The Creepy Sleep-Over (5 page)

Dunkum awoke with a start.

He heard pounding. “Dunkum? Are you in there?”

It was Miss Hershey!

“I can't open the door,” he cried. “I'm stuck!”

“Don't worry, dear,” his teacher said. “I'll get you out.”

And she did.

Click!

The panel door opened and Dunkum crawled out.

“You're the winner, Dunkum! You fooled
all
of us,” said Miss Hershey.

“Hoo-ray for Dunkum!” the kids shouted.

Abby and Jason were clapping.

“We thought we'd never find you,” Eric said.

Dunkum was pleased. But he felt sorry, too. “I got a little carried away,” he said.

Miss Hershey shook her head. “Oh no. Don't be sorry. I said this house was good for hide-and-seek. But I didn't think it would swallow you up.”

“It sure did,” Jason piped up. He went to the wall and pushed the secret panel. He made it open and close. “Check it out! Why didn't I find this place?”

The others took turns with the wall panel.

Finally, their teacher said, “It's very late. Did everyone bring a sleeping bag?”

“And stuffed animals!” Abby said.

Dunkum wished now he'd brought one. He followed the kids back downstairs.
He whispered to Eric, “Did
you
bring a stuffed animal?”

“ 'Course I did,” Eric said. “Didn't you?”

“I thought only the girls would,” replied Dunkum.

Abby pinched up her nose. “Not really. You should see the stuffed animals Jason brought. He's got a lizard and a—”

“OK, OK,” Jason interrupted. “Just mind your own business, Abby!”

Dunkum wondered why Jason said that. Was he angry with Abby?

“It's almost midnight,” Miss Hershey said. “Everyone's tired.”

Dunkum wasn't. Not really. He'd snoozed for about half an hour inside the library wall.

“The living room will be the boys' bedroom,” Miss Hershey told them. “Girls will sleep in the family room.”

Dunkum rolled out his sleeping bag next to Jason. He found his toothbrush
and flashlight. “Is there a bathroom after all?” he asked.

“Upstairs and three doors down,” Jason said.

Dunkum remembered all those doors. “I thought that door led to a bedroom,” he said.

“Nope, it leads to a huge bathroom,” Jason said. He pushed up his glasses. “Yes, Dunkum, Miss Hershey
does
have a bathroom. She has three of them.”

Dunkum nodded. “Guess that makes her a real human being, huh?”

“Three times over,” Eric chimed in.

Dunkum wasn't surprised anymore. He'd learned some interesting things about his teacher. Miss Hershey was very cool. Cats or no cats!

Only cool teachers played hide-and-seek with their students. Only the coolest teachers said they had a kid's heart inside.

Dunkum chuckled. He'd been so foolish. It was silly to think this house was haunted.

Really silly!

NINE

The living room was dark now.

All the boys were sound asleep. Except Dunkum. He was staring at the darkness. He couldn't get Poe's poem out of his head.

Once upon a midnight dreary
. . .

He looked around the room. Eric was curled up in his sleeping bag. Two other boys were snoring. Jason was breathing loudly.

Just then Dunkum thought he heard a sound. It wasn't a snore or a loud breath. It was something else.

He listened hard till his ears hurt.

Whooooooooooooooosh!

Was it the wind?

Dunkum couldn't be sure. Part of him wanted to get up.
Go look out the window
, he thought. Another part wanted to hide inside his sleeping bag.

He started to sit up.

Whooooooooooooooosh!

There it was again!

Dunkum's hands were shaky. He found his flashlight and flicked it on.

Ah, much better. He shined it around the room.

Piles of sleeping bags were everywhere. He shined the light on the windows. Curtains leaned against the window frame like giants. Beyond them he saw the outline of the porch.

Nothing to be afraid of
, he thought. Over and over he told himself.

The sound came again. It sounded like tapping. Was someone at the door?

He felt his muscles freeze. He pointed
his flashlight at the door. But the tapping changed places.

Quickly, he shined his flashlight on the wall.

Nothing there.

Phooey
. He switched the flashlight off.
I'm not scared
, he told himself.

Then he saw it.

A shadow on the wall! A big black shadow.

How can that be? It's dark
, he thought.

Dunkum felt his heart pounding. Still, he couldn't stop staring.

What
was
it?

He blinked his eyes shut. Then he opened them wide.

The shadow was a raven. The bird was huge. It had a long, scary beak and two skinny legs. And the body—the body was enormous.

It was just like Poe's raven.

