Wildwood (YA Paranormal Mystery) by Helen Scott Taylor

dinner would be very awkward. But he had to go because he couldn't hurt Marigold's feelings. He sensed she'd been hurt a lot. Despite her cheerfulness, it only took one wrong question to crack her happy shell and release the hidden sadness inside.
    When he reached the village, he stopped on the sidewalk outside the shop to brush the worst of the dirt off his jeans. The shop was busy with vacationers carrying baskets full of groceries. The woman behind the checkout said hello to him. Then his grandpa called to him from the storeroom.
    Todd stopped in the storeroom doorway and sniffed the strangely nice smell of cardboard and concrete, which reminded him of the gym store at school. Grandpa ticked a form before looking up from his clipboard. "Good Lord. What happened to your clothes?"
    Todd repeated the story he'd told Marigold about tracking animals.
    Grandpa's bushy eyebrows rose towards his hairline. "As long as you don't kill anything up there, I don't mind. But you must rinse those jeans off before they go in the washing machine."
    The old man nodded towards a stack of boxes by the external door. "I could do with help moving this lot. The delivery driver used to lend a hand, but they can't wait to unload and get away these days. Don't know what the world's coming to, everyone racing around chasing their tails."
    Following directions, Todd hefted boxes into different piles: confectionary, canned drinks, canned food, packets of pasta. Grandpa watched, counting off the items delivered and making notes on his clipboard.
    After they finished, they went through to the kitchen for a snack. Todd waited for Grandpa to get comfortable before he asked, "Can you tell me about the Cochran boys?"
    Grandpa nearly choked on his biscuit. "Don't go digging into that as well. Those boys died five years ago. Nobody around here wants the past raked up." He shook a finger. "If I hear you've been asking questions about them, you'll be in trouble, my lad."
    Todd popped open the can of soda he'd taken from the shop and took a swig. He'd have to make sure Grandpa didn't hear then.
    "Who told you about them? I can't believe anyone from the village brought it up. It was a terrible tragedy best left in the past."
    He didn't want to mention the vagrant in case Grandpa thought he was dangerous and banned Todd from going back to Lords Wood, so he changed the subject. "Marigold invited me to dinner. Am I allowed to go?"
    Grandpa's face burst into a grin, and he patted Todd's shoulder. "Knew you'd get along with that girl. Course you can go. But don't ask Marigold about the Cochrans. You'll only upset her."
    That must mean Marigold had known the Cochrans. Had one of them been her boyfriend? The thought annoyed him until he realized she would only have been ten when they died. The same age he'd been when his dad disappeared. The same year Grandpa gave up the farm and bought his shop. Strange how so many things had happened five years ago. It was probably just coincidence, but he couldn't ignore the race of goose bumps along his arms.
    "What date did the Cochran boys die?"
    "I told you to leave that alone, Todd, and I meant it. No questions about those boys. If I hear you've dredged up that old mystery, they'll be consequences."
    So there was a mystery surrounding their deaths. He definitely needed to discuss them with Marigold.
    "Who told you about them?" Grandpa demanded again.
    Todd leaped up from his chair and headed towards the stairs. "I need to shower and change before I head up to Marigold's."
    "Make sure you remember what I said," Grandpa shouted as Todd ran up the stairs two at a time.
    Todd's senses hummed with the excitement of the hunt. Could something have happened five years ago that linked the Cochrans' death with his father's disappearance? Was it also connected to Andrew's death?
    ***
    Marigold opened the front door of Lookout Cottage and stepped aside to let Todd in. The inside of the witch's den looked exactly how he'd expected.
    In the