The Secret by R.L. Stine Page B

widened, and she raised a hand to her throat. She turned to Jonathan. “Can this be truer”
    â€œIt is true that Mama is upset,” Jonathan told her. “Every night she cries out for Abigail. She—she says she sees Abigail in the yard, beckoning to her.”
    Delilah sucked in her breath and shut her eyes. “This is dreadful,” she murmured, almost as if she were talking to herself.
    Jonathan leaned closer to her. “But I am sure it is not a ghost,” he said to reassure her. “Please do not worry about us, Delilah. Rachel exaggerates sometimes.”
    â€œI do not!” cried Rachel.
    A bit of color returned to Delilah’s face, and she grew calmer.
    â€œShe could be dreaming, could she not?” she suggested. “The same dream, night after night?”
    Jonathan sipped his lemon water thoughtfully. He studied Delilah’s face, and she smiled at him.
    She is so brave, he thought. She is trying to make Rachel and me feel better.
    Rachel is afraid of a ghost, and I am afraid that my mother is going insane. Delilah does not want us to be frightened, so she assures us it is a dream.
    â€œJonathan.”
    Jonathan’s eyes flew open. It was the middle of the night.
    Another sound.
    Mama?
    â€œJonathan,” came the eerie whisper. “Jonathan—beware!”
    Jonathan froze as he stared into the darkness.
    It was not his mother, but the soft, sweet voice of a girl.
    â€œWho is there?” he whispered.
    â€œBeware, my brother,” came the girl’s voice. It seemed to be coming from outside the open window. But that was impossible….
    â€œBeware, my brother,” the voice said again. “Or your fate will be worse than mine!”
    Jonathan sat up. “Rachel?” he called. “Rachel? Where are you?”
    â€œNo,” whispered the little girl. “No, not Rachel. I am Abigail.”

Chapter 12

    J onathan jumped out of bed. “Abigail!” he cried frantically. “Abigail! Where are you?”
    He froze in the center of the room and listened.
    No one answered. The voice was gone.
    His hands trembling, Jonathan lit a candle from the smoldering embers in the fireplace. The candlelight made his shadow rise eerily on the wall.
    Jonathan searched every corner of the room. He threw open the wardrobe door and peered inside.
    No sign of his dead sister. No sign of anyone.
    His heart thumping, Jonathan slumped back onto the bed.
    Abigail had called to him. Or
had
she?
    Had it been another dream?
    Perhaps Mama’s madness is getting to me, he thought. But he quickly dismissed the idea.
    The voice was real. I did hear Abigail calling me, warning me about something….
    Then a soft tapping at his door startled him.
    He leapt to his feet, staring at the door.
    Should he open it?
    He had no time to decide. The door squeaked open slowly.
    In walked Rachel.
    She wore her nightshift and cap, her feet bare. Her eyes in the dim candlelight were round with fear.
    â€œRachel, what is it?” Jonathan asked, his voice a low whisper.
    â€œI saw her!” Rachel cried. “I saw Abigail!”

Chapter 13

    J onathan rushed to his sister and took her by the shoulders. “You saw Abigail?” he said. “Where?”
    â€œI saw her face outside my window. She called to me, ‘Rachel! Beware!’”
    â€œBut how did you know it was Abigail?” Jonathan asked. “Do you remember what she looked like?”
    â€œShe looked like Papa’s picture of her,” said Rachel. “She wore a white cap with blue ribbons, and she was floating outside my window. Then she disappeared.”
    Jonathan let go of Rachel. Maybe Mama really had seen Abigail, he thought. Perhaps she saw what Rachel saw. It
had
to be Abigail. Abigail’s ghost.
    Abigail had come to warn her family.
    But of what?
    *  *  *
    â€œI am going to call on the Wilsons, Mama,” Jonathan told Jane. She sat by the hearth in