Terri Sadler

Terri Sadler is the second main character in the twenty-second book Ghost Beach. She is the younger sister of Jerry Sadler.

Bio
Terri and her brother, Jerry had gone to New England to spend the last month of summer with their distant cousins, Brad and Agatha. To Terri and Jerry, it sounded great, especially since their only other choice was the cramped hot apartment where they live in New Jersey. There, she and Jerry started to explore the beach outside of their cousins cottage. When Jerry remembered a nightmare that he had a few months ago, Terri told him that he might have remembered the dream because he was nervous about being away from home. Soon, they came to a cemetery, as Terri likes to explore cemeteries, where they found the grave of John Sadler. Then they came upon a mysterious cave and they were attacked by a "bat" until it crashed onto some rocks. Terri warned Jerry not to get to close as he clambered down over to the bat only to discover that it was only a kite. Then three kids (a boy and a girl about their age and a little boy about five) clambered up. They introduced themselves as Sam, Louisa and Nat Sadler. Terri was amazed to know that the three children had the same surname as them. Later as they were hanging around on the shore, Terri asked the three Sadlers about the cave, prompting Louisa to ask them if they believe in ghosts. Terri scoffed at this, as she does not believe in ghosts. They later asked Brad and Agatha about the cave, but for some reason they didn't want to talk about it.

The next morning, Terri and Jerry were in the forest looking for Indian pipe when Jerry inadvertently uncovered a dog skeleton by pulling out a strange root plant. Whilst he and Terri were discussing what had happened to the dog, frightening howls were heard, which then turns out to be Sam, Nat and Louisa. When they saw the skeleton themselves, Nat explained that dogs can recognise ghosts and always bark to warn about them. Sam also mentioned that there are many skeletons in the woods all picked clean because of the ghost and then they were on their way before Louisa could explain any more. Terri and Jerry later asked Brad and Agatha about the skeleton but they didn't know how to explain it. Agatha also said that the three Sadler kids were just teasing, especially Sam, which was what Terri had suspected. Later that night, Terri was starting to have second thoughts about what the three Sadlers said, so while Jerry was in bed, Terri sneaked to talk to him about the ghost, but not before pretending to be one to her brother's annoyance. Jerry was sceptical about it, telling Terri that Agatha said that Sam likes to make up ghost stories, but Terri insisted that there was something strange going on.

The next day, while Terri and Jerry hanging around a tide pool, the three Sadlers turned up. Terri managed to find out from Nat that the ghost lives in the cave that they discovered earlier and they also said that the ghost comes out when the moon is full and they had seen a flickering light in the cave. But Jerry, thinking they were playing another joke told them that they were just trying to scare them again, causing them to leave. Terri was angry at this, as she was just weaselling some good stuff out of them, but Jerry insisted that it was a joke, which Terri was unsure of. Later that night, Agatha asked about a missing beach towel. Jerry reckoned that they left it on the beach and went out to find it. Terri then went out after him and caught up with him while he was climbing to the cave. Jerry asked Terri if she could see a flickering light, which she did not because the light had vanished. The next morning, Jerry was telling Terri about a barking dog that he heard last night, when they came across the three Sadlers, who were about to go fishing and invited them along. While they were fishing, Terri decided to put on the bait with no help from Sam (with Jerry thinking she was showing off as she always hated slimy things) and the bait got caught in a tree branch and landed in her hair, making everyone laugh. Her brother then told the three Sadler kids about the flickering light, worrying the three kids.

Later that night Terri and Jerry were walking along the beach after Brad and Agatha told them that the flickering light was the northern lights at dinner. Jerry thought that Brad and Agatha were lying to him and Terri was telling him that they were just worried when they saw the flickering light. This time, they climbed up the rocks together and were able to get inside. After a tense walk and a brief encounter with bats, Terri and Jerry managed to reach the end and discover that the flickering light was candlelight. They also found an old man sitting at a driftwood table, who tells to come closer. Believing him to be the ghost, Terri and Jerry ran from the cave with her brother barely able to escape after tripping over. They managed to get home, where Agatha asked them about the missing beach towel.

