Deep in the heart of Kentucky A MYSTERY trouble is brewing . featuring KIT IS IN KENTUCKY with Aunt Millie to visit her brother, Charlie. She can’t wait to ride horses and tour Mammoth Cave. But trouble has come to the quiet Kentucky hill country, and with locals Menace at Mammoth Cave blaming the CCC workers, Kit fears that Charlie’s life is in danger. Then Kit discovers that the culprit may be someone she knows. Soon, Kit isn’t sure who she can trust. But one thing is certain: She’s got to find the culprit—before things get worse. Menace at Mammoth A Kit Mystery Cave Look for these other books about Kit. Each sold separately. Find more books online at americangirl.com This book is available as an e-book. 8 $9.99 U.S. FNL15-AB1A ™ MADE IN CHINA Discover online games, quizzes, activities, HECHO EN CHINA and more at FABRIQUÉ EN CHINA americangirl.com/play Menace at Mammoth Cave A Kit Mystery by Mary Casanova AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 1 7/20/17 12:14 PM Published by American Girl Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. 18 19 20 21 22 23 QP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All American Girl marks, BeForever™, Kit™, Kit Kittredge™, Ruthie™, and Ruthie Smithens™ are trademarks of American Girl. This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by American Girl. References to real events, people, or places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of imagination. Cover image by David Roth and Juliana Kolesova The following individuals and organizations have given permission to use images incorporated into the cover design: © iStock.com/zrfphoto. Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the Library of Congress © 2018 American Girl. All rights reserved. Todos los derechos reservados. Tous droits réservés. All American Girl marks are trademarks of American Girl. Marcas registradas utilizadas bajo licencia. American Girl ainsi que les marques et designs y afférents appartiennent à American Girl. MADE IN CHINA. HECHO EN CHINA. FABRIQUÉ EN CHINE. Retain this address for future reference: American Girl, 8400 Fairway Place, Middleton, WI 53562, U.S.A. Importado y distribuido por A.G. México Retail, S. de R.L. de C.V., Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra No. 193 Pisos 10 y 11, Col. Granada, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, C.P. 11520 Ciudad de México. 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AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 2 7/20/17 12:14 PM For Winnie and Vivian, and all who pursue life with curiosity and courage AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 3 7/20/17 12:14 PM TABLE CONTENTS of 1 Rumblings of Trouble .............. 1 2 A Surprise at Camp ............... 13 3 The Letter ....................... 24 4 Ghostly Warnings ................ 41 5 Trust No One .................... 65 6 Highly Flammable ................ 77 7 Wounds New and Old ............. 94 8 Stirrings Aboveground ........... 106 9 Ghostly Soldiers ................. 120 10 Deep, Dark, and Mysterious ....... 132 11 Where There’s Smoke ............ 149 12 A Distressing Discovery .......... 161 13 A Promise ...................... 171 14 Home .......................... 187 Inside Kit’s World ............... 198 AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 5 7/20/17 12:14 PM AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 6 7/20/17 12:14 PM 1 chapter Rumblings of Trouble STEEL ON STEEL, brakes squealed as the train slowed to a stop. The trip from Cincinnati had been long, but they’d finally arrived at Mammoth Cave. Kit gazed out her passenger window. “Aunt Millie! There’s Charlie!” In his familiar brown cap, her brother waited under the awning of a whitewashed building edged with bright red flowers. “Must be feeding him well,” Aunt Millie said. “They’ve put some meat on his bones.” Kit had to agree. Her eighteen-year-old brother looked different in the months since she’d last seen him—older somehow. She tugged her suitcase from the overhead bin, and when the conductor opened the door, she was 1 AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 1 7/20/17 12:14 PM 2 • Menace at Mammoth Cave page waiting on the top step, eager to hop off. A wall of hot, humid air greeted her. “Welcome to Mammoth Cave Hotel, young lady!” a gray-haired porter boomed, grabbing her suitcase. “We’re not staying at the hotel,” Kit said, tugging it back again. She and Aunt Millie had scrounged enough pennies together for a round-trip train