The Sleepwalking Snowman Read online

  Then something else caught my eye. The branches in the trees next to Carter’s house were shaking, and a bunch of squirrels darted into the yard. As the furry critters passed Desmond, a white blob slipped out into the light.

  It was the snowman!

  Desmond was so focused on that glowing gadget that he didn’t even know the snowman was there.

  “Look out!” I yelled. But there was no way he could hear me from inside the house. I had to think fast!

  That was when I got an idea. If I splashed that snowman with hot water, it would be melt-ville for that giant snowball for sure.

  “Carter!” I yelled as I raced down the hall. “I need a thermos!”

  In the kitchen, I found Carter completely asleep at the table. “Wake up,” I said, shaking him. “I need a thermos. I have to melt your snowman. Fast!”

  But I couldn’t wait for Carter to wake up. I looked around the kitchen, found a few on my own, and filled them with hot water.

  As I ran back outside, I could hear Carter waking up. “What’s going on?” he muttered. “Andres, wait!”

  But I wasn’t going to wait. I had to save Desmond!

  Except when I opened the front door and ran into the yard, the snowman was gone.

  Desmond looked up from his weird device, which was glowing orange. He pointed to the thermoses. “Did you make me some tea?”

  “Huh?” I asked. I was too busy searching the yard. “The snowman was here just a minute ago.”

  Desmond said, “I didn’t see anything.”

  I wondered if it could have been all in my imagination, but the evidence was right there: giant footprints in the snow.

  “Desmond, look!” I said, pointing. “See! The snowman was here!”

  That was when Carter came outside and walked sleepily across the snow.

  “Guys,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I just had the weirdest dream.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THUMPETY-THUMP-THUMP

  Carter made us come back inside on account of he wasn’t wearing his shoes. We went to his room. It was covered in posters of snowboarders and skiers and speed skaters. He even had a sled on the wall next to posters of igloos and . . . snowmen!

  “Wow,” I said. “You really love winter, don’t you?”

  “Oh yeah,” Carter said, smiling. “It’s my favorite season.”

  “Never mind that,” Desmond said impatiently. “Put on your shoes and tell us about your dream so we can go find that snowman.”

  “You were in it, Desmond,” Carter said. “And so were you, Andres. It was so strange. In the dream, I was chasing both of you when all of a sudden, we were all snowball-attacked by Cindy Lee. But for some reason, I didn’t run away from her. I stood up to her. And she ran away from me! Weird, right?”

  “Wait,” I said. “That happened in real life. Only you weren’t the one chasing us. The snowman was! You were dreaming something that really happened.”

  “That’s impossible,” Desmond said.

  “As impossible as ghosts, monsters, and zombies?” I asked, because I had seen it all in Kersville! “I might know what’s going on here,” I said. “Have you ever heard of a golem?”

  Both Desmond and Carter shook their heads.

  “There is a golem in one of my video games,” I told them. “You see, golems are these creatures that are made out of, like, mud or clay. But then they come to life and have to do whatever the person who made them wants them to do.”

  “I don’t get it,” Desmond said. “The snowman is made of snow, not mud or clay.”

  “Maybe snow works the same way,” I suggested.

  Carter yawned. “Do you think I’m controlling the snowman?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know how it all works. This is just a guess.”

  Desmond still looked confused. “Why would Carter make the snowman chase after us?”

  This was the first time I knew something Desmond didn’t. “Golems aren’t all that smart,” I explained.

  “They do what you want, but they like to do things their own way.”

  Desmond and Carter still looked like they didn’t understand.

  So I continued talking. “Carter needed us to help him with his problem,” I said. “Maybe the snowman thought it needed to catch us!”

  Carter shook his head and yawned again. “But I didn’t tell the snowman to do anything! I promise. You’ve been with me this whole time. And I wasn’t even around to see the snowman.”

  That got me thinking. Every time we saw the snowman come to life, Carter was home . . . asleep.

  “That’s it!” I said, clapping my hands. “The snowman is sleepwalking! And, Carter, you’re controlling it when you sleep. That’s why you’ve been having such weird dreams.”

  Finally, Desmond nodded and turned to Carter. “Yes! Andres is right. Let’s see what happens if you take a nap for a little while.”

  “I am pretty sleepy,” Carter said. “I’ll just lie down for a few minutes.”

  He climbed into his bed, and he was fast asleep in no time.

  Desmond and I stood there, not sure what to expect. A few seconds later, we heard something from downstairs.

  THUMPETY-THUMP-THUMP!

  The sound was getting closer.

  And closer.

  THUMPETY-THUMP-THUMP!

  Suddenly, Carter’s bedroom door swung open.

  The sleepwalking snowman had found us!

  CHAPTER NINE

  CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

  I heard a scream. And then another. And then another! But of course, it was only me screaming.

  The snowman blocked the whole doorway. It was impossible to escape.

  Desmond yelled, “Let’s wake up Carter and stop him from dreaming!”

  We shook Carter, but it was no use. That kid could sleep!

  The snowman entered the room, creeping closer and closer.

  I swallowed hard. “Remember, Carter doesn’t want to hurt us, so the snowman won’t hurt us.”

  Then the snowman launched a snowball that hit me square in the face.

  Splat!

  Desmond cleared his throat. “I thought it didn’t want to hurt us.”

  “Maybe I was wrong,” I said as the snowman loomed over us with its arms outstretched. “Haven’t you ever been wrong before?”

  I screamed again and waited for the snowman to grab us.

