Sally’s hand reached for mine. I pulled her toward me. It was like she was falling through soft clouds, slowly and gently. She drifted into my arms and managed to get both her hands around my neck before the spell broke.
The chair tottered.
WHAM!
I lost my balance and went crashing to the floor. The whole house shook.
Sally crawled off my chest, unhurt. “Jason, we have to help Bobby,” she said urgently, her face all scrunched up with worry. She pulled at me. “Come on, get up. We have to hurry!”
It took me a couple seconds to get my wind back.
As I started to push myself off the floor, a door opened down the hall. It was Mom and Dad’s door. I was almost relieved.
“What’s going on out here?” Dad demanded. “Do you two know it’s the middle of the night?”
Before I could answer, Mom appeared, too, tying her bathrobe belt. “We know you kids are still excited about—everything—but you really have to go back to bed and forget all about ghosts and—”
Mom stopped suddenly with a sharp intake of breath.
“What the—?” breathed Dad.
They were staring wide-eyed at something behind me.
I turned.
Bobby was back. And my parents could see him.
37
The glowing light had faded a lot but it was still pretty impressive.
The shimmer clung to the outline of the small boy who stood looking at us from the other end of the hall. His eyes were big and sad. The rest of him wasn’t very substantial. We could see right through him.
But the eyes. They made you want to cry just looking into them.
Then he was gone. Just like that, he winked out.
“Impossible!” whispered Dad.
“His eyes,” breathed Mom. She grabbed Sally’s hand and clutched it tight. “That poor child. He looked so sad. So very, very sad.”
Nobody said anything else. It was like we all were waiting for what came next.
Then suddenly the attic door swung open by itself. A bright harsh light spilled out into the hallway, making everything look sharp and hard-edged.
“Hurry, Mom,” urged Sally, yanking on her hand. “We have to help. Up in the attic, quick! That’s Bobby’s bedroom.”
I figured my parents would never go for that. But much to my surprise Mom let Sally pull her along, and me and Dad followed.
I was scared but not as scared as I’d been other nights. I didn’t know why all of a sudden Mom and Dad could see him, too, but it was great having them with us.
Somehow it seemed like this time everything might work out all right. If we didn’t make any mistakes.
“Wait, Carol,” said Dad as we got near the attic door. “Let me go first.”
The three of us stopped and Dad went ahead.
When the harsh light fell on him it took all the color out of his skin so he looked gray. It was weird and unsettling to see him like that, but he waved to let us know he was okay.
Mom gasped. “You stay here,” she said, hurrying after Dad.
But of course we didn’t. Sally and I had seen worse things than light that made you look dead.
At the bottom of the stairs we looked up. The light made us squint, but we could see Bobby clearly. He was standing on the stairs, hugging his teddy bear and shouting defiantly.
“That’s my mommy’s ruby. Grandma gave it to her and you can’t have it!”
“Give it to me, you little brat!” The unexpected voice cut right through us.
The voice was young but I recognized it anyway. It was the old witch—the way she sounded when she was the nanny. A voice trapped in the past!
Her voice gave me shivers, it was so cold and nasty. I was glad we couldn’t see her.
“No,” cried Bobby, clutching his teddy bear to his chest.
Then he screamed in fear and ran down the stairs.
It happened so fast we couldn’t get out of the way.
But the terrified child ran right through us. He didn’t even know we were there.
BONNNNG!
The grandfather clock struck!
38
Suddenly it came to me! I knew what I had to do!
“Hurry!” I shouted, scooping up Sally.
“Jason!” cried Mom. “What are you doing?”
“Come on!” I yelled over my shoulder. “No time to explain.”
I raced down the hallway and hurried downstairs to the first floor, moving a little slower with Sally in my arms.
BONNNNG!
The clock struck again, louder than I’d ever heard it before. The sound echoed, bouncing off the walls and floors, making the whole house shake.
Suddenly there was a sharp CRACK! of lightning and I saw Mom and Dad frozen on the stairs. Thunder rolled over the house and a terrible wind rushed the house from all sides.
I pushed Sally under the stairs, afraid the windows might blow in again.
Mom and Dad came running down the stairs to join us. “Jason, what are you doing?” yelled Mom over the noise of the wind.
BONNNNG!
I shook my head, shushing her with my hand. I strained my ears. With the crash of the thunder, the howling wind, and the rattling windows I was afraid I wouldn’t hear in time.
The clock struck again. The floor shook under our feet.
Then a grating voice pierced the air. “Give it to me!” shrieked the nanny. “It’s mine, all mine!”
“No,” screamed the little boy, sounding more terrified than defiant.
And then came the running footsteps. Footsteps hurtling down the hall as fast as they could go. Little steps, then big ones crashing after.
Lightning flashed through the house and thunder, shaking the walls. But the sound of the chase above our heads was more terrible.
“Oh, Jason, please help,” cried Sally, hiding her face in her blanket. “Nobody ever tried to save poor Bobby. He’s all alone!”
Suddenly there was a tug on my arm.
I was nearly jerked off my feet.
39
“Come on, Jason!” shouted Dad. “Carol, grab Sally! We’ve got to get out of here before this whole house comes crashing down on our heads!”
“No, Dad, wait!” I cried. But he was pulling me toward the
