The Howling Ghost (6 page)

Adam turned and swam back the way he'd come.

He thought he was going back the way he'd come.

But he didn't emerge back into the ocean.

Instead, he found himself in a stateroom.

He floated up into it and shone his light around.

He must have gotten turned around.

Probably when he closed his eyes and screamed into his mask.

Adam noticed something funny about the large stateroom. It was filled with air. It was a good thing. Adam checked his own air supply. Again he almost fainted. His panic attack with the electric eel had drained his tank.

He had 0 psi.

Adam gagged on the regulator in his mouth.

It was not giving him any more air.

He pulled it out of his mouth and drew in a deep breath. The air in the stateroom was old and smelled like fish. But at least it fed his lungs; he wasn't about to complain. Adam couldn't believe how he had gotten himself into such a mess. He was fifty-five feet underwater and his tank was completely empty. Worse, no one knew where he was.

Adam searched around some more with his flashlight.

It was then that he saw something worse than an electric eel.

A million times worse.

It was a slimy skull. A whole skeleton.

It floated toward him.

Adam screamed. No one heard him.

And the skeleton kept coming.

“I
lost him,” Watch said as he climbed back onto the jetty.

“What?” Sally screamed. “How could you lose him?”

Watch sat on a boulder and pulled his face mask off. “He dropped his weight belt and I went down to retrieve it. But it was stuck between two rocks. I had a hard time getting it loose. When I finally returned to where I'd left Adam, he wasn't there.” Watch glanced around. “I don't suppose either of you has seen him?”

“Of course we haven't seen him!” Sally yelled. “You were supposed to take care of him!”

“I'm sorry,” Watch said.

“You're sorry!” Sally cried. “You just murdered my future senior prom date!”

“It's a long time till senior year,” Watch said. “You might meet someone else you like.”

Cindy had tears in her eyes. “Is Adam really dead?” she asked.

Watch hung his head sadly. “I'm completely out of air. He has to be, too. Unless he grew gills in the last few minutes, I don't see how he can be alive.” Watch looked out to sea and sighed. “He was so young.”

Cindy put her hand to her head. “Oh no. This is all my fault. Poor Adam.”

“Stop sobbing,” Sally snapped at Cindy. “It ain't over till it's over.” Sally paused to think. “Why would Adam have left the spot where you left him? We have to ask ourselves this question.”

Watch shrugged. “Maybe a shark got him.”

Cindy wept louder.

“Would you please quit being so depressing!” Sally yelled.

“But you're the one who's been talking about sharks all day,” Watch said.

“That was before Adam was missing.” Sally froze suddenly and then snapped her fingers. “I got it! Adam left the spot where you last saw him because he saw the wreck. It's the only explanation.”

“I didn't see the wreck,” Watch said, rubbing the water off his thick glasses, which he had worn under his custom-made mask.

“Yeah, but you're half blind,” Sally said, pacing. “This is logical. And if Adam did go inside the wreck, there's a good chance he found an air pocket. He could still be alive. We have to get more air. We have to go back down for him.”

“We?” Watch asked.

“Yes,” Sally said proudly. “I will risk my life to save Adam because my love for him is more powerful than my fear of death.” She stopped and glared at crying Cindy. “I bet you can't say the same thing.”

Cindy wiped at her face. “I don't mind going after him.”

Watch nodded. “You two go while I rest.”

Sally threw another tantrum. “You have to go because you're the only one who knows where you left him! You have to go back to that spot and search for the wreck. It has to be in that area.” Sally paused. “Actually, you'll have to go alone. We don't have any more scuba equipment.”

“So much for your brave promise to save Adam,” Cindy said.

Sally sneered. “It's the thought that counts. But you can rest for a few minutes, Watch, while Cindy and I get you another air tank. Come on, Cindy, and quit sassing me. Adam's life is all that matters now.”

Watch nodded. “I'll stay here to see if any huge trails of blood float to the surface.”

Sally shook her head as she walked away. “Somehow I get the feeling you don't know what a positive attitude means,” she said.

