22 Stoneybrook: A Visitor

 I would like to thank Julie for helping me with the development of Stacey's storyline. We cannot wait for our readers to discover what we have in store for Stacey!

A Visitor

After Mary Anne and Logan left Jamie and Dawn got some more food and ate.

"Not exactly California food is it?" Asked Jamie.

"No, it's not," laughed Dawn.

"Do you like visiting here?" 

"Well, this is the first time I've been back in a long time. I am enjoying it this time. I'm staying for the whole summer. I teach yoga to boarding school students back in California."

"Very cool. I get homesick for California sometimes. But you know I like it here too. It's just so different. The seasons, the leaves on the trees."

Just about that time they heard a ruckus over by the billiards. It was Cary Retlin and Alan Gray. 

"You know I'm only in it to get my lighthouse back!" Yelled Alan with clenched fists.

"Oh yeah? Well, what makes you so certain she is doing that for you? You need to get your priorities straight Alan! You need to help out more than the casual overnight work! If I were you I'd be kissing her ass instead of teeny bopping everywhere with The Heiress. Or is she your plan B?"

"I resent that Cary Retlin! You know I care about her!"

"Oh yeah? Are you sure she feels the same way? How does it feel to see her in the gossip column every weekend? I don't see you in those photos!"

"What exactly are you implying?"

You know damn well what I am implying Alan Gray! A girl like that is never going to go for a lazy-ass former lighthouse keeper like you."

"Oh yeah? You wanna take this outside?"

"No Alan I don't. I want you to do your share of the work you were hired to do and stop putting it all on me while you go out partying."

Dawn's jaw dropped. Jamie asked her If she wanted to leave. She didn't know the answer but allowed herself to be lead out the door. She knew she needed to get ahold of Claudia and fast.

Stacey sat down to have lunch with her friend and colleague Erica Blumberg. She hadn't seen her since her and Sam had come back from Europe. Stacey had been seeing much of anybody. And she felt bad because she had not been hanging out that much with the BSC and it was the first time Dawn had visited in a very long time. 

"I've been kind of laying low since we've gotten back. There is something different about Sam. He hasn't been attentive with me lately and I just don't want them to pick up on it. Especially since I don't know what is up with him right now."

"But you all have been friends forever. You should be able to talk to your friends about it. That's what they are there for."

"I know but that's the trouble. You know Sam is Kristy's brother. And Claudia and Mary Anne have known Sam all their lives. I just feel they are too involved. And I don't want to shake things up. Not yet. No, I need to figure out what's wrong on my own. Knowing them they would be servailancing him 24/7."

"That's a good point. They do seem to go overboard sometimes. And they like to jump to conclusions too."

" Yes. I just want to keep an eye out on him on my own for a while. If I find something I may call for reinforcements."

"You can put me on your standby," said Erica, and they both smiled. 

Meanwhile, across the way in Logan's office building, Logan was just about to break for lunch. He picked up his briefcase and headed out to a nearby deli to eat lunch and try to relax.

Once he reached the deli and sat down he turned on his cell phone. He was surprised to get a text message from his cousin Lewis in Kentucky.

"The divorce was finalized today! I'm a free man! I'm thinking of heading to CT on the 4th of July. There isn't much left for me here in Kentucky now that mom and dad have passed away. I want to be close to you, my family. And have a fresh start."

"Congrats cuz! Come on over and stay with us! We can help you get settled into a job and help you look for a house here. Stay as long as you like. We have plenty of room!"

Across town at Watson's house, Mallory also got a ping on her phone...

21 Stoneybrook: "The Right Kind of Love" Part 2

 When they arrived at the bowling alley they got their shoes and went to their assigned bowling lane. "Does anyone want anything to eat?" Asked Jamie.

Jamie and Logan took the orders and went to go get the food. Mary Anne and Dawn began talking about the Sweetheart Dance back in 8th grade where Dawn and Jamie had made up after the mix-up. They were trying to remember which song they had danced to. There was a jukebox by the bathrooms that they thought they could find it on and play it. 

"It was " My Love Is Good Enough" by Jeremy Jordan." Said, Dawn.

"No, I'm sure it was " The Right Kind of Love" by Jeremy Jordan I list to know it!" Said Mary Anne. "Let me go ask Logan."

"No, Mary Anne!" Dawn grabbed the back of Mary Anne's shirt. "I have a better idea. Let's play them both and see if he reacts." The girls raced to the jukebox and made their selections then raced back hoping the boys didn't see them. They made it back in time for the boys to show up with the food.

"Let's get the game started! Do we want to play individuals or teams?"

"Teams!" Yelled Mary Anne. "You and me against Dawn and Jamie."

They all seemed to think that was fair since the boys were fairly skilled and the girls were a little rusty. Logan set up the board and they began. 

When it became Mary Anne's turn Logan carefully instructed her on how to hold the ball, where to stand, and when to throw. Dawn rolled her eyes at Jamie behind their backs. She always hated it when girls acted dumb to get a guy's attention. 

They were all turning out to be surprisingly good bowlers. Dawn was up next. She was glad when Jamie did not assume she was needing any type of instruction. She went up and knocked down almost all the pins! Only one did not fall into the gutter. Jamie jumped up and congratulated her with a hug and it was at that moment "Right Kind of Love" came on the jukebox. Jamie got a twinkle in his eye and his mouth turned up in a smirk smile. "May I have this dance, Sweetheart?" Dawn knew she had picked the right song! 

"Why yes you may" and he held her hand. Jamie led her off the bowling platform and into the little space between it and the table and chairs and began dancing. Logan and Mary Anne joined them. 

Dawn forgot about everything. About being questioned, about Morbidda Destiny, possibly being a relative, about her mom keeping her distance. She was just in her world. And there was dancing and music and laughter. And friends. She and Mary Anne were sisters but they hadn't felt more like friends than this in a very long time. 

