The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh Read Free Book Online Page B

Central all night?”
    Jack thought Euri would get mad, but instead she looked uncomfortable. “I’m not a haunter.”
    He gave her a skeptical look.
    “Look,” she said crossly, “haunting isn’t like what we’re doing now. It’s not like you get to hang out and talk. It’s one-sided. Here, I’ll show you.”
    Euri shot up to a penthouse window and hovered outside it. “Take a look.”
    Inside the apartment, on a finely upholstered couch, sat a silver-haired man and a stately blond woman reading a book to a small Asian girl in red pajamas, who sat in between them. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and in the corner of the room stood an enormous Christmas tree decorated in white lights, a silver star on top grazing the ceiling. Jack had almost forgotten that just days ago it had been Christmas—he and his father had celebrated it with a scraggly tree they’d bought on Christmas Eve and a few practical gifts. But in a living room the size of Jack’s entire apartment was the Christmas he had always imagined— outsize stockings, big red nutcrackers, silver bowls of peppermints, garlands of pine and sprigs of mistletoe, knee-high piles of books and toys under the tree. A small white dog slept by the fire, and a maid crocheted in the corner. The little girl looked up to the woman and said something, and both she and the man laughed.
    Euri hurled herself at the closed window and Jack shut his eyes, expecting to smack into the glass like a bird. But instead, the air turned warm; and when he opened his eyes, he was floating with Euri inside the penthouse. “Merry Christmas!” Euri shouted at the family. Then she began singing “Silent Night” at the top of her lungs.
    Jack froze, half expecting the entire family to turn around and scream at the sight of Euri standing in the middle of their living room. The pallor of her skin was gray, and angry strands of hair had loosened from her ponytail and were poking up around her face. But the family took no notice of her or of Jack.
    Only the maid looked out the window and into the night with a slightly worried expression. “The Vandermeers’ holiday party is tonight,” she remarked.
    Euri started in on the second verse. “‘Shepherds quake at the sight,’” she screeched.
    The blond woman looked up. She had a long, elegant face that, without a smile, made her look as imperious as a statue. “We haven’t gone in at least five years,” she said. “I suppose we should go.”
    The little girl jumped off the couch and began to dance next to Jack. “No, no, no, no-o-o-o-o-o!” she said, hopping from one foot to the other. “Don’t go!”
    The silver-haired man laughed and turned to the woman. “Quite a show. What do you say, Mom?”
    “I didn’t really want to go, anyway.” The woman smiled and held out her arms. “Okay, Janie. We’ll stay with you.”
    “‘SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE!’” shrieked Euri. With a final whoop, she flew at the window, pulling Jack back through it and onto the ledge. She stood there for a quiet moment, the wind whipping through her hair, her back turned to the cozy scene in the penthouse. “See,” she finally said, “that’s haunting for you. Pretty boring. Let’s go.”
    “Did you know those people?” Jack asked.
    Euri gave a hollow-sounding chuckle. “Nah. First time I’ve seen them in my death.”
    Euri dove off the ledge, yanking Jack with her. He didn’t believe her. He wanted to ask more questions, but could tell from the way that she avoided his gaze that the conversation was over. He regretted pushing her to haunt. Her mood had turned sour. She began to fly faster than before, dipping between buildings and then hurtling over the rooftops. She kept her face turned away from his.
    “We’re almost there,” she said at last, pointing to an enormous marble building with a Beaux Arts facade of columns and arches. Two giant stone lions guarded the entrance.
    “The New York Public Library,” she announced as they