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    Jessica Entirely
    Jessica Entirely
    Jessica Entirely
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    Jessica Entirely

    By Shelley Gee

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    About this ebook

    A mysterious stranger walks into a haunted Masonic theater in a 300-year-old city. But why? Eight-year-old Jessica is entirely dedicated to finding out, especially when she suspects it involves treasure! Join Jessica and friends as they dive into the history and mystery of New Bern, North Carolina.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFlye Publishing
    Release dateJul 1, 2019
    ISBN9780463550960
    Jessica Entirely
    Author

    Shelley Gee

    Shelley Gee lives in a tall, green house not far from historic New Bern, N.C. She has been writing since she was seven years old, and she loves history. Recently, she decided to tie the two together, and the result was her children's mystery/history Jessica Entirely, the first book of the Jessica Series.Shelley is active on her Facebook account, her website, and her Instagram as shelleygee1.

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      Book preview

      Jessica Entirely - Shelley Gee

      Table of Contents

      After School

      Ashley

      Audition

      Jessica’s New Role

      Katie

      Rehearsal

      In the Box Office

      What Jessica Found

      Jeb’s Advice

      Jessica’s Apology

      The Class Assignment

      Ghost Stories

      Unexpected Visitors

      The Tour

      The Way In

      The Lodge Room

      Mr. Sam’s Secret

      The Board Makes a Decision

      The Treasure

      Opening Night

      1

      After School

      Jessica Leigh lived in a big house in New Bern, a 300-year-old city in North Carolina. Her mother called the house historic, but Jessica knew that just meant that everything in it needed to be replaced. Her mother, a librarian, and her father, a pharmacist, sometimes talked about all the things they would do one day. New carpet, new paint. The kitchen would have new appliances, including a dishwasher that worked. But for now Jessica and her older brother Jeb took turns washing the dishes themselves. Whenever Jeb was home, which wasn’t as much as it used to be now that he worked at Target, anyway.

      At least the house was downtown and close to the theater. Jessica loved the theater. She went there every day because it was right around the corner from the library where her mother worked and a couple of blocks away from her house. So after school, Jessica got off the bus, stopped at the library to say hello to her mom, then went to the theater.

      The theater was historic, too. It was more than two hundred years old, and was part of the Masonic Lodge. Legend had it that the Masons had built the theater to hold their super-secret rituals in, but Jessica thought maybe they’d just wanted to do something nice for the community.

      At eight years old, Jessica was too young to be in the after-school program, but the high school kids in the program all knew her from the many plays she’d been in (she’d been acting since she was five, taking singing lessons since she was six).

      So far, Jessica had never had a lead role, but she knew her day of fame was coming.

      Of course, she didn’t expect it to come in the way it ended up happening. But then, do any true heroines ever expect their fate to happen the way it does?

      It started one day when Jessica arrived at the theater and walked into the midst of the excited group of theater kids gathered by the front door waiting for the after-school instructors to arrive. The kids greeted Jessica with high fives and smiles. They loved Jessica because she was quiet during rehearsals, she would grab them waters from the cupboard when they asked and, honestly, she knew acting almost as well as most of them.

      But then, one day, she would be on Broadway.

      The moment the teenagers spotted her, they drew her into their midst, all calling for her attention. Hey, Jessi-boo! Come give me a hug. There’s a play coming up. You going to audition, dude?

      Jessica twisted her hair. Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.

      Of course she was going to audition! Hadn’t she auditioned for every play with a kid part since she was five years old? And hadn’t she gotten in? Just minor parts—she’d just walked across the stage one time, but it had been an adult play, so that was still pretty cool.

      When Martina and Jeff, the drama students from East Carolina University who supervised the after-school program, arrived and let everybody in, Jessica snuck in, too, finding a spot under the table in the lobby to spread out and do her homework. The teenagers dropped their backpacks in a pile in front of Jessica, effectively shielding her from the adults’ eyes. She wasn’t technically supposed to be there, but she knew her theater friends wouldn’t tell. And Jessica was much happier being in the theater than she would have been at the library with her mom or in the empty house.

      For a while, the teenagers milled around in the lobby, but eventually Martina and Jeff herded them into the house—theater speak for auditorium—leaving Jessica alone in the lobby. She loved being in the theater. She loved the quiet and the smell and the feel of the worn red carpet under elbows. She felt snug and secure here, as if nothing could ever harm her. Until the front door scraped quietly open.

      Jessica looked up from her math book when she felt the little whoosh of cool air from the autumn afternoon. At first she thought it might be a teenager arriving late. But the shoes didn’t look like a teenager’s shoes. Expensive, brown leather, and pretty big. The shoes came into the lobby and paused, then went behind the counter into the box office. Jessica frowned. Nobody was allowed behind the counter except board members. And board members weren’t usually here during the day. Board members came to meetings in the evenings or attended the yearly fundraising events.

      Jessica1

      Maybe she should check it out. Jessica scooted over to the edge of the table and peered out. She could just see the back of the man’s head and shoulders over the counter of the box office. He had dark hair and wore a long brown overcoat, like her dad wore on cold days. But more expensive. It reminded Jessica of her mom’s favorite sweater. The one that was super soft and warm and her mother kept wrapped in tissue in a bottom drawer of her dresser. Her mom had called it cashmere.

      Jessica would bet this guy’s coat was cashmere, too.

      She opened her mouth to say something but just as she did, the guy spoke. Yeah, I’m here. Just like you said, the door was unlocked. Nobody around. Where did you say it was?

      He turned slowly, bending down as he did. Yeah, I see it.

      Jessica scooted quickly back against the wall, glad she hadn’t disturbed any of the backpacks. She listened to a soft sliding sound like a wooden door rubbing against the sill. Then the man spoke again. Okay, got it. She heard the sound of footsteps receding, and then the gentle whiff of autumn air against her skin.

      The moment he was gone, Jessica scurried out from under the table, looking around. No one else there. Should she report the guy being there? But what was there to report? She hadn’t really seen anything. She didn’t know if he’d taken anything.

      Or left something.

      The theater suddenly seemed less comforting and more mysterious. It was, after all, part of the Masonic Lodge, including a large, abandoned temple that adjoined the part of the building that housed the theater and the Lodge Room upstairs. Who knew what might happen in a building like this one?

      Jessica’s heart pounded faster. This had the makings of a real-life adventure. She knew she should call one of the adults from the house, but, really, she was more familiar with the workings of the theater than either Martina or Jeff were. They were just sophomores at ECU, and this was their first semester working with the after-school kids. None of the real adults were there. No board members or directors or even members of the lighting crew. No one like Miss Rachel, who was the board member who dealt with the kids’ programs most often.

      It’s up to me. I have to find out what he was doing back there. Then I can tell Miss Rachel. I can tell her exactly what he was doing.

      She edged closer to the counter. The glass display cases were empty so the man in the coat wasn’t looking in there. But he’d definitely been looking at the back of the cases. Jessica made her way to the open area that led to the box office and peeked around the corner. If she didn’t put her foot over the threshold, she wasn’t actually breaking the rules. Nothing looked out of place or moved. The

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