Right after the song ended "My Love Is Good Enough" started. They continued dancing. Dawn wasn't even paying attention to their surroundings. Slowly the whole bowling alley even the people at the billiards, we're dancing to the music and enjoying ourselves. Jamie had a nice flair to his dancing that displayed Dawn beautifully. When the song ended they hugged and they suddenly heard everyone clapping for them in the bowling alley. They took some exaggerated bows along with Logan and Mary Anne. An employee got on the microphone and said," Let's hear it for the couples in lane 16! And for national recording artist Jeremy Jordan!" Everyone clapped. Then everyone resumed what they had been doing previously.

It was a close game but Mary Anne and Logan won. They decided to get back home to the kids and give Jamie and Dawn a chance to have some time alone. When Logan and Mary Anne got safely back in the car and we're driving home Logan reluctantly asked Mary Anne a question."Have you heard from Stacey lately?"

"No...Not since Watson's party, I think why? "

"Well, it could be nothing. Don't jump to conclusions. But when Jamie Anderson and I were getting the food I happened to see Sam over by the video games and Stacey wasn't with him...another blonde was. And she looked familiar but I couldn't figure it out. His bowling league could be playing or something though."

"Yes, I'm sure that's what it was." Said Mary Anne.

Although she didn't believe her own words. She wondered what was going on with Sam and Stacey. But she couldn't dwell on it too much. She had also seen another two people that were there that had been an interest to her. Over in the billiards playing pool had been Alan Gray and Cary Retlin.

21 Stoneybrook: "The Right Kind Of Love" Part 1

Julie and I hope you enjoy us bringing Jamie Anderson back from the 90s tv series. We threw in a few Easter eggs from Airborne. If you haven't seen it we highly suggest it! Pizza toast!

"The Right Kind Of Love"

Mary Anne placed back and forth worried about Dawn. She knew the police were just questioning her to get information.  She knew Nicky wouldn't let anything happen to Dawn. She tried Shannon. Shannon said she would be right over and had just the thing to distract Mary Anne. Mona was also at home, but Mary Anne knew she needed someone that had known her for a very long time.

Shannon arrived with a gigantic bag full of things.

"What is all this?" Mary Anne asked.

"I thought we could look at magazines and things to get ideas on getting decorations and things together for the Cultures Across America Rotary Club party. You know I'm on the committee and if you volunteer your help it will speak very highly of you for being sites into a meaningful position in the club."

"Oh, good idea! So the theme is cultured. Do you know which places the visitors will be coming from?"

"I know one of them is 22 years old Zuni from New Mexico. A boy I think."

Mary Anne immediately took out a pad and paper and started writing things down. Shannon gave her a Look.

" what? I can't help it. It's like second nature to me now. I was the secretary for the Babysitter's Club."

"I know and you will be perfect."

Shannon looked down at her phone for the rest of the information. 

"A 45-year-old woman from Xalapa, Mexico, a 32-year-old woman from Quebec, Canada, and an 18-year-old boy from Paris, France."

Mary Anne carefully wrote the information down.

"Let's start with the Zuni culture. Dawn and Karen can help us with that one. The kids had Zuni pen pals when they were little and Dawn organized a massive slumber party for them in 8th grade."

They decided to look up favorite Zuni recipes that included hominy, corn balls, baked beans, soups, and different types of cornbread. The Zuni make pottery and a lot of turquoise jewelry too. Mary Anne and Shannon decided to decorate the Zuni table with turquoise and have Mona follow the homemade recipes. Mary Anne also wrote a few words down in Zuni language and their meanings to print out later on turquoise cards to be at the table for people to take along with a bunch of Zuni tribe flags in various sizes and t-shirts with the Zuni flag on them. Just as they were about to start working on ideas for the table for Mexico Dawn and Logan came walking through the door. 

"Is everything ok Dawn?" Mary Anne asked.

"Yes, they just asked me some questions about my family. They had mom there too but they questioned us separately. But Morbidda Destiny was also there. I know her real name is Tabitha Porter but it still surprised me. Nicky said that the police department borrowed him to work on the case from the Stamford Police Department because they aren't used to cases like this and Nicky is familiar with the area. So now we have an insider connection!'

Mary Anne was glad that Dawn was not stressed out about the interrogation. They all talked for a while longer about it and then they all got into planning and making centerpieces for the Cultures of America party. Mary Anne also felt relieved and began to enjoy herself too.

Dawn did her best to keep her busy that day. She just was not ready to think about Morbidda Destiny having the last name of Porter and how she couldn't help but think that her mother was keeping something from her. Dawn had always had a good relationship with her mother but it had become a little strained in recent years due to her moving back to California and her mom becoming a little more conservative after marrying Richard. To be fair, Richard had loosened up a lot after marrying her mom too. But Dawn couldn't halo but hold some resentment toward Richard for how overly protective he was with Mary Anne and her mom not speaking up about it. Mary Anne was still working on becoming his true authentic self and attending therapy to help it along, but Dawn knew it would only do a little bit of good unless Richard and Mary Anne sit down and have a serious talk. But she was afraid Mary Anne would never get the gumption it calls out Richard.

Dawn was surprised when Jamie Anderson sent her a text message that afternoon. Dawn knew she needed to get out and get her mind off everything. In a bold move, she decided to ask him to go bowling with her Mary Anne and Logan that night. She told herself it wasn't a date because it was in a group. But that wasn't going to stop her from dressing up for her non-date!

Dawn picked out a green short-sleeved button-down top that tied at the bottom in the front and a pair of bellbottom jeans with peace signs embroidered on them. She put some silver peace signs in the first holes of her pierced ears and dolphin studs in the second holes. She changed her purse out to a small brown one with fringe hanging down.

She also thought it would be nice to go out with Logan and Mary Anne. She knew Mary Anne and Logan did not go out that much and preferred ordering delivery even though they were going out to charity functions more now. Logan was also excited to be bowling with his old friend Jamie. He hadn't been good friends with him in school, but they were teammates and sports buddies. He was ready for some healthy bowling competition.

