I didn’t see Sally. But what I did see hit me like a punch in the stomach. Sally’s favorite nubby blanket was balled up and stuck into the back of the closet like a rag!
I pulled out the old blanket. Was it my imagination or was it still warm? Sally might have been here just a moment ago. But where had she gone? Down the hall, maybe, to my parents’ bedroom.
Right. She got scared and went to Mom and Dad.
Pleased with my new idea, I was starting to back out of the closet when I saw something much worse than a discarded balled-up blanket.
A faint light was coming from the back of the closet. A sickening, greenish light. And shimmering in the light, stuck in a crack in the wall, were two long blond hairs.
Sally’s hair.
As I reached out the greenish light grew brighter and the crack shot up the length of the wall!
I fell back on my heels. A doorknob was forming before my eyes right in the wall! It was an old metal doorknob—and I knew what I was supposed to do if I wanted to get Sally back.
Swallowing past the huge lump in my throat, I made myself reach up and touch the doorknob. It was icy cold. But it turned easily.
The door that I knew couldn’t be there swung open without a sound. Cold air poured out on me, smelling of things shut up for years.
In the green glowing light I saw a steep, narrow staircase disappearing up into darkness. There was a strange smell. A stink that made my nose wrinkle.
Shivering in the cold, I groped my way into the open doorway. I had to go up. That was the only way to save Sally! But the cold seeped through my clothes and gripped my heart in an icy fist.
Suddenly I recognized the smell.
The phantom stairway reeked of fear.
16
I crouched to fit through the strange little door. The stairs were so narrow my elbows scraped the damp stone walls as I climbed.
I was shivering. Shivering so hard I was afraid I might fall.
How could Bobby ever have gotten Sally to go up these stairs? Poor Sally! Wherever she was, I knew she was terrified.
“I’m coming, Sally,” I said through chattering teeth. I’d never been so cold. This nightmare cold seeped into my bones and curled up there without getting any warmer as I climbed the stairs. Dreading every step.
The horrible dim green light moved with me but I still couldn’t see where I was going.
Then suddenly I was at the top of the stairs. I was standing in front of a heavy wooden door with big metal hinges. Like the door to a dungeon.
A thick iron bar lay across it, as if to keep some huge monster from escaping. I put my ear to the door but there was no sound from the other side.
Of course, Sally could be screaming her head off in there and I wouldn’t be able to hear her through that door.
The stink of fear was worse up here. It got into my nose and worked its way into my brain until I wanted to turn tail and run down those stairs like a gibbering idiot.
If I did that, Sally would be stuck behind this door with whoever or whatever put her there. She’d be stuck here forever on the other side of the ghost world.
With a tremendous effort, I blew out my breath and took hold of the iron bar. It was as heavy as it looked. But finally I lifted it out of its holders. I propped the bar against my leg and twisted the big metal ring that served as a doorknob.
With a shriek of metal on stone, the door opened.
I stared in surprise. It was Bobby’s attic room! The old-fashioned bedroom from a long time ago.
The greenish light vanished and a sad gray light took its place. I stepped inside, bringing the iron bar with me. But as I looked around, the big door swung soundlessly shut behind me. I heard the sharp snick! of the lock.
My stomach felt hollow. But my first worry was finding Sally. Then I’d work out how to get out of here.
The room had no windows, just Bobby’s narrow little bed, battered toy chest, and rocking chair. Nothing else. No one else.
The air had a heavy feel to it, like fear and unhappiness mixed together for a long time.
I’d been here before, of course, and nothing good ever happened in this room. But the bed and chair were empty. There was nowhere for Sally to hide. I stared around me like I’d been struck stupid.
I’d been so sure Sally would be here. Now what?
Why did Bobby’s ghost want me up here?
A tiny, far-off cry made the little hairs on my neck stand on end.
It was a desolate, hopeless cry. The cry of a child who didn’t expect anyone to come.
Slowly I turned around, holding my breath.
17
The closet!
I found myself staring at a low door cut in the sloping wall.
That’s where the cry was coming from.
I rushed to the door and grabbed the small knob. Locked. Of course. What else did I expect? Nothing was easy in this miserable old house.
My mind flashed on the iron bar. I’d left it propped against the wall inside the massive door.
In two steps I had it in my hand and turned back to the closet door. “Stand back, Sally,” I yelled. “I’m going to break it down.”
“Jason!” came Sally’s voice, scared and joyful at the same time. “Help!”
“I’m coming,” I shouted, bashing a hole in the door. In minutes I had the thing in splinters and seconds later Sally jumped into my arms.
“Bobby was in there forever,” she said, her voice thick with crying. “No one would come let him out. But I knew you would come. I told Bobby you would come.”
“Bobby locked you in the closet to see if I would come?”