The next morning, Jerry told Terri about a late-night talk he had with Sam, Nat and Louisa and how they were meant to meet them on the beach, which they were unable to because it was raining. After lunch, Terri and Jerry were able to go out to the beach, but Sam, Louisa and Nat were not there. So the two siblings went back to the cemetery they had explored earlier. While they were there, Terri found many gravestones belonging to several Sadlers and to her shock, she found gravestones for Sam, Louisa and Nat and called out to Jerry to look at them. Terri and Jerry were very uneasy about this so they raced home to tell Brad and Agatha. This prompted Agatha to tell them the tragic story of how the whole Sadler family moved to New England in 1641 to start a new life but were unprepared for one of the worst winters in history and most of them died one by one from it and by 1642, there were almost none left. Agatha also said that she and Brad were named for their ancestors as there were gravestones for Bradford and Agatha Sadler. Terri and Jerry were very relieved to know that there was a simple explanation for the tombstones. The next day, they found the three Sadler siblings and asked them about the graves. Like Agatha, Sam said they were named for their ancestors. After that, they showed Terri and Jerry the boulders piled on top of the cave. Louisa said that the cave is a sanctuary and that once the boulders cover the mouth of the cave, the ghost will be trapped inside forever. They then pleaded with Terri and Jerry to help them trap the ghost. Terri said that they will help them, much to Jerry's discomfort.

After dinner, Terri and Jerry went out and met their three friends at the beach. Sam told them that they will distract the ghost while Terri and Jerry climbed up to push the rocks down. The two siblings managed to reach the boulders but ended up getting caught by the old ghost, who dragged them to the far end of the cave. Terri and Jerry pleaded with him to let them go and then to their surprise, he told them he is not a ghost - Sam, Louisa and Nat are! The old man, Harrison Sadler (another distant relative) told that he came to New England after college to trace his ancestors and to study ghosts and the occult. He stayed in the cave because it was a sanctuary and he piled the boulders on top hoping to trap the ghosts someday. He then asked Terri and Jerry if they wondered why the three Sadler kids sent them up instead of coming up themselves, prompting Jerry, who was not believing the old man to shout that they were terrified of him. Seeing that Jerry doesn't believe him, Harrison told him and Terri to go back to the east corner in the cemetery. The two children do, with Terri thinking about what Harrison had said and what he wants them to see. When they reached the east corner, Terri and Jerry found some fresh graves, which to their horror turn out to be their own graves. They attempted to go back to the cottage to tell Brad and Agatha but were stopped by Sam, Louisa and Nat. When they heard that the ghost had not yet been killed, they insisted to go back there. Terri once again said that they will go back up there, much to her brother's dismay.

As they were walking to the cave, Jerry tried to persuade Terri to tell the three Sadler kids that they had changed their minds, but Terri insisted that they have to solve the mystery. And this time, Sam, Louisa and Nat did come up with them. Once they reached the cave Harrison Sadler appeared and they started arguing about who the ghost was, leaving Terri and Jerry torn in between. Then Harrison called in a German Shepherd by whistling. And then to Terri and Jerry's astonishment, the dog started barking at Sam, Louisa and Nat. The three Sadler kids tearfully tell Terri and Jerry that they came to New England to start a new life, but they never had one at all. Then the three of them became skeletons and started toward Terri and Jerry when Harrison's torch blew out. Terri grabbed Jerry's hand and pulled him out of the cave - just in time, because the rain loosened the boulders causing them to fall down in front of the cave, sealing Harrison and the three ghosts inside. And then it was Jerry's turn to pull Terri back to the cottage.

At the cottage, Terri and Jerry did their best to explain to Brad and Agatha about the three ghostly kids and the old man in the cave. They apologised for disobeying their cousins about going to the cave, but Agatha said that the important thing was that they were safe. Just then Harrison Sadler's dog comes by and barks at Brad and Agatha, revealing them to be ghosts too, much to Terri and Jerry's shock. Agatha slammed the door and asked Brad what to do about the two kids, with Terri and Jerry in fear of what they would do.

Personality
Terri is an enthusiastic young girl. She has a million interests, such as gravestone rubbing, wildflowers and bird-watching and she loves scary things. Terri hates being in suspense as she always has to know the answer to everything (she always reads the last chapter of a mystery book first to find out the answer). She can sometimes be annoyed with Jerry's sarcasm and edginess, but they do get along swimmingly and she always assures him that everything is fine when he got uncomfortable, though she does have a tendency to tease him about being scared. Terri is scientific, sceptical, thoughtful and curious and is always willing to find out what there is that she is unaware of. She does have a tendency to get carried away with some things, which does lead her into trouble.

Appearance
Terri is eleven years old, Caucasian, tall and thin with short brown hair, hazel eyes and some freckles across his nose (the freckles were absent in Goosebumps Graphix Scary Summer).

Terri was played by Jessica Hogeveen in the television series.