Mary Anne knocked on Dawn's door and she answered. " Hey, Dawn I just came in to tell you that Logan is a good bowler. The firm used to have a league but they haven't been doing it lately. And tonight is cosmic bowling night. I wanted to see what you were wearing because once I went to cosmic bowling with Logan's league. I wore this black knit sweater and when I stepped under the black light it picked up the white bra I was wearing underneath. I was terrified! It was in front of some colleagues and clients too. I stayed in the car the rest of the night and drank grape soda and listened to WSTO."

"Oh God Mary Anne! That's crazy! But thanks for the warning. I think I might wear something else that might pick up the black light so no one will know the difference."

Dawn did some rummaging and found a black off-the-shoulder t-shirt with neon pink lipstick lips printed on it. She put that on and changed her earrings out into some orange neon hippy flowers. She was sure the black light would pick them up. Mary Anne had on Logan's old bowling shirt, a BLACK BRA, and jeans. They were going to meet Jamie at the bowling alley. Once everyone was ready they headed out.

20 Stoneybrook: The Questioning

 I would like to thank Julie Demers for helping me with the development of the Dawn storyline and the Humphrey storyline in this chapter. I could not have done this without you! I appreciate all you do for this story and our friendship. 

The Questioning

Dawn, Mary Anne, Shannon, and Mona stayed up late that night. Dawn could not wait to tell them about Jaimie Anderson showing up at the recycling center. 

"I couldn't believe it. And he has done a really good job expanding the recycling center. There are sorters and lots of trucks. They even do field trips to the recycling center so kids can understand how important it is. They gave us an up-close look at everything. And they gave us these cool recycled t-shirts they are going to give out at the Rainforest marathon. Jamie is working on distributing more bins to businesses in Stoneybrook and informing them about recycling."

"Nevermind the recycling! Tell us what he is like," said Shannon.

"Well, he is tall with dark longish hair. He is kind of muscular. And sweet. He got my number while we were at the center. I doubt he will ever call though."

"Oh, course he will! Look at how much you have in common. Plus, I always felt like if I hadn't butted in back in 8th grade you would have hit it off better." Said Mary Anne. That sparked a trip down memory lane of them telling the story about Dawn having a crush on Jamie and how he had tried to ask Mary Anne to dance in middle school. "But what about Bart and Pete?"

"Well Bart is really cute and I like him. We have a lot in common too. He is really into improving the park and is involved with the kids. I like Pete too. It's fun to be involved in politics and getting things done. It's also fun to be seen with an up-and-coming politician. But we are just friends. Remember I'm going back to California in the fall. I can't just fall for someone here and completely uproot my life."

"Why not?" Asked Mary Anne.

"Well I don't know," said Dawn. She wasn't sure she liked Stoneybrook that much. Although this time she liked it more than before, what if it was just a summer novelty and it wore off?

She couldn't help but think about Jaimie though. Even if he called her just about the campaign and recycling stuff she would love to be around him. But she just saw him for a few hours and what did that tell you about a person?

Dawn decided to take a long hot bath and mull it over before bed with a nice cup of soup and ice tea. She put her nightshirt on and fuzzy slippers and went out on the balcony. She turned her playlist to some melancholy music. She decided to just let things naturally develop. She wouldn't feed into things but take dates if they were offered. That way she could see who liked her and go from there. 

She slept a long sleep all night long.

The next morning Dawn woke up early with a clear head and a fresh start on looking at things. She quietly sipped her coffee and looked out on the day ahead of her. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Mona was tied up in the kitchen and Dawn reached the door before Mary Anne or Logan could get to it. 

It was Nicky Pike, in his police uniform (he is a detective in Stanford). Dawn answered the door.

"Well, Nicky! Come on in!" Dawn said.

"Dawn Schafer this isn't a social call. I am here on official business and I am afraid I am here to take you down to the police station for questioning."

"Is this for the uranium case?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry Dawn but they insist."

"Can I bring my lawyer with me?" She asked referring to Logan. 

"He can follow the police car."

"I'll get my car and meet you around the front," said Logan.

Dawn compliantly got into the back of the police car. She felt like a criminal. But she knew she hadn't done anything wrong. 

Mallory was busy researching Stoneybrook's history. She felt she was tapping into something. She discovered that during prohibition some citizens in Stoneybrook hid alcohol in secret passages. She also found out that Humphrey Porter used to be a very prominent doctor in the area. She had looked through all the books she had to find out more information. She had a few articles from the paper that seemed that Humphrey was a doctor at the hospital at one time that treated patients that varied from paralyzation at mental illness, diseased, and other wide variety of physical and mental disorders. Mallory wondered if he was a doctor why did he donate land for the school? Why not a medical facility or something to do with his field?

She decided to try to look through the boxes and boxes of stuff they had from the hospital. Mallory dug for hours. She started making piles of information she could use for other people for her project. Finally, she came to an old newspaper and took it out.

"Pay dirt!" She yelled! She had found something. On the top, it read that Humphrey Porter had been fired for malpractice at Stoneybrook hospital. It seemed he had been trying out some holistic healing methods on the patients and a group of churchgoers that didn't like the methods. Finally, there had been an accident with one of the children that Mallory thought sounded like an autistic patient. The child had escaped the facility multiple times and either ran home or ran to the playground at Stoneybrook Elementary School. One day the child had gone to elementary school and Humphrey had tried to coax him to come back when he got spooked and ran into the street. With all the cars honking it spooked him even more and he ran right down the middle of the road to an intersection where an unsuspecting car hit and killed him. 

Mallory felt sad. The poor child must have been so scared. Mallory looked for any follow-up articles. She found out Humphrey was arrested and taken to jail awaiting trial. Then Mallory looked closer at the address of the home where Humphrey Porter was arrested. And she couldn't believe what she saw. The address was the same as Morbidda Destiny's house!

19 Stoneybrook: Initiation and a Surprise

 I would like to thank Julie for all the Hogwarts and HP help along with helping me with the plot of Dawn in this story. We hope you enjoy our little surprises we throw in here in there in the story. We try to make side characters more prominent in our story and every aspect is fair game! Pizza toast and enjoy!

