The Howling Ghost (7 page)

“Should we bring the skeleton?” Watch asked.

“It might look nice hung up beside the spider webs,” Sally said.

“I don't care if you bring it,” Adam said. “Just get this scuba equipment off my back.”

The girls crossed over to the lighthouse on the rope. Watch and Adam were still in their trunks and they swam. This time they had a flashlight. It was good because the sun had set while Adam was trapped underwater. Just as they stepped inside the lighthouse, Sally reminded them that all the bad things that had occurred had happened at this exact time of day.

“You don't have to wait till midnight to see a ghost in this town,” Sally said.

Adam was relieved to get inside. The interior of the lighthouse was much warmer than the jetty, and he was able to stop shivering. But it was more than comfort that encouraged him. Adam felt as if they were finally closing in on Neil. What had happened in the lighthouse earlier had scared them. That was why they hadn't come back right away. But after his terror below the sea, Adam felt ready to face anything.

They started up the long spiral staircase. Like the last time, it was hard climbing. Soon they were hot and sweating. But no one asked to stop and rest. Watch continued to drag the skeleton with him. Remarkably, the dead captain still managed to have a hold of his whiskey bottle.

After about ten minutes they reached the trapdoor
that led into the upper level. Watch raised his hand for them to stop.

“Now remember,” Watch said, “if the searchlight suddenly comes on, close your eyes. We don't want you to stumble around. You might fall down this opening.”

“I won't do that again,” Cindy said, anxious to keep going.

They entered the upper level. Watch set the skeleton down and studied the wires on the searchlight again. The rest of them examined the wooden ceiling, something they hadn't thought to do before. Adam focused the flashlight on several grooved lines in the wood.

“Those look like they could be the outline of a door of some kind,” Adam said, pointing.

“But how are we going to get up there?” Sally asked. “And how are we going to open the door? There's no knob, no lock.”

“Let me go up first and check it out,” Adam said. He tapped Watch on the shoulder. “Help me shove that desk over, and then I'll put that chair on top of it.”

Watch studied the ceiling. “You still won't be able to reach it.”

“I will if I stand on your shoulders,” Adam said.

Watch was impressed. “If you fall, you'll break your neck.” He added, “You might pull me down with you.”

“It's a risk we'll have to take,” Adam said firmly.

“There he goes trying to impress Cindy again,” Sally muttered.

“I'll follow you up into the attic, Adam,” Cindy said, interrupting Sally with a nasty look.

Together they moved the desk. Watch and Adam climbed onto the desk, and Sally and Cindy handed them the chair. Watch carefully positioned the chair and got up on it, taking a moment to balance himself.

“How much do you weigh?” Watch asked Adam.

Adam shrugged. “I don't know. Less than you.”

“If you fall, don't grab my hair,” Watch said. “And tuck the flashlight in your belt. But keep it on.”

Adam did as he was told. Then he looked back up at Watch. “How am I supposed to get up on your shoulders?” he asked.

“It's your plan,” Sally muttered.

“Climb up on the chair beside me,” Watch said. Again, Adam did what he was told. “Good. Now give me your foot. I'll boost you up. Remember what I said about my hair.”

“If I lose my balance, can I at least grab your ears?” Adam asked.

“I suppose,” Watch said. “Just don't pull too hard. I don't want to have to go to the hospital to have them sewn back on.”

“Spooksville's main hospital is located only a block from the cemetery,” Sally said. “And there's a good reason. There's a surgeon who works there who has this thing about people's spare parts. Every time he operates, he tries to get out all the spare parts. I know this kid at school, Craig, who went into the hospital to have his tonsils out. And this surgeon removed one of Craig's lungs while he was at it. Now we all call Craig
Breathless.”
Sally added, “But at least he doesn't have to take PE anymore.”

“What's this surgeon's name?” Adam asked, thinking if he ever got sick he'd be sure his parents didn't request him.

“Dr. Jonathan Smith,” Sally said. “But the hospital staff just calls him
Dr. Ripper.”

“Could we please have a little less history,” Cindy said. “And a little more action.”

