The Howling Ghost

by Christopher Pike

  Watch shrugged. “Maybe a shark got him.”

  Cindy wept louder.

  “Would you please quit being so depressing!” Sally yelled.

  “But you’re the one who’s been talking about sharks all day,” Watch said.

  “That was before Adam was missing.” Sally froze suddenly and then snapped her fingers. “I got it! Adam left the spot where you last saw him because he saw the wreck. It’s the only explanation.”

  “I didn’t see the wreck,” Watch said, rubbing the water off his thick glasses, which he had worn under his custom-made mask.

  “Yeah, but you’re half blind,” Sally said, pacing. “This is logical. And if Adam did go inside the wreck, there’s a good chance he found an air pocket. He could still be alive. We have to get more air. We have to go back down for him.”

  “We?” Watch asked.

  “Yes,” Sally said proudly. “I will risk my life to save Adam because my love for him is more powerful than my fear of death.” She stopped and glared at crying Cindy. “I bet you can’t say the same thing.”

  Cindy wiped at her face. “I don’t mind going after him.”

  Watch nodded. “You two go while I rest.”

  Sally threw another tantrum. “You have to go because you’re the only one who knows where you left him! You have to go back to that spot and search for the wreck. It has to be in that area.” Sally paused. “Actually, you’ll have to go alone. We don’t have any more scuba equipment.”

  “So much for your brave promise to save Adam,” Cindy said.

  Sally sneered. “It’s the thought that counts. But you can rest for a few minutes, Watch, while Cindy and I get you another air tank. Come on, Cindy, and quit sassing me. Adam’s life is all that matters now.”

  Watch nodded. “I’ll stay here to see if any huge trails of blood float to the surface.”

  Sally shook her head as she walked away. “Somehow I get the feeling you don’t know what a positive attitude means,” she said.

  8

  Adam had stopped screaming. The reason the skeleton had been rushing toward him was because—in his panic—he had been splashing in the water and created a mild current inside the stateroom. This had set the skeleton free to float toward him. The skeleton was not alive, after all, but as dead as any other creature that had gone down with the ship. Too bad Mr. Spiney wasn’t around to inspect it, Adam thought. The librarian probably would have loved the old sailor’s strong white bones.

  Adam didn’t know if anyone was coming to his rescue. He hoped someone was because he didn’t like to think what his bones would look like after he’d been rotting in the ship for a few years. He didn’t know what he could do to help his friends locate him. He wished Watch had given him a flare gun along with the flashlight. One thing was sure, he knew he couldn’t swim to the surface without another tank of air. He’d just have to be patient.

  While waiting, Adam studied the contents of the stateroom, trying to get an idea of what Captain Pillar had been like. Just looking at his skeleton didn’t tell Adam much. There were the usual things one would expect to be floating about: books, chairs, boxes of food, and cans of soup. But the most dominant item in the yacht was booze. It seemed that Captain Pillar had gone to sea with gallons of alcohol. Indeed, when Adam examined the skeleton closer he saw that Captain Pillar had plunged to his watery grave tightly clutching a bottle of whiskey. Even in death, he couldn’t give up the stuff.

  It made Adam wonder if the broken lighthouse had had anything to do with the wreck of the ship. Adam was pretty sure Captain Pillar had been so drunk that dark night thirty years ago that he hadn’t known where he was going, searchlight or no searchlight. If Captain Pillar’s ghost had swiped Neil, it had no right to do it.

  But Adam was almost positive there was no Neil down here. And he had a feeling that there never had been. Sally had jumped to her conclusion too fast. Adam doubted that Captain Pillar had anything to do with the disappearance of the boy. At least not directly.

  Adam just hoped he lived to tell his friends about his important observations.

  Time went by, and Adam began to get cold. He had on a wet suit, of course, but it didn’t keep him nearly so warm now that he’d stopped swimming. But he couldn’t move around too much because he’d use up the air quicker.

