Claudia's not sure she wants to find out who's on the other end of the line.

The next evening I had a sitting job for two little girls, Nina and Eleanor Marshall. On school nights I'm allowed to baby-sit until nine-thirty. The deal with my homework is that it must get done in the afternoon. I worked on it with my mother.

At seven-thirty that night, I was in the Marshalls' kitchen, pouring a glass of milk for Nina, who's three. (Eleanor, who's just a year old, was already in bed.) The radio was playing in the background. Nina was watching TV in the den.

Then, just like the night before, a song ended, and the announcer began the evening news with a piece about the Phantom.

Oh, good! I thought. They've captured him.

But I was wrong. Very wrong.

"The man thought to be the Phantom Caller," said the newscaster, "has been captured - and is not the Phantom. The Phantom Caller is still at large."

Still at large! What a horrible way to phrase that. It sounded as if he might be anywhere...maybe in the Marshalls' backyard...or peering through the kitchen window.

I turned off the radio.

Then I dared to look around to see whether the Phantom Caller was at the window. All I could see were the kitchen lights reflected in the glass.

I put the carton of milk in the refrigerator and picked up the glass. "Nina!" I called. "Here's your milk."

She scurried into the kitchen just as the phone rang. "I want to talk," she said.

I was trembling, but I tried not to let Nina know. "Only if it's your Mom," I told her. I picked her up, and lifted the receiver, dreading the voice I might hear, hoping it really was Mrs. Marshall just calling to check on things.

"Hello?" I said lightly (for Mrs. Marshall's benefit)>

Silence.

"Hello?...Hello?"

More silence. Then a click as the caller hung up.

Oh, my gosh. The Phantom Caller was in Stoneybrook. I just knew it.

Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590435132