Stacey and the Mystery of the Empty House by Ann M. Martin

Author:Ann M. Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2014-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

1. Carrot going wild in the house, chewing things up.

2. Carrot growling at me when I let myself in.

3. The glass in the sink.

4. The warm coffeemaker.

5. The Kleenexes in the wastebasket.

6. Carrot’s leash in the wrong place.

7. The kitchen smelling like toast.

8. The incident with the meter reader.

9. The missing newspaper.

I didn’t even mention the tenth thing: the glass in the sink again. The list seemed long enough without that.

“It seems like most of those things could be explained pretty easily,” said Shannon. “Like the warm coffeemaker — it might be on a timer, the way you said. And Carrot’s behavior might be just because he misses his family. But when you put them all together, they are pretty weird.”

“I agree,” said Kristy. “But at the same time, I’m not sure that there’s any more to it. I mean, the house hasn’t been broken into, right, Stacey?”

I shook my head. “It’s not like anything’s been stolen,” I said. “It’s just that I have this awful feeling that I’m not the only one who’s been in that house during the last week.”

“But how could anybody else get in if they didn’t break in?” asked Claud, frowning. I could tell that she was already imagining herself as Nancy Drew. (She’s read every book in that series at least twice, even though her parents would rather she read “real” literature.)

“That’s the question,” I said. I shook my head. “Look, it’s probably all in my mind. I feel much, much better just talking about it. But there’s not really anything else we can do, is there?”

“I guess not,” said Mary Anne, looking concerned. “Just be careful over there, okay? And let us know if any more weird stuff happens.”

“I will,” I said. “Thanks, guys. Okay, let’s talk about our party now.”

We spent the rest of the meeting planning our holiday party. There was a lot to discuss, since we wanted to make sure nobody felt left out or slighted. That meant celebrating all the holidays: Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa (that’s an African American holiday). We had to figure out what kind of food to have, what games to play, and what presents to pass out. Plus, Kristy was still worried about whether we’d have snow for the sleigh ride the kids were counting on. She appointed herself “Weather Watcher.”

We were in the midst of planning a trip downtown to shop for little presents when the phone started ringing again and we had to stop to line up a few more jobs.

Between calls Mal mentioned that her youngest sister, Claire, had been talking a lot about that escaped prisoner. He still hadn’t been caught, but as far as I knew the police thought he was probably a long way from Stoneybrook by this time. I had forgotten all about him, but it sounded as if some of our younger clients were worried. Kristy said her stepsister Karen had mentioned it, and Claud said that when she’d sat for the Kuhns the day before, all three kids talked of nothing else.

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