Stratemeyer Shorts

Two Assignments

 Sally Baxter sat behind her desk, looking somewhat nervously at the clock. She was scheduled to meet with the editor-in-chief, her grandmother, also named Sally Baxter, in a few minutes, and she found herself feeling rather nervous. She didn't quite know why, she could always talk easily with her grandma, but when at work, she found it a little more nerve-wracking since she was her boss, and Sally by no means got any special treatment. But she was excited about this recent story she was able to cover and couldn't wait to share it with her grandma. Besides, she did promise her good friend Kate Hunter that she would be at her horse practice later that afternoon. She jumped when the phone rang on her desk. She picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Miss Baxter will be out of her meeting in a minute. She would like to see you as soon as it's over, if you're ready," said Shirley Luckworth, the secretary, in a cheery, business-like tone.

"I'll be there!" Sally hung up the phone and quickly gathered up her notes. She glanced at her desk to make sure she had grabbed everything, took a deep breath, and walked towards the editor's office. As she walked towards the office, an idea for the reason behind her nervousness began to form in her mind. She didn't exactly get her story in the usual way, per se. She ended up helping the people she was interviewing solve a most intriguing mystery. A smile began to form on her face as she thought of the events that led to them solving it. It was fun in a way, and she got quite the scoop, plus it was great seeing first-hand all the exclusive details play out.

"Don't worry about a thing," came Shirley Luckworth's voice. Sally jumped and glanced at her, blinking rapidly. Shirley shot her a warm, welcoming smile. "You seem very nervous today, Sally. Why should you be? You got quite the scoop."

"Well, it's just that . . ." The door to her grandmother's office opened and several of the editors came out. The last was her grandmother.

"Oh good, you're here. Come on in, Sally, we have to make this quick, there's a last-minute appointment I have to keep."

"Yes ma'am," said Sally. She shot Shirley a nervous grin before following her grandmother into the office. She sat down in one of the plush chairs facing the desk. "Grandmother, I . . ."

"Before we begin," said Sally' grandmother as she sat down behind the desk, "I have one question for you. Did you enjoy solving this mystery?" Sally blinked. "Answer me truthfully, did you enjoy it?"

"Y-yes," said Sally haltingly. "Is that bad?"

Her grandmother chuckled. "What? Bad? My goodness, no! I was no different than you when I was your age! Even made an American friend who liked solving mysteries too! No no, you're following in my footsteps just fine. Now, we don't have time to go over your notes. Sit down and write whatever you have and send it to me by tonight. Your story has to be in tomorrow's paper, we need one more story, and yours was chosen." Sally's eyes widened as she gasped. Her grandmother's grin just widened. "But wait, there's more. You've been going to Kate Hunter's practices, correct?"

Sally bobbed her head. "Yes ma'am!"

"Good, I want you to cover the horse show this year. Everyone thought you would be biased since Kate is your friend, but in light of your recent story, I don't think that will be the case. You'll take it?"

"Oh yes, please!"

"Good, and one more thing, I want you to cover the Spider Sapphire when it's on display."

Sally's mouth dropped. "Y-you want m-me to cover the S-Spider Sapphire?"

Her grandmother nodded. "Absolutely."

"Wow, that's, that's . . ."

Her grandmother wagged her finger. "The biggest story you've ever covered in your career. I expect you not to mess it up."