The Slumber Party Secret, Page 2

“Just ignore them,” Bess said. She grabbed Nancy’s wrist and pulled her into the classroom.

  In the afternoon Nancy’s class worked on language arts. First they read aloud. Then they wrote out their spelling words. Last they worked on handwriting. Nancy loved making fancy capital N’s and capital D’s.

  Finally school was over. Nancy quickly stuffed her books in her backpack. Then she went outside. Rebecca was waiting for her by the school’s front door.

  “Where have you been?” Rebecca asked. “I thought I’d die waiting for you!”

  “Rebecca, the bell just rang,” Nancy said. “You couldn’t have been waiting that long.”

  Then Nancy noticed that Rebecca looked very upset. She wasn’t acting. “What’s wrong?” Nancy asked.

  “Look!” Rebecca said. She shoved a piece of paper at Nancy. “Someone put this horrible note on my desk.”

  Nancy opened the note. It was printed in big letters, in green ink. There were only seven words on the page. Seven creepy words. The message gave Nancy a chill. It said:

  “You’ll be sorry. Your party is doomed!”

  3

  Green Ink and Garbage Cans

  It is horrible,” Nancy said to Rebecca. She stared at the note. “Who wrote it?”

  “It was on my desk when I came in after lunch,” Rebecca said. “Anyone could have put it there.”

  Lindsay Mitchell was the first person Nancy thought of. Nancy remembered how angry Lindsay had been at lunch. Also, Lindsay was in Rebecca’s class. But Nancy knew that someone from her own class could have written the note, too.

  Nancy looked at the note again. It was on the kind of lined paper that everyone used in third grade.

  “Someone is really trying to wreck my party,” Rebecca complained. “First the invitations. Now this!”

  “Let’s go to your house. It’s time to see if the invitations really have disappeared,” Nancy said. “I’ll have to call home, though, so our housekeeper knows where I am.”

  Rebecca’s face brightened. “You really are going to help me, aren’t you?” She sounded surprised.

  “I promised, didn’t I?” Nancy said. “Of course I’ll help.” Why wouldn’t she? This was fun! It was just like being a detective.

  “Thanks,” Rebecca said. For once Nancy knew she really meant it.

  “Can I keep the note?” Nancy asked. “Maybe I can find out if someone in my class prints like this. Then you can try to find out if anyone in your class prints like this. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Rebecca said.

  The two girls walked to Rebecca’s house. Mrs. Ramirez said hello to Nancy and showed her where the phone was. She made them a snack of peanut butter crackers and apple juice. Then she went to the family room, in the basement. The girls ate at the big oval counter in the kitchen.

  Nancy tried to think where the party invitations could be. She picked up a cracker and walked around.

  She looked in the oven, the freezer, the cookie jar, and the broom closet. She looked in every kitchen cabinet and drawer. Then she scratched her head.

  “Is this where you put them last night?” Nancy asked. She pointed to the counter where Rebecca was still eating her snack.

  “Nmmph. Thaa wrrd gnmnep bikdr,” Rebecca said. Her mouth was full of crackers.

  Nancy giggled. So did Rebecca. Tiny cracker crumbs sprayed out of her mouth. That made Nancy really laugh. Rebecca laughed even more.

  Finally they stopped laughing. Rebecca took a big gulp of apple juice. So did Nancy.

  “Now tell me again,” Nancy said. “Where did you leave the invitations?”

  “On the counter by the kitchen door,” Rebecca said. “That’s where I put things so I’ll remember to take them to school in the morning.”

  Nancy looked at the other counter. It was just an ordinary counter. No holes for the invitations to fall into. No wastebasket nearby. No piles of junk mail or magazines for the invitations to get lost in.

  Where could they have gone?

  “Did you ask your brother? Or your parents?” Nancy asked. “Maybe someone mailed them after all.”

  Rebecca shook her head. “I asked my dad and mom. They said no. Stupid Todd said I probably threw them away by accident.” Rebecca frowned. “You’re lucky you don’t have a big brother.”

  Nancy knew that Rebecca’s twelve-year-old brother teased her a lot. But he might be right, Nancy thought. Sometimes people threw important things away without thinking.