Sally was insulted. “You haven't lived here long. At times like this, a little knowledge of Spooksville might save your life. Why I remember one time this troll was—”

“I'm going up,” Adam interrupted. “Ready, Watch?”

Watch clasped his hands together for Adam to step on. “Ready. The second you step on my shoulders, brace your arm on the ceiling. That should keep you from falling.”

Adam hesitated. “You don't have to sneeze or anything?”

“No.”

“Good.” Adam set his foot in Watch's cupped hands, and Watch boosted him up. With his other foot Adam immediately stepped up and onto Watch's shoulder. For an instant he wobbled dangerously, and he was sure he was going to fall. The floor suddenly seemed so far away. It would be weird to almost drown and then fall to your death in the same day, Adam thought.

“Grab the ceiling!” Watch shouted.

Adam threw his right hand up and touched the ceiling. Actually, there was nothing to grab because the wood was relatively smooth. But, as Watch had said, he was able to brace himself by pressing against the ceiling. In a moment he had regained his balance.

Adam panted. “That was close.”

“You weigh a lot more than most twelve-year-olds,” Watch grumbled.

“I'm not that big,” Adam said.

“You have high density,” Watch replied. “I can't hold you long. Study the grooves. Look for a way in.”

Adam didn't have to study anything. The moment he touched the space between the grooves, a three-foot-wide panel pushed up into the ceiling. Grabbing the edge with one hand, Adam carefully reached for his flashlight with the other and focused it into the opening.

“Do you see anything?” Cindy asked, anxiously.

“Darkness,” Adam said honestly. “I'll have to climb up into the space.”

“Be careful,” Cindy whispered.

“The time for care has passed,” Sally said ominously.

Adam tucked the flashlight back into his belt to keep both hands free. Telling Watch to be extra still, he moved his hands so that he was grabbing the corner of the opening. Counting to three, he yanked up hard with his arms, pulling his body off Watch's shoulders. But he wasn't able to throw his legs into the opening. Suddenly he was dangling in midair, without support. Watch had climbed down from the chair onto the desktop.

“Why did you leave me?” Adam gasped, barely holding on.

“I was afraid you'd kick me in the head,” Watch said.

“Don't let go,” Cindy called anxiously.

“That's good advice,” Sally said sarcastically.

Adam realized that he couldn't hang there all night. His arms were tiring quickly. Taking a deep breath, he tried pulling himself up again. This time he managed to catch the other corner of the opening with one foot. That was all the leverage he needed. A moment later he was sitting on the floor of the dark attic. There were no windows, and no light from the moon or stars got through. The others gathered below him.

“Is my brother there?” Cindy called up.

“Just let me have a look around,” Adam said, moving the beam of the flashlight across the room. He had hardly begun to search when a glimpse of a hideous skeleton sitting in a rocking chair jumped out at him. Adam was so startled that he let out a cry and dropped the flashlight.

“Ahhh!” he shouted.

In fact, he dropped the flashlight through the opening in the ceiling.

Luckily, Watch caught it.

“Do you see something interesting?” Sally asked casually.

Adam hugged the edges of the opening and frantically listened for the approach of the skeleton. From his experience on the Secret Path, he knew there were dead people—the good ones—who stayed dead, and dead people—the bad ones—who liked to play with the living. But it was hard to hear anything because his heart was pounding so loud and he was choking on the last breath he had taken.

“What's happening?” Cindy shouted, worried.

“There's a dead person up here,” Adam croaked.

“Is that all?” Sally said.

“Is this dead person trying to kill you?” Watch asked matter-of-factly.

“I don't know.” Adam gasped. He would have leaped back down to the desk if he hadn't been sure he would break his neck. He continued to hug the edges of the opening, waiting for a bony hand to settle on his shoulder and rip open his flesh. But after a minute or so into his latest nervous breakdown, nothing happened. Adam finally began to breathe easier. The skeleton wasn't moving.

“Are you under attack?” Sally asked.

“I'm fine,” Adam said finally.

“He's fine,” Sally said to the others. “He's scared out of his pants, but he's fine.”

“Can you throw the flashlight up to me?” Adam asked Watch.

