Daughters of Silence
Encyclopedia
Daughters of Silence is the sixth book
in R.L. Stine's Fear Street Sagas
series. This book was ghostwritten
by Wendy Haley and was published on April 1997 by Simon Pulse.
a few months ago, so Jenna comes over from there to spend the summer at Hallie's new home in Shadyside. After dinner, Hallie reminds Jenna of the spooky stories they used to tell each other when they were little, while they are sitting on the swing outside. Jenna states that she no longer fears the wild, untrue stories that Hallie used to tell her. Hallie asks Jenna to stroll over to the cemetery with her, where she says she will tell Jenna another horror story. The two girls walk over to the Shadyside Cemetery and Hallie leads Jenna to a mausoleum
. Hallie explains how the "Fear girls" are buried there and that people say their ghosts roamed the place. Angelica and Simon Fear are believed to be evil and there are rumors that their daughters died violently, one killing the other. Not only that, but people believe that when the girls were buried, they had no bones. They say that the skeletons walk at night, searching a way to come back to life. Jenna refuses to believe what her friend tells her, after which she notices the inscription on the "Fear girls" graves. The names Hannah and Julia Fear are written above the words, They are not dead. Jenna and Hallie are terrified. As Jenna leans forwards, though, she realizes that dirt was covering the lower part of the inscription. After she rubs it away, the words, They live eternally in our hearts, are revealed. Hallie and her are relieved and decide to see the inside of the mausoleum, since it is unlocked. While they are inside, however, they encounter Angelica Fear. Angelica is mad at them for disturbing her daughters' resting place. Jenna and Hallie apologize, after which Angelica asks them to stay and talk with her for a while. After their short talk, mostly involving Angelica trying to convince them to not believe the stories about her daughters', Angelica tells them that they are free to come by the Fear Mansion any day.
The next day, out of curiosity, Jenna and Hallie pay a visit to the Fear Mansion. They are greeted by Simon and Angelica, who are delighted to see that they have stopped by. After a short tour of the house, involving Hannah and Julia's bedrooms, Angelica gives Hallie a heart-shaped locket (that had once belonged to Hannah). Jenna, on the other hand, receives a bracelet (that had once belonged to Julia), which Simon says she must wear, tying it to her wrist. When he does that, though, Jenna feels the bracelet pulsing and heat spreading out in her body, burning her. A few minutes later, when the "burning" has ended, Jenna decides that it was just her imagination. Later, she takes the bracelet off, stating that it belonged to a dead girl. Hallie disagrees and thinks that taking the jewelry off is a ridiculous idea, running off into the woods. Jenna decides to pick a bunch of flowers for Mrs. Sheridan at the edge of the woods. She trips over a tree root and falls face forward, horrified to see blood sticking to the front of her dress when she stands up. At first, she thinks that she hurt herself, but then she realizes that the blood is not hers; it is on the ground, dripping from a tree. Jenna sees a bloody hand-print on the tree, and a silver knitting object right above it. She realizes that it is the same needle that she saw in Hannah Fear's bedroom. Out of nowhere, a stranger starts to chase her, soon catching up with her and grabbing her arm. Jenna tries to free herself but stops when she sees that the stranger means no harm. He says that he heard her screaming and wanted to find out why she was, introducing himself as Rob Smith. After Jenna tells Rob about the sight she saw, he offers considering the fact that it could have been where a hunter killed an animal. The two are alarmed when they hear something move in the bushes; it turns out to be Hallie, though.
The next morning, Jenna and Hallie decide to go to the barn raising
at the Miller farm, where they meet Rob. Jenna is flabbergasted when Hallie tries to flirt with him. Later, the best friends meet a bunch of other girls. When Hallie tells all the other girls at the barn raising that Jenna and her had gone to the Fear's house, the girls are quickly interested in Frank Douglas, a guy they seem to know. Hallie is furious, accusing Jenna of being the reason she cant make any friends at Shadyside. She wishes that the barn would fall on top of the group of girls she had talked to, rubbing her locket. Minutes later, when Jenna notices Rob and a bunch of other men hammering the timber on the barn, the barn starts falling apart. It comes crashing down and Jenna watches as Rob falls. Fortunately, Rob only seems to have a few broken ribs when other men and Jenna help him up. When Jenna searches for Hallie, she finds her standing near Frank Douglas's corpse, laughing with glee. Soon, though, Hallie starts to cry, acting confused. Later when Jenna is tucking Hallie to sleep, she notices a heart-shaped bruise below the hollow of Hallie's throat. Then, drops of blood roll out from Hallie's eyes. Jenna runs to get help, ending up at the Fear Mansion. Angelica insists that Jenna stay for dinner, since Jenna doesn't tell them about Hallie's bruise and the tears. When Jenna is leaving, Angelica calls her "Julia" and denies it when Jenna questions her. Terrified, Jenna tries to find Rob's cottage, ending up at a cabin, instead. The cabin is full of human bones. Then, Jenna sees Hallie, walking toward the Fear Mansion and tries to stop her. Running over to her, Jenna realizes that Hallie's locket has sunken into her chest with skin covering it. Jenna blacks out, waking up in the Fear's basement. Rob soon finds her and then explains to her what the Fears' are planning to do. Simon and Angelica want to bring their daughter's back from the dead. They have found a way to do it too; taking another human's soul and transferring it to the dead person's body. Rob says that Jenna and Hallie are the perfect match. The two are as close as sisters; their names are close too, Hallie and Hannah, Jenna and Julia. Rob and Jenna make a plan to defeat Simon and Angelica. They flee from the basement, and Rob hides while Jenna distracts Simon. Then, Rob tries to attack Simon from the behind with a shovel, though his plan fails when Simon turns around.
