Ghost Invasion (5 page)

“Okay,” Web said. “That ought to work. Looks good.”

Carson, who didn’t smile very often, had a kind of wild-eyed grin on his face. “Yeah,” he said. “Looks good.”

Ari walked around in a circle looking at pudgy old Carson all buckled up in leather straps. “Hey, I’ll bet I know,” he said. Carson had said it was for Halloween. “It’s part of some kind of costume, isn’t it?”

“Well—” Web started to say, when suddenly Carson cocked his head. “My mom. My mom’s calling. Unbuckle me.” And a few seconds later he was heading for home at top speed, which for Carson was a kind of flat-footed, lopsided gallop. Ari and Web watched him go.

“Is it really a costume?” Ari asked Web.

“Well, not exactly. But it is for Halloween,” Web said, and then he started telling Ari all about what he and Carson were planning to do.

Ari was fascinated. “That’s really awesome,” he said when Web had finished. “But are you sure it won’t be—you know—a little too dangerous?”

“It won’t be dangerous. I factored in some major safety features. And besides,” Web said, grinning, “Carson really wants to do it.”

Ari nodded. “That’s for sure.” After a minute he added, “Sounds okay to me. But what I don’t understand is the Halloween part. Why do you have to do it on Halloween?”

“Because it has to be at just a certain time of night. Dark, but not too dark. And Carson’s mother never lets him out of the house after dark. But they are going to let him go trick-or-treating with everyone else on Halloween night. So we
have
to do it then or never. I’ve got it all planned. We’re going to start out with all of the trick-or-treaters, but then, right after they finish going around Castle Court we’ll just sneak back the way we came. If we’re really careful it ought to be okay.”

“Yeah. That ought to work,” Ari said. He thought for a moment. He’d been planning to work on a different story on Halloween night, but this sounded too good to miss. “Maybe I’ll come too,” he told Web. “Would it be all right if I came too?”

“Well …” Web didn’t look too enthusiastic at first but suddenly he seemed to change his mind. “Look,” he said. “I’m going to have to go over there real early and set up the equipment. And some of it is pretty heavy. And then I have to get back here in time to start off with the other trick-or-treaters. You don’t suppose you could? …”

“Sure,” Ari said. “Just call me up when you’re ready to go. Only be careful what you say. You know people listen in on phone calls sometimes.”

“Oh yeah?” Web looked shocked. “You mean people in your family listen in on each other’s phone calls?”

“Sure,” Ari said. “I do it all the time. I get some of my best stuff that way. So just say something in secret code. Something like …” He paused, scratching his head. “Something mysterious like: ‘Special Agent Apollo. Report for duty immediately.’”

“Apollo?” Web said. “Who’s he?”

“Well, he was a Greek god, actually. But now it’s my code name, at least for this particular undercover operation. I just thought it up.”

Web looked puzzled. “Okay,” he said uncertainly. “I’ll call when I want you to come. I’ve got to go in now.” As Web hid the harness under the back deck and started up the stairs, Ari heard him mumbling, “Special Agent Apollo. Report for duty immediately.”

Ari watched until Web had disappeared inside his house, and then he headed for home too. His mind was whirling. It was beginning to look as if Halloween was going to be pretty complicated, not to mention confusing. He almost felt as if he ought to tell Kate and Aurora about what Web and Carson were planning. Or else maybe—the other way around. But the trouble was he couldn’t tell either of them. Not without giving away somebody’s very private secret.

Well, anyway, he told himself, the good news was he ought to get some great story material.

H
AVING SCHOOL ON HALLOWEEN
day is a pain in the neck. At least that’s what Kate Nicely thought. Everyone’s much too excited to keep their minds on schoolwork. And this year Kate was not only excited but sleepy, too, from not having slept much the night before.

It wasn’t that she was scared—at least not exactly. It was just that she’d never actually seen a ghost before, so she didn’t know how she’d feel when Addie and the bandit boyfriend suddenly appeared. All last night, while she wasn’t sleeping, she’d been wondering what they’d look like, and she went on wondering right through English and social studies.

Sometimes she could almost see them. She could see how Addie would suddenly take shape out of a swirling white mist. A slender, wispy figure, with lots of hair piled up on top of her head and a long, old-fashioned dress. And the boyfriend was there, too, but even more vague and blurry. A kind of transparent blob in a wide-brimmed hat and long black cape. Kate went on seeing ghosts all day, and on the way home she asked Aurora if she had too.