  He had another problem. The battery in his flashlight was dying. Every minute or so, the light would briefly flicker out. Each time it came back on, it was slightly dimmer. The underwater boat was spooky enough with light. In the dark, Adam didn’t know if he’d be able to stand it. The cold would seep into his heart and lungs, and he wouldn’t even be able to shout for help. He reconsidered. Maybe he should try to make one last dash for the surface. If his lungs exploded, at least it would be over for him soon.

  But Adam stayed where he was.

  He didn’t want his lungs to explode.

  He was sure it would hurt real bad.

  More time passed. His light flickered.

  But this time it didn’t come back on.

  “Oh no,” Adam whispered as he shook the flashlight. He played with the switch, turning it on and off. But it remained off.

  He was alone, in the dark. Underwater with a dead sailor.

  “This is worse than the Secret Path,” Adam whispered as he began to shiver. He’d never been in such a cold black place. He tried to think back to how it had all got started. Really, he’d just wanted his big excitement that day to be doughnuts and milk.

  “Yeah, but you wanted to be the big hero, too,” he told himself. That was the trouble with most movies and books, he decided. They didn’t tell the stories of all the heroes who didn’t live to tell their tales. He doubted there would even be an article in The Daily Disaster to describe his brave attempt to save Neil.

  “It’s a stupid name for a paper anyway,” Adam said between trembling teeth.

  More time went by. Adam began to lose the feeling in his hands, his feet. His constant shivering was slowly being replaced by a strange drowsy warm feeling. He knew that was a bad sign. He was getting hypothermia—he had read about it in one of his mother’s magazines. He would pass out soon, and drown, and the fish would eat him. It was a cruel world. It was a weird town.

  Then he saw a strange yellow light. He wondered if that meant he was dead, that an angel was coming to take him to heaven. He thought he deserved to go there since he had died so bravely. The light was coming up beneath him and it was getting so very bright. He wondered if his guardian angel would be fat and naked like the ones in the old paintings. He sort of hoped he had a nicer-looking angel, not that he was picky.

  But it wasn’t an angel.

  A human head popped up out of the water.

  “Watch,” Adam said softly. “What are you doing here?”

  Watch took out his regulator and pulled off his face mask. “I’ve come to rescue you.”

  “You took long enough,” Adam said, although he was happy to see his friend.

  “Sorry. I sent the girls for another air tank but they brought back a huge bottle of laughing gas instead. The dive shop in Spooksville also supplies the local dentists. They often get their inventory mixed up. I had to go back to the shop myself.” Watch searched around with his flashlight and nodded in the direction of Captain Pillar’s skeleton, which was still holding on to its whiskey bottle. “Is that the guy whose ghost stole Neil?” Watch asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Adam replied. “I really think the ghost is up in the lighthouse. I think there’s only one ghost. Remember that howling we heard? And there was no way that searchlight could have come on by itself.”

  Adam went on to explain his theory that the boat had crashed because the captain had been drunk, not because the searchlight was off. Watch thought that made sense. But he wanted to bring the skeleton with them anyway.

  “Why?” Adam asked.

  “Because you never know,” Watch said. “The ghost in the lighthouse might want to talk to it.”

 
Adam snickered. “Skeletons can’t talk.”

  “Yeah, and ghosts aren’t supposed to exist. Don’t forget where you’re living. I wouldn’t be surprised if the skeleton and the ghost got in a big argument. It won’t be the first time that’s happened around here.”

  Adam yawned. “We can take it with us if you want. If nothing else, we can give it to Mr. Spiney.” He pointed to Watch’s air tank. “Did you bring me an extra tank?”

  “No. But you don’t need it. We can buddy breathe.”

  “Is that dangerous?” Adam asked.

  “Not if just two people are doing it together.” Watch glanced again at the skeleton. “I don’t think he needs any air.”

  9

  Sally and Cindy were overjoyed to see Adam alive. Adam was surprised at how glad they were. They both had tears in their eyes as he climbed onto the rocks, although Sally quickly brushed hers away. Adam felt pleased to know he would have been missed if he’d died. This hero business did have its rewards. Not that he wanted another kiss or anything gross like that.

