The Creek

by Jennifer L. Holm

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  There were a number of gracious, supportive people who helped me scare myself to death.

  First, I’d like to thank my brother Jon, whose photos remind me what the creek really looked like. Many thanks to Jill Grinberg for her dogged patience, Elise Howard and Clarissa Hutton for their thoughtful criticism, Todd Kessler and Rebecca Goldstein for their enthusiasm, my parents, and my dear friend Wendy Wilson, who keeps me from having panic attacks! As always, many thanks to my brother Matt, who helps me keep everything straight.

  I had a lot of doctors helping me out with the details. Many thanks to Jeffrey D. Siegel, M.D.; Alvin Calderon, M.D., Ph.D.; and my favorite pediatrician ever—William Wendell Holm, M.D. A special thanks to a great girl who knows exactly what a dead body looks like—New York City Medical Examiner Judy Melinek, M.D.

  Most of all, I must thank my husband, Jonathan, for his unwavering belief in this story. He has been my muse and inspiration. This book would never have been written if he hadn’t sat me down at dinner that night and told me Write, Jenni!

  This book is for all the kids from my childhood who played Chase—wherever you are.

  About the Author

  JENNIFER L. HOLM

  is the author of the Newbery Honor Book OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA and of the historical novels BOSTON JANE:An Adventure, BOSTON JANE: Wilderness Days, and BOSTON JANE: The Claim.She is also the co-author with her husband, Jonathan Hamel, of THE STINK FILES, DOSSIER 001: The Postman Always Brings Mice. She lives in New York City with her husband and their cat.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  PENNY HAD BEEN HAVING THE SAME NIGHTMARE FOR YEARS.

  Sometimes in the dream it’s a faceless boy who chases her through the woods, dogging her heels easily like a loping predator. In the worst ones he has a knife, a long sharp one, the kind she cut her finger with, and she can see it flashing in the gloom when she looks over her shoulder. She’s running down the narrow trail that leads toward the creek, and there he’ll be, right on her tail, his sinewy arm reaching for her.

  ALSO BY JENNIFER L. HOLM

  Our Only May Amelia

  Boston Jane: An Adventure

  Boston Jane: Wilderness Days

  Boston Jane: The Claim

  With Jonathan Hamel

  The Stink Files Dossier 001:

  The Postman Always Brings Mice

  Copyright

  Harper Trophy® is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  The Creek

  Copyright © 2003 by Jennifer L Holm

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-02832-7

  Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

  Holm, Jennifer L

  The creek / by Jennifer L Holm—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary Around the time of her thirteenth birthday, Penny’s suburban Philadelphia neighborhood is terrorized by a psychopath, and everyone is sure that the young man just out of a juvenile home is responsible

  ISBN 0-06-000133 X ISBN 0-06-000134 8 (lib. bdg.)

  ISBN 0-06-000135 6 (pbk.)

  [1. Psychopaths—Fiction. 2 Fear—Fiction. 3 Neighborhood–Fiction. 4 Philadelphia (Pa.)—Fiction.] I. Title

  PZ7 H732226Cr 2003 2002010980

  [Fic]—dc21 CIP

  AC

  Typography by Karin Paprocki

  First Harper Trophy edition, 2004

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