Read Online Sleepover Stakeout (9780545443111) by Kim Harrington - Free Book Online

right.”
    Mrs. Wolfson’s hard eyes softened. “Oh. I’m fine, dear. Thank you for checking.”
    â€œOkay.” My legs decided they could work again, so I began to back away. “Have a nice day.”
    She held out a pale, bony hand. “Wait …”
    I swallowed and my throat felt tight. “What is it?” Please don’t let this be the part where she turns evil and abducts me.
    â€œI’m sorry I was rude to you before. I thought it was those dang Danville boys again.”
    â€œWho?” I asked.
    She waved her hand dismissively. “Just some darn teenagers that come up and knock on my door only because their friends dared them to bother the Old Witch.”
    I gasped. Mrs. Wolfson let out a loud laugh, and it sounded nothing like a witch’s cackle. “You think I don’t know about my nickname?” She shrugged. “I don’t mind it too much. People leave me alone and don’t try to sell me stuff.”
    â€œOh … okay,” I said, mainly because I didn’t know what else to say.
    Her face turned sad, and she began speaking as if she’d been waiting to tell her story. “I know I should have moved after my husband died so long ago. This big old house is too much for me to take care of. I let the lawn go dead and weedy. The paint chipped. And then I was so embarrassed by the house, I stopped socializing with neighbors. I watched out my window as old friends moved away and new people moved in. And I just … stayed inside. So I can understand how you kids came up with the nickname and all the rumors. But I don’t mean anyone any harm. I just wanted to stay in the house my husband and I bought together. It makes me feel closer to him.”
    My heart broke into a thousand pieces. “Of course,” I said, feeling choked up.
    Her voice cracked. “Will you tell the other children I’m not mean? I turn on the outside light on Halloween, but all the children skip my house.”
    I swallowed hard. “I will personally make sure that doesn’t happen this year,” I said. And I would keep my promise. Somehow.
    I ran across the street to Fiona, who breathlessly asked me for every single detail. I explained that Mrs. Wolfson was not a witch. Just a nice, misunderstood old lady.
    I took one last glance at the old run-down house. I had to figure out a way to change the neighborhood’s perception of Mrs. Wolfson.
    But first, we had to solve Maya’s mystery.
    And, at the moment, unfortunately, I had to head to the eye doctor.
    Â 
    â€œCover your right eye with this and read the top three lines to me.”
    I took the black plastic thingamabob from the eye doctor. It looked like a ladle, but I used it to cover my eye like he said and then squinted at the chart on the wall.
    â€œE,” I said. You’d have to be completely blind not to see the top letter. “F and P for the second line. And then T, O, Z.”
    â€œGreat.” The doctor nodded. He wore glasses and I briefly wondered if he tested himself like this or if he had another doctor do it.
    He asked me to keep going. By the time I got to the fifth line, I was squinting.
    â€œO, B, C, L, T …” I could make out most of the letters, except the one at the far right. Was that an E or an F? I squinted harder but that didn’t help, so I just guessed. “E?”
    I looked at the doctor to try to see his reaction, but his face was unreadable. My stomach turned over with anxiety. I reminded myself that getting something wrong here wasn’t like failing a test. It wasn’t my fault my eyes weren’t perfect.
    â€œOkay, now the next line,” he said.
    This one was much harder. It was so blurry. I blinked a few times, but that didn’t help. I read the letters, basically guessing at half of them. “T, E, P, O, L, F, D, Z.”
    â€œHmm, okay. Can you read any letters on the bottom row?”
    I squinted,