by PJ Ryan
Contents
Title Page
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Next Steps
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Other Titles
Legal Notices
Rebekah - Girl Detective #4
Ghost Hunting
By
PJ Ryan
Copyright © 2013 PJ Ryan
Cover Illustration by Carolina Storni
All rights reserved.
PJRyanBooks.com
“Rebekah - Girl Detective” is a short story series for children ages 9-12 with the remaining titles to be published on a regular basis. Each title can be read on its own.
You can join Rebekah’s fun Facebook page for young detectives here:
http://www.facebook.com/RebekahGirlDetective
I’d really love to hear from you!
I very much appreciate your reviews and comments so thank you in advance for taking a moment to leave one for “Ghost Hunting”.
Sincerely,
PJ Ryan
Chapter 1
Rebekah and her best friend Mouse liked to do everything together. They would play kickball. They would have mice races with Mouse's pet mice. They would even investigate mysteries together. But tonight they were not doing any of that. Tonight they were watching a very spooky movie. The spooky movie was Mouse's idea of course. Mouse was curious about all things spooky. He liked aliens, and ghosts, and monsters. At least he liked to learn about them. He did not actually like to see them in person. Of course, according to Rebekah, there was no such thing as an alien, ghost, or monster, but that didn't stop them from being good friends. With popcorn to share and the lights out, they sat in Rebekah's living room.
“Is this one a zombie movie or a ghost movie?” Rebekah asked as she tossed some popcorn in her mouth.
“A ghost movie,” Mouse replied as he too ate some popcorn. “It is really scary,” he warned.
“It can't be that scary,” she argued. “Because ghosts aren’t real.”
“That's what everyone says until they meet one,” Mouse pointed out.
"I have never, and will never meet one," Rebekah said, standing her ground. "Ghosts are completely impossible, and there is no way that anyone can ever prove they are real," she sighed as Mouse rolled his eyes.
"Just watch the movie!" he insisted and stuffed his mouth full of popcorn. He sneaked a few pieces to the little mouse in his pocket. His pet mouse munched down on the popcorn. The mouse did not care what movie was on television. It was a very scary movie though, and by the time it was over, Rebekah was a little creeped out.
"How am I supposed to sleep now?" she asked with a frown.
"I thought you said you weren't afraid of ghosts," Mouse teased.
"I'm not," she insisted. "But I am a little afraid of people who would make a movie like this!"
The two friends laughed and said goodnight. Rebekah went to her room and crawled into bed. She was a little nervous about the lights being out after that movie, but she ignored her fear and did her best to go to sleep.
Rebekah was having a very nice dream about white rabbits. Not the white rabbits of fairy tales but actual white rabbits that were hopping all over the place. She was chasing them across a field, and every time she caught one, she would let it go just so she could try to catch another.
“Come back,” she called to the rabbits. “Come back!”
Then suddenly all of the rabbits ran off, leaving Rebekah alone in the field. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye, a strange glow. It was a glow she was familiar with, but she could not remember exactly what it was. She closed her eyes for a moment to think, and when she opened them again, she was awake in her own room. She could still see the glow from her dream. In the darkness, it was really quite a scary glow.
“I'm not afraid of the dark,” Rebekah said quietly as she peered toward the window. “But maybe just a little afraid of that light.”
The eerie glow outside of her window made her eyes open wider. She sat up slowly and looked intently out through the glass. What she saw was more shocking than anything she could have expected. Walking past her window, as if it was not strange at all, was a woman in a white gown. It looked like she had white hair to match. In her hand was a candle. The flame flickered in the wind. She was walking very slowly. The gown was too long for Rebekah to see her feet. She could not believe what she was seeing. It was amazing, and scary. Could it be a ghost?
“Of course it's not a ghost!” she said to herself. “That movie has me going crazy!” she blinked her eyes a few times, certain that she was seeing some sort of reflection on the glass of the window. Then she looked again. There she was, still walking right across the back yard, with her candle held out in front of her.
“What in the world?”
As Rebekah pushed back her covers she saw the being continue to walk between her house and the house next door. The woman had no expression. She seemed to be staring off into the night. As hard as Rebekah tried to think of an explanation for her presence, she could not get her mind to settle down long enough to come up with a solution. All she knew for sure was that it was not normal to see a woman in a white gown walking across her yard in the middle of the night. Then Rebekah heard a strange noise. It was a chattering sound. It kept getting louder and it was all around her. It took her a minute to realize it was her own teeth! There was no way to deny it, she was scared! She dove back under her blankets and burrowed into her pillows. She was not going to scream for her parents, but she was not going to look out the window again. As she tried to figure out how a ghost could be real, she found herself drifting off to sleep. She knew that in no time she would be ghost food, but the blankets were warm and her pillow was soft.
