Ann Martin - Stacey And The Mystery Of Stoneybrook

"Where's that map, Kristy?" I asked. "Let's take a look at it."

Kristy took it out and opened it carefully.

"Wow, that's really old, isn't it?" asked Charlotte. "The writing on it is so weird. What does it say?"

I couldn't make it out too well, either, but it did seem to show that house. As far as the burial-ground business, I couldn't be sure. The map wasn't like any I'd ever seen. It had strange signs and symbols on it, and markings in a faded red color. I wondered if it was the real McCoy or just something someone had made up for fun.

"How do we know that this map is really as old as it looks?" I asked.

Kristy and Charlotte both just gave me a look. They wanted to believe in the map and in the mystery of the old house. They had no doubts about the map being genuine.

"I wonder who owns that house," I said. I

was really starting to get interested in that "dumb old house," in spite of myself. Laine would never believe it. If she ever got involved in a mystery back in New York, it would probably have to do with something like, "Who stole the countess's jewels from the hotel safe?" or "Does the ghost of Elvis haunt the Hard Rock Cafe?"

"I don't know who owns it. Nobody's lived there for years," Kristy said. "But I don't remember there ever being a 'for sale' sign in front of that house."

"Do you think the owner is even still alive?" asked Charlotte. She gulped. "Maybe that was his ghost we heard."

"No, he must be alive somewhere. How else could that developer ever have bought the house in order to knock it down?" Kristy looked thoughtful. "I wonder if we could find him."

"You keep saying 'he/ " I said. "The owner could be a woman, you know. Anyway, how can we find out who the owner is? Do you think she still lives in the area?"

"We could find out everything we need to know about the house if only we could track him — or her — down," said Kristy. "Maybe Mary Anne would have some good ideas. Her family has lived around here for a long time."

I went to the phone and dialed Mary Anne's number. Luckily, she was home.

"Mary Anne, did you hear about the map that Kristy found?" I asked, after we'd said hello, how are you, and all that. She hadn't, so I told her about it.

"It sounds like a mystery, all right," she said. "But where do we go from here?" I didn't know what to tell her.

Kristy motioned for me to give her the phone. "Mary Anne," she said. "Keep on the lookout for clues. You never know where you might find one. Maybe there are some old books or documents somewhere in that old house of yours."

Since Mary Anne lived with Dawn now, they really might find some clues in their house. It's one of the oldest houses around here, and it has some mysteries of its own. That secret passage has been the site of all kinds of strange happenings.

"Dawn's out sitting for the Rodowskys, but as soon as she gets back I'll ask her if she's got any ideas," said Mary Anne. "It's kind of fun to have another mystery to solve, isn't it?"

Next we called Claudia. She got all excited about the books and the map, and she wanted to come right over and look at them and hear more about what Kristy had found out. She

was stuck at home, though, doing homework. (Claud's really smart — even if she isn't an actual genius like her sister, Janine — but her grades don't show it. If she doesn't keep her grades up she might have to quit the Babysitters Club. No way did we want that to happen.)

"Stay put and do your homework, Claud," I said. "But keep your eyes and ears open in the next few days. You can never tell where or when a due might turn up."

We tried to call Mallory, since she loves mysteries, too, but Mrs. Pike said that Mal had taken Margo and Claire (two of her little sisters) on a special Teddy Bears' Picnic. Mal's such a terrific big sister. I remembered now that she'd been planning this for awhile. She was going to make little sandwiches and "tea," and help the girls dress up their teddy bears in special outfits. It sounded like fun. I asked Mrs. Pike to tell Mallory to call me back when she got home.

We didn't even try to call Jessi, since we knew she was away for the weekend. So that was everyone. If we all kept on the alert for clues, maybe we could crack this case.

To be honest, I didn't really even know for sure if we had a mystery on our hands. This burial-ground story was hard to prove, and

that old map was so hard to read. I wasn't positive that Kristy had gotten it right. Maybe all that stuff we'd seen and heard at the house was just our imaginations. Maybe we were making something out of nothing.

But there was Charlotte, sitting on the couch with one of Watson's old books. She was flipping through it one more time, combing for dues. I could see that, for awhile anyway, she'd forgotten that she was sick. She'd forgotten that she was stuck inside for another day and a half. And she'd forgotten that her parents were a plane ride away. Mystery or not, the old house was keeping us both busy, and I was thankful for that.

Chapter 9.

On Monday, Claud had a job sitting for the Perkins girls, Gabbie and Myriah. Gabbie's almost three, and Myriah's almost six. We all like them a lot. They also have a baby sister named Laura. Mrs. Perkins was taking Laura to Dr. Dellenkamp to have her cough checked out.

When Claudia arrived, Chewy — the Per-kinses' big black Labrador retriever — was running around in circles. Myriah was holding his favorite toy, a disgusting, ancient well-chewed tennis ball. She wouldn't throw it for him, and it was driving him nuts. He barked as he ran, begging her to throw it.

"Claudee Kishi!" yelled Gabbie. "Hi, Clau-dee Kishi! Toshe me up!" Gabbie always calls us by our full names, and "toshe me up" is an expression she invented and uses all the time. Basically, it means, "Pick me up and give me a big hug." Claud was glad to oblige, since Gabbie is an extremely huggable girl.

"I have a great idea, guys," said Claud. "How about if we go to the library for Story Hour? Today they're going to read a couple of your favorite books. Guess which ones. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and The Little House. And then, after they read the books,

everybody gets to help make a mural of the town in The Little House."

Claud had found out about Story Hour from her mom. Mrs. Kishi is the head librarian, so she knows about all the stuff that goes on there. Claud had thought she'd check out Story Hour to see if it was a good way to spend some time with the kids we were sitting for.

"Yea!" yelled Gabbie. "What's a mural?"

"It's a big, giant picture, Gabbers," said Myriah. "Can Chewy come, Claudia? Oh, boy, I can't wait!"

They do love those two books. Have you ever read The Little House? It's about this house that was once in the country, and then slowly a big city gets built up around it. I won't spoil the ending, but trust me, it's a great book.

Claud had another motive for going to the library. She couldn't stop thinking about the old house being on the site of a burial ground. Maybe, she thought, she could find out more by browsing through the local history section. Claud must have been obsessed with that house: It's not like her to do much voluntary reading (besides Nancy Drew, of course).

She piled Gabbie and Myriah into the Perkinses' big red wagon — she'd vetoed the idea of Chewy coming along — and set off for the