The Haunted Hotel (4 page)

Josh snorted. “So what’s your plan, to hang out and say hi to the ghost when the clock strikes twelve?”

Ruth Rose grinned. “Exactly!”

“It smells awful in here,” Josh muttered.

“Josh, this closet is filled with cleaning stuff,” Dink told him. “It’s
supposed
to smell awful.”

“Could you guys whisper?” Ruth Rose said. “You want our parents to wake up and find us gone?”

It was nearly midnight. Ten minutes
before, the kids had snuck out of their rooms and hidden in the closet.

Josh yawned. “I should be asleep, having a great dream,” he said. “Instead, I’m squashed in here like a sardine, waiting for a dumb ghost who isn’t even real!”

Dink grinned in the dark. “I heard that ghosts hate kids with red hair,” he whispered.

“Yeah? Well, I heard that ghosts
eat
blond-haired kids for breakfast!”

Suddenly Ruth Rose put out both hands. “Shh, I think I heard something,” she said.

Josh snorted. “Nice try, Ruth Rose, but…”

“Shh!” whispered Dink. “I heard something, too!”

He pushed the closet door open a crack. All three kids peered out into the hallway.

Dink heard a groan, like the wind howling through a cave.

Suddenly a tall white figure appeared at the end of the hall. It gave off a shimmery white light and seemed to float above the floor.

“Oh my gosh!” Josh croaked. “I wanna go back to bed!”

The ghost wore a long white gown. Its hair was white and stuck up in spikes. And there were just black, empty holes where the eyes should have been!

Josh grabbed Dink’s arm. It hurt, but Dink was too scared to say anything.

The figure drifted slowly toward the kids’ hiding place. It was carrying a long silver sword.

“It knows we’re in here!” Josh squeaked.

The ghost paused at each door, then
stopped in front of Room 202.

That’s our room!
Dink thought.

“Diiiiinnnnk,”
the ghost moaned.
“Goooo hooooome! Thiiiis plaaace is daaaangerous!”

Every hair on Dink’s head stood up. He felt cold, as if someone had opened a window.

The ghost floated to the next room.

This time it moaned,
“Josssh, go hooome. Leave before it’s toooo laaate!”

Outside Room 204, the ghost moaned its final message:
“Ruth Rose, take your faaamily and leave nooow!”

Then the ghost drifted back the way it had come. Seconds later, the hallway was empty.

Ruth Rose jumped up and shoved
the door open. “Come on, let’s see where it went!” she said.

“Who cares where it went!” Josh said. “I’m outta here!”

“Come on, Josh,” Dink said. “I promised Mr. and Mrs. Spivets we’d get rid of the ghost. And we only have till morning!”

“But what if it gets rid of us instead!”

Dink grabbed Josh’s arm and started down the hall. He stopped and listened at Room 202. He heard his father snoring, and grinned.

Suddenly Josh stuck his nose in the air. “What’s that smell?” he said.

Dink shrugged and kept walking.

Ruth Rose had reached the end of the hall. “It disappeared,” she said when they were standing together.

“I smell it here, too,” Josh said.

“Smell what?” Ruth Rose asked.

“I don’t know,” Josh said. “But it reminds me of something,”

Around the corner, the kids found a gray metal door. A red sign on the door read FIRE EXIT.

“Maybe it went through there!” Ruth Rose whispered, pointing at the door.

Dink held his breath, then slowly pushed the door open. The kids peered into the stairwell. They saw dark steps going up and down.

“Should we split up and check it out?” Dink asked.

“No way!” Josh said. “We stick together!”

Dink grinned at his friend. “Still think the ghost is a joke?”

Josh made a face at Dink.

“Guys,” Ruth Rose said. “How did the ghost know our names and which rooms we were in?”

“Maybe it has supernatural powers!” Josh said.

“Or maybe the ghost is really someone in the hotel,” Dink added. “Someone who knows us!”

Ruth Rose nodded. “I think the ghost came out tonight looking just for us.”

“You mean to scare us away, like it did the other people?” Dink asked.

Ruth Rose nodded again.

“Well, it worked!” Josh said. “Let’s hit the trail!”

“Hey, what’s this?” Ruth Rose asked. She plucked a white hair off the doorframe.

Dink examined the hair. “The ghost had white hair like this,” he said.

“Yeah,” Ruth Rose said, “but ghosts don’t lose hair,
people
do!”

Suddenly the door to Room 204 opened. Ruth Rose’s father popped his
head out. “Okay, you guys, time to hit the sack.”

“But, Dad, we just…” Ruth Rose said.

Her father shook his head. “Say good night to the boys, Ruth Rose. Now.”

By nine the next morning, the three families were down in the lobby. Ruth Rose’s parents had treated them all to breakfast at Ellie’s Diner, then they’d walked back to the hotel for their luggage.

