For Abd al-Wakil and Maryam AzzamInspired by your love of scary stories
Ibrahim Khan
and the Mystery of the Haunted Lake
FARHEEN KHAN
THE ISLAMIC FOUNDATION
Copyright © The Islamic Foundation, 2010/1431 H
Text copyright 2010 Farheen Khan
ISBN 978-0-86037-423-7
MUSLIM CHILDREN’S LIBRARY
THE IBRAHIM KHAN SERIES
Ibrahim Khan and the Mystery of the Haunted Lake
Author Farheen Khan
Editor Fatima D’Oyen
Illustrators Hisham and Sharelle Haqq
Cover/Book design & typeset Nasir Cadir
Coordinator Anwar Cara
Published by
THE ISLAMIC FOUNDATION
Markfield Conference Centre, Ratby Lane, Markfield
Leicestershire, LE67 9SY, United Kingdom
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.islamic-foundation.com
Quran House, P.O. Box 30611, Nairobi, Kenya
P.M.B. 3193, Kano, Nigeria
Distributed by
Kube Publishing Ltd.
Tel: +44(01530) 249230, Fax: +44(01530) 249656
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.kubepublishing.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
A Cataloguing-in-Publication Data record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-86037-423-7
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE Triple Chocolate Delight
CHAPTER FOUR The Legend of the Haunted Lake
CHAPTER FIVE Early Morning Scare
CHAPTER SEVEN Another Morning Scare
CHAPTER ONE
Triple Chocolate Delight
“Just open it!” yelled Zayn.
“Patience,” whispered Ibrahim. “You have to do these things in the right order,” he explained, as he sniffed the outside of the rectangular metal box. Carefully lifting it, Ibrahim weighed the box in one hand then the other, a skill he had picked up from all his detective work. After a few more minutes of careful consideration, he was ready.
“Spaghetti and meatballs!” Ibrahim announced.
“Are you sure?” asked Zayn.
“Positive,” said Ibrahim. “Oh, and don’t forget two… no three Triple Chocolate Delight cookies!”
Opening Ibrahim’s lunch box, Zayn let out a yelp!
“How… how did you know?” Zayn stammered.
“Skill, my dear cousin, skill,” replied Ibrahim, ruffling Zayn’s already messy hair, which he liked to keep a little long.
Ibrahim, who was a little taller than his cousin, had short black hair and an infectious smile.
Pulling his lunch box towards him, Ibrahim took out the contents one at a time: a bottle of milk, a bag of grapes, three Triple Chocolate Delight cookies and, of course, a large container of spaghetti and meatballs.
“I wish I’d get a Triple Chocolate Delight cookie once in a while,” Zayn complained, eyeing Ibrahim’s snack. “All I ever get are apples, apples and more apples.
“My parents bought ten boxes – five from me and five from my sister – to help with the school fundraising drive. You’re welcome to have as many as you like,” Ibrahim offered.
“Really?” asked Zayn. “I’ll be over right after school! Can you believe it? The class that sells the most wins a trip to Camp Chimo!”
“Yeah, that would be amazing,” said Ibrahim. “Huda and her grade two friends set up a lemonade stand at our next door neighbour’s garage sale last Saturday.”
“That’s really smart of your sister!” said Zayn.
Huda, who was just a year younger than Ibrahim, was a straight A student and head of the school book club. She always wore her long hair in a ponytail, covered in a long, colourful hijab.
“Come on Ibrahim, we’re detectives and in grade three!” said Zayn “We should be able to come up with an even better idea to win this thing.”
“I think the point is to raise money for schools in Eastern Nepal,” reasoned Ibrahim. “The camping trip is just a way to get us excited.”
“Well it’s working,” said Zayn. “Because I’m really excited!”