The Howling Ghost (2 page)

Adam looked away and muttered, “You should carry a box of chocolates wherever you go.”

“I heard that,” Sally said, still munching her doughnut, which may have had a little jelly in the center of it, too. Casually, she reached behind her and lifted a newspaper off the next table. She studied the news for a few seconds. “Oh no,” she moaned.

“What is it?” Adam asked.

“A five-year-old boy disappeared off the jetty, down by the lighthouse,” Sally said.

“Didn't you know?” Watch asked. “It was in yesterday's paper. A wave came up and carried him off. The police say he must have drowned.”

“Drowned?” Sally repeated, pointing to the article. “His sister was with him at the time, and she says a ghost came out of the lighthouse and grabbed the kid.”

Watch shrugged. “Either way the kid's a goner.”

“Have they found his body?” Adam asked, feeling
sick. He didn't know what it would be like to drown, but imagined it would be like smothering.

“No,” Sally said, reading the article. “The police say the tide must have carried the boy out. The idiots.”

“But that sounds logical,” Adam said, although he was sure Sally would yell at him for saying it. Sally huffed and tossed the paper aside.

“Don't you see?” she asked. “They haven't found a body because he didn't drown. The kid's sister is telling the truth. A ghost swiped the kid. Watch, why don't you explain to Adam that these things happen. This is reality.”

Watch was not interested. “Like I said, it doesn't matter whether it was a ghost or a wave. The kid's dead by now.”

Sally was annoyed. “He's just another Spooksville statistic to you? How can you be so cold? What if he's alive?”

Watch blinked at her. “That would be nice.”

“No!” Sally yelled. “What if he's alive and needs to be rescued? We're the only ones who can do it.”

“Really?” Watch asked.

“Of course,” Sally said. “I believe this girl. I believe in ghosts.”

“I don't,” Adam said.

Sally glared. “You're just afraid of them. That's why you're willing to leave this poor young boy to a life of torment. Really, Adam, I'm disappointed in you.”

Adam could feel himself getting a headache. “I have nothing against this kid. But if the police couldn't find him, I don't think we can.”

Sally stood up. “Great. Give up without trying. Next time a witch or an alien kidnaps you, I'll just order a cup of coffee and a jelly doughnut and tell whoever's around that Adam was a nice guy and I really cared for him but if he's gone he's gone and there's no sense searching for him because I can't be bothered.” She paused to catch her breath. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Adam asked.

Sally put her hands on her hips. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Adam glanced at Watch, who had picked up the paper and was reading the article. “Are we helping her or not?” Adam asked his friend.

Watch glanced at his watches, all four of them, two on each arm. “It's not as if we're doing anything this afternoon.” He added, “I know Cindy Makey. She's cute.”

Adam turned back to Sally. “We'll help you.”

Sally fumed as she turned away. “You guys are so altruistic.”

Adam glanced at Watch as he stood up, ready to follow Sally. “What does
altruistic
mean?” he whispered to Watch.

“Let's just say the word does not apply to us,” Watch whispered back.

C
indy was sitting outside her house, slowly rocking on a wooden porch swing. Adam felt a pang in his chest—her face was so sad. She didn't even hear them approach. She seemed absorbed in her own private world. A world where her little brother was no longer there. In that moment Adam would have given anything to get the missing kid back.

But then Adam remembered what Watch had said.

Either way it was probably hopeless.

“Hello,” Sally said as they stepped onto the girl's porch. “Are you Cindy Makey?”

Watch was right, she was pretty. Her hair was long and blond; it reached almost to her waist. Her eyes were wide and deep blue. They reminded Adam of the sky just before the sun came up. Yet her eyes were also red. She had been crying just before they arrived.

“Yes,” Cindy said softly.

Sally stepped forward and offered her hand. “Hi, I'm Sally Wilcox and this is Adam Freeman and Watch. We may not look like much, but we're intelligent and resourceful individuals. Best of all, we've been through pretty weird stuff. We believe in almost everything, including your ghost.” Sally paused to catch her breath. “We're here to help you get your brother back.”