Initiation and a Surprise

Karen gave Claudia a robe to wear for the secret passage. She said all the people in initiation wear them until they are initiated fully but you can always wear them afterward too. They were going to head down to the Tavern first to meet Ricky and then go down to the main area of the passage one by one. Karen, Dawn, Hannie, and Nancy all went through the passage. It was amazing!

They walked through the hallway and into another one of the big rooms. Above the entrance was a symbol for a Harry Potter house, but Claudia did not see which one. This room was full of plants you could buy. Herbs and essential oils. "We call this the greenhouse. They sell Moana fruit here from Hawaii. You aren't supposed to take it out of Hawaii and it makes you get a buzz like you are drunk." Hannie said.

"Cool," Claudia said. She thought about buying one for Dawn's birthday but decided to wait until after her first visit. Karen moved the group along introducing Claudia to people along the way. They went through a restaurant called Mandrakes that had lots of vegetarian dishes. 

They went through a club-type area that was lighted with floating candles (most places in the passage were lit up from battery-operated lights, Christmas lights, lanterns, and other various techniques). "That's the Ministry Club, but we don't have the time to stop. We have to meet Ricky."

They finally got to a Tavern called The Leaky Cauldron. Ricky already had them a table lit by a lantern. He had ordered them each a Butterbeer and it was delivered by James and Mathew Hobart! "Hi, Claudia!" They said. "Welcome to Hogwarts!"

"Down here they are known as the Weasely Brothers. They make the Butterbeer."

"Good to see you! I saw Ben just the other day." Claudia tried the Butterbeer and it was surprisingly really good! They were all visiting and talking at the table when Alan Gray came up to their table.

"Hey Karen! " he came up and sat next to her. "Claudia! So you're being initiated?"

"Looks like it."

"Well welcome! Karen and I will have to take you to the main hall some time."

"I would love that!"

The next place they headed to, Ricky and Alan in tow, was Hufflepuff Lounge. This was a place that had two separate rooms, one where people could vape or smoke cigars and cigarettes and the other side had essential oil pens. They also sold them with cool names such as Deatheaters Delight and Mandrake Madness. Claudia couldn't help but notice Karen and Alan were acting very much like a couple, holding hands, kissing, the works.

Next, they went to the main section. It was very large and open and there were two stories to it. It reminded Claudia of the inside entrance to Ralph Lauren at Washington Mall. Karen said there wasn't much going on there that night but all kinds of main gatherings were always held there. Tonight there were pushcarts with people selling different items such as jewelry and glow-in-the-dark roses. Alan bought a rose for Karen.

"A rose for my lady," he said. All Claudia could think was she had a lot to report to Kristy about.

The next day Kristy was leaving to go back on the road with her baseball team. She would return when she could throughout the summer and pick up Abby. She didn't want to leave in some ways she didn't want to leave after Claudia reported to her what she saw with Karen and Alan the night before. "Whatever you do keep an eye on them and report back to me."

"Ok Kristy," said Claudia.

Some of the old gang had come to see Kristy off, including Mary Anne, Dawn, Pete, Bart, and Jessi. Dawn had run early that morning with Bart and after they said goodbye to Kristy she was heading over to the recycling center with Pete to see what it looked like now and get the grand VIP tour. Things were getting confusing for Dawn. But she told herself to just be reasonable and have fun. They were all friends, besides she was going back to California in the fall. She would just enjoy Pete and Bart while she was here. She loved hanging out with them both and for different reasons. Once Kristy had set off to sail, Mary Anne and Jessi went off in one direction, Bart in another, and Dawn hopped into Pete's car, and off they went to the recycling center.

Dawn knew the recycling center had expanded a lot and she was excited to check it out. Pete said that the center had also made up stickers for citizens voting for him to put on their bins. 

"One of my friends runs the center now. He moved here from California too. But that was a long time ago." Said Pete.

"That sounds cool. I also have some ideas about plant-based straws for restaurants around town. They are biodegradable and in some cases a lot cheaper than plastic straws."

"These are good ideas, Dawn. You should write some of this down for a booth at the Rainforest marathon. People are going to be setting up booths and making a day of it."

"Really? That sounds awesome. I will write down some ideas and try to get a demonstration together. I'm sure my friends will be glad to help while we are running the marathon. And once the marathon is over I can help out. We can take it in shifts."

"That would be awesome," Pete said as they pulled into the recycling center parking lot. Dawn and Pete walked into the lobby where a receptionist greeted them.

"Hello Pete, the MRF manager is expecting you. And you must be Dawn, the founder! It is an exciting day for us. Let me just tell him that you are here." She went back to her desk and spoke to someone on the phone.

"MRF stands for a materials recovery facility. It's just a fancy word for the recycling center." Pete informed Dawn. 

Just then a familiar-looking man entered in jeans and a waste management t-shirt. Dawn's jaw dropped. Mentally and physically. She immediately knew who it was. She stood there paralyzed from being caught off guard. 

"Pete! Great to see you! Can't wait to show you around. My staff and I have a lot of things for you today. And Dawn! Our founder! You will love what we have done with what you started. Oh, sorry, you may not remember me from school. I'm Jaimie Anderson."

18 Stoneybrook: Clubbing With Claudia

 Once again I would like to thank Julie Demers for helping me come up with the cool themes for each club they visit within this story. 

Clubbing With Claudia

The girls got ready to go out. To Claudia's disappointment, the girls were not going into the secret passage first. They were first going to go to the above-ground club district in downtown Stoneybrook. Their reasoning behind this was that things don't generally get into full swing in the passage until later in the night. Their first stop on the list was a little bar that had pool tables and food. The girls ate some burgers and fries and sat around chatting.

"Ricky said that he would meet us at 10:00." Said Karen.

They hadn't been there long when the waiters came up to them with a round of drinks they hadn't ordered. They were bottles of locally brewed beer and I opened them so they knew they were safe to drink. There was also a note written on a napkin.

