Beware the Pirate Ghost (2 page)

One of the baseball players stepped forward. “She’s right about that,” he said. “I live over there—next door to the Hoppers—and I hear a lot of that yelling, too.”

“Lester is a real spoiled kid,” another boy said.

“He’s rude to everybody.”

“He’s a first-class dork.”

“A real brat.”

“Why are you asking all this stuff about Lester? Tell me,” Debbie Jean insisted.

“Sorry, no comment,” Sean said with a grin. He loved bugging Debbie Jean. “Our cases are confidential.”

“What do you mean, your cases? And what’s confidential?”

“We really can’t talk about it, Debbie Jean,” Brian said. “But we appreciate your help.” He thanked the ballplayers, too, and they went back to their game.

Brian made notes on what the kids told him, as he walked across the Hoppers’ yard and down their driveway. Sean followed. Debbie Jean was right behind them.

“Does Lester have a bicycle?” Brian asked Debbie Jean.

“Sure,” she answered. “Lester likes to make tire ruts across people’s lawns after a rain. And he likes to ride as fast as he can down the sidewalk at people passing by, so they have to jump off into the street.”

“What does his bike look like?”

“It’s a mountain bike—green, with a chrome headlight and a matching water bottle.”

Sean peered into the backyard and into the open garage. “I don’t see a bike like that around here.”

“Excuse us, Debbie Jean. Sean and I need to have a conference,” Brian said.

Although she scowled at them, Brian led Sean into the Hoppers’ backyard and around a tall clump of hibiscus. “We’ve got two facts,” he said. “A missing bike and the information that Lester didn’t want to take his medicine.”

“We’d better tell Dad,” Sean said. “Kidnappers don’t take bicycles.”

“Kidnappers?” Something fell through the bushes, landing at their feet. Debbie Jean scrambled to her feet, her eyes shining with excitement. “Is that what your case is about? Lester was kidnapped?”

“You’re not supposed to know,” Sean told her. “Nobody is supposed to know. The Hoppers don’t even want to tell the police.”

“That’s okay. I won’t tell,” Debbie Jean said. “I’m going to help you solve the case.”

“No, you’re not,” Sean said.

“I told you about the fight over taking the medicine, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but—”

“And I told you about the bike. Right?”

“Right, but—”

“So I’m going to help you. If you won’t let me come with you, I’ll follow you. You’re not going to leave me out.”

“Yes, we are,” Sean said. “We’re going inside the Hoppers’ house to talk to our dad, and you’re going to stay right here.”

“We’ll call you if we need you,” Brian said.

Brian and Sean walked around to the front door and rang the Hoppers’ doorbell.

“Hey, look, Bri. Dad’s car is gone,” Sean said.

Mrs. Hopper opened the door. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she dabbed at her nose with a wad of tissues. “If you’re looking for your father, he just left,” she said.

“Do you know where he went?” Sean asked.

She sighed and said, “He convinced us that his close friend on the police force can be trusted to keep quiet—”

“Detective Thomas Kerry,” Brian interrupted.

“Yeah. Detective Kerry will work with Dad and not blab stuff to the newspapers and TV,” Sean said.

Mrs. Hopper bent down and stared at them. “And the two of you are not to talk about what happened either,” she said.

She began to swing the door shut, but Brian quickly said, “Sean and I are helping Dad. Could we see Lester’s room? Sometimes kids notice things about other kids that adults take for granted.”

“We don’t take anything about Lester for granted,” Mrs. Hopper began, but Brian smiled and interrupted.

“Please?” he asked. “We want to do everything we can to help find Lester in time. This may be important.”

Mrs. Hopper stared at Brian and Sean for a long moment. Then she said, “Very well. Come in.”

She led them through a hallway to the back of the house. Lester’s bedroom was large and sunny, and everything was neatly in place.

“Don’t touch anything,” Mrs. Hopper ordered. “Lester is a very neat boy and likes to keep his bedroom tidy.”

Lester or his mother? Sean wondered.

The phone rang in another room. Mrs. Hopper gasped. “That maybe the kidnappers! Don’t touch anything!” she repeated, then ran to answer the phone.

