“It’s all true,” Lindsey sobbed. “She’s right. I did cut the brake lines.” She put her face in her hands. One of the grips eased an arm around her shoulders.
“Why?” asked Derek. “Why did you do it?”
“Because of Carson,” said Lindsey, through her tears. “I love him.”
“Carson?” asked Mr. Mead. “Isn’t he one of those young actors?”
“He’s not just any actor, he’s the best actor,” said Lindsey, sounding shrill. “The best. But you’d never know it, because he” — she sniffed, nodding at Derek — “kept stealing all the scenes.”
Derek looked pale. I bet I did, too.
The crowd grew quiet as Lindsey rambled on and on about how unfair it was that Derek got more attention than Carson, and how she had finally figured out that the only way to help Carson was to “put Derek out of the picture.” I think everybody, Derek included, could see what I had figured out just moments before: Lindsey was a very disturbed person.
* * *
“Major weirdness!”
“She’s really sick!”
“I feel sorry for her.”
Those were my friends talking, later that afternoon at our BSC meeting. I had filled them in on the story so far, and they were amazed at what had happened. None of us had suspected Lindsey, so it all came as a total surprise. Of course, that last comment was made by Mary Anne, who never judges anyone and always has sympathy for the underdog.
“So, let me make sure I have this right,” said Stacey. “Because she felt so strongly about Carson, she tried to hurt Derek?”
“That’s right,” I said.
“But Derek’s safe now,” said Jessi. “Right?”
“Definitely,” I said. “Lindsey’s in police custody tonight, and I hear they’ll probably be moving her someplace where she can be helped. Somewhere far, far away, I hope.”
“I hope so, too,” said Mal with a shiver. “What she did is pretty scary stuff.”
As I had told my friends, Lindsey had confessed everything that afternoon. Although some of Derek’s accidents had been caused by his clumsiness (dropping the lamp, for example), Lindsey had been responsible for setting up most of them. She had spilled oil on the floor the day he fell. She had switched the breakaway glass with real glass from her father’s company. She had tampered with the harness used for the flying stunt. And she had, of course, been the one who sent the threatening note to Derek, the one I’d told Mrs. Masters about. Lucky thing I hadn’t followed his agent’s advice to quit worrying about it.
She’d sent some other notes, too, and I would have found them if I had poked around some more in Carson’s trailer. After Lindsey was caught that afternoon, Carson had come forward with a stack of the notes she’d given him along with the roses. Some were mushy, like the one I’d seen. But some were scary. They had talked about how he didn’t have to worry because she was going to “take care” of Derek. “I didn’t take them seriously,” a shaken Carson had told me. That was the first time I ever saw him drop his habitual cool act.
“There’s just one more thing,” said Claudia, popping the last bite of a Twizzler into her mouth as our meeting drew to a close. “What about Cokie’s party?”
“Must have been just good old food poisoning,” I said. “Lindsey wasn’t even at the party, so it couldn’t have been her fault.”
“Either way, you’ll never catch me eating Cokie’s deviled eggs again,” said Claud, holding her stomach and rolling her eyes.
We all cracked up. It was a relief to laugh. And it was an even bigger relief to know that Derek was safe. Like Mary Anne, I felt sorry for Lindsey — but I was glad she had been stopped before it was too late.
A week later, it was all over. The cast and crew of Little Vampires had gone back to California, and of course Derek had gone with them. I missed him, and I missed being on the set every day, but I didn’t miss worrying about him.
One really cool thing happened. The Masterses called Dawn when they got back to California, and asked her to do the same job there that I had done here. So, as filming finished up in L.A., Dawn was with Derek on the set almost every day. And as the summer went on, her letters kept us up-to-date on all the latest Little Vampires happenings.
