The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow - Hardcover

Haight, Jessica; Robinson, Stephanie

 
9780385744713: The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0385744714 ISBN 13: 9780385744713
Verlag: DELACORTE PR, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

Fans of classic detective stories, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and the Secret Series will devour this illustrated middle-grade adventure that follows three curious sleuths as they investigate a mysterious, old house with some hidden secrets.

Eleven-year-old Fairday Morrow is less than thrilled that her family is moving thousands of miles from civilization to the quiet country town of Ashpot, Connecticut, where she’s absolutely certain she’ll die of boredom.
    As if leaving New York City and her best friend, Lizzy, the only other member of the elite Detective Mystery Squad (DMS), weren’t bad enough, Fairday is stuck living in the infamous Begonia House, a creepy old Victorian with dark passageways, a gigantic dead willow tree, and a mysterious past.
   Before she can even unpack, strange music coming from behind a padlocked door leads Fairday up a spiral staircase and into a secret room, where an ancient mirror, a brass key, and a strange picture of a red-haired lady are the first in a series of clues that takes the members of the Detective Mystery Squad on an amazing adventure.

"The novel builds to an exciting climax that takes magic in stride and suggests that further mysteries await the DMS trio."-Publishers Weekly

"This paranormal mystery will be of interest to young readers looking for something spooky but not violent or scary."-Booklist 

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jessica Haight is a true New Englander, with a deep desire to be near the ocean and a love of the four seasons. She enjoys drawing while standing up, and cultivating magic in her garden. She easily floats away in the pages of a good story and is still waiting for her owl from Hogwarts. Jessica lives in Connecticut with her charming fiancé, James; their dog, Jack; their cat, Bill; and a very entitled bunny named Alice. 
 
Stephanie Robinson lives with her husband in a quiet town, though it is not as quaint as Ashpot. After teaching fifth grade for almost fifteen years, she is now enjoying her role as a school media specialist. One of the many benefits of her job is that she learns something new every day. When Stephanie isn’t working, she spends her time creating stories, getting lost in books, and traveling to new places.
 
Visit thesecretdmsfilesoffairdaymorrow.blogspot.com to learn more. Follow Jessica and Stephanie on Twitter @dmsfiles.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

ONE 

The Begonia House

Fairday Morrow couldn’t help empathizing with Dorothy: she was definitely not in Kansas anymore. She stared out the car window at the passing trees and fields, not quite seeing all the endless possibilities her parents talked so cheerfully about. It wasn’t fair, moving to stupid Ashpot. Fairday wished she weren’t leaving her life in Manhattan behind, and even though she doubted she’d find any real friends, she hoped to connect with someone in the small Connecticut town.

The Morrow family cruiser bumped and jerked down the road as Fairday’s two-year-old sister, Margo, giggled noisily, bouncing along in her seat. Auntie Em, the family pug, was resting next to Fairday, letting out a light snore every now and then. Giving her dog a scratch between the ears, Fairday turned her attention back to the book resting in her lap. It was one of her most prized possessions, and just the sight of it improved her mood. She smiled as she remembered her grandma reading her The Wizard of Oz for the first time. Fairday was only four years old. She’d fallen in love with the characters because of the enchanting voices her grandma had used for each one. Not long after, the Morrows had adopted a puppy, and Fairday had named her Auntie Em because the little dog was always frowning like Dorothy’s aunt. It was funny that even when they’d first brought her home, Auntie Em hadn’t resembled Toto; she’d never had that kind of energy.

Fairday began to lose herself in the sway and motion of the ride and relaxed into the story. Suddenly, Margo belched up milk all over the backseat. “Great,” Fairday muttered, grasping the book protectively to her chest, “just great.”

“Oh, Margo, you’re such a messy baby!” Mrs. Morrow chirped as she reached back and wiped milk off Margo’s face, which now sported a wide grin. She handed the towel to Fairday. “Here you go, sweetie, wipe it off with this.”

Fairday took the wet towel and dropped it on the car floor in disgust. “Why are we moving, again?” she asked.

“We’ve already gone over this, Fairday,” Mr. Morrow chimed in. “Your mother and I have a wonderful vision of our family’s future, and we’re going to make it a reality. With her interior design skills and my wizardry in the kitchen, the Begonia House Bed-and-Breakfast is sure to be a smash hit. Trust me, you’re gonna love it!”

“Not good enough, Dad,” she replied, having yet to get an answer that satisfactorily justified this kind of treachery.