Brian and Sean began to explore Lester’s room.

Brian carefully examined the windowsill. He leaned out the open window to study the screen, which was still twisted and lying on the grass, and to see the hooks at the top of the window frame on which the screen had been hanging.

“No scratches around the eye that the screen had hooked into. No bent hooks at the top. No one from outside forced this screen off the window. It had to have been opened from inside,” he told Sean.

“That means Lester took off the screen.”

“Or at least somebody
inside
the house did.”

“Do you think Dad noticed?” Sean asked.

“It would have been one of the first things he would have checked.”

Sean thought about it. “If Lester wasn’t kidnapped—if he’s just pretending to be—where would he go?”

“Did you see all of Lester’s posters?” Brian asked. “They’re all of caves. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.”

Sean bent over the low bookcase. “He’s got a whole bunch of books about caves, too.” He stood up and looked at Brian. He could tell they were thinking the same thing.

“The only caves around here are the pirate caves, down at Hernando Cove,” Sean said. He thought about what Brian’s best friend, Sam Miyako, had told him about the pirate caves, and he shuddered. “Sam said that the pirate ghost who lives in the caves runs people through with his bloody sword. Then he feeds them to the sharks.”

“Don’t pay attention to Sam’s stories,” Brian told Sean. “You know they always give you nightmares.”

“Sam knows five people who saw the pirate.”

“Forget what Sam said. We’re working on a missing-person case.”

“Sam’s not the only one who knows about the pirate ghost,” Sean insisted. “Everybody knows the caves are haunted.” He thought a moment and asked, “Lester wouldn’t have ridden his bike in the middle of the night down to the pirate caves … would he?”

“The caves are dangerous,” Brian said. “Nobody with any sense goes near the pirate caves, even in daylight.”

“Who says Lester has any sense?” Sean asked. “Check the facts. Lester likes caves. The pirate caves are the only ones around. So …”

Brian finished the sentence. “So that means we ride our bikes out to the caves to see if he’s there.”

“And run into the pirate?” Sean had second thoughts. “Lester’s only seven years old. Maybe he’s sitting somewhere in a movie theater. Or maybe he slept on park bench, and right now he’s feeding popcorn to the ducks.”

Brian shook his head and smiled. “Good try, but it won’t work. The movie theaters in Redoaks aren’t open all night, and if Lester had slept on a park bench, the police on patrol would have found him and picked him up.” He paused. “If you’re too scared to search the pirate caves, you can stay home. I’ll go by myself.”

“Scared? Who, me? I’m not scared,” Sean answered. “I was just being a good detective by going over all the things that could have happened to Lester.”

He turned at the doorway to face Brian. “What’ll we do about the pirate ghost?”

“The ghost is only a legend,” Brian said. “We don’t know if it’s true or not.”

Sean gulped. “But we’re going to find out,” he said. “Right?”

“Right,” Brian said. He lowered his voice so that if Mrs. Hopper happened to be nearby she wouldn’t hear him. “We’ve got to find Lester before three o’clock, Sean. And we’re not going to let a stupid ghost stop us!”

A
S BRIAN AND SEAN
pedaled toward home, Brian said, “Let’s stop and get flashlights.”

“And get in touch with Dad,” Sean said.

They rode past Debbie Jean’s house, and Sean grinned. “I guess Debbie Jean finally paid attention when I told her she couldn’t help us,” he said, “She was gone when we left the Hoppers’.”

“You haven’t been looking in the right places,” Brian said. He glanced over his shoulder. “She’s on her bike, and she’s been doing a pretty good job of tailing us.”

Sean groaned.

“Except for when she rode through somebody’s vegetable garden,” Brian added.

“What are we going to do about her?” Sean asked.

“Don’t worry,” Brian said. “We’ll leave our bikes in the backyard, and after we pick up the stuff we need, we’ll cut out the back way and lose her.”

When Brian and Sean burst into the kitchen they discovered that neither their mom nor dad was home. They called their dad’s office and got only his recorded message.

