The snowmobile turned and headed into the entrance of the long driveway. From behind his helmet’s dark mask, Charlie saw the fresh snow. He smiled. He drove his snowmobile down the hill.
He had been planning this weekend for over a year. His mom and dad had promised he could spend a weekend alone at their lake cabin when he turned fifteen. No parents, no big brother to boss him around, and no annoying little sisters. Just Charlie, his snowmobile, the snow, and the frozen ice of Raven Lake.
Charlie used an old key to open the front door. He stepped inside and took a long sniff of the musty cedar boards that lined the walls and the ceiling. Then he grabbed his bags from the snowmobile.
After carrying in an armload of firewood, he filled the potbelly stove with birch bark and twigs. He started a blaze. Charlie grabbed a large metal pot from the kitchen and filled it with snow. He boiled it on top of the stove. Since the cabin didn’t have running water, he would use the melted snow for drinking and washing. He added larger pieces of wood to the fire. He took off his snowmobile gear and sat down in an old leather chair by the stove. The warmth felt great after the cold, two-hour ride on his snowmobile.
Through the big cabin windows, Charlie saw that the evergreen branches were sagging under heavy clumps of snow. The sky was pale blue. The snow on the lake was untouched except for deer tracks that cut across it.
Charlie looked past the nearby trees. He could see the cabin next door. The people who owned the cabin, the Beckers, were an older couple who never came to Raven Lake in the cold weather. The Beckers spent every winter in the Arizona sun. Charlie wouldn’t have to worry about them messing up his perfect weekend.
Then something caught Charlie’s eye. Was he seeing things? No, there it was, plain as day. A thin strand of smoke drifted from the Beckers’ chimney. Someone was there.
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Adapted from The Curse of Raven Lake, by Chris Kreie, ©️ by Capstone. Reprinted with permission.
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Which character(s) from the story think that something strange is happening at the Beckers’ cabin?
Charlie and the narrator
The narrator
Charlie
None of the characters