“Well, my dear, it will have to do!” And with that, Mr. Morrow began to sing loudly to the song on the radio. Mrs. Morrow joined in and they were gone, off to la-la land. Fairday sat back in her seat and closed her eyes, doubting that she was “gonna love” the Begonia House, as her father had so optimistically predicted. She doubted it a lot.



The car made a sharp right turn as it began to ascend the narrow, winding road that led to the Begonia House. Fairday glanced out the window, and other than the rough road that tossed them about, she could see nothing but a tangled mesh of woods that seemed to spread over the entire hill. Margo had fallen asleep, and her parents had stopped talking, so it was quiet in the car as they trundled up and up. Finally, as the road began to level out, they reached the front gate. It was enormous and made of iron. Twisted vines were wrapped around its pointed black bars, making it look like the entrance to some kind of morbid secret garden. Across the top of the gate, in large letters, were these words:



FEAR NOT THE UNEXPECTED



“Weird,” Fairday said. “It should say, ‘Fear not living a thousand miles from civilization.’ ”

“Oh, now, Fairday, no eleven-year-old as clever as you ever died of ennui. That’s another word for boredom,” Mr. Morrow said. He had been an English teacher for years and was constantly throwing out “new and exciting” words to improve Fairday’s vocabulary. “I’m sure you’ll find lots to do here. Incidentally, this house has a pretty interesting history, very mysterious. Right up your alley, with your little club and all--the Detective Mystery Squad, right?”

“That’s right!” Mrs. Morrow piped up, turning to face Fairday. “You can invite Lizzy for a sleepover, and you guys can investigate. I’m sure the library has all sorts of information on the history of the house. It’s very famous in these parts, and I’ve even heard rumors that it’s haunted. Wouldn’t that be interesting?” Her mother winked. “After you girls have conducted a thorough investigation, you can fill me in on all the juicy details. If you find something fascinating, we can display it when we open up the Begonia House Bed-and-Breakfast.”

“Humph.” Fairday sulked at the mention of her best friend. Even though the thought of moving into a house that could be haunted was intriguing, the idea of running into a ghost seemed much scarier without Lizzy around. She had met Lizzy Mackerville in the first grade, when Lizzy had moved into Fairday’s neighborhood. At school they had caught sight of each other’s books and realized they had the same taste in stories. During recess, the other kids had made fun of Lizzy because she said You betcha and her accent was different. Fairday had admired how the new girl shrugged off the comments, explaining that everyone in Minnesota talked like her, and her classmates would all sound funny if they moved there. Lizzy’s natural confidence made it easy to be friends with her, and from that day on she and Fairday were inseparable.

Lizzy was short and round, making her seem jolly. Bouncy blond curls framed her heart-shaped face, and she had a bubbly disposition. Fairday was the exact opposite of Lizzy. She was tall and lean, with long black hair that had a mind of its own, so it was always pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her pale face had never had the usual amount of cute baby fat most people cooed over and pinched.

One feature Fairday liked about herself was her eyes. They were an unusual charcoal gray and the reason she had such an uncommon name. Her mother said Fairday’s eyes reminded her of the swirling tides of blue-gray waters that swelled up onto the sandy shores of Nantucket, where she’d grown up. When the weather was less than pleasant on the island, the fishermen would inform the tourists who came to charter their boats, “Jus’ waitin’ on the fair day t’morrow.” And so Fairday was named Fairday Theresa Morrow, or Fairday T. Morrow. Whenever she met new kids, she had to field some annoying criticism in school about it, which went something like, “Fairday? What kind of a name is that?” or “Fairday? More like Bad Hair Day.” But she didn’t care. She liked the story, and she liked her name.



Mr. Morrow found the gate key, which was as black and bizarre-looking as the gate itself, and held it up for everyone to see. It had sharp, skeletal teeth, and the handle was shaped like some sort of grim flower. He made a drumroll on the steering wheel before he exclaimed, “Here we go! I am now opening the gateway to our future!”

He climbed out of the car and walked over to the gate. The key slid easily into the lock, which resembled a wide, gaping mouth, and it clicked as he gave it a turn. He pushed the heavy double gates, and they slowly swung open.

The family was quiet as the car passed through the iron barricade. Auntie Em peered out the...

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Verlag
DELACORTE PR
Erscheinungsdatum
2015
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0385744714
ISBN 13 
9780385744713
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Zeichner
Muradov Roman
Anzahl der Seiten
272
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

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