Summer Of The Woods (The Virginia Mysteries Book 1) Summary

Derek(10) and Sam(8) just moved into Virginia. After unpacking, they start exploring the forest in their backyard. They stumble upon a stream, and Sam sees something shiny from under the water. He reaches in the water to get it, and he pulls out an old coin. When he got back to his house, Sam shows the coin to his dad, and they search it up on the computer. The coin turns out to be a very old wheat penny that was stolen from a museum almost 60 years ago. That night, a big storm rolls in. It was so loud that Derek decided to go downstairs to the living room and stay there for a while. He trips over something and goes tumbling down the stairs. But since the storm was so noisy, no one heard him fall. He stretched his leg and felt his foot smash into the stair. When he sat up to look at the crack that he made, he discovered that it was a secret door under the stairs. He reached in and found a box. Inside the box, he found an Indian head cent and a map.

The next day, Derek, Sam, and their dad go camping. In the middle of the night, Derek wakes up and follows the map leading into an old mine. He discovers a metal box filled with old and rare coins! Suddenly, Derek hears voices and tries to hide up on the ledge where Derek found the coins, but the shelf breaks off and sends a lot of rocks in his direction. A massive rock falls on Derek’s foot, and he cries for help. The voices turn out to be friendly neighbors and call Derek’s dad.

After a few days in the hospital, Derek comes home. His foot in a cast. Some museum directors go and inspect the coins. They say that it is authentic and were the ones that were stolen from the museum 60 years ago. When Derek and Sam start school, they are famous!

The End