“I agree with Adam,” Sally said sadly. “We can’t help him this way. We need reinforcements, better weapons. We have to get back to town and warn everybody about what could happen.”

“No one will believe us,” Cindy said. “If you told me a creature’s gaze could freeze me, I wouldn’t believe it.”

“But you don’t believe anything I say,” Sally replied.

“We’ll have to deal with that problem when we come to it,” Adam said.

“But what are we going to tell people?” Cindy persisted. “We don’t even know what these creatures are. We have no idea where they come from.”

Sally was curious. “What was it like when the creature stared at you?”

Cindy lowered her head and shivered. “It was as if the blood in my veins were turning to ice—literally. And there was something else—it was like the cold man hated me for being warm. I felt its hate, its envy.” A tear slipped over her cheek. “I hope Watch is all right.” She raised her head and stared at Adam. “You think he’s still alive, don’t you?”

Adam wanted to say something encouraging but knew Cindy would see through his lie. He thought of how strong the cold man was, how quickly it moved. How powerful its strange eyes were. Adam didn’t have much hope for his friend.

“I just don’t know,” Adam said quietly.

• • •

Their bikes were still where they’d left them. The road back to town was mostly downhill, and they never pedaled so fast in all their lives. The cold wind stung their faces, their cheeks burning and freezing at the same time. Adam wanted to ride straight to the police station but Sally wanted to find Bum first.

“Bum knows a thousand times more than the police do,” she said.

“I thought you didn’t trust Bum.” Adam said.

“I trust no one,” Sally said. “But Bum likes Watch. He’ll do anything to rescue him.”

They found Bum, who had once been the mayor of Spooksville, down at the beach feeding the pigeons. He seemed happy to see them, but when they told him what had happened, he sat down with a weary thud. His glum expression worried them. They could have come to tell him about the breakout of the next world war and he might have laughed it off. He was that easygoing. But there was something in their story that touched him deeply.

“It’s the Cryo Creatures,” Bum muttered.

“What are they?” Adam demanded.

“Cryo means cold,” Sally offered.

“We know that,” Cindy said impatiently. “But what are these creatures?”

Bum sighed. “To put it bluntly, they’re bad news. I haven’t heard of them in a long time. In fact, they have never appeared during my lifetime before.” He paused and shook his head. “You say they got Watch?”