"Go go Gryffindor!" It was read and signed by Bobby. The girls looked around and saw a slightly nerdy guy with a few of his friends over by the pool table. The girls invited him over to sit with them for a few minutes. His buddies at the pool table all whooped and hollered and cheered him on. "Hey ladies! What are you up to tonight?"

"We are showing Claudia around town!"

"Cool! Well, we will see you, ladies, later tonight at the Tavern!"

They went to a club called Good Sport next. It was owned by Charlie Thomas and was sports-themed. The dance floor looked like a basketball court and had actual basketball hoops on each side. Karen said there were different sports featured each night, but tonight was basketball night. You were assigned a locker along with each table to put your stuff in while you were out on the dance floor. There were big-screen TVs around the room with sports broadcast on them. It also served typical sports food such as hot dogs, hamburgers, and buffalo wings. The girls ordered some beers and went out on the dance floor. The club played a lot of music that was popular at games and tailgate parties. Just as the girls were finishing up dancing to "We Are The Champions" with their arms around each other and swayed back and forth when a guy came up to take their picture. The girls smiled and posed and as the photographer was bringing his fancy camera back down from his face Claudia got a good look at who it was.

"Trevor? Omg, it's so good to see you!" Claudia gave him a big hug.

"Claudia! You look beautiful!" Said Trevor.

"What are you doing here," she asked.

"I do photography on the weekends for the Stoneybrook Gazette social and gossip sections of the paper. During the week I am a cameraman for the Stoneybrook News."

"That's so cool! I'm just visiting for the summer. I'm doing a few film projects while I am in town!"

"Very cool!"

A new song came on and Trevor asked Claudia if she wanted a drink. She said sure and headed back to their table.

Trevor returned and they talked for a while before heading back to the dance floor. Suddenly in the middle of the song, Claudia heard the charge song and a strobe light came on. The DJ started talking.

"Alright! It's time for hoops! Everyone line up at either basket and the first, second, and third person to make a basket gets a prize! The first prize is a Good Sports gift card!"A Good Sport waitress wearing an umpire uniform held up the gift card. " Second prize is a Good Sport t-shirt!' Another waiter held up a white t-shirt with a blue logo. "Third place prize is a Good Sport crazy cup!" Another waitress held up the cup that had LED lights and was used for sports drinks. "When we blow the whistle you can begin!" The whistle blew and one by one people started trying to make baskets. Claudia got in line and when it was her turn she focused on the basket and threw the ball. She made it in! She was so proud of herself!

"What's your name, ma'am," the DJ asked.

"Claudia Kishi," ma'am? Really? Thought Claudia.

Claudia and Trevor exchanged numbers and the girls headed to the next club. They passed a fancy-looking building with columns in the front and a sign that said Royales. Karen explained to Claudia that Royales was fancy and they wouldn't be going there that night because they have a very strict dress code. Claudia tried to look past the velvet ropes, but all she could see was a gigantic chandelier.

They headed further down the street to the club called Namaste. Claudia couldn't help but think about Dawn as they walked in. There were the 1960s beaded curtains at every entrance and doorway. There were old concert posters from the 60s on the wall of various artists. The club served fruity drinks like margaritas and daqueries and Bloody Marys and instead of tables and chairs, they had big bean bags and pillows to sit on around a wooden table that rotated similarly to lazy Susans. The music was varying from New Age, hipster, and eclectic music. In a separate room was a hookah bar.

After a while, they headed back to Karen's store. "And now, Claudia, the real fun is just beginning."

17 Stoneybrook: The Non-Disclosure Agreement

 I would like to thank Julie for the help in preparing this chapter. We would like to remind our readers that we are by no means making light of the Underground Railroad in the manuscript. The story is meant to inform as well as tell our story. We invite you to have fun with the story and remember not to take things too seriously. Pizza toast!

The Non-Disclosure Agreement 

Claudia had followed Karen's advice and slept in on Tuesday. Karen told her to arrive at noon well-rested and ready to work. Claudia picked out a versatile outfit that she could transform from work to the clubbing scene that night (her cupcake t-shirt dress and cupcake print leggings for the day, and neon green pantyhose for the night, and a pair of tall leather black boots). Claudia had packed her mini professional makeup kit along with a brush and hair accessories and tools. She just hoped they wouldn't go anywhere that a fancy dress code.

Claudia also prepared for her undercover operation of finding out what Karen was up to. She packed a small pad of paper and pen and also had installed an app on her phone for more private notes.

Once Claudia thought she was ready, she told Mallory and she dropped her off at Crookshanks. The front door was open and Claudia walked through. Karen came down from her upstairs apartment a few minutes later. She was carrying some papers.

" Hi, Claudia! Before we get started, I have some papers for you to sign. And then I will take you to the back room and the basement and we can start sorting. The first one is for your taxes, the second one is a consent form that I am kg liable for injuries caused by employee carelessness. I receive a lot of things that have broken glass and occasionally we will get swords and knives and other sharp objects, the last is a nondisclosure agreement. We get a lot of antiques and other valuables coming in that sometimes people do not realize are valuable. The most important thing is to never talk about the things you see here, especially the media."

Claudia signed the papers and wondered what treasures she might find today. Karen led her to the back of the store. Behind the check-out counter to the left was Karen's office. Ahead and to the right was a staircase to go up to Karen's apartment. Beyond that on either side were doors leading into two very big warehouse rooms Karen used for shipping and receiving and storage. Behind the staircase was a little room. Inside the little room was a door that opened up from the floor into some steps leading down into the basement. The basement had even more boxes and all kinds of clothes and books in it.

Karen led Claudia back up to the ground floor and into the storage side of the back room. 

"I've picked 20 boxes of books for us to go through and sort today."

She explained the process of categories as well as a table system she had set up for appraisals and things that had been requested.

Karen turned up the radio to WSTO full blast and they got to work. 

"Do you like Harry Potter Claudia?" Karen asked.

"Yes I'm not as big a fan as you but it holds a special place in my heart. I never did like school very much and preferred doing art. projects. But one day I had to do a paper on a book for school. Nancy Drew's books weren't long enough. I saw the Harry Potter book on Janine's shelf and used it for my assignment. After that I enjoyed school. It helped me. improve my science and history classes too. I became interested in school and applied myself more. I never made grades as good as Janine's I did good enough to get me into Stoneybrook University after a semester at the community college."

