snails? Jo just made a reservation at a very nice restaurant!” Mr. Briar called out.

  “Ready as we’ll ever be!” the twins replied. Ella took one of Grandpa Harry’s hands, and Ethan took the other.

  Together they headed out into the bright, sunny day. A day full of mysterious possibilities.

  Here’s an excerpt from

  the first Rider Woofson book,

  The Case of the

  Missing Tiger’s Eye!

  Rider Woofson stared out of his office window, looking over the city skyline. Buildings stretched out for miles in every direction. This was Pawston, the animal capital of the world. Every day, thousands of animals went about their business, behaving as good citizens should.

  But this city also had a darker side, known as the criminal underbelly. And it was not the kind of belly you wanted to scratch. Not unless you wanted to get bit!

  That was where Rider Woofson came in. Rider was no ordinary canine. He was the greatest dog detective in Pawston—maybe even the world. And with the help of his pals in the Pup Investigators Pack, criminals didn’t stand a chance.

  In fact, the only problem for the P.I. Pack was waiting for an actual crime to happen.

  “Well, it’s been a pretty quiet afternoon, huh, Boss?” said Westie Barker.

  “It is quiet,” Rider woofed. “Too quiet.” He fixed his crooked tie and adjusted his hat. “I don’t like it.”

  “A day off must be terrier-fying for a working dog like you,” the West Highland terrier said with a laugh. He was fiddling with a screwdriver and what used to be a vacuum cleaner. “Try to enjoy it. You could grab a dognap or buy a new collar. Maybe play a game of fetch?”

  “We’re not pups anymore,” Rider said, looking over his friend’s shoulder. “Say, what is that?”

  “It’s my new toy project . . . a jetpack!” Westie said.

  HARPER PARIS loves to travel. Her favorite cities in the world are Paris (like her name!) and New York City. She has collected many souvenirs on her travels, including a good-luck coin from Japan and a reindeer-horn pendant from Sweden. She also loves mysteries. When she was a kid, she read Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books after bedtime with a flashlight. She now lives with her family (including two cats and a bunny, who are not good travelers) in Ithaca, New York.

  MARCOS CALO has worked as a professional artist for more than fourteen years. He has worked in different fields: illustration, animation, an comic books. He lives with his wife and daughter in A Coruña, a small Spanish town by the seaside.

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster • New York

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  simonandschuster.com/kids

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Harper-Paris

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Marcos-Calo

  GreetingsfromSomewhereBooks.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 • www.SimonandSchuster.com • First Little Simon hardcover edition March 2016. Copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Designed by John Daly. The text of this book was set in ITC Stone Informal.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Paris, Harper. | Calo, Marcos, illustrator. Title: The myster
y of the secret society / by Harper Paris ; illustrated by Marcos Calo. Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2016. | Series: Greetings from somewhere ; #10 |

  Summary: “Twins Ethan and Ella go on an adventure in Greece, where they learn about the mystery-solving Society of Apollo”— Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2015024040| ISBN 9781481451727 (hardback) | ISBN 9781481451710 (pbk) | ISBN 9781481451734 (ebook) Subjects: | CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | Secret societies--Fiction. | Brothers and sisters—Fiction. | Twins—Fiction. | Greece—Fiction. BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. Classification: LCC PZ7.P21748 Myy 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015024040