“Ghosts?” Aurora asked.

“Yes. Ghosts. Can’t you just see how they’re going to look? You know, Addie and her boyfriend?”

Aurora shook her head uncertainly. “Sometimes I’ve almost seen …” She paused. “… something. I’m not sure exactly what.”

“But you do think we’ll see them, don’t you? You know, in the barn tonight.” Waiting for Aurora’s answer, Kate braced herself, not sure what she hoped Aurora would say.

“I think we’ll see something,” Aurora said. “Something very strange and”—her eyes went distant and cloudy—“wondrous,” she said finally. “Yes, something strange and wondrous.”

Kate nodded approvingly. She was sure Aurora was exactly right.

Dinner was at the usual time at the Nicelys’ that night but as soon as it was over Kate started getting ready. It didn’t take her long. That is, it wouldn’t have taken her long if she hadn’t had to stop to help Carson with his costume. Her mom already had gone over to the Garcias’ to help get ready for the party, and of course Tiffany was too busy getting into her glamorous Arabian princess outfit.

Not that there was anything elaborate about Carson’s costume. He’d kept insisting he didn’t want one until it was too late to do anything fancy. So when he finally changed his mind he had to settle for your typical Halloween ghost outfit—an old sheet with eyeholes cut into it. Kate’s mom had painted black rings around the big eyeholes and anchored the head part in place by putting a strip of Velcro around Carson’s neck. So it wasn’t too bad, as ghost costumes go. The problem was, Carson was determined to have armholes too.

“But you don’t need armholes,” Kate kept telling him. “You can just carry your trick-or-treat bag under your sheet. See? Like this. Actually it will be safer that way. No one can swipe your candy.”

Carson was shaking his head.

“It’s a better arrangement, actually, especially for you,” Kate told him. She didn’t need to go on and explain why having a way to hide his trick-or-treat bag was an especially good arrangement for him. The thing was, Carson was the victim type and everybody knew it. Any time there were candy swipers around on Halloween, Carson was always the favorite swipee.

But Carson could also be stubborn. “But how do I swish my net?” he kept asking.

“Your net? What net?” Kate said.

Carson went back to his room and came out with a butterfly net. Kate groaned. She should have known. Nobody else in the world, she told herself, had a seven-year-old brother who went out on Halloween night looking for bugs instead of candy. “Okay,” she sighed. “Armholes.”

As soon as she finished cutting Carson’s arm-holes, Kate sent him on over to the Garcias’ and quickly got into the rest of her gypsy outfit. It didn’t take long. She only had to add the headscarf, some big dangly earrings, and of course the sequin-covered mask. At the last minute, she put her pencil-sized flashlight in her pocket before she hurried over to the Pappases’ to see if Aurora, who was usually late to everything, was going to be ready on time.

It was a good thing she did because, just as she’d feared, Aurora wasn’t nearly ready. When Kate came into her room she was sitting on the floor looking at the bottom of her bare foot. She was wearing her mask but her olive-leaf headband and white Grecian gown were still lying on the bed.

“What are you doing?” Kate asked. “Did you hurt your foot?”

“No,” Aurora said, still staring at her foot. “I was just wondering if a fortune-teller could read it. You know, the way they read the palm of your hand.”

“Aurora!” Kate grabbed the Grecian gown and threw it over Aurora’s head. “We’re going to be late. Get a move on.” Sometimes you had to be firm with supernatural people like Aurora.

A few minutes later a gypsy, a beautiful Greek maiden, and a bumblebee with a ponytail joined the group that was gathering in front of the Garcias’.

Kate looked around. A lot of people were still missing. The only teenager who had arrived was Laura Grant—as a
Swan Lake
ballerina. She was wearing a tutu, toe shoes, and an elaborate mask shaped like swan wings and covered with white feathers.

The cowgirl with a cow on a leash was Susie Garcia, of course. The cow was Lump, the Garcias’ Saint Bernard. Fat, shaggy old Lump, with plastic cow horns strapped on his big round head. Then, of course, there was Carson—the ghost with a butterfly net—and Athena, the bumblebee. Nobody else. As soon as Carson saw Kate and Aurora he hurried to meet them.

“Where’s Ari?” he asked anxiously.

