How much more frightened would they be if they knew that I changed the name of the family from Fier to Malbourne when I told the tale. If they knew I changed my own name to Garret. And gave my stepmother the name Maggie.
And Cook—who now came in to clear the empty cider mugs—was Cook. “Are you all right, Master Timothy?” Cook asked him with a grin that showed off several missing teeth. “You look a little odd to me, young man.”
“I am fine, Cook,” he promised her with a wink.
It was true. He felt more than fine. Lighter, somehow. It felt so good to have told the story.
At last.
Timothy draped himself across the sofa.
“Mind your shoes,” Cook warned him as she left with the tray.
Timothy felt giddy all of a sudden. After the library door closed behind Cook, he moved his shoes right onto the cushions.
Then he swung them back down.
Someone is in this room with me, he thought. He sat up.
Yes, one of his guests had remained in his seat. The person sitting in the shadows, the one Timothy focused on when he told his story. Who was it?
The person stood. A small boy. He stepped out of the shadows and into the light.
“Andrew!” gasped Timothy.
“Surprise!” whispered the ghost with a tiny grin. “I have been waiting for you to tell our story. Because as soon as you did, I knew I would be allowed to come back.”
Andrew raised his hands, wiggling his fingers. A razor-sharp shard of glass tipped each one.
“You made Mother and me very angry!” he screeched as he leapt at Timothy.
About the Author
“Where do you get your ideas?”
That’s the question that R. L. Stine is asked most often. “I don’t know where my ideas come from,” he says. “But I do know that I have a lot more scary stories in my mind that I can’t wait to write.”
So far, he has written nearly five dozen mysteries and thrillers for young people, all of them bestsellers.
Bob grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Today he lives in an apartment near Central Park in New York City with his wife, Jane, and son, Matt.
Books by R. L. Stine
THE FEAR STREET SAGA
THE BETRAYAL
THE SECRET
THE BURNING
FEAR STREET SAGA COLLECTOR’S EDITION
A NEW FEAR
HOUSE OF WHISPERS
FORBIDDEN SECRETS
THE SIGN OF FEAR
THE HIDDEN EVIL
Available from ARCHWAY Paperbacks
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK Original
An Archway Paperback published by
POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 1997 by Parachute Press, Inc.
THE HIDDEN EVIL WRITTEN BY WENDY HALEY
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
ISBN: 0-671-00292-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-2113-9 (ebook)
First Archway Paperback printing February 1997
FEAR STREET is a registered trademark of Parachute Press, Inc.
AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.
Cover art by Lisa Falkenstern
IL 7+