“Lester is a real nut about caves, so we’re going to check out the pirate caves at Hernando Cove,” Brian said as soon as he heard the beep. He went on to tell what he and Sean had found out about the argument and the missing bike.

Next, he tried to reach Detective Kerry, in case their father was still with him, but was told that Detective Kerry wasn’t in the office.

“Leave a note for Mom,” Sean said. He pointed to a slip of paper Mrs. Quinn had fastened to the refrigerator. On it she’d written that she was following the route Lester might have taken if he had gone to visit his grandmother.

Brian jotted down the message he’d given to Mr. Quinn.

Sean read over Brian shoulder. “I hope Mom doesn’t know that the caves are haunted,” he said.

“She knows they’re dangerous,” Brian said. “Remember a few years ago when she worked with a committee to get the county to put up warning signs?”

“The signs didn’t keep kids away. The pirate ghost did,” Sean said. “That’s what Sam said, anyway.”

The back door opened, and Sam Miyako stepped into the kitchen. “What did Sam say?” he asked.

“I was telling Bri what you said about the pirate ghost down at Hernando Cove,” Sean explained. “He’s real, isn’t he?”

“Ghosts aren’t real,” Brian said. He pulled two flashlights out of a kitchen cabinet drawer. He tested them and handed one to Sean.

Sam put on a low, scary voice. “Be glad the pirate ghost didn’t hear you. He’d get revenge. Someday they’d find your bones buried deep beneath the sand … like the bones of Jack the Sailor.”

“Who’s Jack the Sailor?” Sean asked.

“Many years ago Jack heard about the pirate ghost,” Sam said. “Jack bragged that there wasn’t a pirate, alive or dead, who could get the better of him.”

Sam paused, and Sean asked, “Well? What happened?”

Sam looked sorrowful. “Jack was never seen again. Except for his bones, of course, which was all that was left of him.”

“Don’t think about Sam’s dumb ghost stories,” Brian said to Sean. “Think about how we have to find Lester before we run out of time.”

Sean glanced at the clock on the stove, and a chill ran up his backbone. “It’s almost eight-forty-five,” he exclaimed.

“What’s all this about Lester?” Sam asked.

Brian took a good look at Sam. “It’s … uh … confidential,” he said. “But maybe you can help us. Lester disappeared during the night, and we think he may have gone to the pirate caves.”

Sam’s eyes shone. “If you want me to come with you, I will,” he said. “Have you got another flashlight?”

Brian fished out another and gave it to Sam. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said.

“Oops, that reminds me,” Sam said. “I came to tell you that Debbie Jean is behind a tree across the street, watching your house.”

“She thinks she’s following us,” Sean said. “But we’re going to cut out the back way and lose her.”

Silently, Brian and Sean walked their bikes through a gap in the hedge. When they reached the street behind their house, Sam met them on his bike, and they took off.

Fifteen minutes later they reached the lower road that led under the cliffs along the shoreline around Hernando Cove. Brian braked to a stop. Sean and Sam pulled up behind him.

From where they stood they could look down the pile of boulders into the small cove. Dull, gray ocean water reflected the overcast sky. The tide was out, leaving a trail of gleaming brown seaweed. The sandy beach was littered with driftwood, and a battered old shack rested in the shadow near the edge of the tumbled pile of boulders. Damp fingers of mist trailed across the shack and the lower rocks. There were no signs of Lester or his bike.

“Maybe we guessed wrong,” Sean said. “We can go home now.”

Brian shook his head. “We need a closer look. Bring your bikes. We’ll park them just a short way down the trail, behind the rocks.”

As they found a hidden place in which to put their bikes, Sean said, “I don’t see Lester’s bike anywhere.”

Brian bent over, studying the narrow trail that ran down to the cove. “He may not have come this way. I don’t see footprints or marks from bike tires.” Brian paused. “The road that turns into the cove is about a quarter mile farther on.”

“Do you think Lester would have used the road instead of this trail?”

“In the middle of the night? Probably. Let’s go down and find out.”

They quickly worked their way down the narrow and crooked trail that ran between the boulders.