The Barking Ghost

20

"I don't get it!" Fergie cried in a trembling voice. "Where are your parents? Where's Mickey?"

I led her down the hall, in the direction of the barking.

"I told you," I whispered. "They can't hear the dogs. I don't know why. No one can hear them but us!"

We turned into the living room and gasped.

Two sets of red eyes glowed in the dark.

I reached for Great-grandma's lamp, but knocked it over. It crashed loudly to the floor.

The dogs barked.

Fergie clutched my shoulder. Her hand trembled. "Turn on the lights! Please!" she pleaded.

But before I could reach the switch, the lights snapped on.

We spun around. And there stood Mom on the stairway, glaring down at us. "Cooper! Margaret! What on earth are you two doing?"

"It's the dogs, Mom!" I cried. "See? They're — "

"What dogs?" Mom called.

I spun around.

No glaring red eyes. No dogs. Except for Fergie and me, the room stood empty.

"Wow, your mom sure was upset," Fergie whispered as we trudged back down the hall to our rooms.

"But now you believe me, right, Fergie?" I asked. "You heard the dogs yourself!"

Fergie nodded. "For sure. There were definitely dogs here."

"Go to sleep!" Mom called sternly. "Immediately!"

"Okay, Mom!" I called back. I turned to Fergie. "We'll check out the woods in the morning," I told her. "Those dogs have to be somewhere!"

"Good idea," Fergie agreed. "See you in the morning."

Back in my room, I couldn't fall asleep. I sat on my bed and tossed a baseball into the air. I watched the numbers slowly click by on my alarm clock.

I thought about the dogs. They were definitely here tonight. Fergie had heard them, too.

But how do they get in and out of my house? I wondered.

And how do they vanish into thin air like that?

And why do they keep bothering me? Why?

I tossed down the baseball and crept into the hall.

I knocked softly on Fergie's door. "It's me. Can I come in?"

"What's wrong?" she whispered, opening the door.

"Listen," I said. "I don't think I can wait until tomorrow. Let's search for those dogs now"

Fergie narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "It — it might be dangerous," she stammered.

"I don't care," I told her. "Let's go."