by Bxerk
The mare reared up and kicked out her front legs. Mom moved to the side of the horse.
“Are you sure that won’t hurt her Mom?” Nova asked.
“The clamp won’t inflict any damage to her nose. And it only hurts her if she fights it. That’s what it’s for.” Mom pulled Chocolate out, and Shade followed behind acting shy and scared. Wearing their gloves, Scott and Nova stood on either side of Chocolate holding the lead ropes.
“Let’s go.” Mom led the way. They tromped out a door on the side of the barn and down a thirty-yard rectangular concrete slab. They traveled down a cement ramp to a sixty-by-sixty yard slab of cement that ran in front of and under the dog runs.
"Mom, what color would you say Shade is?” Nova said. “Is she a dark gray? or a light black? I can’t tell. She’s, like maybe, a chocolate color? Which is so clash."
"She’s liver... huh...chestnut with flaxen mane and tail. Nova, grab more lead rope, yes that's good. If you look at her face, she has a dish like a good Arabian horse should have."
Nova could see when she looked at Shade’s head from the side, her face was a little bit concaved like a shallow dish. The nose wasn’t straight like on a quarter horse. She was going to have to get used to seeing that.
“Nova, she’s going to…” said Scott with a grunt as the horse tried to rear. “Pull down, Nova!”
The group left the cement slab and struggled toward the driveway, where the tractor trail to the gate started.
“Are you pulling down?” Nova said as she pulled down with all her strength. If she wasn’t careful, the horse might fall over on her. Takeesha grabbed some lead rope to help Nova.
“Watch your feet, Takeesha,” Nova said, “She’ll stomp on them if you give her a chance.”
Chocolate's head reared back, and her mother lost her hold of the nose pinch though it remained attached to Chocolate's nose. The horse shook her head, but the pinch stayed on. Scott and Nova were still pulling the horse down as hard as they could. In a few moments, Chocolate came back down on her own. She looked tired. Mom took hold of the nose pinch again. She squeezed it shut, regaining control. As soon as they started walking toward the gate once more, Nova asked, "Is Shade going to be unlucky Mom?" They left the driveway and started down the tractor path to the gate.
"Nova, don't believe everything you see, hear or read.”
"Why not?"
"I thought you wanted to be a leader."
“I do.
"Well then, you need to use your brain and reason to think for yourself."
They were at the gate. Scott and Nova took off the lead ropes first. Mom released Chocolate's nose and quickly got on the safe side of the gate. As horse and filly galloped to the back pasture, causing a huge dust cloud, Chocolate screamed for the other horses repeatedly as though she lost them.
Chapter 10 Ghosts
The thermometer read seventy-nine degrees when Nova arrived at the bike rack for the first day of finals at the Bardsville Jr. High School. Sweat ran down her back as she swung a leg over her bike. She locked the bike up and strolled inside. Students knocked on the decorative wood strip, which ran along the wall outside each classroom for good luck. Nova heard moaning and chains rattling down the hallway, but saw no ghosts yet.
She dropped off the three library books and searched for her friends. Brenda and Amanda were watching Nova and whispered, giggling behind their hands. Nova was still trying to imagine what they might be planning when she saw ghosts floating down the hallway right toward her. She felt her hackles rise up, and a feeling of deep despair overwhelm her. A cold shivering replaced the heat from her body. She had to get out of there. Nova turned the opposite direction, loped down a different hall and caught up to Takeesha at the water fountain.
"Oh, that's nasty!" Takeesha spit out the rusty water into the sink basin. "It actually tastes like blood now.”
"Oh, it better not. I’m thirsty. Nova bent down to take a sip. It was as bad as Takeesha said. “Pawh," Nova spit into the basin too.
"Uh huh, I told you."
"Walk with me, Takeesha. The haunting better not get any worse. I need to ace finals." Nova and Takeesha jogged outside to get the water bottle on Nova’s bike. A drop of rain splashed against Nova’s face then a drop ran down her cheek then another and another. It felt good. She bent down, grabbed the bottle, squirted some warm water in her mouth, and offered it to Takeesha, who rinsed her mouth, spit, then squirted some more then swallowed.
"Yeah, I need to get good grades too. You know what I mean?"
Nova nodded. “Let’s go to English.”
Nova opened the doors of the school building and stuck her head in to see if there were any ghosts. Her friend was behind her and grabbed her arm as she waited for an “‘all clear.’”
