'Tis the Season by Judith Arnold Read Free Book Online Page B

he’d ever heard. “You saw the candles. I wanna see them, too. I bet the spirit lit them. I wanna see!”
    â€œI think we should go home,” Billy said, feeling very old and responsible.
    â€œThat’s no fair! I wanna see! If you make me go home without seeing the candles, I’m gonna tell Daddy.”
    She would, too. She’d go right ahead and get herself in trouble over this if it meant she could get Billy in trouble, also.
    Sighing, he weighed his options. He hadn’t seen anyone through the window, so maybe if Gracie took a quick look, she wouldn’t see anyone, either. And with the music, maybe they wouldn’t be heard. And if, just if, there was a ghost in the house, they were as good as dead, anyway—which was probably better than getting in trouble with Dad.
    â€œOkay,” he muttered. They moved together toward the window, Billy hunching down as they neared it. Once they were under the window, he wrapped his arms around Gracie’s middle and straightened, lifting her as high as he could.
    She gripped the windowsill and gazed inside. She didn’t squirm, didn’t speak, didn’t try to scramble higher. She didn’t even seem to breathe.
    And then, all of a sudden, she blasted out a scream loud enough to explode his eardrums. She shoved away from the windowsill so hard he fell backward, losing his footing and sprawling on the ground with her on top of him, still screeching like a maniac.
    â€œShut up!” he shouted, trying to wriggle out from under her. “Shut up, Gracie!”
    â€œAaaiiieee!” She clung to him and howled.
    â€œShut up!”
    Through her wailing he heard the creak of a window opening, and then another voice. A woman’s voice. “Hey, there! What’s going on?”
    â€œGet off of me,” he grunted, figuring if Gracie wasn’tgoing to shut up, at least she didn’t have to be sitting on his stomach, pinning him to the ground, with her mouth so close to his ear her howling was making him deaf. He wanted her off him, and he wanted to see whoever was talking to them. He peeled Gracie’s fingers away from his sweatshirt and heaved her to one side. She jumped to her feet and started running in circles, yelping and flailing her arms as if she was being attacked by wasps.
    He ignored her and turned to the window. It was brightly lit now, with real light, not just candlelight. The woman standing in the window was just a silhouette. But she was a real human being, not a ghost.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he mumbled. “We were just looking. My sister’s an idiot.”
    â€œI am not! I am not!” Gracie shrieked, bouncing up and down and zigzagging around the yard. “It’s a ghost! It’s a witch!”
    The woman laughed. “I’m not a witch. Meet me around by the back porch and you’ll see for yourself.” She turned from the window and walked away.
    Billy snagged Gracie on one of her sprints around the yard. “It’s just a lady, you moron,” he told her, giving her a small shake to get her attention. “She’s meeting us at the back porch.”
    â€œShe’s a witch. She’s gonna eat us,” Gracie whimpered.
    â€œDon’t be stupid. She’s not gonna eat us. She wouldn’t wanna eat you, anyhow. You’d probably make her puke.”
    â€œYou’re mean!” Gracie shouted, yanking her arm free and scampering to the back porch. She must have decided she’d be better off with a witch than with her own brother.
    He used the s-word again. Leave it to Gracie to act like such a jerk.
    By the time he reached the rear of the house, a porch light was on, spreading a bright yellow glow across the porch and down the steps. The woman stood on the top step, and Billy could see how, at a glance, Gracie might have taken her for a witch. She was wearing a sweater so long it came down nearly to her knees, and a skirt that came down