Horror at the Haunted House by Peg Kehret Page A

was stolen.” Then, seeing the look on Mrs. Whittacker’s face, he added, “I would want you to get it back and not have it be broken. But I thought the police might come and investigate. Maybe Ellen would have been a witness. Maybe she would have to go to court and tell how she knew that the bowl was gone and I would have to go, too, to tell how I ran and got you. Maybe . . .”
    “Maybe you had better see if your parents are waiting for you,” Mrs. Whittacker said.
    They were. As usual, Corey ran ahead and began talking the minute he opened the car door. By the time Ellen reached the car, Mr. and Mrs. Streater had heard all about how Ellen and Corey had thought a bowl was stolen but it turned out that Agnes had taken it home to fix it.
    Mrs. Whittacker walked out with Ellen and talked to Mr. and Mrs. Streater for a few moments. “I don’t know how we would manage without these kids of yours,” she said.
    As the Streaters’ car passed the gates at the end of the Clayton driveway, Ellen tuned out Corey’s voice and thought about Lydia.
    The first time Ellen felt the cold wind, she had been looking at the octagonal bowl. Agnes didn’t take the bowl home until Saturday night. By then, Lydia had appeared to Ellen, one way or another, several times. If the fact that a bowl was missing wasn’t what Lydia wanted her to notice, what was it? What did she want?
    Ellen’s anxiety quickly returned.
    That night, Ellen awoke, feeling cold. The clock beside her bed said 2:30 A . M . For a moment, she feared Lydia was in her room again.
    She lay quietly alert but did not see the ghost, nor did she feel a wind or the pressure of icicle fingers. Maybe I just got uncovered, Ellen thought. Maybe that’s why I woke up.
    She snuggled under her blankets and closed her eyes. Then she heard something. She raised her head, listening. The sound came again.
    Prince was whining. He wasn’t outside the door, trying to get in, as he sometimes did at night but she was sure she had heard him whine. He must have whined earlier, too; that must be what awoke her.
    Prince never needed to go out during the night. Was he sick? Worried, Ellen swung her legs over the side of the bed. She put on her robe and opened her bedroom door. The whining came again.
    She followed the sound into the living room and stopped. Lydia glided toward the front door. Although she was clearly visible, she was also transparent. Ellen saw Lydia and, at the same time, she saw her father’s favorite reclining chair, which was directly behind the ghost.
    Prince whined again and Ellen realized the ghost was not alone. As Lydia moved, Corey followed, a few steps behind her. Prince was next to Corey, pawing at the floor and whining, obviously trying to get Corey’s attention.
    “I’m not supposed to go anywhere without telling Mom or Dad first,” Corey whispered.
    Lydia moved ahead of him and beckoned for him to follow.
    As Ellen watched them, she felt as if she were viewing a home video. She heard their voices and saw their actions but shedid not feel like she was actually there in the living room with them. The scene had an other-worldly quality, a feeling of unreality, and she felt oddly detached from it. It was the same trancelike sensation she had experienced the night she almost followed Lydia out the door.
    Corey stepped closer to Lydia. “If I go with you to Clayton House, will you come and visit my class at school?”
    The ghost beckoned again.
    “That would be so cool,” Corey said. “If I tell Nicholas and the other kids I saw a ghost, they’ll think I’m just making up a story. But if I bring you with me, they’ll know it’s all true.”
    Lydia floated through the front door.
    Corey hesitated for only a moment. Then he said, “Wait for me,” opened the door and went out. Prince tried to go with him, but Corey pushed the dog back, slipped through the opening, and shut the door.
    As the door closed, Prince barked. Ellen’s feeling of unreality