“Looks clear. No one is in the hall.”
They ran to class and sat down in the rickety desks. It was still early, but Brenda and Amanda were at their desks already too. Brenda had too much ink on her notebook as she scribbled and scribbled. Nova wondered what horrible thing she was writing—probably a curse or something against her.
“Hello, Nova no brains.” Brenda turned around in her desk and grinned at Amanda sitting at the desk behind Nova.
“Why do you have to be so ugly and stupid? You really shouldn’t have any friends.”
Nova noticed Amanda whispering to Takeesha and appraising her jewelry. Takeesha seemed to be melting as Amanda complimented her on her necklaces and rings. Oh no. Was she going to lose another friend to Brenda’s side?
“What are you looking over there for?” Brenda said. “She’s not your best friend anymore. I’m going to make her mine. She’s going to be my grunt, and what I says goes.”
Ms. Chilldress entered the room just as the bell rang. She wrote the word “TEST” on the marker board. She turned around and bent over her desk to pick up the test papers.
Ms. Chilldress straightened and lifted her chin to project her voice. "Thank you to the five of you who are interested in the science fair. I wish more of you were inspired."
In the back of the classroom, someone yelled, "Losers!" Ms. Chilldress gave the student who said that a stern look that made him blush and swallow. Nova smiled, and some kids snickered.
"Hopefully, more of you will be in the Jr. High science fair next year. Now, on to the final test," Ms. Chilldress said. “Please remove any books or papers from your desk and place them inside.”
The desks squeaked and thumped as the students prepared.
Brenda passed back the test papers over her shoulder to Nova and Amanda. It was in essay format. A lot of the students chanted or rubbed trolls or rabbits’ feet over the test for good luck. She rolled her eyes. Nova was going to try to ace the test without being superstitious.
After half an hour, Ms. Chilldress stood up. “Time’s up.”
Some students were writing as fast as possible.
"Pupils, no more writing." Ms. Chilldress stood near the front desk and started to collect the papers the students brought forth. The bell rang.
A blood- curdling scream split the air. Outside the classroom door was an executioner ghost piling large boulders on top of a young girl ghost crushing the life out of her.
The victim passed out. Her body was splayed over a roughly
cut-out rectangular slab or rock with her arms and legs tied to the four corners. The executioner ghost laughed as he lay down
more and more rocks that he plucked out of thin air. “If a dead
person sees someone,” the executioner said, “you will be next.”
A boy with black hair to his shoulders vomited white, yellow, and brown breakfast in the hallway. Little clumps of unidentified food inched its way toward Nova and Takeesha. They frowned as they tried not to step in it. Nova shuddered. Maybe she shouldn’t be superstitious. The ghost’s eyes, however, looked right through her, and that was enough to send a shiver up her spine.
Takeesha ran to her next class: Home Skills. Nova watche
d her slip on the tile as she took the corner. Nova tried to erase the thought out of her head of the girl getting crushed by rocks as she ambled toward the study hall room. She planned to spend some time on her American History notes, but the vision was still in her mind.
Suddenly, Nova shuffled right through a ghost in the hallway. Her curls stood on end. She could feel the static electric shock. The feeling of dread almost knocked her to her knees. Sweat oozed through her pores - until she was drenched. Nova looked back and saw a girl her age tied to a thick tree trunk with a pile of burning sticks surrounding her feet. The smell of burnt flesh and hair gagged her. Covering her mouth, Nova turned away and began stumbling down the hallway. Then her watch began to vibrate, and the red crystal face lit up. A live eye with a blue pupil peered out of it, and Nova heard a voice with a New Zealand accent.
“Nova, dear, are you all right? You didn’t get the willies did you?”
The bell rang. Nova was late to study hall. Still struggling to feel better, she talked into her watch.
"Yes and yes. I'll be fine in a minute. Thanks for asking."
When Nova looked down at her watch, the eye was gone. This was great! Leandra was watching over her. She sat in a desk next to Benny feeling a bit better.
"Hey Nova, who ordered so many ghosts?" Benny grinned. He sat in his wheelchair at a side table that was up against the wall. He was fiddling with some gadgets he brought in.
"You think it's a bit overboard too?"
"Oh Yeah."
"Yeah, I'm getting too distracted." Nova opened her American History notebook to the final test notes.
