Haunted Island by Joan Lowery Nixon Read Free Book Online Page B

turned, facing the island. The early morning light sifted through the mists, illuminating a narrow beach that divided the water from the woods. A breeze rustled the pines that apparently had taken over much of the island.
    Amy tugged her sweater into place and folded her arms. “I’m going to stay right here,” she said.
    “You can’t,” Chris said. “Come on. Just a few steps, and we’ll be on dry land.”
    “My feet will get wet.”
    “They’re already wet.” He held out a hand. “Amy, we’ve got to stick together.”
    She stood up reluctantly, gingerly stepping out of the boat and into the shallow water. She followed Chris onto the beach.
    Chris studied the beach. “People could come here for cookouts. It’s pretty. Aunt Jennie could get a dock built right about where we’re standing, and maybe she’d want to clear out a few trees.”
    “What’s the matter with you?” Amy asked. “We just got scared to death by a ghost, and you talk about cookouts!”
    “I’m trying not to think about Amos,” Chris said.
    “He’s all I can think about.” Amy shivered again. “I wish the sun would come out. That would help.”
    Chris glanced at the sky. “It probably won’t. Look. The sky is overcast.”
    “More rain. That’s all we need,” Amy grumbled. “Why did Amos bring us here? What did he want?”
    “He told us it was time to put the ghosts to rest,” Chris said.
    “That doesn’t mean anything.”
    “It must have meant something to Amos. I guess we’ll have to figure it out.”
    “We don’t have to figure it out. We just have to get off this island.”
    “How are we going to do that?”
    Amy thought a minute. “We can send a signal. Remember that Amos said he had hung a torn shirt where people in town could see it. We could hang up something.”
    “What?”
    “My sweater?” Amy sighed. “It wouldn’t be big enough to see, would it? No, it wouldn’t. It will have to be something bigger. But what? I don’t know.”
    “If you stop having a conversation with yourself and listen for a minute, I’ll tell you my idea,” Chris said. “We can build a bonfire.”
    “Do you know how?” Amy asked.
    “Of course I do,” he said. “Learning how was part of that wilderness expedition I went on. We can gather up some of the pine branches that have fallen from the trees and pine needles and whatever else we can find. We’ll make a huge bonfire.”
    Amy ran to the edge of the pines and picked up a small branch. “Look! There’s lots of stuff in here under the trees.”
    “Just one thing,” Chris said. “We’ll have to find something to light the fire with.”
    “Oh,” Amy said. “Like matches.” She sat on the damp ground and rested her chin in her hands. “We won’t find matches in a place like this.”
    “We might find something else,” Chris said. “Amos spoke about a lantern. They had to have oil or kerosene or something for the lantern, and they had to have something to light it.” He paused and looked at Amy. “We’ll just look through the Hanovers’ house and see what we come up with.”
    “Oh, no!” Amy said. “There’s no way I’m going inside the Hanovers’ house.”
    “It won’t be so bad,” Chris told her. “We could see part of a roof and chimney, so some of it must still be standing. It’s just a small house. We can look through it and get out quickly.”
    “No,” Amy said.
    “Then I’ll look through it and you can stay here.”
    “No!” she said. “I don’t want to stay by myself.”
    “Would you rather live here on the beach until someone just happens to look at the island with binoculars or thinks of searching for us on the island? No one knew we were coming here!”
    Amy looked as though she was going to cry. “We’ll be okay, Amy,” Chris said quickly. “Let’s build the stack for the bonfire first. Then we can talk about looking through the house.”
    He began to drag small dried logs and branches from under the trees to the open