A
dam had stopped screaming. The reason the skeleton had been rushing toward him was because—in his panic—he had been splashing in the water and created a mild current inside the stateroom. This had set the skeleton free to float toward him. The skeleton was not alive, after all, but as dead as any other creature that had gone down with the ship. Too bad Mr. Spiney wasn't around to inspect it, Adam thought. The librarian probably would have loved the old sailor's strong white bones.

Adam didn't know if anyone was coming to his
rescue. He hoped someone was because he didn't like to think what his bones would look like after he'd been rotting in the ship for a few years. He didn't know what he could do to help his friends locate him. He wished Watch had given him a flare gun along with the flashlight. One thing was sure, he knew he couldn't swim to the surface without another tank of air. He'd just have to be patient.

While waiting, Adam studied the contents of the stateroom, trying to get an idea of what Captain Pillar had been like. Just looking at his skeleton didn't tell Adam much. There were the usual things one would expect to be floating about: books, chairs, boxes of food, and cans of soup. But the most dominant item in the yacht was booze. It seemed that Captain Pillar had gone to sea with gallons of alcohol. Indeed, when Adam examined the skeleton closer he saw that Captain Pillar had plunged to his watery grave tightly clutching a bottle of whiskey. Even in death, he couldn't give up the stuff.

It made Adam wonder if the broken lighthouse had had anything to do with the wreck of the ship. Adam was pretty sure Captain Pillar had been so drunk that dark night thirty years ago that he hadn't known where he was going, searchlight or no searchlight. If
Captain Pillar's ghost had swiped Neil, it had no right to do it.

But Adam was almost positive there was no Neil down here. And he had a feeling that there never had been. Sally had jumped to her conclusion too fast. Adam doubted that Captain Pillar had anything to do with the disappearance of the boy. At least not directly.

Adam just hoped he lived to tell his friends about his important observations.

Time went by, and Adam began to get cold. He had on a wet suit, of course, but it didn't keep him nearly so warm now that he'd stopped swimming. But he couldn't move around too much because he'd use up the air quicker.

He had another problem. The battery in his flashlight was dying. Every minute or so, the light would briefly flicker out. Each time it came back on, it was slightly dimmer. The underwater boat was spooky enough with light. In the dark, Adam didn't know if he'd be able to stand it. The cold would seep into his heart and lungs, and he wouldn't even be able to shout for help. He reconsidered. Maybe he should try to make one last dash for the surface. If his lungs exploded, at least it would be over for him soon.

But Adam stayed where he was.

He didn't want his lungs to explode.

He was sure it would hurt real bad.

More time passed. His light flickered.

But this time it didn't come back on.

“Oh no,” Adam whispered as he shook the flashlight. He played with the switch, turning it on and off. But it remained off.

He was alone, in the dark. Underwater with a dead sailor.

“This is worse than the Secret Path,” Adam whispered as he began to shiver. He'd never been in such a cold black place. He tried to think back to how it had all got started. Really, he'd just wanted his big excitement that day to be doughnuts and milk.

“Yeah, but you wanted to be the big hero, too,” he told himself. That was the trouble with most movies and books, he decided. They didn't tell the stories of all the heroes who didn't live to tell their tales. He doubted there would even be an article in
The Daily Disaster
to describe his brave attempt to save Neil.

“It's a stupid name for a paper anyway,” Adam said between trembling teeth.

More time went by. Adam began to lose the feeling in his hands, his feet. His constant shivering was slowly being replaced by a strange drowsy warm
feeling. He knew that was a bad sign. He was getting hypothermia—he had read about it in one of his mother's magazines. He would pass out soon, and drown, and the fish would eat him. It was a cruel world. It was a weird town.

Then he saw a strange yellow light. He wondered if that meant he was dead, that an angel was coming to take him to heaven. He thought he deserved to go there since he had died so bravely. The light was coming up beneath him and it was getting so very bright. He wondered if his guardian angel would be fat and naked like the ones in the old paintings. He sort of hoped he had a nicer-looking angel, not that he was picky.

