CHAPTER 1 THE ENVELOPES ARRIVED DURING THE UNCERTAIN hours of Thursday morning--those dark, early hours between tomorrow and yesterday, between not-quite-yet and nevermore. It's a time when the day is still young, still taking shape, and still open to possibility. The envelopes did not arrive in mailboxes or through mail slots, nor did they arrive with any sort of postage or return address. Instead, unseen hands slipped the mysterious letters beneath bedroom doors throughout the small New England community of Middleton. One might imagine that such a strange occurrence would create alarm and worry. Under normal circumstances, one would be right. In this case, however, the curious deliveries failed to raise concern because most people never saw the envelopes. People lead busy lives, after all, and the envelopes were easy to miss. One could even say that the envelopes were hard to see. In fact, of all the people in Middleton, only one girl who received an envelope truly saw it. Prudence Potts did more than see it, actually. She opened it. Inside waited what appeared to be a postcard. Its face might have been white at one time, but the passing of days had added wrinkles and spots, and shifted the hue to a yellowish-brown. A handwritten message remained visible, however. It read: Be grave in your search, and avoid having stones in your head. The back of the card bore more writing, golden letters across an inky field of deep midnight blue. Unfortunately, this additional text did nothing to explain the cryptic words on the card's face. In fact, the sentence written in gold was a question. Prudence was eleven years old. She had a bob of red hair and a spattering of freckles that lay in reckless disarray across her nose. She considered herself a detective, of sorts, just like her dad had been. As such, she had a particular interest in questions. Questions were like mysteries. Both demanded answers. Pru was especially drawn to the question on the card. It asked: WHAT IS THE UNBELIEVABLE FIB? Excerpted from The Trickster's Tale by Adam Shaughnessy All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
