As I started for the stairs, Mom called me back.
“Your sister will be home soon,” she said. “I don’t want any talk about what happened here, okay?”
But I didn’t have to say anything to Sally. When she came in the house she noticed the change in atmosphere immediately. Even the air seemed lighter, easier to breathe.
“Bobby’s happy,” Sally told anybody who would listen. “He likes us.”
I felt a little chill every time she said that. I hated to think of Bobby left all alone here. But worse, I wasn’t so sure he’d let us leave him.
With all the excitement, supper was late that night. Afterwards Dad played Go Fish with Sally while Mom cleaned up. He was trying to calm her down but it didn’t work.
Then Mom came in and said it was time for bed. “We’ve had quite a day, but now it’s time to relax,” she said. “We all need a good night’s sleep.”
“Sure, Mom.”
She nodded as if that was settled. “Now, Jay, would you please help me put your sister to bed?”
I sighed and walked Sally up to her room. She wasn’t even slightly tired. “Bobby doesn’t want to go to sleep,” she confided to me. “Bobby wants to play.”
Mom was right behind us. Shaking her head, she came into Sally’s room.
“Bobby will just have to go to sleep,” said Mom, tucking Sally in. “We have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow.”
Afterward, she and Dad came to my room.
“What’s bothering you, Jason?” asked Dad, coming right to the point. “You seem very subdued.”
“It’s the shock, right?” put in Mom. “Finding out that horrible old woman’s been playing tricks on you all this time?”
“But what about Bobby?” I blurted. “Sally knew his name. How would she know the name of a dead boy unless he told her?”
Mom made a face. “Sally would have heard the old lady wandering around the house at night, muttering the little boy’s name,” she said. “She invented Bobby to explain it to herself.”
“That’s right,” said Dad, nodding in agreement. “She may be a little kid, but her imagination is just as strong as yours, Jason. Strong enough to make you believe in ghosts.”
He grinned and ruffled my hair. “The poor old lady was crazy. Naturally she wanted us out of her house. So she did her best to make the place seem haunted. After fifty-odd years here, she knew every inch and corner. Roving through the house at night, moving things around, banging on the pipes, cutting off the electricity, making spooky noises—she was the ‘ghost.’”
I pretended to be convinced. When they were gone I told myself it didn’t matter. We’d done everything we could. Now, we were going home and in a week Sally and I would both have forgotten Bobby.
My parents were sure right about one thing, I thought, stretching out on my bed. I was ready for a good night’s sleep. I dozed off immediately.
I dreamed about pleasant, normal things. Sleepy things.
And then the broken grandfather clock chimed midnight.
35
I was sitting bolt upright the instant I woke up.
BONNNG!
My scalp prickled. I forgot to breathe.
It wasn’t over. Bobby wasn’t going to let go of us that easy.
I braced myself for the sound of running footsteps down the hall. But the footsteps didn’t come.
BONNNNNG!
I heard faint whispering coming from the hallway but couldn’t make out the words.
Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to see what was happening. But just as I pushed off the covers, my bedroom door swung slowly open.
A glowing light appeared in the doorway.
Inside the light I could see, very faintly, the image of a small boy. Bobby.
“Jason,” came a far-off voice out of the light, “Jason, please save me.”
Then suddenly the mysterious light slipped away. The ghost boy was gone and I was left alone in darkness.
BONNNNNG!
The clock sounded louder, more insistent. Something told me to hurry.
I jumped out of bed and ran to the door.
The hallway was dark but there was another ball of ghostly light in front of Sally’s door. I could see shapes moving inside the light but I couldn’t make out what they were.
My heart began to pound with a strange fear. Sally!
I ran toward the light but I couldn’t seem to get any closer. It was blindingly bright.
Then I heard Sally’s voice.
“No, Bobby,” she cried. “No, don’t!”
Her frightened voice was coming from inside the light!
“Sally!” I shouted. “Sally!”
It was as if my voice broke through some barrier. The images inside the light took solid shape and turned toward me.
Sally and Bobby stood there, held together by the shimmering glow. They were holding hands. In her other hand Sally clutched her favorite blanket, like she was still half-asleep. Little Bobby held a teddy bear.
Bobby’s grip tightened on Sally’s hand. He frowned. His little body tensed. He was getting ready to run—and take my sister with him.
“No, Bobby,” I screamed, my heart slamming in my chest. I poured on a last burst of energy. I was almost there, almost touching them.
The ghostly light rose up off the floor. Bobby drifted up inside it—and so did Sally.
I leaped toward the light but it rose out of my reach. My hands passed through the glow and left trails of light. My fingers tingled.
Sally and Bobby were getting smaller and smaller, rising to the ceiling. He was going back to his ghostly world and taking my little sister with him—forever!
36
I dashed into Sally’s room and grabbed a chair to stand on. I positioned it under the ball of light and climbed up. “Sally,” I yelled, “grab my hand!”
But she didn’t seem to hear. The light bobbed gently away from me. It was growing dimmer and smaller, taking my sister with it.
Then I heard Sally’s voice again. “No, Bobby,” she said firmly. “This isn’t the right way. NO!”
She jerked her hand out of his grasp.
There was a loud POP! and Sally fell backward, out of the glowing bubble.
I lunged over the
