Ann Martin - Mallory Pike, No.1 Fan

"From the way you described it, it sounds like a great project," said Claudia as we walked out of school.

"Well, Mr. Williams liked it this time. This morning he gave me the go-ahead to work on it. He said this proposal was a big improvement over the first one, and he really seemed to like the part about Henrietta Hayes." "But what will you do if she doesn't contact you?" Claudia asked.

"Oh, she wifi. I'm pretty sure," I said confidently. I had a very strong feeling that my letter would capture her interest this time. From her books, Henrietta Hayes didn't seem like the kind of woman who would leave a kid stuck when it came to a school project.

Claudia walked home with me. I invited her in for some hot cocoa and brownies Mom had made. (Of course, Ms. Sweettooth Claudia agreed to that!) We would have just enough time to eat before heading over to her house for our BSC meeting.

When I opened my front door, things looked pretty calm, at least for our house. Margo and Claire were playing Chutes and Ladders on the living room floor. Vanessa was brushing Pow, who sat contentedly on the rug beside her.

"You're not supposed to do that in the living room," I reminded Vanessa as Claudia and I went past.

"He's hardly shedding," Vanessa replied. (I had a strong feeling that her idea of "hardly shedding" and Mom's wouldn't be the same.) "Mal, there's another letter for you from that Harriet lady who didn't really write to you the last time," Vanessa added. "Mom put it on the kitchen table." "Henrietta Hayes!" I cried, dashing into the kitchen. The letter was on the table. In a flash, I tore it open.

"What does it say?" Claudia asked excitedly. "Dear Reader," I began glumly. "Thanks so much for your lovely letter." It was the exact same form letter I'd received the last time. Now what was I supposed to do?

That night I lay under my covers with a flashlight beaming down on the pages of Alice Anderson's Big Break, the fourth Alice Anderson book. In this book, Alice's oldest brother, Lars, drives her all the way to Hollywood in his hot-rod car because Alice has been offered a job as the nanny to the kids of a famous Hollywood director.

Once she's there, Alice does everything possible to show the director she's really a talented actress. (For instance, she tries to work Shakespearian quotations into her conversations with him. He'd ask, "Who just called, Alice?" and she'd answer, from Romeo and Juliet, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.") The director is not impressed. In fact, he gets annoyed and finally fires Alice. On her way out the door, she makes one last effort: "Parting is such sweet sorrow." I didn't want to wake Vanessa, but it was hard not to laugh out loud. I kept reading, biting down on my laughter, until I came to a scene so funny I just couldn't hold it back any more. Lars boosts Alice through a window onto a movie set. She falls into a barrel of paste in the costume room. Then, she stumbles onto a pile of feather boas. At that point, Alice smells smoke, and realizes the costume room is on fire. With feathers stuck all over her, she races onto the movie set, and right into the arms of this superstar named Harrison Lloyd. He says, "Nobody told me there was an ostrich in this scene." The way Henrietta Hayes told the story made it so funny that I couldn't help laughing out loud. Luckily, Vanessa didn't wake up.

I read until midnight, all the way to the last scene, where Alice and Lars sit up laughing about the adventure as Alice plucks feathers from herself. She hugs Lars and thanks him for being the best big brother in the world. Lars replies, "You're worth the trouble, Alice." Somehow I just couldn't picture the triplets and Nicky gazing fondly at me and saying, "You're worth the trouble, Mallory!" That picture simply wouldn't form in my head.

I wished the Pike family were more like the Anderson family. My family is always interrupting, making noise, and disturbing me when I'm trying to write. My brothers and sisters only worry about their own problems, not mine. The Andersons were so warm and caring. They never insulted or teased one another. They always helped each other. My family is all right, I suppose. I mean, I love them and all. But we sure aren't the Andersons.

As I shut the book my mind raced. If Alice Anderson had to find an author, and couldn't, what would she do? When Alice couldn't get through a door, she went in a window. She never let anything stop her. Alice Anderson would find Henrietta Hayes somehow.

And so would I! I thought hard. The publishing company was located in New York City, but the postmark on both of Ms. Hayes's letters was Stamford. What did that tell me? It told me the form letter didn't come from the publishing company. It must have come from Henrietta Hayes, herself. The company must send the letters on to her.

Tossing off my blanket, I tiptoed out of my dark room. The flashlight beam guided me down to the living room, where I opened a cabinet door and pulled out the fat yellow area phone book. If Ms. Hayes lived around Stamford, her name and address might be in this book. The book covered the towns near Stamford.

The first thing I learned is that Hayes is an extremely popular last name. There was almost an entire page of them.

But there was only one Henrietta! And she was right there in the phone book.

I stared at her name happily. How unbelievably great! My eyes traveled over to her address, and I nearly fell to the floor. Henrietta Hayes lived on Morgan Road, in Stoneybrook! Morgan Road is off Burnt Hill Road. Dawn's and Mary Anne's house is on Burnt Hill Road. Logan lives on Burnt Hifi, too.

All this time Logan, Dawn, and Mary Anne had been Henrietta Hayes's neighbors and they didn't even know it! The important thing was that I'd found her. With the phone book in my arms, I went back upstairs to my room. By flashlight, I wrote Henrietta Hayes a third letter.

I went on to tell her about the project. I told her every detail, about how Mr. Williams hadn't liked it until I added the part about comparing and contrasting my experience as an author with her own. (I wanted her to know she was a big part of this.) I mentioned that we were neighbors and that I had friends who lived close to her on Burnt Hill Road. (I thought that might appeal to her sense of neighborliness.) By the time the letter was finished, it was three pages long. For a finishing touch, I wrote out an envelope with my name and address on it. P.S. I added to the bottom of my letter. This self-addressed stamped envelope is enclosed for your convenience. I hope you can write back soon since time is running out.

I stuck the letter in an envelope and added my return reply envelope. In the morning, I'd find two stamps.

When I was done, I felt suddenly exhausted. I crawled into bed and had an odd dream. I dreamed I was Alice Anderson, walking up Morgan Road looking for Henrietta Hayes. I found her house, which in my dream was a huge castle with a moat. As I crossed the drawbridge, it started to go up. I tried to jump off, but my sweater got stuck to the end of the drawbridge. As I dangled helplessly from the end of the drawbridge I called, "Help! Henrietta Hayes? Help me!" I don't remember what happened after that, but in the morning I awoke full of energy. "What are you so hyper about this morning?" asked Vanessa, as I dashed around the room getting dressed.

"I have lots to do," I replied. "I have to mail a letter and start working on my play today. It's just a busy day, that's all." "Wow, you're turbo-charged," said Vanessa, rolling over in bed.

I did feel turbo-charged (whatever that means, exactly). I got two stamps from my mother and wrote super important on the outside of the envelope in red. On the way to school with Jessi, I mailed my letter to Henrietta Hayes's home address.