  “Why don’t we look in the garbage just to be sure,” Nancy said.

  Rebecca sighed and got down from her stool. “Okay. But I don’t think we’ll find them. Come on.”

  Nancy followed Rebecca out the kitchen door. “The garbage can is next to the garage,” Rebecca said, pointing. “You look—I’ll wait here.”

  Nancy walked over to the garbage can. She lifted the lid and looked inside.

  Yuck! She couldn’t look through all those bags. And Rebecca’s mom would have a fit if they dumped them out.

  “Hey! Why are you snooping in someone else’s garbage?” called a voice behind Nancy.

  Nancy whirled around and saw Laura McCorry. Laura was in Rebecca’s class. She lived across the street from Rebecca. Nancy remembered that Laura and Rebecca used to play together. They didn’t seem to be friends anymore, though.

  “You scared me,” Nancy said. “And you’re the third person who’s snuck up on me today.”

  “I’m not sneaking up,” Laura said. “I came to see Rebecca. What are you looking for, anyway?”

  “Uh, I was looking for something that Rebecca lost,” Nancy said. She didn’t want to say anything about the party. She knew Laura wasn’t invited.

  “What?”

  “My homework,” Rebecca answered, walking up to them. She gave Nancy a look that said Don’t tell Laura about the party.

  “Your homework?” Laura asked.

  “I think I threw it in the trash by mistake,” Rebecca lied.

  Laura leaned forward and looked into the garbage can. “Well, I wouldn’t go in there to look for it if I were you,” she said.

  “I guess I’ll have to do it all over again.” Rebecca shrugged. “Oh, well.”

  “Can I come in?” Laura said. “I wanted to ask if I could borrow your tape player.”

  “Sure,” Rebecca said. Nancy could tell Rebecca was in a hurry to get away from the garbage. Nancy was, too. It really did smell awful!

  When they got inside, Rebecca ran up to her room. A minute later she came back with a small tape player. She gave it to Laura.

  When Laura was gone, Rebecca wrinkled her nose and made a face. “I don’t really like her,” Rebecca told Nancy. “But her mom and my mom are best friends, so I have to be nice to her.” Then she added, “It’s good that her mother drives her to school on her way to work. That way she doesn’t have to walk with us.”

  Nancy liked Laura and wouldn’t have minded if they walked to school together. “Do you think she knows about your party?” Nancy asked.

  “I don’t know. Why?”

  “Because I think her feelings might be hurt if she did know,” Nancy said. “Really, I think a lot of the girls felt left out.”

  “Like who?” Rebecca put her hands on her hips.

  “Like Lindsay Mitchell,” Nancy said. “She was upset at lunch.”

  Rebecca let her hands drop. “I knew that would happen,” she said. “I saw Lindsay in the playground. Boy, did she look mad. Do you think she sent me the note?”

  “I don’t know,” Nancy said. That was a hard question to answer. Nancy couldn’t tell much from the printing. Maybe it was from a girl. Maybe it was from a boy.

  Nancy looked at her watch. “I have to go home now. Maybe we can work on this some more tomorrow.”

  “We have to,” Rebecca said. “My party is only two days away.”

  “I know,” Nancy said. “And before the party, I want to find out who wrote that creepy note.”

  “Me, too,” Rebecca said. “And th
en I’ll never speak to them again!” She flipped her hair over her shoulders with both hands when she said that.

  Rebecca looked so silly that Nancy had to laugh. “See you tomorrow,” she called as she went out the back door.

  Nancy thought about the party all the way home. Her best friends would be there. Maybe they would stay up late and tell stories. And have a pillow fight. And eat popcorn. Being old enough to sleep over was exciting!

  Except for one thing. What if the note was true? What if Rebecca’s party really was doomed?

  4

  Nancy’s New Notebook

  Hannah! Guess what? Rebecca Ramirez invited me to her slumber party on Friday night!” Nancy said as she rushed through the back door of her house.

  Hannah Gruen was standing at the sink, peeling carrots. She was the family housekeeper. She had been living with the Drews ever since Nancy was three years old. That was when Nancy’s mother had died. Hannah was middle-aged, with graying hair and a sweet face. She was like a mother to Nancy.