"That's awesome Claudia!"

"I majored in web design but I abandoned it after I went viral with my makeup tutorials."

Karen followed Claudia on all her social media platforms. It seemed everyone he'd age knew who Claudia was. They had been working for a few hours and decided to break for lunch. Karen ordered pizza delivery and while they waited continued to talk with Claudia.

"We have barely had any customers all day. How on earth do you stay in business?"

"I'm glad you asked that Claudia. And it's kind of a loaded question. Let's take our pizza down to the basement where we can talk."

They went down to the basement where Karen explained that the walls were soundproof.

"Claudia what I am about to tell you is important. It is also top secret. Remember that non-disclosure agreement I had you sign?" Claudia nodded."well I guess I should start from the beginning. You know I had always been a fan of scary things and witches and stuff. That's how I came up with the name for Morbidda Destiny. Well by the time I was in junior high school the first Harry Potter book was published. Of course, it was right down my alley. A lot of other kids got into it too.  Hannie, Nancy, and Ricky became our world and a lot more kids in the class enjoyed the books, too. But some of the parents were not happy about it. Not at all. By that time we had already had a Harry Potter Club at school where we quizzed each other on trivia and did other activities. The club was expanding, even other schools in the area. Even elementary schools. Some of the parents saw the things that we were doing. It reminded them of Magic: The Gathering or Dungeons and Dragons. They began to organize to protest against the clubs and tried to get them banned from the school libraries as well as your moms. It was awful. So the kids started to plan together at school, in lunch, outside of classes."

"Oh, my lord!" Said Claudia. "I remember that. I remember them trying to ban the books. I net not one of those people ever read one of the books either."

"Well, we tried everything. We would play Harry Potter at home with the parents like Daddy that didn't find anything wrong with it. But some of the other kids weren't so lucky. So we began meeting at night in secret at the park and various other places. We would sneak out of the house and meet to trade books or play Quidditch. Some would make Harry Potter-themed treats and others made trinkets and jewelry. All kinds of things. 

As we got older our interests grew, and our parties grew with us. It was easier to organize once the internet became more popular. It was huge. We wanted to do one big gigantic party. One we could start doing yearly. We planned it out in secret for about a year. Some were buying and making costumes, others were gathering books and other memorabilia, to sell and trade, gathering up crystals and herbs, making wands, one group of kids were even making their moonshine Butter Beer."

"That's incredible!"

"Well, we were so busy planning. We were going to meet in the woods where there is a clearing. We spent a lot of time preparing the space for it, too. We had decided to make the gathering at the beginning of the summer. Right after school let out but before anyone went on vacation or summer camp or got summer jobs. It all went well until we got to the party. We got it started and everything was going great until a bunch of things happened all at once. A bunch of parents discovered the kids missing and started a search. Someone had called the fire department after seeing the bonfire in the woods. The police also showed up and everyone got in trouble. We were all grounded. A lot of our books and jewelry and all we worked so hard on was lost, confiscated by the parents. The forums were taken down. Everything. It was devastating."

"How awful. If only you could have gotten them to listen to you, they would have seen all of that potential."

"Well during that time something started happening. With all those kids being grounded kids were spending a lot more time at home. Daddy wasn't so hard on me. He began to lift some of the grounding and Hannie and Nancy were allowed to come over. One night we were in the pool house hanging out and watching movies. Hannie leaned against a wall. It was a false wall that opened up to steps that led down into a secret passage. We couldn't believe it! One day when the family was preoccupied we decided to follow it. It was connected to several houses in the area, including Nancy's. We explored it for days trying to figure out how far it went. We followed it into downtown."

"Oh, my lord! Do you know how dangerous that could have been?" Claudia asked. And then she thought a minute. "Is it still there?"

Karen only smiled and continued with her story. 

"We began talking about it at school. Kids were all looking in their houses for their secret passages. Now we had a new way to gather undetected and away from the critical parents, teachers, and other adults who didn't like Harry Potter. We gathered the things we salvaged from the failed party. We would have scheduled meetings and continued our now secret society. A group of boys including Ricky had somehow acquired an old mailbox. They had the idea to decorate it and put it out in the passage to communicate with each other. That way we could buy and sell things without all being in the passage at once and at our convenience. 

Once we graduated, some of us went off to college, and kids that remained continued to develop the passageways. Now, after 6:00 there all kinds of things you can do and see in the passage. Some of the rooms are for dining like a restaurant. Others grow their herbs and sell them. Some make costumes or sell crystals. And of course Harry Potter groups."

"Oh, my lord! Can you take me?"

"Yes but first I want to explain to you a little bit about how things work. First of all, let me explain the structure of the passage. Over here in the downtown area, the passage is very stable and very maintained. There are narrower parts that led into big rooms. The rooms are where the shops and food places are located. The unique design does two things. For one, the walls are extremely thick in between because it was originally used for the Underground Railroad it acts as if it is soundproof. That means you could make noises and no one can hear you in the buildings they are attached to. The other thing is it also can act somewhat of an acoustic for sound. So live bands sound good in the passage. The other thing isn't it much more incomplete and sketchy once you head into the residential side of the passage and some of it has breaks where entrances and exits have been covered up to avoid detection."

"Wow! I just can't believe it!"

"The other thing you need to know is there is an initiation period you have to go through. I will instruct you step by step until you are accepted. After that, you will be on your own."

Suddenly Hannie and Nancy came out of a closet that was in a corner of the room. Claudia hadn't realized but they had been talking for hours and it was now 6:00. 

"Are you ready to go clubbing Claudia?" Asked Hannie. 

16 Stoneybrook: A Doctor, An Author, and an Influemcer Walk Into Pizza Express

 I would like to thank Julie Demers for helping me with the Sam plot, the information at the hospital, and helping me with Claudia's discovery.