Once the movie people left, life in Stoney-brook returned to normal. At first, I wondered if it would end up being a boring summer. After all, there was a lot left of the summer, and the movie shoot was a hard act to follow. But my worries were groundless. Just reading the newspapers and magazines gave me and my friends plenty of excitement and lots to talk about. There were articles about Little Vampires almost every day, and not just in the local paper, either. Thanks to Sheila Mayberry, Little Vampires — and the little town of Stoneybrook — had made the national news.
I started to collect all the clippings, plus Dawn’s letters, for a scrapbook, and my friends pitched in to help. Between us, we put together quite a “memory book.” In fact, maybe I should just let the scrapbook speak for itself, and you’ll see what I mean.
LOCAL GIRL SAVES ACTOR’S LIFE
Tragedy was averted yesterday when Stoneybrook resident Kristy Thomas stopped a limousine driver from starting up his car. On a tip from Ms. Thomas, the driver, John Mead, inspected the car’s brake lines and found that they had been cut. Police say there was a good chance that Mr. Mead and his passenger, actor Derek Masters, would have been injured had the car been driven. The police assume foul play, and a suspect has been taken into custody …
Stoneybrook police announced today that charges have been dropped against a local juvenile who was found to have cut the brake lines on a car leased by actor Derek Masters. “I don’t want her to go to jail,” the young actor was quoted as saying. “I just hope she gets some help.” The juvenile is being treated at Hidden Acres, a private Massachusetts facility for emotionally disturbed adolescents.
What young blond teen idol has at least one fan who might have been just a little too devoted? Hint: Next time you see him, he’ll be sporting fangs …
Despite early rumors of trouble on the set, the made-for-TV movie Little Vampires is getting terrific word-of-mouth around town. Filming is nearly completed, and a “Making of …” is slated to air later this month. The special will showcase one of the quaintest little towns on the Eastern Seaboard: Stoneybrook, Connecticut, where much of the filming was done …
Our sources tell us that the made-for-TV movie Little Vampires is sure to be a big winner. Early on, it looked as if the movie might never wrap: some were even saying there was a curse on the film. Well, so much for superstition …
If you combine an affection for vampires with a liking for Norman Rockwell-type scenes of small-town life, and have any curiosity about behind-the-scenes action, be sure to catch next week’s special, The Making of Little Vampires. The process of shooting this teen-star vehicle wasn’t smooth, and this special doesn’t pull any punches: It details all the mishaps that plagued the production during the early weeks of filming. But as we all know, there’s a happy ending — the movie just finished shooting and the buzz says it’s a sure hit …
Girls are flipping over Derek Masters, one of the young stars of the upcoming made-for-TV movie Little Vampires. Derek says he’s too young to date, but you can still dream! Check out our full-size pinup on page 52 …
The town of Stoneybrook will be featured in a TV special this Wednesday night. The special, The Making of Little Vampires, includes many scenes that will be familiar to Stoneybrook residents. To see Stoneybrook Elementary as you’ve never seen it before, tune in on Wednesday at eight …
Win a date with Carson Fraser, the hunkiest vampire this side of Transylvania. Just tell us, in 50 words or less, why you’d like to be Carson’s next victim …
Fang Alert! Get out your garlic and your wooden stakes, and get ready for a rollicking good time (plus a few truly touching moments) in the biggest hit of the fall season. Little Vampires is coming your way …
Well, that’s my scrapboo
k — so far. I’m saving the last few pages for the reviews of Little Vampires, which I can hardly wait to see. Dawn called Mary Anne last night and told her that Derek’s parents are trying to set up a special preview for Stoneybrook residents, which would be totally cool. But if that doesn’t work out, I’ll see it this fall, when it’s on TV. Meanwhile, I plan to relax and enjoy what’s left of this Interesting Summer!
The author gratefully acknowledges
Ellen Miles
for her help in
preparing this manuscript.
About the Author
ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.
There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.) In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.
Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.
Copyright © 1994 by Ann M. Martin
Cover art by Hodges Soileau
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First edition, June 1994
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
e-ISBN 978-0-545-76953-2
Kristy and the Vampires Page 9