The Stone Angel Society: Journal One: Journal One

By Dawn Bourdeau Milstrey

Ready for thrills, chills, and fun?

The Stone Angel Society is a collection of five short stories about ghosts and the living who believe in them.

Delightfully spooky, these middle grade stories provide just the right amount of chills for young readers.
Throughout the book, pages are filled with detailed black and white illustrations to spark young imaginations and make it an even more spooktacular read!

The Stone Angel Society Journal One, the first book in the series, is filled with ghosts found in an old seaside hotel, a haunted house, a children's zoo, a Halloween display and Peaceful Acres Cemetery.

The perfect read for a dark and stormy night, The Stone Angel Society promises to leave the reader open to the very real possibility that we actually might not be alone...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orange Blossom Publishing
• Release date: Sep 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781949935516

Dawn Bourdeau Milstrey

Dawn Bourdeau Milstrey is the author and illustrator of the series The Stone Angel Society, illustrated middle grade ghost story collections. Dawn has been illustrating picture books since 2008 and loves helping other authors bring their words to life with her art.  When she isn’t writing and illustrating, Dawn enjoys painting large scale landscapes and teaching art and illustration at the local college. Dawn lives in a small town in rural New Jersey where she and her husband raised their three amazing daughters. The family shares their home with two cocker spaniels, a pair of birds, several fish...and a few ghosts! 

Book preview

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Table of Contents

Evelyn

The Children’s Zoo

HousesuoH

Beyond The Gate

Stone Angel Thunder

About the Author

© 2022 Dawn Bourdeau Milstrey

All rights reserved. No part of this

book may be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, in part, in any form, without the permission of the publisher.

Orange Blossom Publishing

Maitland, Florida

www.orangeblossombooks.com

[e-mail]

First Edition: September 2022

Library of Congress Control Number:

Edited by: Arielle Haughee

Formatted by: Autumn Skye

Cover design: Sanja Mosic

Print ISBN: 978-1-949935-50-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-949935-51-6

Printed in the U.S.A.

Evelyn

Salt air filled the car through the open window as Melissa closed her eyes and breathed in the ocean’s fresh scent. Although twelve years old, she had never seen the seashore...but she dreamed about it for a very long time.

Living in a small town in Ohio, the only waves you saw growing up were waves of wheat blowing in the seemingly never-ending fields. There, Melissa could only imagine what real ocean waves might look like as they rolled towards the shore, crashing onto the warm sand.

Posters of sand, ocean waves, and seagulls adorned the walls of her bedroom. She had seen movies and read many books about life by the sea, but nothing could compare to the sights, sounds, and smells of the actual beach. Wiggling your toes in the sand—the sun warming your skin as the salty air blows up from the ocean—was something you definitely needed to experience in person.

Melissa’s parents had surprised her with a trip to a beach town called Cape May, New Jersey for her birthday and, for the next two weeks she would finally have the bright sun, the cool waves and the warm sand to call her own. She imagined how peaceful life at the beach would be while silently wishing the car would go just a little bit faster.

Before sunset, the car stopped in front of the old hotel’s steps. Melissa couldn’t believe her eyes. The building was at least a hundred years old from the look of it. She had never seen anything so beautiful.

Like so many of the big houses they passed along the way, curly wooden shapes were tucked in all the top corners of the hotel’s roof and porches, making it look as if it had popped right out of a storybook. Some of these corner shapes looked like intricate wooden spiderwebs to Melissa.

That’s called gingerbread, Melissa’s mom told her. People used swirly wooden shapes like those to decorate their homes a long time ago. Isn’t it lovely?

What’s it for? Melissa asked, tilting her head to see what might be behind it. She figured it must be holding something up, but nothing was there.

It’s just...pretty, her mom answered, handing Melissa a suitcase and directing her forward. Sometimes things are just nice to look at.

Wide front steps rose to a wooden porch which wrapped all the way around to the back of the hotel on both sides. Melissa placed the suitcase down and looked up. She noticed the big window above the two large, wooden front doors, which stood side by side. The widow seemed to be made up of little pieces of colorful glass.

That’s stained glass, her mom told her, coming up behind and startling her just a bit.