  “That’s exciting!” Hannah said. “But you’ve never been to a slumber party before. You’ll have to ask your father if it’s okay.”

  For a moment Nancy looked worried. “You don’t think he’ll say no, do you?”

  Hannah laughed. “Your father never can say no to you. I’m sure he’ll let you go.”

  She handed Nancy a carrot. “How was school?”

  “It was okay,” Nancy said. “Too much math review. I wish we’d start learning something new.”

  Hannah laughed again. “You always want to learn something new,” she said.

  Nancy took a bite of carrot and looked at the clock on the wall. “When Dad gets home, I want to ask him about the party. And maybe we could go shopping for Rebecca’s present right after dinner. The party’s only two days away!”

  “You’re in luck,” Hannah said. “Your father’s home early today.”

  When Nancy heard that, her whole face lit up. Her dad was home? That was great!

  Carson Drew was a lawyer. He knew all about mysteries and crimes. He was always solving problems for other people. Maybe he could help with Rebecca’s party problem.

  Nancy ran through the big old house until she reached the staircase. Then she hurried up the carpeted steps and into her room to put her school things away.

  She hurried downstairs again and knocked on the door to her father’s study. It was the rule. Always knock before entering.

  “Come in,” Carson Drew called out.

  Nancy burst in the door of the wood paneled room. “Hi, Daddy!”

  “Hi there, Pudding Pie,” he said with a smile.

  Nancy smiled back. Pudding Pie was his special name for her. He had called her that ever since she was four years old. That’s when Nancy had tried to eat a huge piece of chocolate pudding pie with her hands. She had gotten chocolate all over her face! It was even in her hair. Her father had taken a picture of her looking like that. It was in one of their photo albums.

  “Guess what, Daddy?” Nancy said. But before he could guess, she told him about the slumber party. “May I go, Daddy? May I?”

  “You want to go to a party to sleep?” Carson Drew asked. “Sounds pretty boring to me. In fact, it puts me to sleep just thinking about it.” He closed his eyes and pretended to snore.

  “Daaddy!” Nancy said. “Stop teasing.”

  Carson Drew opened his eyes and laughed. “Of course you can go, Pudding Pie.”

  Nancy gave her father a big hug. “Thanks, Daddy.” Then she told him about the missing invitations. And about the note written in green ink.

  “Hmmm,” said Carson Drew. He leaned back in his big leather chair. “Sounds like a mystery.”

  “It is!” Nancy said. “I’ve been trying to figure out if the invitations were really stolen. And who wrote the note. Can you help?”

  Carson Drew got a twinkle in his eye. “I sure can,” he said.

  He opened one of the drawers in his large oak desk and reached inside. He pulled out a small notebook with a shiny blue cover.

  “It sounds as if you’re turning into a detective,” he said. “So I’m giving you this special notebook. Use it to write down anything that seems like a clue. I’ll bet you’ll figure out the mystery faster that way.”

  A new notebook? Nancy smiled. She loved notebooks! And this one was especially nice. It had a pocket inside, and blue was her favorite color.

  “Thanks,” she said. “Oh, and Daddy, can we go shopping tonight? I need to get a birthday present for Rebecca. The party is on Friday.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Carson said with a smile.

  Nancy gave him another hug. Then she ran out of the study. She hurried up the stairs to her room.

  Maybe I can be a detective! Nancy thought. That would be fun. Besides, Rebecca needed help. Her party was only two days away.

  Nancy sat down at her desk. She opened the notebook. The first page was fresh and clean. She took out her favorite pen from her book bag. She was careful to use her best handwriting.

  At the top of the page she wrote:

  Rebecca’s Party Invitations

  Then she wrote:

  On counter by back door Tuesday night. Gone Wednesday morning.

  Who is coming?

  Me, Bess, George, Jessie Shapiro, Katie Zaleski, Sarah Churnichan, Courtney Nilsson, Amara Shane.

  Note to Rebecca. Green ink: “You’ll be sorry. Your party is doomed!”

  She also wrote:

  Jason’s party—same night!