Angelica and Simon reveal that Rob is actually dead, and is one of their experiments to see how well the soul transferring worked. In front of Jenna, Rob rots and dies. Hallie is under the Fears' powers and has no control over herself. The Fears' assemble Hannah and Julia's skeletons, ordering them to take Jenna and Hallie's souls. The skeletons do as they are told, though Julia, is distracted by the bracelet on Jenna's wrist, which Simon had put back on. She states that it is hers and snatches it off, tumbling into Hannah. The skeletons break apart, scattering on the floor. The Fears' are angered and they will Rob (now shriveled like a Mummy) to rise and stop Jenna from escaping. Rob stumbles into Angelica and Simon, though, bringing them all down. Jenna tries to get Hallie to move, who is still under the Fears' powers. She digs the locket out of Hallie's skin with her bare hands and flings it away. The two friends escape, running over to Hallie's house. Hallie's parents don't believe her when she tries to explain what happened. When Jenna shows them the heart-shaped scar on Hallie's neck, they are struck with terror. The book ends with the Sheridans' and Jenna riding away in a carriage, determined to leave Shadyside forever. Jenna knows
that she was very lucky and feels sorry for some other girl who would not be.
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
in R.L. Stine's Fear Street Sagas
Fear Street Sagas
Fear Street Sagas is a series of teen horror books by R. L. Stine. Fear Street Sagas is the spinoff of the series The Fear Street Saga and is part of the Fear Street series. Almost all of the books in this series were ghostwritten, despite being published under R. L. Stine's name.-Books:There were...
series. This book was ghostwritten
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
by Wendy Haley and was published on April 1997 by Simon Pulse.
Plot summary
The story begins with Jenna Hanson meeting her best-friend Hallie Sheridan at a train station. Hallie moved away from VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
a few months ago, so Jenna comes over from there to spend the summer at Hallie's new home in Shadyside. After dinner, Hallie reminds Jenna of the spooky stories they used to tell each other when they were little, while they are sitting on the swing outside. Jenna states that she no longer fears the wild, untrue stories that Hallie used to tell her. Hallie asks Jenna to stroll over to the cemetery with her, where she says she will tell Jenna another horror story. The two girls walk over to the Shadyside Cemetery and Hallie leads Jenna to a mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
. Hallie explains how the "Fear girls" are buried there and that people say their ghosts roamed the place. Angelica and Simon Fear are believed to be evil and there are rumors that their daughters died violently, one killing the other. Not only that, but people believe that when the girls were buried, they had no bones. They say that the skeletons walk at night, searching a way to come back to life. Jenna refuses to believe what her friend tells her, after which she notices the inscription on the "Fear girls" graves. The names Hannah and Julia Fear are written above the words, They are not dead. Jenna and Hallie are terrified. As Jenna leans forwards, though, she realizes that dirt was covering the lower part of the inscription. After she rubs it away, the words, They live eternally in our hearts, are revealed. Hallie and her are relieved and decide to see the inside of the mausoleum, since it is unlocked. While they are inside, however, they encounter Angelica Fear. Angelica is mad at them for disturbing her daughters' resting place. Jenna and Hallie apologize, after which Angelica asks them to stay and talk with her for a while. After their short talk, mostly involving Angelica trying to convince them to not believe the stories about her daughters', Angelica tells them that they are free to come by the Fear Mansion any day.
