The United States of Scare: The Witching Tree

Book excerpt: Cade Doyle has moved back to his father's hometown of Smithfield, Rhode Island. It is a typical New England town full of history and legends. The city was founded in 1636, making it older than most towns and cities across the country. Roads wind through rolling hills and pass fields of stacked stone walls built centuries ago by the town's founders. Massive oak trees rise high along the side of the roads peacefully signaling Mother Nature's seasons. There is, however, one tree that differs from the rest. It sits in the middle of the street surrounded by a three-way intersection called the crossroads. Scars from screeching tires and metal can be seen on the bark of the thick trunk. Every year, the thin sick-looking branches claw their way up and resist the town's attempts to cut them down. Known as the Witching Tree, its stories date back to the town's earliest days. It is said if a person goes around the tree three times reciting an old incantation, the witch will appear and attempt to kill them. Cade and new friends will find out if the legend is true and dig up a long buried secret within the town.