  “If it wasn’t for me, you would still be down there with the fish,” Sally said. “I was the one who figured out where you were. I never lost hope, even as Cindy and Watch were planning your funeral.”

  “That’s not true,” Cindy said. “In my heart I knew Adam would pull through.”

  “Yeah, that’s why you picked out a tank of laughing gas instead of air,” Sally said.

  Cindy was insulted. “You chose a tank with a skull and crossbones on it.”

  “Speaking of bones,” Watch said, with Captain Pillar in tow. “This is what Adam found in the ship. Don’t worry, Cindy, it’s not your brother.”

  “I can see that,” Cindy said, looking a little sick. The skeleton was draped with seaweed, and there was a tiny crab crawling out of one of its eye sockets. “There was no sign of my brother?” Cindy asked quietly.

  “No,” Adam said. “But I think we’ve been chasing after the wrong ghost. We have to search the lighthouse again.”

  “But we already searched it,” Sally protested. “Neil wasn’t inside. I would—”

  “Bet my reputation on it,” Watch finished for her.

  “We hardly searched the place before leaving,” Adam said. “What if the top floor had an attic above it?”

  Watch nodded as he stared up at the top of the lighthouse. “There could be a tiny room above the searchlight. At least it looks that way from here.” Watch shivered. “But it’s getting late and I’m hungry. Maybe we should try to save Neil tomorrow, after a warm meal and a good night’s sleep.”

  Cindy was agitated. “But you really think my brother might be stuck in there with an evil ghost?” she asked Adam. “If it’s true, I can’t leave him there another night.”

  “For all we know the ghost might be enjoyable company,” Watch said. “Remember Casper. He wasn’t a bad fellow.”

  “He was a whiner,” Sally disagreed. “He was always complaining about being dead. He should have had to live in Spooksville for a few weeks, see what we go through. Then he would have stopped his moaning.”

  Adam shook his head. “We have to go back inside the lighthouse and we have to go now. Before it gets completely dark.”

  “Should we bring the skeleton?” Watch asked.

  “It might look nice hung up beside the spider webs,” Sally said.

  “I don’t care if you bring it,” Adam said. “Just get this scuba equipment off my back.”

  The girls crossed over to the lighthouse on the rope. Watch and Adam were still in their trunks and they swam. This time they had a flashlight. It was good because the sun had set while Adam was trapped underwater. Just as they stepped inside the lighthouse, Sally reminded them that all the bad things that had occurred had happened at this exact time of day.

  “You don’t have to wait till midnight to see a ghost in this town,” Sally said.

  Adam was relieved to get inside. The interior of the lighthouse was much warmer than the jetty, and he was able to stop shivering. But it was more than comfort that encouraged him. Adam felt as if they were finally closing in on Neil. What had happened in the lighthouse earlier had scared them. That was why they hadn’t come back right away. But after his terror below the sea, Adam felt ready to face anything.

  They started up the long spiral staircase. Like the last time, it was hard climbing. Soon they were hot and sweating. But no one asked to stop and rest. Watch continued to drag the skeleton with him. Remarkably, the dead captain still managed to have a hold of his whiskey bottle.

  After about ten minutes they reached the trapdoor that led into the upper level. Watch raised his hand for them to stop.

  “Now remember,” Watch said, “if the searchlight suddenly comes on, close your eyes. We don’t want you to stumble around. You might fall down this opening.”

  “I won’t do that again,” Cindy said, anxious to keep going.

  They entered the upper level. Watch set the skeleton down and studied the wires on the searchlight again. The rest of them examined the wooden ceiling, something they hadn’t thought to do before. Adam focused the flashlight on several grooved lines in the wood.

  “Those look like they could be the outline of a door of some kind,” Adam said, pointing.

  “But how are we going to get up there?” Sally asked. “And how are we going to open the door? There’s no knob, no lock.”

  “Let me go up first and check it out,” Adam said. He tapped Watch on the shoulder. “Help me shove that desk over, and then I’ll put that chair on top of it.”

  Watch studied the ceiling. “You still won’t be able to reach it.”

  “I will if I stand on your shoulders,” Adam said.