  Then Nancy put the notebook in her backpack so she would have it with her every day at school.

  After dinner that night Carson Drew took Nancy to the toy store. Bess and George came along, too. That way they could all get presents for Rebecca.

  At the toy store Nancy picked out a very special music box with butterfly pictures on it. Bess bought Rebecca a unicorn stationery kit. It had paper, envelopes, and stickers. George decided to give her a funny stuffed troll with purple teeth.

  After that Nancy, Bess, and George looked at all the stuffed animals.

  “I wish it was my birthday,” Bess said.

  “I know what you mean,” Nancy admitted. “It’s hard to shop for someone else, especially in a toy store.”

  The three girls were about to go find Carson Drew, when Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm. “Hey, look who’s in the sports aisle,” Bess whispered to Nancy.

  “Who?”

  “David Berger and Mike Minelli.” Nancy knew they were two of Jason’s best friends.

  “Do you think they saw us?” Bess whispered. “And what are they doing here tonight, anyway?”

  “I’ll bet they’re buying birthday presents for Jason,” Nancy said.

  “Yuck!” Bess said. “Let’s go!”

  “No, wait,” Nancy said. She went up to David Berger.

  “Hi,” Nancy said.

  “Hi,” David said without looking at her. He was dribbling a basketball.

  “You’re in Rebecca Ramirez’s class, aren’t you?” Nancy said.

  “So?”

  “I wondered if you saw anyone put a note on her desk today?” Nancy asked.

  “Huh?” David said. He looked up.

  “A note written in green ink,” said Nancy.

  David shrugged. “I don’t know.” He passed the ball to Mike, who pretended to shoot. Nancy got angry. They were acting as if she weren’t even there.

  Nancy went back to Bess and George. “They say they don’t know anything,” she said. “But I don’t believe them.”

  “Me, either,” Bess said. “Look.”

  Nancy turned around and saw Mike and David watching her. Then they started whispering. Mike put his hand over his mouth to hide what he was saying. Then they both burst out laughing and stomped their feet. They gave each other high fives.

  “Have a good party,” Mike yelled to the girls. “If you can!”

  5

  Another Note

  Nancy got up early Thu
rsday morning. She got dressed and then sat at her desk. All night she had been thinking of a plan. Now she was ready.

  She took out a blank piece of paper. At the top, she wrote “IMPORTANT” in big letters.

  Then Nancy wrote:

  We are the students of Ms. Spencer’s third-grade class. We would like Ms. Spencer to think about doing these things:

  • Give us two hours of free time each week to do anything we want.

  • Let us have a puppy in the classroom instead of just a pet in a cage.

  • Let us read comic books for at least one of our weekly reading reports.

  Then Nancy drew twenty-five blank lines at the bottom of the page. One space for each person in her class to sign.

  Then she made another copy. It was exactly the same except that Mrs. Apple’s name was on it.

  On the way to school she told Rebecca about her plan. They ran into Bess and George in the school hallway. Nancy showed them the two papers.

  “Are you nuts?” Bess said. “The teachers will never let us do this stuff.”

  “I know,” Nancy said. She gave Bess a huge grin. “I just want to get everyone to sign. That way I’ll see if anyone’s printing matches the note that Rebecca got.”

  “And to see if anyone writes with green ink,” Rebecca added.

  “Pretty sneaky,” Bess said. She flashed Nancy a smile that said I’m glad my best friend is so super smart!

  “But what if some people write their names in cursive,” George asked, “instead of printing them?”

  “I thought of that,” Nancy said. “I don’t know about Rebecca’s class. But only one person in our class uses cursive. Phoebe Archer. Her mother taught her last year. Anyway, it’s worth a try. Rebecca’s going to do the list for her class. We’re going to do it at lunch.”

  “I’ll help,” Bess said.

  “So will I,” George said. “We’ll get everyone to sign.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George got twenty kids’ names during lunch and recess. Jessie Shapiro was absent, and Jason had a dentist appointment.

  Rebecca got twenty-three names. Amara Shane was absent.

  Nancy looked at both lists. All the names were printed except Phoebe’s. None of them looked like the printing on the note. And no one had used green ink.