“Sure,” Watch said. Carefully, he tossed the flashlight straight up and through the opening. Adam was lucky to catch it on the first try. After a moment's hesitation, Adam focused the light back on the skeleton. She was not a pretty sight, even by a skeleton's standards.

Her hair was long and stringy. It looked like straw that had been dipped in white paint, then left out in the wind to dry. She wore the shreds of a violet dress—that the bugs had been nibbling at for the last thirty years. The wooden chair she sat in looked as if it was about to collapse.

But the most scary thing was her face, or what was left of it. Her jaw hung open. Her few remaining teeth were cracked and gray and yellow. The empty sockets of her eyes glared at him. The darkness inside them seemed particularly deep and cold. Adam had to force himself not to stare. He almost felt as if he were being hypnotized.

Adam realized he was looking at Evelyn Maey.

Last caretaker of Spooksville's lighthouse. Mother of lost Rick.

“Is my brother there?” Cindy asked again.

“I don't see him,” Adam replied. “But—”

“But what?” Sally asked when Adam didn't finish his sentence.

Adam cocked his head to the side. “I think I hear something.”

“What?” they all asked at the same time.

“I'm not sure,” Adam said. The sound was faint, but not far. It was not a howling noise, but something that was equally disturbing. If it belonged to a hungry monster.

Adam thought he heard footsteps. But only for a moment.

He played the light over the attic space.

Nothing beside Mrs. Maey. The sound was gone.

“What's happening?” Sally demanded.

“Nothing,” Adam muttered, puzzled.

“Nothing's happening,” Sally told the others. “And yet he's driving us crazy with suspense.”

“I want to come up there,” Cindy said.

“How much do you weigh?” Watch asked, rubbing his shoulders.

“I don't know if you want to bother, Cindy,” Adam said. “There's a pretty ugly skeleton up here.”

“Like we have a good-looking one down here,” Sally said.

“I have to go up there,” Cindy insisted.

Watch sighed. “Just don't pull on any of my parts if you lose your balance.”

Watch and Cindy climbed up on the chair, and then Watch boosted her up to the ceiling. Because Adam was able to reach down and help her, Cindy didn't have nearly as much trouble getting into the attic as he had. A moment later she was sitting on the dusty floor beside him. Adam pointed the flashlight at Mrs. Maey. Cindy gasped.

“She's ugly,” she whispered.

“Dying can do that to you,” Adam remarked as he stood up.

Just then several terrifying things happened at once.

The wooden door that led into the attic fell shut.

Cindy tried to pull it back open.

But it was locked tight.

Down below, beside Sally and Watch, the huge searchlight began to move until it was pointed straight up, toward the ceiling.

“What's happening?” Sally screamed.

The searchlight came on.

The light was blinding. Sally and Watch staggered back, covering their eyes. The light was so powerful it pierced through the fine space between the attic boards. As a result, Adam and Cindy—now cut off
from their friends—were also blinded. It was as if a sun had just been born under their feet. He grabbed Cindy and pulled her close.

“The trapdoor won't open!” she cried.

“Did you knock it shut?” Adam yelled back.

Because he had to yell to be heard.

Because suddenly there was a loud howling.

As if the ocean wind were breaking in.

Or a ghost was coming to life.

“No!” Cindy cried. “It shut by itself.”

“Watch!” Adam called, dropping once more to his knees, trying to pull up the trapdoor. It was more than stuck. It didn't budge; it could have been nailed shut. “Sally!”

They didn't answer. Or if they did their voices were drowned out by the howling. Yet, as he stood and shielded his eyes to look around, Adam knew it was no wind that was making that sound. The attic dust continued to remain undisturbed. No breeze could come in from the outside. The sound was supernatural in origin. They had found their ghost, and it was probably a mistake that Cindy had said how ugly the skeleton was.

Because the ghost was coming back to life.

Where the blinding rays of the searchlight swept the skeleton, Adam saw a strange form begin to take
shape. It appeared to be made of both light and dust, as if it drew to it whatever was handy to make its form. As the noise reached a deafening pitch and the walls of the attic began to shake, both Adam and Cindy saw the ghost of an old lady materialize where the skeleton sat.