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Mystery May
 Plantation Mystery, Part 1

Plantation Mystery, Part 1
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   3.24

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    blocky, Bridie, gingham, insistent, questioning, settling, sleepy-heads, travel-stained, well-used, ending, spite, fairly, cocked, picket, strained, indeed
     content words:    Then Mama

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Plantation Mystery, Part 1
By Mary Lynn Bushong 		  
1     Abigail woke in the night. Her eyes strained to see in the darkness. Something had disturbed her exhausted sleep. She listened to the quiet breathing of her sister next to her. Then she heard it, the sound of soft footsteps, and the uneasy creaking of the floor boards.
 
2     Bart, their dog, raised his head from the foot of the girls' bed. Abby could just make out the shape of his blocky head and short cropped ears. He cocked his head like he was listening to the sounds, too. Then, he hopped off the bed. His nails clicked on the floor and he pressed his nose to the base boards near the wall. He growled softly in his throat.
 
3     The sounds stopped. After a few minutes of silence, Bart came back to the bed. He curled up on the foot of it and laid his head on his paws, alert to more sounds.
 
4     Abigail watched with him for a little while, until the beating of her heart slowed and her eyes closed in spite of her efforts. The next thing she knew, Bea's insistent finger was poking in her ribs.
 
5     "Ow!" said Abby as she hit her sister's hands away. "That hurts!"
 
6     "It's time to get up and have breakfast," said Beatrice.
 
7     Bea was wearing her travel-stained gingham dress. Her flat hair was pulled into a loose ponytail.
 
8     "What's it look like outside?" asked Abby.
 
9     "It's cool right now, but I think it will be hot later," said Bea.

Paragraphs 10 to 25:
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