“He left the house a long time ago,” Aurora said. “He got this phone call and he just grabbed his goatskin and ran out. He said he had to go help Web with something.”

“Oh,” Carson said, sounding relieved. “Yes. He had to help Web.”

“Look, Carson.” Athena was jumping up and down excitedly, making her antennas and stinger jiggle wildly. “Here they come now. Here comes Ari and Web.”

Sure enough, a Fred Flintstone type in an angora goatskin and a very convincing astronaut were running across the court.

Carson trotted off to meet them. Watching the three of them whispering together, Kate was thinking that poor old Carson was finally beginning to make some warm-blooded friends, when Aurora whispered, “Look. Look, Kate.” She sounded really surprised and amazed.

But it was only the PROs, Bucky and Carlos and Eddy, dressed as hobos. All three of them. At least they looked as much like hobos as anything. Except for the masks, some painted-on black beards, and a few extra tears and rips, they didn’t look a whole lot more disgusting than usual.

“Yeah,” Kate said, “so it’s the great athletes looking like real losers. What’s so unusual about that?”

“But that’s just it,” Aurora whispered. “It is unusual. For Halloween, I mean. Remember last year?”

On second thought, Kate saw what she meant. Last year they’d been Edward Scissorhands, Freddy Krueger, and Jabba the Hutt. And the year before that all three of them had been Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, complete with bulging muscles and big green heads. The PROs always wore really gruesome costumes. Gruesome—and
expensive
. And now here they were looking as if they’d just raided their mothers’ ragbags.

Aurora was biting her lip and narrowing her big gray eyes. “I’ll bet they’re up to something,” she said. “Something sneaky.”

Kate shrugged. “So what else is new.”

C
ARLOS’S TEENAGE BROTHERS, RAFE
and Gabe Garcia, joined the group next, dressed as a bullfighter and Elvis Presley. And a little later Muffy Brockhurst finally appeared—as Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

“The
good
witch,” Kate said, “that’s a laugh.” And she and Aurora both did. Muffy as the
good
anything was really a joke.

And, of course, last of all came Jasmine, the Arabian princess. A really outrageous Arabian princess in satin harem pants and a sheer veil, with gobs of jewelry jangling around her wrists and ankles. Everybody stared and pointed and whispered.

“Ta da!” Kate said. “Wouldn’t you know it. Old Tiffany was probably peeking out our front window just waiting for everyone to be here so she could make her grand entrance. Ta da!”

The sun had gone down by then and the light was fading fast. Mrs. Garcia gave a little talk reminding everyone to stay together and to do what the older kids said, and at last the procession started out. They began by going to all the houses in the Castle Court cul-de-sac.

The first stop was the Brockhursts’. Mr. Brockhurst came to the door and did a big number pretending he didn’t recognize anybody and that he was scared to death. Kate and Aurora looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Mr. Brockhurst’s cutesy act, which would have been okay if all the trick-or-treaters had been Athena’s age, was pretty embarrassing. But at least he passed out lots of great stuff, like Snickers and Mars bars.

Then came the Nicelys’, where Kate’s dad gave everybody raisins and apples and a long lecture about how unhealthy eating candy was.

Kate and Aurora stayed right with the group while they stopped at the Pappases’ and the Grants’, but when the giggling, shrieking gang was leaving the Wongs’ they began to drop behind. And then, as the noisy mob was approaching the Andersons’ front door, they quietly faded back behind a big bushy shrub.

Peeking out through the leaves, Kate and Aurora watched while Mrs. A. came to the door and everyone crowded around to get some of her great homemade cookies. And later—while the whole mob trooped off down the sidewalk and Mrs. A. went back into her house—they stayed right where they were.

It had worked. They were free. Free to go to the haunted barn. Kate couldn’t believe it. Suddenly her shoulders lifted in a sharp shiver. Actually there was something else she couldn’t believe—and that was what she was about to do. That she was about to sneak off to visit a lonely, haunted place on Halloween night. She wondered if Aurora was feeling the same way.

Standing perfectly still in the deep shadows behind the big bush, Aurora seemed to be listening. Kate listened, too, but all she heard was the swiftly fading sound of voices and laughter as the trick-or-treaters headed off toward Beaumont Avenue.

“Come on,” Kate said. “If we’re going to do it let’s get it over with.” She stared at Aurora. “We are going to do it, aren’t we? I mean, you don’t want to back out or anything, do you?”