A Doctor, an Author, and an Influencer Walk into Pizza Express...

About 30 minutes later, Dawn and Bart armed with flashlights went back into the secret passage. One at a time they both went down the narrow hallway and into the bigger room.

"Wow! This is fascinating! Look at the symbols over there! That one means food. Look! That one means to dress up like a free slave if you go up to the surface!"

'Wow, you sure know a lot more about the underground railroad than that little paragraph we got to read in school!"

"Well, the house I used to live in growing up as part of the Underground Railroad. But it burned down."

"That's a shame."

They kept following the passage sometimes it was very narrow and other times it would open up to a big room. They knew the big rooms meant there was probably another person's house. They agreed to not trespass and try to open a passage to someone else's home. "If only I could find where Morbidda Destiny's house is in here." Dawn thought.

They walked for a good 30 min or so when they found some steps and a lot of light.

"This must be the end of the railroad", said Bart." Be careful. We don't know where we will be popping out."

But to their surprise, they didn't have to worry at all. The tunnel had come out in the wooded area of Stoneybrook Day School!

Meanwhile, Mallory and Claudia, we're meeting Pete at the hospital to look at the archived records about the hospital building and maps of the different wards.

It was a dank and dusty basement. It looked like no one had been down there in years.

Claudia and Mallory went sorting through for the entire morning. Bu 1:00 they were starting to get Hungary. "Let's take a break and get some food. Let's see if Pete wants to join us."

"Good idea."

"Let's go to Pizza Express. I haven't been since we were back."

"Me either and if sounds wonderful."

"Pete, would you like to join us for lunch?" Claudia asked.

"Sure. Let me let my nurses know and I will be right down."

They had a wonderful lunch. Pete said he would go to Mal's book signing and Claudia made some quick concept sketches on napkins for Pete's campaign.

While they were chatting though Claudia saw. something at the other table that caught her eye. She was trying to ignore it, but she couldn't. Sam was in the booth in the far back eating with a young blonde that was not Stacey. And they were looking friendlier than just friends. She didn't want to make a big deal out of it. She could be a coworker for all she knew. Plus she did not want to be the one to tell Stacey. She was just getting to where they were better and Claudia liked it that way. 

They turned to the archives and found a few boxes of information they could sort through. They loaded the boxes into the Junk Bucket to take back to Watson's.

"I can't wait to get back and sort through these. Kristy will be there, and she will be a big help. Let's stop off at a burger place on the way so we have something to munch on while we search!'

" Seriously Claudia we just ate. Do you ever stop eating?" But Mallory smiled. "I could use a milkshake let's go!"

"I need to do some editing on the footage that we already got. I have to help Karen at her store tomorrow so I won't be able to do it then."

"Ok Kristy and I can sort the boxes and once you get done you can help us."

They ordered the food and continued to drive to Watsons when they ran into Dawn and Bart. 

'Do you guys need a ride?" Mallory asked, she was driving. 

"Yes, actually we need to talk to you. You won't believe what we just did!"

That night Pete was following his secret passage. He had chosen to go right, following where the residential houses were, rather than towards town. He saw some. strange symbols on the walls as he walked. He wondered what they meant, but decided to Google it later. Soon he came up some steps, just a few into a small opening that was covered by rocks. He moved the rocks out of the way and the army crawled into the crawl space.

Once he was out he couldn't believe where he was. He was at the bottom of the steps behind Logan and Mary Anne's pool and jacuzzi in their backyard! He immediately knew he needed to at least go around to the front and ring the doorbell and see if Dawn was at home. 

"Mary Anne is Dawn at home?"

"No, she is down at Kristy's helping Claudia edit footage."

"Ok, I was just taking a walk."

"Do you want to come in for a drink?"

"Thanks, I will."

"Here let me get you some wine and cheese. Shannon was just teaching me about charcuterie boards!"

"Cool!'

Pete sat down and texted Dawn.

Meanwhile, at Watson's Mallory and Kristy, we're looking in the boxes from the hospital. Claudia was editing and Dawn and Bart were digging through old history books about Connecticut and the Underground Railroad.

" wait a minute!" Claudia said. "You guys look at this!"

In the video, they were interviewing the principal for Stoneybrook Day. Behind him out of the window in broad daylight was Morbidda Destiny. She looked like she was counting her steps methodically. She stopped and waved her arms and a light source from something off-camera appeared. 

15 Stoneybrook: The Discovery

 I would like to thank Julie Demers for helping me develop all the secrets in this chapter! 

The Discovery

Pete went down into his wine cellar to get a bottle of red wine to clear his head and think. He began to make a list of places he wanted to visit to talk to and get to know the people in the community. It read:

Rotary Club

Retirement homes

Library

Club district

Shops on Main Street

Town Hall

Lion's Club

Recycling Center

Nature Center

Stoneybrooke Housing Council

Just as he was finishing the list he felt a gust of air. He put on his sweater. He felt another gust. He knew these old houses were drafty. Especially places like the cellar. He knew there were probably some cracks in the bricks that he needed to mend. He had been so excited about his new cellar, he had moved his wine collection in and put a big mahogany table and chairs in the center of the room for the guys to come over and play cards. Now he felt he should have waited and sealed in the cracks. He got down on his hands and knees and turned the flashlight app on his cellphone. "That's weird," he thought. 

There was a crack going almost down until it stopped and turned up the wall as far as he could see. 'It's not a crack. It's a gap." He thought. Pete began to push on the wall. He pushed and shoved and finally leaned his entire body into it. The wall gave in, and it was, indeed, a door. Pete fell to the floor in the final shove, which made him drop his phone in the process.

Once he got his bearings and dusted himself off he looked at where he had fallen into. It was a big, rectangular area of open space. It had brick walls and a  bricked arched ceiling.

Dawn was eating her morning breakfast and reading The Stoneybrook Gazette when he turned to the gossip column. She could not believe it! There was a picture of her and Pete dancing together right there in the paper! The small paragraph under it read "Who is the mysterious blonde surprise mayor candidate " Sneaky Pete" was out dancing with over the weekend?"