ride, but they didn’t have extra for a hotel. “My apologies, Miss.” With that, the porter turned to the next passenger. In the throng of tourists, Kit felt herself swept up from behind by two strong arms around her waist, twirling her. “Charlie!” she squealed, as one shoe went flying, then the other. “My shoes!” By the time Charlie set Kit to the ground again, Aunt Millie held Kit’s shoes in hand. “Am I next?” Aunt Millie joked. Charlie laughed. “If you’d like, Aunt Millie.” “I’d better keep my feet on the ground,” she said with a laugh, “but thank you kindly.” AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 2 7/20/17 12:14 PM Rumblings of Trouble • 3 page Charlie grinned ear to ear. “I can’t believe you’re both here.” Kit put her hands on her hips. “Anyone who uses the word peculiar in a letter to me should know it will make me extra curious. You have to tell me what you meant!” Charlie laughed. “There’s time enough, Kit.” He picked up the two suitcases, then trotted off ahead. “Follow me, ladies.” Hurrying behind Charlie, Kit could practically recite his letter from memory. He’d said he was working at one of four camps at the park, and that each camp put out its own newspaper filled with bits of work news and jokes. Then he’d written, “But, honestly, there are some peculiar things going on around here lately. It’s what doesn’t get in the papers that’s most interesting.” Kit wanted to know more, but she held her tongue and followed him through a gravel parking lot to a rusty red Ford truck. AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 3 7/20/17 12:14 PM 4 • Menace at Mammoth Cave page “This truck belongs to Joe, one of the guys at camp,” Charlie said. “Rents it out for fifty cents a day.” “I’m happy to cover the cost,” Aunt Millie said. “I’ll help,” Kit added. The Depression had hit everyone hard in the past few years, but it seemed to Kit that things were finally starting to get better. Dad had finally found part-time work at the airport. Mother had taken in boarders, whose rent had allowed Kit’s family to keep their house. And one of the programs President Franklin Roosevelt had launched—the CCC, or Civilian Conservation Corps—had given men like Charlie a job. Each month, Charlie sent home twenty- five dollars of his dollar-a-day pay. Now it was August 1934, and Kit and her aunt were coming to stay for ten days with Aunt Millie’s childhood friend, Miss Pearl, who lived near the Mammoth Cave area where Charlie was working with the CCC. AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 4 7/20/17 12:14 PM Rumblings of Trouble • 5 page Charlie tossed their luggage into the truck bed. “Before we head out, I’m going to show you something you’ve never seen before.” They trekked after Charlie down a path into a hollow. Beside the path, a creek gurgled and flowed. Tall oak and beech trees cast shadows of dappled green and gray. The air cooled degree by degree as they descended. Excitement tiptoed up Kit’s spine. Was he going to show them the “peculiar things” he’d mentioned in his letter? As they came around a bend in the path, a sign read: “Historic Entrance.” A bit farther on, a cluster of tourists gathered. Kit stepped up to a railing. Below, a dark hole gaped like the mouth of an underground monster. Its throat was deep, and it shot out a continuous blast of cold air. A steep set of steps dropped toward its mouth and then leveled off into a path that extended deeper into darkness. Goose bumps rose on Kit’s arms. She watched AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 5 7/20/17 12:14 PM 6 • Menace at Mammoth Cave page as a group of tourists gathered around a man with a helmet and flashlight. “If anyone has a bad heart or is afraid of close spaces, you might want to skip this tour,” he began. Aunt Millie shook her head. “I don’t think people are meant to go belowground. It’s unnatural.” Charlie laughed. “Yeah, strange things live down there. Fish without eyes.” “Creepy!” Kit said, and made a mental note to find out more. “Did they find fossils of woolly mam- moths here?” “It’s called Mammoth Cave because it’s so huge,” Charlie said. “It’s the largest underground cave in the world.” Kit stared. A carpet of ferns surrounded the mouth of the cave. Water trickled in rivulets toward the entrance, then fell off to its side and disappeared belowground. It was scary, but not enough to keep her from wanting to see inside. “Come on!” she said, heading toward the cave AQ_FNL15_Pages.indd 6 7/20/17 12:14 PM Rumblings of Trouble • 7 page opening.