Sydney and the Wisconsin Whispering Woods by Jean Fischer

gave us a note. ‘If you wear these, you can see what’s behind you.’ “
    She handed the glasses to Alexis.
    “Whoa,” Alex said after she put them on. “This is weird. Depending on where I look through the lenses, I can see straight ahead or behind me. These are awesome, but they’ll take getting used to. Here. You try them.”
    Sydney put the glasses on and looked in front of her.
    “Oh!” She gasped. “What?”
    “I saw someone looking in the window behind me.” Just then, there came a soft knock on the back door. The girls saw Mr. Miller standing on the little concrete porch. “Hi, Mr. Miller,” Sydney said, opening the door.
    “Howdy,” he said. “Nice sunglasses. Say, I hear that you might need one of these.” He held up a fishing net. “And one of these, too.” He handed Sydney a metal tape measure. “So, you caught a big one this morning, huh?”
    “You must have been talking to Duncan,” said Alexis.
    Mr. Miller took off his baseball cap and scratched his head. “Well, let’s just say that a little bird told me.”
    He gave Sydney the net, and she put it on the table next to Kate’s box.
    “Well, that little bird has been giving us plenty of trouble since we got here,” Sydney said. “And his dad hasn’t been very nice, either.”
    Mr. Miller plopped his cap back on his head. “Well, that’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, Duncan’s not a bad kid. His family’s been comin’ here since he was a baby. Then a couple of years ago, his mom and sister were killed in a car accident. Duncan and his dad haven’t been the same since. His dad’s still mad that it happened, and poor Duncan gets the worst of it sometimes. I don’t think he has many friends.”
    A guilty feeling sank into the pit of Sydney’s stomach. “I’m glad you told us,” she said.
    “Me, too,” Alexis added. “We’ll pray for them.”
    Mr. Miller smiled. “You seem like nice girls. I figured you’d give Duncan a break and try to be friends with him.”
    “We’ll try,” said Sydney. “And thanks for the net and the tape measure.”
    “You’re welcome,” he said. “Good luck with your fishing, and may the best man … er … I mean … um … may the best man or woman win!”
    He tipped the brim of his cap and walked back toward the office.
    Sydney closed the door. “Well, that might explain why Duncan is so mean,” she said. “I can’t imagine how I’d feel if my mom and brother died.”
    “Me neither,” said Alexis. “We’ll add Duncan and his dad to our prayers every night. And Syd, let’s be nice to Duncan—as hard as that might be.”
    There were three more things in Kate’s box. One was a GPS locator.
    “Great!” Sydney said. “Now we won’t have to worry about making trails in the woods and getting lost.”
    The second item was a tiny camera, about the size of a matchbox. Kate had included another note:
    This is a mini-microcamera with a hand-held monitor. It takes pictures and videos. You can set it up like a security camera and watch the monitor to see what’s going on. You can also use it under water. I programmed it so every picture you take will automatically show up on our web site
.
    Sydney unpacked the monitor, which was about the size of a cell phone.
    “This is so cool,” she said. “So do you want to do some exploring?”
    “You mean sleuthing?” Alexis asked.
    “That’s exactly what I mean,” said Sydney. “Let’s go into the woods and find out what that mountain man is up to.”
    Sydney loaded the gadgets inside her waist pack and strapped it around her middle. In the meantime, Alexis slipped the Wonder Watch over her wrist. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open.
    “I’m texting Kate to let her know that we got the package. Then I’ll text the other girls and tell them that we’re going into the woods. Maybe some of them will be online if we need them.”
    “Good idea,” said Sydney.
    “And Syd, don’t