Cindy took a moment to absorb everything Sally had just said. She gestured to another two-person swing.

“Do you want to sit down?” she said quietly. “Are you thirsty? Would you like some lemonade?”

“We never take refreshment until the job is done,” Sally said, sitting down.

“I'd like some lemonade,” Adam said, sitting beside Sally.

“Adam,” Sally scolded. “We're here to help Cindy, not take from her.”

Adam shrugged. “But I'm thirsty.”

“So am I,” Watch added. “Do you have any Coke?”

Cindy stood. “We have Coke and lemonade. I'll be back in a second. Are you sure you don't want anything, Sally?”

Sally considered. “Well, now that you mention it. Do you have any ginger ale? I like Canada Dry best, in the green cans. Chilled but not too cold.”

Cindy nodded. “I'll see what we have.”

Cindy disappeared inside the house. Adam spoke to Watch, who continued to stand. He was staring in the direction of the ocean.

“What are you looking at?” Adam asked.

Watch pointed. “The lighthouse. You can see it from here.”

Watch was right. Around the corner of the house, the lighthouse was just visible, a tall pillar of white plaster. At this first sight of the structure, Adam shuddered, although he wasn't sure why. He had never seen a lighthouse before he saw this one. It was hard for him to tell a normal one from a haunted one. It was only a quarter of a mile away.

“It's tall,” was all Adam could think of to say.

“It's old,” Watch said, finally sitting down. “It was built before there was electricity. From what I heard, they used to burn oil in lamps in the top and shine the light over the sea to warn ships away from the rocks.”

“I heard they used to burn people,” Sally said.

“People don't burn that well,” Watch replied matter-of-factly. “Bum once told me it was the Spaniards who built the lighthouse, that it was the first one constructed in America. But it's hard to imagine it's that old.”

“But later electricity was installed?” Adam asked.

“Sure,” Watch said. “The waters around Spooksville are treacherous. Even modern ships have to be careful. Yet the lighthouse was closed down before I was born. I'm not sure why. Nowadays, ships don't get near this place. The last boat that did go by was a transport ship from Japan. It had hundreds of Toyotas on board. It sunk out by the jetty. For a while you could go down to the beach and pick out any color Camry or Corolla that you wanted. They washed ashore for months.”

“They all smelled a little fishy,” Sally said.

“But you couldn't argue with the price,” Watch added.

“I'd never go out with a guy who had fish on his backseat,” Sally said.

“There must've been a reason the lighthouse was closed down,” Adam said.

“Probably because it was haunted,” Sally said. “That's the most logical reason.”

“But why did it become haunted?” Adam asked. “That's what I want to know.”

A look of wonder crossed Sally's face. “Why, Adam, you're beginning to sound like you were born here. Congratulations—from now on I won't have to yell at you half as much.”

“I don't know why you yell at me at all,” Adam said. He glanced in the direction of where Cindy had disappeared. “She looks so sad.”

Watch nodded. “Like a flower that's been stomped.”

“A rose that's been crushed,” Adam agreed, feeling in a poetic mood.

“Wait a second,” Sally complained. “You guys aren't falling in love with her, are you?”

“Love is an emotion I only know about from textbooks,” Watch said.

“I just met her,” Adam said. “I don't even know her.”

“But as soon as you met me you liked me, didn't you?” Sally asked.

Adam shrugged. “I suppose.”

Sally suddenly looked worried, and a little annoyed. “Just don't go flirting with her while I'm around.”

“We'll wait and do it behind your back,” Watch said tactfully.

Cindy returned a minute later. She had two tall glasses of Coke, with ice, and one lemonade. Offering a Coke to Sally, Cindy apologized that there was no ginger ale.

“I suppose I could use the caffeine,” Sally said, sniffing her drink before sipping it.

Adam gulped down his lemonade. “Ah,” he said between gulps. “There's nothing like lemonade on a hot day.”

“It was cold a couple days ago,” Cindy remarked sadly, sitting down.