Dawn didn't know what to think. On one hand, she thought it was kind of cool to have her photo in the paper, but on the other hand, they were kind of exploiting Pete and making him out to be kind of wild for a mayor nominee. She decided not to do anything until she talked to Pete. She took a screenshot and sent it to Pete.

"Have you seen this?"

"Oh wow! That's pretty cool."

"You don't care that they are kind of exploiting you? Painting you in a seemingly negative light by showing you out dancing with someone at a Mexican cantina?"

"Dawn, the Gazette is kind of a conservative paper. If I'm running for mayor of course the competition is going to have a negative slant. It's just part of politics. My job is to make it so the worst thing they could say about me is that I am newly divorced and went out dancing with a pretty girl."

It was then that Dawn realized that maybe she was a little worried that Bart would see it and think there was more between her and Pete than just old friends."As long as you're ok with it so am I." She still buzzed Mary Anne and Mona on the intercom to come to eat breakfast with her and she could show them the paper. 

Later, Dawn and Bart got together to work on putting the goodie bags together for The Midnight Society. Dawn told Bart the story about Jared Mullray, the man who might have haunted the secret passage at her childhood home. Then she told him the story about how they had tricked Cokie Mason and her friends at Old Man Hickory's grave at midnight on Halloween after she had tricked Mary Anne with a "bad luck charm" to try to make Mary Anne look stupid in front of Logan. By the end, they were laughing.

Bart hesitated a minute. Should he tell her? Then he thought back about Pete and Dawn at the meeting. Then the photo on the paper. And then he knew that he had to tell her. He wasn't one to back down when faced with friendly competition.

"What?" Dawn asked.

Bart smiled. "I have something to show you." He grabbed Dawn's hand and lead her to his car. 

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"My house. I want to show you something."

In a few short minutes, they were at Bart's house across the street from the park. It was a beautiful old house completely restored. "You live here all by yourself?" She asked.

"No, I have Maurice, my housekeeper. He used to be my parent's gardener but since mom retired she likes to take care of it herself. And since I am doing so well with my job and the stick market I decided to hire him on for myself. He is more like a mentor. He is one of my best friends."

They went inside and Bart led her to his study and in the study was a closet. He opened the closet and in the back, he pushed back a panel door. "Go ahead, look inside." 

Dawn walked inside and she couldn't believe it. It was a narrow hallway, just big enough for one person to get through. "A secret passage?"

"Yes," Bart said proudly. "I've never actually completely followed it. I do think it's part of the Underground Railroad at one time. If you go, this way it leads to a bigger room on the property. I've never followed it off the property because you never know who or what you might run into."

"I say let's get some flashlights and follow it."

14 Stoneybrook: Pool Party

 I would like to thank Julie Demers for helping me with the Rotary Club and Stoneybrook Hospital idea. It's been a tough week for both of us, but we have managed to still turn out some good (great?) ideas!

Pool Party

Dawn had to admit to herself that she was enjoying hanging out with Pete. But she enjoyed going on dates with Bart, and she wasn't looking for anything serious. She still had her life back in California.

"So, are you going out again?" Asked Shannon.

Dawn blushed. "Yes, we are going to check out the bars and clubs tomorrow night. But it's not what you think. He wants to check out and talk to all the places and people in Stoneybrook. You know, get to know what the people want out of a mayor. That kind of thing."

"Uh-huh!" The other girls said and everyone laughed. 

That afternoon after baseball practice the team, Bart, Pete, Jessi, Mal, Shannon, and Robert all gathered at Logan and Mary Anne's house for a pool party. Then little by little the parents started picking up their kids. The Bruno kids and the Brewster kids went off to spend the night at friends' houses.

The adults decided to spend some time in the pool themselves. As the afternoon turned into night, everyone got out of the pool and started a game of cards. Just when they were about to start, the door bell rang. It was Claudia with some local wine, samples of the t-shirts and duffle bags she designed for The Midnight Society, and flyers to advertise it.

"These are amazing Claudia!" Bart said.

Pete was also impressed and asked Claudia to help with designing products for his campaign. They all settled in to play cards and began talking.

"What is going to be your main issues you are going to take on if you are elected?" Asked Claudia.

"Well, Claudia that's a loaded question. I'm going to work closely with the Historical Society in preserving our heritage sights in Stoneybrook. That includes fundraising for funding to help out our friend Bart here with the parks, as well as trying to help Alan be reinstated as the lighthouse keeper. Of course, the citizens will have to vote on it, but we have come up with some plans to raise awareness before the election."

"I appreciate that Pete. And I know Alan does too."

"I am also going to concentrate hard on working with the Rotary Club to bring some culture and diversity to the town by bringing exchange students and other people to visit in from other countries and cultures."

"That sounds awesome! Shannon and I are on the Rotary Club. You should join us for the Cultures Across America Celebration coming up soon."

"Absolutely! Just give me the details. I have entrusted my assistant and intern with helping run my private practice doctor's office to make myself more available."

"Your work is associated with Stoneybrook Hospital isn't it? " asked Mallory. "Could you possibly help me and Claudia me get access to some information about the history of the building for our history project?"

"Sure. Why don't you come into my office Monday and I will show you around."

What Mallory and Claudia didn't tell him was that they were following up on a lead that Stoneybrook Hospital might have been part of the Underground Railroad. They had been walking down an intense rabbit hole they were desperately trying to get to the bottom of.

After some more chatting, the group started to break up. Both Bart and Pete kind of lingered to try to talk to Dawn. Bart got to her first. Pete decided to go ahead and go. But as he was getting into his car he started thinking. Things were starting to finally look up for him. He had a hard time getting back in the dating game after his divorce but he had a wonderful time with Dawn last night. He decided to sit in his car and just observe Dawn and Bart for a few minutes. He didn't want to step on anyone's toes, but he also wasn't sure what Dawn's feelings were for him (or Bart for that matter). But he knew he sure was developing a crush on her. He watched as Bart kissed Dawn.

Then again a little competition never hurt anyone, Pete thought.