It’s pretty, too, Melissa answered, feeling silly for being so jumpy. Houses sure look different here.

Melissa skipped across the porch, passing one old empty rocking chair after another, each swaying in the ocean breeze as if someone unseen was still resting in them.

Leaning over the porch railing, Melissa stood on tippy toes, struggling to see even a glimpse of the shoreline. At least she could clearly hear the water in the distance as each wave crested and crashed against the sand before retreating into the ocean. The beach seemed to be hiding just beyond the mounds of sand dunes which protected the old hotel from high tide.

You need to be higher up to see over the dunes, her dad said, pointing to the smaller porches on the top floors.

Melissa craned her neck, looking up at the hotel, and decided the porch at the very top must a perfect view of the beach.

Can I go up? she asked, hopping up and down with excitement. Please? I promise to unpack later.

Okay, but be careful, her mom answered seconds before Melissa ran inside.

Quickly climbing the three large oak staircases two steps at a time, Melissa grabbed the intricately carved newel posts as she propelled herself around to each set of stairs. Out of breath, she paused for just a moment at the very top as the strangest feeling came over her. Dozens of tiny goosebumps appeared on her arms, and a chill suddenly filled the air.

Someone was watching her...

Although she looked all around and saw no one in sight, she still felt as if she were not completely alone.

Hello? Melissa called out, thinking for a moment about going back downstairs to her parents. Only silence could be heard over the crashing waves in the distance.

After a moment, Melissa shook off the odd feeling and began walking down the long hallway to the fourth floor porch at the front of the hotel. A rug stretched from the very top of the stairs straight to the porch. It was a bit tattered and worn from many years of use. The sunlight streamed through the screen door at the end of the rug like a beacon showing her the way.

As she walked, Melissa took notice of the many wooden doors that lined both sides of the long rug. Their wood was heavy and dark, and they were much larger than any of the doors back in Ohio. Each one looked exactly the same except for bits of wear, and each was carefully marked with a rather large, shiny gold number. Above each door was a long rectangular window.

Stained glass, Melissa said aloud to no one in particular. Just like the front door.

Melissa thought it was a very strange place to put windows since no one could really look out of them way up there. She did think they were very pretty, though.

Walking closer to a few of the doors, Melissa reached up and traced her fingers over their numbers. Another strange feeling came over her and she stepped back onto the long rug. She couldn’t shake the feeling that, at any moment, someone or something was going to pop out of one of the doors.

Hesitating for a second, Melissa looked back to the stairwell and forward to the porch. There was nothing down either side of the long hallway but more doors. Since nothing seemed to be happening, and no one seemed to be around, she decided to continue towards the porch.

Finally reaching the end of the rug, Melissa opened the screen door and walked out into the salty air. The door slammed loudly behind her, startling her as she peered over the railing.

Looking out past the dunes, Melissa could finally see the beautiful beach in the distance with its golden sand and shimmering water. The setting sun reflected off the waves and seafoam, giving them a warm orange glow.

A strong breeze blew the salty ocean mist right into her face, stinging her eyes just a bit, but she didn’t mind at all. She had been waiting so long for this moment that she wanted to remember every bit of it—stingy eyes and all.

Everything was so peaceful on the porch. The sounds and smells of the ocean were better than Melissa had ever imagined they would be. Her mind thought of nothing other than sand and sun and the beautiful hotel. She could have stayed there forever.

Melissa! a voice called out from the long hallway, breaking through her peace.

Her name carried down the hall and echoed right out onto the porch. Startled, she lost her balance and fell into one of the weather-worn wicker chairs behind her.

The uncertain feeling she’d felt earlier was back, and Melissa quickly turned towards the hallway, expecting to see someone or something spooky. She only saw her mom motioning to her from the top of the staircase. Breathing a sigh of relief, she headed inside and down the hallway.

I was calling your name over and over, her mom said. You must have been miles away in thought. Anyway, it’s time to unpack your things.

Melissa was quiet as they made their way down to the second floor and into their room. She unpacked her things and drifted off to sleep early while planning the next day’s to-do list. Tomorrow would be jam-packed full of beach adventures...the only problem was which one to do first!

Leaping out of bed the next