But it wasn't an angel.

A human head popped up out of the water.

“Watch,” Adam said softly. “What are you doing here?”

Watch took out his regulator and pulled off his face mask. “I've come to rescue you.”

“You took long enough,” Adam said, although he was happy to see his friend.

“Sorry. I sent the girls for another air tank but they brought back a huge bottle of laughing gas instead. The dive shop in Spooksville also supplies the local dentists. They often get their inventory mixed up. I
had to go back to the shop myself.” Watch searched around with his flashlight and nodded in the direction of Captain Pillar's skeleton, which was still holding on to its whiskey bottle. “Is that the guy whose ghost stole Neil?” Watch asked.

“I don't think so,” Adam replied. “I really think the ghost is up in the lighthouse. I think there's only one ghost. Remember that howling we heard? And there was no way that searchlight could have come on by itself.”

Adam went on to explain his theory that the boat had crashed because the captain had been drunk, not because the searchlight was off. Watch thought that made sense. But he wanted to bring the skeleton with them anyway.

“Why?” Adam asked.

“Because you never know,” Watch said. “The ghost in the lighthouse might want to talk to it.”

Adam snickered. “Skeletons can't talk.”

“Yeah, and ghosts aren't supposed to exist. Don't forget where you're living. I wouldn't be surprised if the skeleton and the ghost got in a big argument. It won't be the first time that's happened around here.”

Adam yawned. “We can take it with us if you want. If nothing else, we can give it to Mr. Spiney.” He
pointed to Watch's air tank. “Did you bring me an extra tank?”

“No. But you don't need it. We can buddy breathe.”

“Is that dangerous?” Adam asked.

“Not if just two people are doing it together.” Watch glanced again at the skeleton. “I don't think he needs any air.”

S
ally and Cindy were overjoyed to see Adam alive. Adam was surprised at how glad they were. They both had tears in their eyes as he climbed onto the rocks, although Sally quickly brushed hers away. Adam felt pleased to know he would have been missed if he'd died. This hero business did have its rewards. Not that he wanted another kiss or anything gross like that.

“If it wasn't for me, you would still be down there with the fish,” Sally said. “I was the one who figured
out where you were. I never lost hope, even as Cindy and Watch were planning your funeral.”

“That's not true,” Cindy said. “In my heart I knew Adam would pull through.”

“Yeah, that's why you picked out a tank of laughing gas instead of air,” Sally said.

Cindy was insulted. “You chose a tank with a skull and crossbones on it.”

“Speaking of bones,” Watch said, with Captain Pillar in tow. “This is what Adam found in the ship. Don't worry, Cindy, it's not your brother.”

“I can see that,” Cindy said, looking a little sick. The skeleton was draped with seaweed, and there was a tiny crab crawling out of one of its eye sockets. “There was no sign of my brother?” Cindy asked quietly.

“No,” Adam said. “But I think we've been chasing after the wrong ghost. We have to search the lighthouse again.”

“But we already searched it,” Sally protested. “Neil wasn't inside. I would—”

“Bet my reputation on it,” Watch finished for her.

“We hardly searched the place before leaving,” Adam said. “What if the top floor had an attic above it?”

Watch nodded as he stared up at the top of the lighthouse. “There could be a tiny room above the searchlight. At least it looks that way from here.” Watch shivered. “But it's getting late and I'm hungry. Maybe we should try to save Neil tomorrow, after a warm meal and a good night's sleep.”

Cindy was agitated. “But you really think my brother might be stuck in there with an evil ghost?” she asked Adam. “If it's true, I can't leave him there another night.”

“For all we know the ghost might be enjoyable company,” Watch said. “Remember Casper. He wasn't a bad fellow.”

“He was a whiner,” Sally disagreed. “He was always complaining about being dead. He should have had to live in Spooksville for a few weeks, see what we go through. Then he would have stopped his moaning.”

Adam shook his head. “We have to go back inside the lighthouse and we have to go now. Before it gets completely dark.”