Chapter 2
She woke to the sound of birds outside her window. She sat up quickly, trying to decide if she was still afraid. As she sat on the edge of her bed she had another thought. Had it all been a dream? She was sure that movie had made her think up things that were not true. That was all it was. But there was still a gnawing suspicion inside of her. She decided to prove to herself, that it was no ghost that had been walking through the yard, that in fact no one had walked through the yard at all.
She slid her slippers on her wriggling toes and hurried out the back door. Her parents were still sleeping. In fact the whole neighborhood was probably still sleeping. Still in her pajamas she crouched down and looked closely at the ground. Her eyes were still a little blurry from just waking up, but she was determined to find some evidence. She was sure a real ghost would not leave footprints. The ground was moist from the morning dew. The pants of her pajamas were getting wet at the ankles from the grass. She shivered a little in the cool morning air, but ignored it.
"No ghost here," she told herself as she noticed some bent blades of grass. There was no footprint though, as if whatever had bent the grass had been hovering above it.
"Er," she sighed as she shook her head. "No, Rebekah, no way, there is no such thing as ghosts," she was certain of this. However, as she continued to study the bent blades of grass she was surprised by something strange.
"Rebekah," a voice called out in a shaky scary tone. "Rebekah, why have you left me all alone!"
Rebekah gasped and started to run backwards. As she did her shoes slid in the wet grass and she fell right down on her bottom.
"Ouch!" she sighed. She started to stand up when the bushes began to move. She froze as she stared at the bushes. Was
it really the ghost? Had it come back for her?
"Rebekah, I'm sorry, are you okay?!" a worried voice asked as her friend Mouse emerged from the bushes.
"Mouse!" Rebekah huffed as she started to stand up. He reached for her hand to help her. "Why would you scare me like that?"
"Because," he tried to hide a smile. "I am usually the one that is scared, not you. I just had to take the chance to make you think ghosts might be real."
"For once," Rebekah shook her head. "I think you might be right."
Chapter 3
“Remember we were supposed to meet to go over the project for science class together?” he told her as she sighed and tried to get her heart to stop racing.
“Oh yes,” she shook her head. “I forgot. I had the strangest dream, all because of that movie. But I don't really think it was a dream.”
“A dream that wasn't a dream?” Mouse laughed. “Now that's a real mystery.”
“It really isn't funny,” she sighed as they walked back into her house. “Last night I saw something very strange.”
“What was it?” he asked curiously.
“It was someone pretending to be a ghost,” she replied firmly.
“Pretending?” he laughed. “How do you know they were pretending?”
“Because silly, ghosts aren't real,” she rolled her eyes as if that should be obvious.
“What if they are,” Mouse said. “What if you're wrong about this one?”
Rebekah lifted her chin in the air and huffed. “I am never wrong,” she insisted.
“Oh really?” Mouse asked. “What about the green meat in the cafeteria?”
Rebekah sighed. “Okay, well I might have confused broccoli cuts with meat, but anyone could do that.”
“Sure,” Mouse laughed.
“Mouse really, there's no such thing as ghosts, you need to face that,” she said firmly.
“Come with me to the library and I will show you all the books that are written on it,” he said. “Maybe we can find out why a woman in a white dress would be walking through your back yard.”
“Or maybe I can find all the books that prove there is no such thing as ghosts!” Rebekah said with a laugh. As they started toward Rebekah's house for her to get dressed, Rebekah noticed one of the flower pots had a small amount of water gathered in it.
“Did it rain last night?” she asked curiously.
“Very early this morning,” Mouse replied. “Why?”
“Well that explains it,” Rebekah said smugly. “There are no footprints, because the rain washed them away. But rain can't wash away bent grass. Our ghost definitely had feet!”
“Oh that's a relief,” Mouse laughed. “I guess?” he shook his head as Rebekah ran into the house to get changed as quickly as she could. There was nothing that she enjoyed more than a good mystery.
Chapter 4
When they arrived at the library there were more cars than usual in the parking lot. Rebekah thought it was odd, but she ignored it. She was determined to prove Mouse wrong. Inside the library there was a quiet buzz of people whispering. Mouse headed straight for the shelves in the back of the library, while Rebekah headed for the science section. A few minutes later they both met up at one of the large wooden tables in the middle of the library. Rebekah had one stack of books. Mouse had his own stack of books. They sat down across from each other, ready to prove each other wrong. As Rebekah looked through her books, she heard the door to the library swing open several times.
"According to these books, the only way you see a ghost, is if they need your help," Mouse said with a frown. He was flipping through the pages of several books. They were spread out on the large table in front of him. Rebekah was looking around with some confusion at all of the people in the library. She had never seen so many people in the library at one time before.
When the librarian Mrs. Peters walked by them, Rebekah called out to her quietly. “What is going on here?” she asked. “Why are there so many people?”
