Ann Martin - Kristy And The Haunted Mansion

I turned the page after reading the last article, and found what appeared to be a legal document of some kind. I was looking at it more closely, trying to figure out what it was, when I felt somebody — or something — standing next to me. The image of Dorothy came to me again, and I almost screamed.

"What's that?" whispered Bart, leaning over my shoulder to look at the document.

"What — what are you doing here?" I asked, relieved and mad all at the same time.

"I couldn't sleep," he said. He was still looking at the document. "Hey, that's a title to this house, made out to William Blackburn. I guess

he bought it after Mr. Sawyer died. That's funny. I wonder if he still owns it."

"I wonder if that's why the house is kept up so perfectly," I said, giving a little shiver. "It's as if he expects her to come back to it."

I showed Bart the articles about the "Sawyer Road Ghost," and we talked for awhile longer. Then I yawned, and he yawned, too. We decided to return to the living room and see if we could sleep a little more. After all, the kids would be waking up in a few hours, and who knew what the next day held in store for us?

Chapter 11.

Dawn knew, of course, that Buddy was missing — along with me and the other Krashers. But she was planning to go to the Barretts' anyway, just in case Mrs. Barrett still wanted a sitter. Then, about ten minutes before she was going to leave the house, Mrs. Barrett called.

"Oh, Dawn," she said. "I'm so glad I caught you before you left."

"Have you heard from Buddy?" Dawn asked eagerly.

There was a pause. "No," said Mrs. Barrett. "No, I haven't." Her voice was shaky.

Dawn felt terrible. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was hoping you were calling with good news."

"I wish I were. But so far I'm just hoping that no news is good news. I know we'll hear something soon. In the meantime, I'm going to cancel my plans for tonight. I don't want to be away from the phone for a second."

"I can understand that," said Dawn. "Would you like me to come over anyway, to help with Suzi and Marnie?" Dawn had been looking forward to keeping busy with babysitting that night, since being stuck at home made her feel helpless and left her with nothing to do but worry.

"Thanks for offering, Dawn," said Mrs. Barrett, "but I think we'll be fine. The girls are pretty subdued, and they'll probably fall asleep early. They've had a busy day."

After Dawn hung up, she wandered into the living room where her mom and Richard were reading the evening paper. "I can't stand this," Dawn said, throwing herself down on the couch. "The waiting is driving me crazy." "I know," said her mother sympathetically. "Maybe it would help if you were busy with something."

"Like what?" asked Dawn. "My sitting job just got canceled."

"Well, you could always clean your room," said her mom, with a smile.

"I'm not that desperate," replied Dawn. She and her mom laughed, and Dawn told me later that she was surprised at how good it felt. Then the phone rang, and Dawn jumped up to answer it.

"Hello?" she said eagerly, again hoping to hear good news. But it was Mary Anne, calling from the Pikes' house. There was no news, she said. She was just checking in. She told Dawn she'd be home soon.

Dawn flopped onto the couch again. "This is so frustrating," she said.

Richard looked up from his newspaper. "I'm sure the police are doing everything they can," he said.

"Oh, I know," said Dawn. "But my friend is out there somewhere, along with a bunch of kids that I happen to care about very much. Why can't I just go out and find them?"

Dawn's mom patted her hand. "Soon the storm will be over, honey, and then the search will be a lot easier. I'm sure the police will have good news for us by tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" repeated Dawn. She jumped up and began to pace around. "I'll never make it till tomorrow morning."

"Calm down, honey," said Dawn's mom. "Sit down, and let me get you some tea."

Dawn sat down, and she drank the tea her mother made for her, but she didn't calm down much. When Mary Anne returned home, she found one very nervous stepsister waiting for her.

"I can't believe we still haven't heard from Kristy," said Dawn, pacing up and down by the living room sofa.

"I know," said Mary Anne, who was lying down with a pillow clutched to her chest. "This just isn't like her. Something is very wrong if she's not calling us." A loud clap of thunder boomed outside, and the girls flinched. "If only the storm would end," said Mary Anne. "It can't go on forever," said Dawn.

The phone rang, and they both dived for it. Mary Anne grabbed it first. "Hello?" she gasped. "Kristy?"

Dawn leaned over and put her ear next to the receiver so she could hear, too.

"No, it’s me, Stacey," said the voice on the other end. "I'm just calling to see how you guys are doing. You haven't heard anything, have you?"

"Not a thing," Mary Anne said. "We're going nuts."

"So am I," said Stacey. "And Claud is, too. She's still over at the Newtons', and right now she's doing what she mentioned to Dawn — calling the hospitals to see if — well, just to check."

Mary Anne's eyes grew wide. She knew Stacey had almost said "to see if there's been an accident," and that was something she didn't even want to think about. She was speechless for a second.

Dawn grabbed the phone. "Stace, it's me," she said. "Let us know if Claud finds anything out," she said. "We'll be here, waiting."

"Okay," said Stacey. "I'd better go now. We want to keep the phone lines open, right?"

Dawn hung up and looked at Mary Anne. "Are you okay?" she asked gently. Mary Anne looked as if she were in shock.

"Yes," said Mary Anne. "I just hope they are."

Dawn didn't have to ask who Mary Anne meant by they. "Me, too," she said. She crossed her fingers. Then, just for insurance, she crossed her toes, too. Then she closed her eyes and wished — hard — that the next phone call would be good news.

Now it was Mary Anne's turn to pace. She walked around the sofa and then around the coffee table, making a figure-eight design. Each time she passed the phone, she gave it a Look. Dawn figured that Mary Anne had probably crossed her fingers and toes, too.

"Maybe we should call Watson," said Dawn after awhile. "You know, just to make sure he doesn't have any news." She reached for the phone.

Mary Anne stopped her pacing and took the phone from Dawn, gently but firmly. "I'm sure Watson and Kristy's mom are sitting by their phone, waiting for it to ring. We don't want to get their hopes up, do we?"

Dawn let go of the phone and Mary Anne hung it up. "I guess you're right," she admitted. Mary Anne began pacing again, and Dawn sat biting her nails.

The phone rang. "That must be Kristy!" said Mary Anne. She grabbed the receiver. "Hello?" she said. She listened for a second.

"Oh, hi," she went on, sounding very disappointed. She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "It's Claudia," she told Dawn.

"Did she find anything out by calling the hospitals?" asked Dawn.

Mary Anne passed the question on. "Nope," she said after she'd listened to Claud for a minute. "Nothing. Anyway, she wants to know if we want to come over and spend the night. Stacey's going, and Claud's also going to call Mallory and Jessi."

"Sure," Dawn said. "We may as well be together, since there's nothing else we can do."

About an hour later, the members of the BSC — with the major exception of yours truly — gathered in Claud's room. Claud had microwaved some popcorn, and she passed it around while everyone talked. They shared stories of where they'd been when they found out that the van was missing. Then they talked about the phone calls that had been made back and forth. They discussed every theory they could think of to explain what had happened to a van full of kids. And they listened to the storm, which was still going on outside.