Cursed! (7 page)
After Kara, Lewis and Dad left, I lay on the sofa listening to trick-or-treaters at the door, with only the Spirit Man for company. Every time I closed my eyes, he was there, smirking. He was the scariest thing I saw that Halloween.
In between trips to the door, Mom described all the cute little-kid costumes, but that just made me feel worse.
Eventually Kara came back. She divided her haul with me, and then we sat on the stairs while Mom handed out candy. When Dad and Lewis got home, they joined us. We played with the Dalek and R2D2 when the older kids came to the door. They all loved it.
When little kids came up the walk, Mom would call out a warning, “Don't scare the little ones.” When we got too silly, she scolded us. “Behave yourselves!”
We dissolved into giggles and played some more. I had so much fun, I almost forgot how itchy I was.
All the next day I dozed on the sofa, bored and itchy. Bear and Old Moby kept me company. I lay listening to noises from upstairsâthe murmur of voices, the phone ringing, R2D2 talking to himself.
Dad brought down his newest toy, a remote-controlled helicopter. Mom had kicked him out of the office when he buzzed the helicopter too close to her head, so he practiced flying it in the living room.
This was his third helicopter. The first one was too hard to fly to be any fun; the second crashed and broke. Now he was trying another brand. I knew that BB and his friends would go nuts over it. I was too tired and itchy to care.
Bear tried to catch it. He danced below, hoping it would come low enough for him to snap at. Dad teased him until Bear got too close and bent a rotor.
When Dad wrote his review of the helicopter, he added a
Bear Report
at the end. He claimed Bear gave the helicopter four paws. When I asked out of how many possible paws, Dad looked at me like I was nuts.
“How many paws does he have?” Dad asked.
I didn't think I was the crazy one.
Kara came by after school for a quick visit. She brought an eraser mummy she'd made for meâan eraser shrouded in strips of tissue.
I dozed off after Kara left and dreamed about the eraser mummy. In my dream I unwrapped it and found the Spirit Man inside. I woke feeling like ice water was pouring down my spine. Then the itching started again.
After everyone else ate dinner, Lewis asked if I wanted to play chess.
“I hate chess,” I said, probably sounding more cranky than I should have.
Mom glanced up and saw the look of disappointment on his face. She frowned at me and said, “I'll play,” as she put down her book. Chess is the one thing Mom makes time for with Lewis. She says it helps her relax.
At first Lewis just liked all the chess pieces. Then, as he learned to play, he started to like the game itself, to see the patterns and figure out strategies.
My head hurt as I tried to follow their game. I remembered something Mom had read out loud once about chess, about being in control, thinking ahead and taking charge. I could never do that.
As I watched Lewis totally focused on the game, I spotted the Spirit Man in the doorway. He was a dark shadow, face still, hands on his hips, his grass skirt faintly rustling in the draft. I decided I must really be sick, to be seeing him. I wasn't just imagining him out of the corner of my eye, like before. I could look directly at him and watch him watching the game.
Was he planning something? Making Lewis lose? I studied him, alert for anything he might try. As I watched, I decided I needed a strategy, like in chess, to learn to play his game, to outmaneuver him. But how could I do that?
I went to bed feeling feverish. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about the Spirit Man. When I opened my eyes, he was standing by the foot of my bed.
I shrieked and leaped up. I rushed at him, waving my hands, shouting, “Get out. Get out!” He slowly backed away as I advanced, his face still but his arms rising just a little to fend me off. As soon as he had backed out of my room, I slammed the door. Ughhh!
I dreamed he was prowling around the house, looking for something bad to do. I shivered all night, curled up in my blankets.
Dad woke me early in the morning. “Jane, the furnace died. The house is getting really cold. I'm going to carry you downstairs to the living room. I have a big fire goingâit'll be warmer there.”
I moaned and tried not to think about the Spirit Man.
Dad bundled me in my blankets and carried me through the cold house. It was snowing outside, but the living room was warm, with a big fire hissing and snapping. At least the Spirit Man hadn't ruined that.
Mom baked muffins for breakfast so she'd have an excuse to have the oven on. We ate in the living room, huddled around the fire, while Dad argued over the phone with the furnace repair company. “We've been your customers for years. We have no heat. I have a sick child. Yes, I'll pay a premium for emergency service.”
The furnace guy arrived just after eight, and by eight thirty he'd left again, muttering about what he needed to buy.
“What's wrong with Mary Jane?” I asked. That's what we called our cranky ancient furnace.
Dad groaned. “Well, she needs a major repair, and she's so old and finicky, she's not really worth it. So we're finally getting a new furnace.” He sighed. “Of course, we have to get it today, because it's so cold out, so we can't shop for a bargain or wait for a sale.” He sighed again.
This was the Spirit Man's fault, I thought. I just knew it!
