Stacey And The Mystery Of Stoneybrook by Ann M. Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

as they'd planned. Charlotte was definitely on the road to recovery.
    Chapter 8.
    By Sunday morning, Charlotte was feeling much better. Penicillin does work fast. It hadn't been easy getting her to take her medicine on schedule — she still hated it — but at least she had taken most of it.
    Charlotte came downstairs for breakfast, and Mom made special sugar-free blueberry pancakes. Yum. I love them because they're so good on their own that I don't even miss being able to have maple syrup. Charlotte ate a big stack of them. She was definitely better.
    But Dr. Dellenkamp had said that even if she was feeling all right, Charlotte should take it easy on Sunday and Monday. She wasn't supposed to go to school until Tuesday.
    Tuesday seemed a long way off. I was sick of playing War, sick of being Professor Plum in Clue, and very sick of TV. I was even sick of reading Charlotte's Web.
    What were we going to do all day? I think
    Charlotte was just as tired as I was of being cooped up, especially now that she was feeling more normal.
    Then I remembered that Kristy had called on Saturday to tell me about some map she'd found on Friday night. Maybe she could come over and bring the map, along with some of those old books of Watson's. Kristy had said she really hadn't found much in the books, but maybe if we went through them all, we'd come up with something. It would be fun to play detective, anyway. I called Kristy up.
    "Kristy, it's Stace. What're you doing today?"
    "I've got no plans," she said. "I don't even have to watch the kids, since Mom and Watson took them to the mall to shop for shoes."
    "How about bringing over that old map and the books?" I said. "Charlotte's home sick, here, and we'd love to look at them."
    "Great," said Kristy. "Hold on, let me see if Nannie can drive me over."
    The arrangements were made. While we waited for Kristy, Charlotte and I washed the breakfast dishes. Then she took her medicine without fussing too much. Finally we settled in on the front steps (Charlotte had felt good enough to get dressed that morning) and waited for Kristy to show up. While we
    waited, we talked about the old house.
    "I'm glad we were together when we heard those noises, Stacey," said Charlotte. "That was scary. But you know, I feel like there's something interesting about that house. I hope we can find out more about it."
    I told her a little about the map Kristy had found, but not too much. I thought that the idea of burial grounds might be a little too much for Charlotte, but she seemed fascinated.
    By the time Kristy got out of the Pink Clinker (Nannie's old car) in front of our house, Charlotte's excitement was at an all-time high.
    "Where are the books, Kristy?" she asked, without even saying hello. She would have dived into the backseat and hauled out the box if I hadn't stopped her.
    "Easy, Charlotte. You're still sick, remember?" I said. "I know you love mysteries, but let's take our time. We've got all day."
    Charlotte does love mysteries, and I have to say that she's a pretty good sleuth. She played a big part in solving the mystery of an old diary that Mallory had found in a trunk in our attic. That mystery had led us to find the portrait of a beautiful woman, which now hung over our fireplace. Back then, we thought my house might be haunted, but that was nothing
    compared to what we were facing now.
    We brought the box of books inside and spread ourselves out in the living room. We each took a book and began to read. After awhile we traded books and read some more. Kristy had been right. There wasn't much in them. They were interesting, but we couldn't see any clues to the mystery of the old house.
    "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