"Oh it's a special paranormal group," the librarian explained. "They're showing off all of the tools they use for their investigations."
“There are tools for paranormal investigation?” Rebekah asked with a skeptical frown. “How can there be tools if ghosts aren't real?” she wondered.
Mrs. Peters smiled patiently at Rebekah. “It is good that you are so interested in science Rebekah, but it is important to remember, that no one knows everything about the world. People are entitled to different opinions about what is and isn't real,” she paused as Rebekah sighed. “You should come see the tools, they are very scientific.”
“See,” Mouse announced proudly. “Scientific tools,” he grinned as if he'd won.
"Tools for paranormal investigation," Rebekah mused as she turned back to Mouse. "Sounds like we are in luck! Let's see what they have to say about our ghost!"
Chapter 5
They headed over to the two large tables covered with the equipment that the paranormal investigators had brought with them for their speech. The two men stood at the front of the library. They had all kinds of special tools for detecting ghosts and supernatural activity. Mouse was very interested. He kept leaning closer to see the different items. Rebekah, who always admired another detective, was more interested in the way they set everything up, so they would not be detected themselves.
“For this demonstration we will need everyone to keep very quiet,” the taller man said. He pointed to the librarian who was standing next to the light switch on the wall. The librarian turned off the lights, and the library was plunged into darkness. Then a faint glow began from the table where the men had their equipment set up.
“This low light will pick up on the slightest movement. If something moves, it will brighten,” the man explained. “This gives our cameras a chance to get a better picture of just what is moving.”
The man beside him began to speak next. “So while we are being very quiet, we also need to be very still. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get a signal that something mysterious is here with us.”
Rebekah rolled her eyes. She was certain that there would not be anything mysterious in the library, at least nothing more mysterious than the two men and their strange stories.
Mouse was much more interested than Rebekah. He kept inching closer to the glow. Everyone was very quiet, and very still. That was until suddenly the light began to glow very brightly, and something white and swift bolted across the table.
“Ah!” many of the people in the crowd exclaimed. Some even knocked over their chairs. Some screamed and ran for the door. The two men who were putting on the demonstration gasped with surprise. They had not expected anything like that to happen, that was for sure.
“Wait! Wait!” the taller man said. “This is a great chance for us to show you how this works,” he paused and swept his gaze over the people that were left in the audience. “Now who has an idea of what we just saw?”
“A ghost!” Mouse said as he stood up from his chair. “A real ghost!”
The two men grinned at his enthusiasm. “Maybe,” one said. “Anyone else?” he asked.
Rebekah frowned as she watched the two take answers from the rest of the crowd. She wasn't sure what the blur had been, but she knew that it could not have been a ghost.
“Well let's take a look at the recording,” the men suggested. “It is easy for the eyes to play tricks on the mind,” he explained as he was setting up the video feed. “That is why it is so important to keep a clear mind while you investigate.”
Rebekah nodded her head quickly, she could agree with them on that. She watched as the television screen flickered to life. Everyone in the crowd quieted down as they waited to see what had caused the blur. The video began to play very slowly, showing frame by frame.
“Uh oh,” Mouse said as soon as he saw the first frame with the blur in it. He checked his pocket. “Oh dear,” he whispered.
“What's wrong Mouse?” Rebekah asked as she continued to stare at the sc
reen. The next frame revealed the truth.
“Mouse!” the people began to shriek. “There's mice in the library!” another person hollered. They all began to scatter for the door.
“And just who might this belong to?” Mrs. Peters asked as she walked over with a small cardboard box. “As if I even need to ask,” she shook her head as she looked at Mouse. “Haven't I told you no pets in the library?”
“Sorry Mrs. Peters,” Mouse said as he took the box.
“Well you two caused quite a stir,” the two men laughed. “Thanks for giving us a chance to show off our tools.”
They began to pack up their equipment. Rebekah was relieved that they had not been upset with them. Mouse was busy trying to contain his pet, and kept glancing over at Mrs. Peters apologetically. She was going down a list of people who had been at the library and calling them to explain why there were not actually mice in the library.
"Excuse me sir," Rebekah said, her fiery red hair making it hard not to notice her.
"Yes?" he asked with a friendly smile.
"How would you go about catching a ghost?" she asked.
"Catching one?" the two men laughed. "You can't catch a ghost, it's not really possible."
Rebekah heaved a heavy sigh. "I am talking about a ghost who is pretending to be a ghost," she said to be more clear.
"Oh," the two men exchange glances and then shrugged. "Well I guess you would have to wait for them to show up, and then take pictures or video.”
The other man nodded. "If someone is pretending to be a ghost you should be able to prove it, as long as you record it,” he paused and lowered his voice. “You can’t dispute what is recorded. So make sure you get a good shot.”
“What if it's a real ghost?” Mouse asked nervously as his mouse pet poked its head up out of his pocket.