Dunkum could hardly swallow. He was too scared to move.

Suddenly, the tapping stopped. The
whoooooooshing
stopped, too. And Dunkum heard only Jason's breathing.

“Hey, Jason,” he whispered. “Wake up.”

But Jason kept on sleeping. So Dunkum shook him. “There's a raven in the house,” he said. Louder this time.

Jason popped up. “Wh-a-at?” He rubbed his eyes. “Where's a raven? I don't see anything.”

“Look! Over there!” Dunkum pointed to the wall.

“Yikes! You're right!” Jason dove down inside his sleeping bag.

“Hey!” Dunkum leaned over and shook his friend. “You're no help.”

Slowly, Jason slid back up. “You're not really scared, are you?” he asked.

“What do
you
think?” Dunkum said. “I'm so scared, I wanna go home.” He meant it. “I'm gonna ask Miss Hershey to drive me home.”

“In the middle of the night?” said Jason.

“Yes, right now!” Dunkum started to push himself out of his sleeping bag. “I'm not staying in this haunted house another minute.”

Jason reached over and grabbed Dunkum's arm. “Wait. I have a better idea. Give me your flashlight.”

Dunkum handed it over. “Here.”

The boys got out of bed. They tiptoed to the window and looked out. It was snowing harder than ever.

“Guess you're stuck here,” Jason said. “Looks like a blizzard to me.”

Dunkum stared at the snow. He really wanted to go home!

Jason pulled on Dunkum's pj top. “Don't step on any bodies,” he said, laughing.

“That's not funny,” Dunkum said.

Jason turned and looked at the wall. “Whoa! It's gone,” he said.

“What's gone?” asked Dunkum.

“Your raven,” replied Jason.

Dunkum stared at the wall. The raven
was
gone!

“Maybe you were dreaming,” Jason said.

“But you saw it, too,” Dunkum reminded him.

“Oh, you're right.” Jason started to laugh. “But I'm not half as scared as you.”

Dunkum wondered why. His friend was being too brave!

Then . . . something moved. A black lump over in the corner, near the hallway.

Dunkum pointed. “Quick! Shine the flashlight!”

Hisssssssssssssssssssss!

“What's that?” Dunkum asked.

“How should I know?” Jason said.

Dumkum wanted to run.

TEN

“Who's there?” Dunkum whispered. “Who's hissing?”

Silence.

“Talk to us!” Jason said.

That's when Dunkum heard a new sound. A kitty-cat sound. “Mew.”

It was Milo. Miss Hershey's fat black cat. His eyes looked like gold marbles.

The cat jumped over Eric's sleeping bag. Milo ran out of the living room. As he did, something big and floppy fell over.

Dunkum picked it up and ran to the hallway. There was a night-light lit near
the floor. He held the floppy thing up to the dim light. “Hey, check it out,” he said. “Someone brought Big Bird to the sleep-over.”

Jason started to push up his glasses. But they weren't on his nose. Then he coughed kinda funny.

“Wait a minute! This is
yours
, isn't it?” Dunkum said.

Jason shined the flashlight on his own face. He made a silly look and his voice squeaked. “Can't help I still like my Big Bird.”

“But you were shy about it, weren't you? Isn't that why you wouldn't let Abby tell? Because
she
knew what stuffed animal you'd brought?” Dunkum said.

Jason didn't say anything. Probably because Big Bird was such a babyish thing.

So Dunkum dropped the subject. He wanted to check on something. He hurried to the living room and looked back at the hallway. He squinted at the night-light. He
got down on his hands and knees.

Yep. It was the right angle for a shadow.

Then he propped up Jason's stuffed animal. “Turn off the flashlight,” Dunkum said. “Watch.”

The boys stared at the wall.

“The shadow doesn't look like a raven
now
,” Dunkum said. “Not at all.”

He could hardly believe it. Had he only imagined the big black raven?

“Well, we solved that,” Jason said. “But next time, remember what the Bible says about fear.”

“Yeah, what?” asked Dunkum.

“When you're afraid, trust in God.” Jason talked into the flashlight. Like it was a microphone. Like he was a preacher. “Please don't ask me what chapter or verse.”

“Don't worry. I already know,” Dunkum said. “It's in the Psalms.”

“Cool!” said Jason. “Now let's get some Zzzzzzzz's.”

“Don't forget your Big Bird,” teased Dunkum.

“He's a funny-looking raven,” Jason said. He headed back to his sleeping bag.

But Dunkum stayed near the window. He watched the blizzard.