  But before that could happen, Desmond grabbed the sled from Carter’s wall.

  “Get behind me,” Desmond said, holding the sled in front of us like a shield.

  The snowman pelted the sled with snowballs.

  “Let’s get out of here!” Desmond cried.

  We moved around the snowman, then bolted out of the room, down the stairs, and through the front door at top speed. As soon as we hit the yard, we both hopped onto the sled. We had to get away from there!

  Only we didn’t get far.

  In a flash, the snowman jumped out of Carter’s bedroom window and landed right in front of us. It was quick for a pile of snow!

  “Hold on tight,” Desmond said, swerving around the frozen beast.

  The sled was fast, but the snowman was faster. Much faster! He was so fast that it seemed to be skating on the snow!

  The snowman reached out to grab me, but it ended up with just a piece of my scarf. “Let go!” I screamed. No way was I going to give up the scarf my mom made for me!

  So I tugged it back and almost fell off the sled. Desmond held me as we picked up speed.

  “Where are we going?” I asked Desmond, wiping the snow from my eyes.

  “We need to find Cindy Lee,” he said. “I have a plan.”

  Desmond Cole always had a plan!

  We flew into the park, weaving in and out of the trees. Desmond and I looked back and saw that the snowman was still chasing us.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked as we hit a hill and slid down it.

  “Remember when Carter said he always wanted to win a snowball fight agains
t Cindy Lee?” Desmond asked. “Well, I bet if the snowman sees Cindy Lee, it will stop chasing us and fight with her!”

  That was a great idea . . . with only one problem. We didn’t find Cindy Lee. Cindy Lee found us! Which meant we were stuck between a snowball bully and a sleepwalking snowman again!

  Thwack!

  “Owww!” I screamed as Cindy Lee bombarded us with snowballs. That girl had some kind of aim.

  Luckily, Desmond’s plan worked.

  When the sleepwalking snowman saw Cindy Lee, it froze. What came next was the most epic snowball fight in history.

  It was so awesome that Desmond and I stopped sledding so we could watch.

  At first, the snowman had the upper hand, but then Cindy Lee came roaring back. As the snowballs hurled across the park, Desmond whispered to me, “Andres, give me your boots.”

  “Are you really going to make fun of my boots at a time like this?” I snapped.

  “No way,” Desmond said. “We need your boots now more than ever. Please?”

  I sighed, then I took off my boots and handed them over to him. My dry, warm toes were now super cold and wet. This new idea had better be a good one.

  Desmond snuck over behind the snowman. There was no way the creature was going to notice him. It was too busy flinging snowballs at Cindy Lee.

  Then Desmond set my boots on the ground.

  As the snowman dodged the snowballs, it stepped into my boots, and it must have been like stepping into the sun.

  That snowman started to sweat like crazy. Then I realized that it wasn’t sweating. It was melting!

  It didn’t take long before the snowman was nothing more than a large puddle.

  Cindy Lee stopped throwing snowballs as I ran over to get my boots. Oof! Gross! They smelled like wet dog.

  My poor, toasty boots were ruined, but the sleepwalking snowman case was solved!

  CHAPTER TEN

  MELT AWAY

  It turns out that all Carter needed was a good night’s sleep. His tired grumpiness had turned the snowman into a grumpy golem. But after some rest, Carter was able to build a new, nicer snowman. I know, it sounds crazy. Why build another snowman?

  Well, because golems can be useful.

  While the whole town was asleep, Carter had his snowman build a perfect winter park for everyone to enjoy.

  We called it the Kersville Winter Wonderland, and it had everything: an ice castle with ice slides, a hot chocolate fountain, an igloo bouncy house, and an icicle cave. There were even lanes for sledding races around the whole place.

  Plus, there were forts that were filled with round, fluffy snowballs for snowball fights. They were perfect for throwing. It almost felt good to get hit with one . . . almost.

  It was hard to believe that Carter created all of this in his sleep. Talk about wild dreams!

  No one knew where the snow forts came from, but no one cared. Now people come from all over to visit Kersville’s famous Winter Wonderland—but they have no idea it’s a park that was built by a snowman!

  Like I said before, winter is weird, but I think that’s what makes it the best!

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Andres Miedoso is still afraid of everything as a grown-up, even after all his adventures with Desmond Cole. He lives in New York City with his family, and he remains very close friends with Desmond but returns to Kersville only when he’s needed.

  Victor Rivas was born and raised in Vigo, Spain, and he lives outside of Barcelona. He has been a freelance illustrator for thirty years, illustrating children’s and teen books, concept art for multimedia and animation, and comics.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Andres-Miedoso

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Victor-Rivas

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

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  First Little Simon hardcover edition March 2019

  Copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Designed by Steve Scott

  Jacket design by Steve Scott

  Jacket illustrations by Victor Rivas

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Miedoso, Andres, author. | Rivas, Victor, illustrator.

  Title: The sleepwalking snowman / by Andres Miedoso ; illustrated by Victor Rivas.

  Description: First Little Simon hardcover edition. | New York : Little Simon, [2019] | Series: Desmond Cole ghost patrol ; 7 | Summary: Desmond and Andres face a snowman that was built by a schoolmate but seems to have a mind of its own, as well as a snowball-throwing bully.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018036952 | ISBN 9781534433472 (paperback) | ISBN 9781534433489 (hc) | ISBN 9781534433496 (eBook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Snowmen—Fiction. | Winter—Fiction. | Bullying—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | Hispanic Americans—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.M518 Sle 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018036952