The furnace guy came back midmorning with a new furnace and a second guy to help him haul away the old one. All day I listened to clanging and banging as they took apart the old furnace, dragged it out of the house and installed the new one.
Cold gusted through the kitchen and into the living room every time they opened the back door. Snow blew in, and puddles were tracked across the floor.
The Spirit Man watched from the top of the basement stairs, where he could see both the basement chaos and Mom and Dad in the kitchen. He looked stern, but I knew he was happy.
When Dad brought in another load of wood for the fire, he said, “The good news is that now that we've replaced the furnace, we can start renovating the basement.”
Mom and Dad hadn't wanted to start the basement renovation until they'd replaced the furnace, but they didn't want to replace the furnace until they absolutely had to. Now there was no reason to wait.
They kept the oven going all day to help heat the house. They felt guilty about leaving it on without food in it, so they took turns cooking, baking two pies, fresh buns, a roasted chicken and baked potatoes. I wasn't hungry.
Bear kept me company on and off. When he got too hot by the fire, he'd head down to the basement to supervise the furnace guys and then come back with his fur chilled, whining about the Spirit Man.
All day, as I lay on the sofa and itched, I tried to figure out how to beat the Spirit Man, how to lift his curse. I couldn't think of any way except to get back to Grandma's house. We drove out every summer, but I couldn't wait that long. What could I do instead?
Lewis and BB came home from school full of energy and bouncing everywhere, driving Mom and me crazy. Dad grabbed BB and hauled him downstairs. “We can help with the furnace.”
When Mom laughed, he said, “We'll be the cleanup crew!”
Lewis suggested we play a game of chess. I suggested reading. I looked over at the collection of Chrsitmas stories we kept on the bookshelf by the window. “Try
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
,” I said. “You already know the story, so you'll be able to figure out the big words.”
Slowly Lewis read the story, with Old Moby helping when he got stuck.
Then he got an idea!
An awful idea!
The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea!
As he read, I got an ideaâmy own wonderful, awful idea. I knew how to beat the Spirit Man! I plotted while Lewis finished the story, so I would be ready by dinnertime.
I lay on the sofa trying to summon up enough Mackenzie to make my plan work. I felt my stomach knot up. I wasn't sure I could do it. While I worried, the doorbell rang and Bear galloped up the stairs. BB leaped after him and grabbed the remote for the Dalek. By the time Dad arrived, Bear and the Dalek were ready. Dad had to push past them to get the door open.
A courier stood on the doorstep, package in hand, staring as the Dalek advanced on him, waving his little toilet plunger and exclaiming, “Ex-ter-min-ate! Ex-ter-min-ate!” Bear barked hysterically at the Dalek.
“Bear, sit!” Dad ordered. Then he turned to BB and ordered, in exactly the same voice, “Brandon, stop!”
“Sorry about that,” he muttered to the delivery guy.
I watched it all from the sofa. BB was getting worse. He needed a new room so Lewis could have a quiet place of his own. My idea would fix that
and
get us to Grandma's for Christmas. I would just have to find enough Mackenzie to do it.
At dinner I launched my plan. “Why don't we start the renovation right away, now that we have a new furnace?”
“It'll take a long time,” Dad said. “We'll have to empty the basement, tear out the old walls and floor, and hire a crew to do the construction. If we start now, it won't be done until after Christmas. And we can't have Grandma here for Christmas if the house is in chaos.”
Mom snorted.
Dad laughed. “I mean, more chaos than usual.”
I took a deep breath. “We could go to Grandma's for Christmas,” I said, careful not to show how desperately I wanted this.
Dad looked surprised. “You never want to go anywhere at Christmas.”
“Well, this year I do,” I said, shrugging. “We really need that room for BB, so Lewis can have his own room.”
BB and Lewis both looked pleased. That was rare.
“That's a good idea, Jane,” said Mom.
You don't have to sound so surprised, I thought.
“It'll be chaotic,” Dad warned. “A real mess. Lots of noise and people and stuff out of place. Just what you don't like.”
“I can manage,” I said. I could cope with anything, if we could get to Grandma's for Christmas. “Let's get it over with.”
“Hmmm,” Mom said. “Am I sensing a little Mackenzie here?”
I ducked my head. “I just think we've talked about this long enough, and now we should do it.”
“What do you guys think?” Dad asked. Lewis and BB cheered, and Mom and I nodded. Even Bear snuffled. The Spirit Man watched from the kitchen doorway. He was probably pleased too. He likes chaos.
Dad pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil and started planning while Mom and BB and Lewis washed the dishes.
They spent the next week emptying the basement. Mom's allergies flared up with all the mess, so Dad and BB did most of the basement work. Once I was feeling better, I helped Lewis with his homework and reading, so I didn't have to descend into the chaos too often.