The Ghost of Fossil Glen by Cynthia DeFelice Read Free Book Online Page A

maybe you could come over and we could fool around on the computer. Maybe do some searches.”
    Allie was puzzled. “Searches? For what?”
    Dub shrugged. “I don’t know. Stuff about ghosts.”
    Allie stared at him. “Ghosts? Dub, you don’t really think—” She stopped. She could see that Dub was serious. And, the truth was, it was exactly what she’d been thinking, but she’d been afraid to say it out loud. She hadn’t even wanted to think about the possibility…
    Ghosts.
    For as long as she could remember, she’d been hoping for something really exciting to happen. She’d believed in the unbelievable, expected the unexpected. She’d wanted it to be true that there was more to life than the everyday world people saw. But now that something totally inexplicable seemed to be happening, and happening to her, she felt partly thrilled and partly afraid.
    â€œI know,” said Allie. “Come with me to the shop. It won’t take long to look at a desk. Then we can go to your house.”
    â€œOkay,” agreed Dub.
    They reached the cemetery and began working where they had left off. Soon they met the other members of the team near the middle. When they had straightened and cleaned the last headstone, they all stood together and stretched their tired backs. Most of the other teams were finishing up, too, and were looking around at the results of their work.
    â€œHey, this place looks great,” said Brad.
    Mr. Henry joined them. “It sure does.” He called the rest of the class over and said, “The buses will be at school soon, so we need to get back to the room quickly to get ready for dismissal.”
    He looked around again and smiled. “You should all feel proud of what you accomplished here today. I’ve been thinking: what if we turned Earth Day into Earth Week or even Earth Month? We still have our composting project to do, and we seem to have lots and lots of questions about Fossil Creek and Fossil Glen.”
    The kids nodded enthusiastically.
    â€œOf course,” said Mr. Henry with a smile, “that means we’ll have to come back here for lots of field trips. Maybe you’d rather stay in the classroom all spring?”
    â€œNo way!”
    â€œField trips, all right!”
    Somebody cheered, and Joey gave an ear-splitting whistle of approval.
    Karen raised her hand. “Do we have any homework tonight?”
    â€œNo homework.”
    â€œYes!”
    â€œExcellent!”
    â€œBut I’ll probably be up half the night doing mine,” added Mr. Henry.
    The class looked at him quizzically.
    â€œI’ll be reading your journals,” he said. “And knowing you all, I’m sure I have a fascinating evening ahead of me.”
    Dub and Allie exchanged a glance. “Little does he know,” said Dub with a mischievous grin.

Ten
    â€œHi, Mom,” Allie called as she and Dub walked through the door of Mrs. Nichols’s shop.
    â€œHi, Al. Back here,” a muffled voice replied.
    Allie and Dub walked through the main part of the store, past tastefully arranged groupings of furniture, paintings, china, glassware, quilts, and books to a small room that seemed to be overflowing with clutter. Papers, folders, empty packing boxes, crumpled newspapers, and an odd assortment of antiques and framed pictures were piled haphazardly on every available surface.
    Mrs. Nichols was bending over a carton, poking through the contents. She looked up, brushing her hair from her face, leaving a streak of dirt across her forehead. She looked hot and sweaty, and her clothing was covered with dust. “Hi, you two.”
    â€œGee, Mom,” said Allie, looking around, “if my room looked like this, you’d have a fit.”
    â€œIt is a mess, isn’t it?” said Mrs. Nichols cheerfully. “It’s all this new stock I’ve gotten in the past two days. I’m trying to