While the adults thanked Mr. Linkletter and the Spivetses, the kids huddled on the sofa.
asked. “Mr. and Mrs. Spivets are selling the hotel today!”

Ruth Rose pulled the white hair from her pocket. “This proves that someone is just pretending to be the ghost,” she said. “But we don’t know who or why!”

“Maybe one of the guests has white hair,” Josh said.

“Josh, all the guests are gone except Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers, and they both have dark hair,” Ruth Rose reminded him.

“Could the hair be from a wig?” Dink asked. “The ghost could have been wearing a costume and makeup.”

“That’s it!” Josh cried. “Last night I smelled makeup in the hall. I remember the yucky smell from last Halloween!”

Just then Mr. Linkletter walked over to the kids. He looked even more
unhappy than he had the day before.

“This is a sad day” Mr. Linkletter said. “Eatch, Rail, and Roock will be here at noon with the papers.”

“NOON!” Ruth Rose jumped up. “Then we still have three hours!”

Mr. Linkletter gazed down at her. “I’m afraid it’s too late.” He shook his head and walked away.

“We have to find out who’s pretending to be the ghost,” Ruth Rose said. “If we don’t, Livvy and Mr. Linkletter will lose their jobs!”

“And Mr. and Mrs. Spivets will lose their home!” Dink added.

“Guys, I think I know who the ghost is,” Josh said.

Dink and Ruth Rose stared at him.

“Well,” Dink said. “Who?”

“The only people left in the hotel are Livvy, Mr. Linkletter, and his aunt and uncle, right?”

“Right,” Ruth Rose said.

“And we know that none of them want the hotel to be torn down,” Josh continued.

“You forgot about Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers,” Dink said. “They’re still here.”

Josh grinned. “Bingo!”

“The Jefferses?” Ruth Rose said. “But they said they saw the ghost outside their room.”

“Sure they saw the ghost,” Josh said. “One of them
is
the ghost!”

“I know how we can find out,” Dink said. “We have to search their room.”

“Mr. Linkletter will never let us do that,” Josh said.

“Well, maybe
he
won’t let us, but I know someone who might,” Ruth Rose said.

“Who?” asked Dink.

“Livvy!”

The kids said good-bye to their families,
then hurried to the door that led to the basement.

They found Livvy in a cozy room, drinking a cup of tea. She was wearing her maid’s uniform. “’Morning, kids,” she said. “What brings you down here?”

“We saw the ghost last night!” Ruth Rose said.

Livvy’s eyes widened. “Really? Where? Tell me!”

The kids explained about spending the night in the hotel and hiding in the cleaning closet.

“It was so creepy!” Josh said. “First we heard all these weird noises, then this thing came out of nowhere!”

“It glowed!” Ruth Rose said. She showed Livvy the white hair. “And we found this!”

“We think the ghost is one of the guests wearing a costume and wig,” Dink explained.

Suddenly Livvy let out a gasp. “It was a
wig!”
she cried.

“What was?” Ruth Rose asked.

“I just remembered,” Livvy said. “Yesterday I was in 301 getting ready to vacuum. When I looked under the bed for shoes and stuff, I saw this hairy white thing. I thought it was a rat. But it could have been a white wig!”

“Who’s in Room 301?” Dink asked.

Livvy shrugged. “I don’t know their name, but they’re a nice couple from New York.”

“Could you let us in so we could check the room for clues?” Ruth Rose asked.

Livvy shook her head. “Sorry, but you know how Mr. Linkletter is about the guests’ privacy.”

“But Mr. and Mrs. Spivets hired us to get rid of the ghost!” Dink said. “Besides, if they have to sell the hotel,
you and Mr. Linkletter will lose your jobs!”

“And Mr. and Mrs. Spivets will have to move,” Ruth Rose added. “Please, Livvy? It won’t take us long.”

Livvy took a moment to think. “Okay” she finally said. “But just for two minutes!”

“Hey what’s this?” Josh had stuck his head into a small opening in one wall.

“That’s an old dumbwaiter,” Livvy explained. “In the old days, the hotel sent food up to the guests. Each room had one of these little elevator things, When the food got up there, the guests just opened a door and pulled out their food tray.”

“Our room didn’t have one,” Dink said.

“None of them do anymore,” Livvy said. “When the hotel closed its
kitchen, the dumbwaiters were all sealed up.”

She pointed to the one in her wall. “That’s the only hole left.”

Josh stuck his head back into the opening. “Cool! This thing goes way up!”

“Right,” Livvy explained. “The shaft is still there, but the openings into the rooms were covered over.”

Josh yelled “Hello!” into the empty shaft. His voice came echoing back.