Adam set his drink down and spoke gently. “It was cold when your brother disappeared?”

Cindy nodded. “Yes. There was a strong wind—it whipped across the water, stirring up the waves.” She stopped to shake her head. “We shouldn't have been walking by the jetty.”

“What time of day was it?” Sally asked seriously.

“Sunset,” Cindy said. “But you couldn't see the sun because of the gray clouds.”

“Were both of you walking on the jetty?” Adam asked.

“No,” Cindy said. “Neil was alone. I mean, I could see him and everything. I was sitting on a boulder. He had walked alone on the jetty many times before. He was always careful to watch where he stepped.
He never walked out too far. It was just that this time . . .” Cindy's voice trailed off and she lowered her head. It seemed, for a moment, that she was going to cry, but she didn't. She also didn't finish her sentence.

“It was just that this time a ghost grabbed him?” Sally said.

Cindy took a breath. “I think so.”

“But you're not sure?” Adam asked gently.

Cindy shook her head. “It happened so fast. Something came and took him. I don't know what it was.”

“Are you sure he didn't just fall into the water?” Watch asked.

Cindy raised her head. “He didn't fall in the water. He didn't drown. I told the police that. I told my mother—but none of them believe me.” She paused and stared at each of them. “Do you believe me?”

“We told you we did,” Sally said, eyeing Watch to be quiet. “We just want to be sure of the facts. When you're dealing with a ghost, you have to be careful. Can you describe this ghost to us?”

“Neil was walking along the jetty when a beam of light shot out from the top of the lighthouse. It was a blinding light and seemed to be searching for Neil. When it caught up to him, old hands came out of the light and grabbed him. I know he was lifted into the
air before the light went off and he vanished. I saw him floating above the water, above the rocks.”

“This is what you told the police?” Adam asked.

“Yes,” Cindy said. “This is exactly what happened.”

“Did the police examine the lighthouse?” Watch asked.

“I don't know,” Cindy said. “I told them to, but they just said the lighthouse was all boarded up, that no light could have come from it. After hearing my story, they were convinced my brother had fallen in the water and been swept out to sea. They thought I was hallucinating because I was in shock.”

“A typical authoritarian response,” Sally said.

“There was one other thing,” Cindy said. “When the hands came out of the light and grabbed Neil, the wind howled. But it was a weird sound. It was like some evil monster laughing.”

“Was it a female monster or a male monster?” Adam asked.

“That's a very weird question,” Sally remarked.

“I don't know,” Watch disagreed. “Personally, I'd rather deal with a male monster any day.”

“My feeling exactly,” Adam muttered.

Cindy was thoughtful. “I think it was a female monster.”

“Let's not call it a monster,” Sally interrupted. “It sounds more like a ghost.” She touched Cindy on the knee. “We're going to get your brother back, no matter what.”

“We're going to
try
to get him back,” Adam corrected.

“As long as we don't have to risk our own lives,” Watch added.

Cindy's lower lip quivered, and her eyes were wet. “Thank you—all of you. You don't know what it means to me to have someone believe me. I know he's alive, I feel it in my heart.” Cindy paused. “The only thing is: what do we do now?”

Adam stood up, and with more courage than he knew he had, said, “It's obvious. We break into the lighthouse.”

T
he way to the lighthouse was hard. Not only was the lighthouse at the end of the jetty, but also the narrow wooden bridge that crossed from the piled boulders to the lighthouse itself was worn and cracked. Adam took one look at it and wished he'd brought his bathing suit. The bridge looked as if it would collapse the moment he stepped on it.

Fortunately, the ocean was calm. The waves brushing against the jetty were only a foot high. Adam believed if he fell in the water, he'd have no trouble
getting out. But then Sally started on her gruesome history of Spooksville again.

“It was near here that Jaws lost his leg,” Sally said as they stared down at the water that separated them from the lighthouse.

“Who?” Adam asked, with regret.

“David Green,” Sally said. “He was the guy I told you about. He was out on his boogie board when a great white shark came by and bit off his right leg. In fact, I think it was almost at this exact spot.”