  Watch was impressed. “If you fall, you’ll break your neck.” He added, “You might pull me down with you.”

  “It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Adam said firmly.

  “There he goes trying to impress Cindy again,” Sally muttered.

  “I’ll follow you up into the attic, Adam,” Cindy said, interrupting Sally with a nasty look.

  Together they moved the desk. Watch and Adam climbed onto the desk, and Sally and Cindy handed them the chair. Watch carefully positioned the chair and got up on it, taking a moment to balance himself.

  “How much do you weigh?” Watch asked Adam.

  Adam shrugged. “I don’t know. Less than you.”

  “If you fall, don’t grab my hair,” Watch said. “And tuck the flashlight in your belt. But keep it on.”

  Adam did as he was told. Then he looked back up at Watch. “How am I supposed to get up on your shoulders?” he asked.

  “It’s your plan,” Sally muttered.

  “Climb up on the chair beside me,” Watch said. Again, Adam did what he was told. “Good. Now give me your foot. I’ll boost you up. Remember what I said about my hair.”

  “If I lose my balance, can I at least grab your ears?” Adam asked.

  “I suppose,” Watch said. “Just don’t pull too hard. I don’t want to have to go to the hospital to have them sewn back on.”

  “Spooksville’s main hospital is located only a block from the cemetery,” Sally said. “And there’s a good reason. There’s a surgeon who works there who has this thing about people’s spare parts. Every time he operates, he tries to get out all the spare parts. I know this kid at school, Craig, who went into the hospital to have his tonsils out. And this surgeon removed one of Craig’s lungs while he was at it. Now we all call Craig Breathless.” Sally added, “But at least he doesn’t have to take PE anymore.”

  “What’s this surgeon’s name?” Adam asked, thinking if he ever got sick he’d be sure his parents didn’t request him.

  “Dr. Jonathan Smith,” Sally said. “But the hospital staff just calls him Dr. Ripper.”

  “Could we please have a little less history,” Cindy said. “And a little more action.”

  Sally was insulted. “You haven’t lived here long. At times like this, a little kno
wledge of Spooksville might save your life. Why I remember one time this troll was—”

  “I’m going up,” Adam interrupted. “Ready, Watch?”

  Watch clasped his hands together for Adam to step on. “Ready. The second you step on my shoulders, brace your arm on the ceiling. That should keep you from falling.”

  Adam hesitated. “You don’t have to sneeze or anything?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” Adam set his foot in Watch’s cupped hands, and Watch boosted him up. With his other foot Adam immediately stepped up and onto Watch’s shoulder. For an instant he wobbled dangerously, and he was sure he was going to fall. The floor suddenly seemed so far away. It would be weird to almost drown and then fall to your death in the same day, Adam thought.

  “Grab the ceiling!” Watch shouted.

  Adam threw his right hand up and touched the ceiling. Actually, there was nothing to grab because the wood was relatively smooth. But, as Watch had said, he was able to brace himself by pressing against the ceiling. In a moment he had regained his balance.

  Adam panted. “That was close.”

  “You weigh a lot more than most twelve-year-olds,” Watch grumbled.

  “I’m not that big,” Adam said.

  “You have high density,” Watch replied. “I can’t hold you long. Study the grooves. Look for a way in.”

  Adam didn’t have to study anything. The moment he touched the space between the grooves, a three-foot-wide panel pushed up into the ceiling. Grabbing the edge with one hand, Adam carefully reached for his flashlight with the other and focused it into the opening.

  “Do you see anything?” Cindy asked, anxiously.

  “Darkness,” Adam said honestly. “I’ll have to climb up into the space.”

  “Be careful,” Cindy whispered.

  “The time for care has passed,” Sally said ominously.

  Adam tucked the flashlight back into his belt to keep both hands free. Telling Watch to be extra still, he moved his hands so that he was grabbing the corner of the opening. Counting to three, he yanked up hard with his arms, pulling his body off Watch’s shoulders. But he wasn’t able to throw his legs into the opening. Suddenly he was dangling in midair, without support. Watch had climbed down from the chair onto the desktop.