The next day, out of curiosity, Jenna and Hallie pay a visit to the Fear Mansion. They are greeted by Simon and Angelica, who are delighted to see that they have stopped by. After a short tour of the house, involving Hannah and Julia's bedrooms, Angelica gives Hallie a heart-shaped locket (that had once belonged to Hannah). Jenna, on the other hand, receives a bracelet (that had once belonged to Julia), which Simon says she must wear, tying it to her wrist. When he does that, though, Jenna feels the bracelet pulsing and heat spreading out in her body, burning her. A few minutes later, when the "burning" has ended, Jenna decides that it was just her imagination. Later, she takes the bracelet off, stating that it belonged to a dead girl. Hallie disagrees and thinks that taking the jewelry off is a ridiculous idea, running off into the woods. Jenna decides to pick a bunch of flowers for Mrs. Sheridan at the edge of the woods. She trips over a tree root and falls face forward, horrified to see blood sticking to the front of her dress when she stands up. At first, she thinks that she hurt herself, but then she realizes that the blood is not hers; it is on the ground, dripping from a tree. Jenna sees a bloody hand-print on the tree, and a silver knitting object right above it. She realizes that it is the same needle that she saw in Hannah Fear's bedroom. Out of nowhere, a stranger starts to chase her, soon catching up with her and grabbing her arm. Jenna tries to free herself but stops when she sees that the stranger means no harm. He says that he heard her screaming and wanted to find out why she was, introducing himself as Rob Smith. After Jenna tells Rob about the sight she saw, he offers considering the fact that it could have been where a hunter killed an animal. The two are alarmed when they hear something move in the bushes; it turns out to be Hallie, though.
The next morning, Jenna and Hallie decide to go to the barn raising
Barn raising
A barn raising is an event during which community men come together to assemble a barn for one or more of its households, with the support of women. The event was particularly common in 18th- and 19th-century rural North America. In the past, a barn was often the first, largest, and most costly...
at the Miller farm, where they meet Rob. Jenna is flabbergasted when Hallie tries to flirt with him. Later, the best friends meet a bunch of other girls. When Hallie tells all the other girls at the barn raising that Jenna and her had gone to the Fear's house, the girls are quickly interested in Frank Douglas, a guy they seem to know. Hallie is furious, accusing Jenna of being the reason she cant make any friends at Shadyside. She wishes that the barn would fall on top of the group of girls she had talked to, rubbing her locket. Minutes later, when Jenna notices Rob and a bunch of other men hammering the timber on the barn, the barn starts falling apart. It comes crashing down and Jenna watches as Rob falls. Fortunately, Rob only seems to have a few broken ribs when other men and Jenna help him up. When Jenna searches for Hallie, she finds her standing near Frank Douglas's corpse, laughing with glee. Soon, though, Hallie starts to cry, acting confused. Later when Jenna is tucking Hallie to sleep, she notices a heart-shaped bruise below the hollow of Hallie's throat. Then, drops of blood roll out from Hallie's eyes. Jenna runs to get help, ending up at the Fear Mansion. Angelica insists that Jenna stay for dinner, since Jenna doesn't tell them about Hallie's bruise and the tears. When Jenna is leaving, Angelica calls her "Julia" and denies it when Jenna questions her. Terrified, Jenna tries to find Rob's cottage, ending up at a cabin, instead. The cabin is full of human bones. Then, Jenna sees Hallie, walking toward the Fear Mansion and tries to stop her. Running over to her, Jenna realizes that Hallie's locket has sunken into her chest with skin covering it. Jenna blacks out, waking up in the Fear's basement. Rob soon finds her and then explains to her what the Fears' are planning to do. Simon and Angelica want to bring their daughter's back from the dead. They have found a way to do it too; taking another human's soul and transferring it to the dead person's body. Rob says that Jenna and Hallie are the perfect match. The two are as close as sisters; their names are close too, Hallie and Hannah, Jenna and Julia. Rob and Jenna make a plan to defeat Simon and Angelica. They flee from the basement, and Rob hides while Jenna distracts Simon. Then, Rob tries to attack Simon from the behind with a shovel, though his plan fails when Simon turns around.
Angelica and Simon reveal that Rob is actually dead, and is one of their experiments to see how well the soul transferring worked. In front of Jenna, Rob rots and dies. Hallie is under the Fears' powers and has no control over herself. The Fears' assemble Hannah and Julia's skeletons, ordering them to take Jenna and Hallie's souls. The skeletons do as they are told, though Julia, is distracted by the bracelet on Jenna's wrist, which Simon had put back on. She states that it is hers and snatches it off, tumbling into Hannah. The skeletons break apart, scattering on the floor. The Fears' are angered and they will Rob (now shriveled like a Mummy) to rise and stop Jenna from escaping. Rob stumbles into Angelica and Simon, though, bringing them all down. Jenna tries to get Hallie to move, who is still under the Fears' powers. She digs the locket out of Hallie's skin with her bare hands and flings it away. The two friends escape, running over to Hallie's house. Hallie's parents don't believe her when she tries to explain what happened. When Jenna shows them the heart-shaped scar on Hallie's neck, they are struck with terror. The book ends with the Sheridans' and Jenna riding away in a carriage, determined to leave Shadyside forever. Jenna knows
that she was very lucky and feels sorry for some other girl who would not be.
Characters
- Jenna Hanson
- Hallie Sheridan
- Robert "Rob" Smith
- Angelica Fear
- Simon Fear
- Mr. Sheridan
- Mrs. Sheridan
- Julia Fear (Skeleton)
- Hannah Fear (Skeleton)