The Boys Return by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Read Free Book Online Page A

tap, tap.
    Steve couldn't contain a chuckle.
    “Do you see any lights coming on?” Jake whispered to Wally.
    Wally backed away from the house and scanned the windows. “Nope,” he said.
    “Tap louder, Tony,” Steve whispered, sticking his head in the window. “Maybe no one can hear it.”
    TAP…TAPPITY, TAPPITY, TAP, TAP, TAP, went the rapping on the water pipes, louder still.
    “Hey, cut it out, Wally,” muttered Jake.
    “What?” said Wally.
    “Leave me alone,” said Jake. “Quit bumping against me.”
    “I'm not doing anything. I'm clear out here,” said Wally. He strained to see Jake in the darkness, and then they saw it. They all saw it: the cougar, sniffing around next to Jake.
    “C-c-cougar!” gasped Jake, throwing up his hands and springing backward. The animal turned and sprinted across the yard, disappearing into the trees.
    “Cougar!” Steve croaked through the basement window.
    A moment later Tony came crawling out, Steve and Jake half dragging him the rest of the way, but he remembered to pull the window closed behind him. Then the boys were racing pell-mell down the hill to the footbridge, Bill and Danny and Wally at their heels, Josh bringing up the rear. They didn't stop till they reached the other side of the river.
    “What happened? Did they see you?” Josh asked, breathless.
    “No! It was the cougar! Right beside me!” Jake gasped. “I think it touched my neck with its nose!”
    “Oh, you're imagining things,” said Josh.
    “No! I saw it too!” said Steve.
    “So did I!” said Wally.
    “Man oh man oh man!” said Jake. “I've never been that close to a wild animal in my life! Do you think it was about to attack me?”
    “Probably wanted to sniff you out first, see if you'd taste any good,” said Steve, trying to make a joke. But no one laughed.
    Tony was upset that his little trick on the Malloys seemed to have been preempted by the cougar. “What about the girls?” he asked. “Did a light come on in Caroline's bedroom?”
    “No,” said Danny. “Maybe nobody heard the tapping.”
    “Great! So we —” Jake suddenly froze. “L-l-look!” he said.
    The boys turned around. There on the hill, on the Malloys' side of the bridge, stood the cougar, bathed in a spot of moonlight. It was standing very, very still. Only its tail was twitching.

Eight

A Small Suspicion
    “ C aroline, just shut up and listen!” Eddie whispered. “Is it coming from inside the wall or not?”
    “It—it sounds like it's coming from the bathroom!” Caroline said shakily.
    “Maybe Annabelle likes to tap out a song while she's on the pot,” Beth suggested.
    “Turn on the light!” Caroline begged.
    “No!” Eddie was firm. “If Tony was right, and the ghost just comes around once a year, this is our only chance to find out what it's all about.”
    Tap…tap… tappity.
    Slowly Eddie got out of bed. One foot touched the floor, then the other. Nothing grabbed her feet.
    “Why don't you try talking to Annabelle, Caroline?” Beth suggested. “If she's coming for you, you'd better set her straight.”
    Caroline inched her way out from under the covers. Beth was right. If she could talk Annabelle out of coming back every March twenty-second—if she could talk to a ghost at all —she would be famous even before she became a great actress. She would be known far and wide as Caroline Lenore Malloy, the girl who talked to a ghost. Well, she'd be known around school, anyway.
    Tappity… tappity… tap, tap… tappity.
    Caroline threw off the covers suddenly and sat up.
    “Annabelle?” she said, her voice shaking. “The g-girl you're looking for isn't here. I'm C-Caroline, from Ohio, and I didn't have anything to do with your drowning in the river. Your sister really, really tried to save you, but she just couldn't reach you in time. In fact, I hate to tell you this, Annabelle, but the truth is …well, you're dead, and you really shouldn't be walking around like this.”
    Tap, tap,