The Smoky Corridor

6

The Donnelly brothers.

They had to be. One was ten, the other maybe twelve. Both were dead. Zack could tell.

Hey, he’d seen a lot of ghosts in the past three months.

Both boys had sad and sunken faces. Both were wearing tweed suit coats and ruffled bow ties. Their heavy wool pants only went down to their knees, where long, thick socks took over.

“Didn’t you hear my brother’s question?” asked the younger one, his voice raw and scratchy.

“You got any fire sticks on ya, pal?” asked the older one, stepping forward and shoving his little brother aside. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at Zack.

Zack coughed a little. The corridor was filled with a smoky haze.

So how did the hall become hazy all of a sudden? Zack wondered. Is it fog rolling in from the river?

Or had the Donnelly brothers brought the smoke from their deadly fire back with them from the grave?

And what about the heroic teacher who had died trying to rescue the two boys? Where was his ghost?

“Are you guys Joseph and Seth?” he asked. “The Donnelly brothers?”

The two ghosts nodded.

“I’m Johnny Appleseed,” said the younger brother. “We need a Kit Carson.”

“You ready to join up, Zack?” asked the older, tougher brother—who sort of reminded Zack of all the bullies he’d met in 2010. “Or are you some kind of lily-livered sissy boy?”

“We’ll have a ton of fun, Zack!” wheezed the younger.

Zack didn’t ask the ghosts how they knew his name. They just sometimes did.

“Why are you two still here?” he asked. “Why haven’t you moved on from this place?”

“We’re sons of Daniel Boone, boy-o,” said the older brother. “This is our fort. We can’t desert our post because we’re not chicken like you!”

“But what about the teacher? The one who died trying to save you?”

The two boys smiled creepily as they recited a song that must’ve been around even in 1910.

Mine eyes have seen the glory

Of the burning of the school

We have tortured every teacher

We have broken every rule

We have marched down to the principal

To tell him he’s a fool

The school is burning down.

The Donnelly brothers took one step forward. Zack took one step back.

“Well,” he sputtered, “I, uh, gotta go.…”

Glory, glory, hallelujah

Teacher hit us with a ruler

Then he shot us in the head

To make certain we was dead

And we ain’t gonna say no more, no more.

The two boys slowly vanished. So did all the smoke and the sooty smells.

Zack heard the wooden door swing open behind him.

“What in blazes do you think you are doing back here, young man?”