Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook Page 9

  She sounded kind of sad, but I knew she must be glad to be home with her parents, too. She told me that she loved the barrettes, and that she planned to wear them to school the next day. She told me all about her grandpa and how much better he was feeling. We talked for a long time, and we didn’t mention our “mystery” once. Finally, it was time to say good-bye.

  “I have to go to bed now, Stacey,” said Charlotte. “Good night, big sister!”

  I had a lump in my throat, but I smiled and said, “Good night, little sister. Love ya!”

  * * *

  Dear Reader,

  I have loved scary stories ever since I was little. I always headed straight for the mystery section of our library, and each summer I read mystery after mystery. I especially liked the scary Nancy Drew titles, and I wanted to solve a mystery myself. Unfortunately, I never stumbled upon a mystery to solve like Stacey in Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook.

  Even now I like to read scary books and see scary movies. Sometimes I look away when the movie gets really scary, but I still love it. I live in a very old house out in the country, and people always ask me if it’s haunted. I haven’t seen a ghost yet, but I’m always on the lookout.

  Happy reading,

  * * *

  The author gratefully acknowledges Ellen Miles for her help in preparing this manuscript.

  About the Author

  ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.

  There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.) In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.

  Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.

  Copyright © 1990 by Ann M. Martin.

  Cover art by Hodges Soileau

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First edition, March 1996

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-63319-2