"I never get distracted,” Benny said grinning. “As a matter of fact, I can concentrate on two ideas at once.”
"Show off. And besides, you never have to study. You seem to know everything. You'll probably be skipped up to seventh grade next year."
Benny winked. "Not if I can help it.”
Nova smirked. "Who do you think the Principal will hire this time? Heads—psychics, or tails-priests?” Nova pulled a quarter from her pocket.
"Well, let's see... hmm...wasn't it psychics the last time. They did such a lousy cleaning job getting rid of the ghosts that the Vice Principal ended up doing it herself. I don’t think she did a very good job either.”
"I can't help you guess which way it will go, Benny."
“I guess, priests this time.”
Nova flipped the coin into the air and tried to catch it before it hit the floor, but it rolled away. A Brenda came into the room; her big foot stomped on it.
“Oh, a lucky quarter.” She put it into her pocket and sat down in her seat on the other side of the huge room.
Benny dug around in his bag and pulled out a small cookie, hiding it in his palm. “Are you going to get it back?” He brought the cookie to his mouth.
“Hey,” she yelled. “That was my quarter you found.”
The substitute teacher gave Nova a long, hard look and put
his finger to his lips. Nova gazed back at Brenda, who whispered “Prove it.”
Nova shrugged and turned back to Benny. “It’s just a quarter.” She looked over the things he brought from home.
“You should try one of my gadgets on some of the ghosts.” Benny held up four small, technical-looking things, with small windows for digital readings and various wires and antennae. Nova picked up one.
“That one’s a pocket voltmeter,” Benny said. Nova twisted it around in her hand, set it down, and looked at the next one.
“What’s this? Oh, it’s a small laser.”
She pointed a circular red light around near the floor.
Nova picked up another one. “So then what’s this?”
“It’s an ammeter for measuring electric currents,” Benny said. “You can clamp it on to things, see?” He pinched the trigger part of the long triangle and opened the red clamp at the top. It had a dial on it and a reading display window near the bottom.
“That wouldn’t work with ghosts. There is nothing to clamp onto.” Nova put it down with a thump.
“Shhhh! Nova.” They both turned to watch the substitute teacher. He continued to read his newspaper.
Nova picked up the final gadget.
“Oh, wow. What’s this?”
It was a rectangular box that had a digital display window and two wires at the top. It had buttons in the center.
“It’s a moisture meter,” Benny said, reaching for another small cookie.
“Let me have one… please?”
Benny rolled his eyes as he slipped her one.
She took it and pointed to the moisture meter.“Hmm… out of all of them, this one looks the most interesting. I’ll try it, thanks,” Nova said, munching.
“Here, I’ll show you how to work it.” Benny showed her how to turn it on and set the dial to zero. Then all Nova had to do was point it at a few ghosts. Nova picked it up and put it into her hip pack.
“I want it back when you are done.” Benny looked deep into her eyes.
Nova swallowed her cookie and nodded.
“Do me a favor and let Takeesha have the next pick. She hasn’t been herself lately, and if she is stuck with the last one she might get really mad.”
“I’m not afraid of her.” Benny shoved the blond hair out of his eyes. “Besides, first come, first served. That’s how I did it with you.”
“Oh, okay.” Nova shrugged. Her stomach felt much better now. The ghost effect had worn off. She turned around and started going over her notes.
At lunchtime, Nova and her friends came together at their favorite cafeteria table. They all handed back the instruments they’d used on ghosts – Takeesha did get second pick - and talked about what they found out.
“Max Kim, you look all excited.” Benny opened up a bag that had a pickle loaf sandwich in it. “What did the ammeter tell you?”
“Well, I was only able to try it out three times.” Max Kim grinned as he fiddled with a milk box and straw. “But it jumped whenever I got near a ghost.”
“Okay, so they do give off an electrical field. Takeesha, did you have any luck with the laser?”
“No, I even tried to see if reflected light off a mirror in the girl’s bathroom would do something, but it didn’t. I also held the laser up inside the ghost, and it didn’t do anything. I was only able to try my tests on one ghost.”
“I tried the voltmeter on two ghosts, but it didn’t do anything to either one of them,” Benny said. ”How about your test with the moisture meter, Nova?”
Nova wasn’t able to eat her lunch. “The meter didn’t do anything and did you notice that the ghosts being killed all look like me?”
“What?” Benny said. “The ones I saw didn’t. That’s just your imagination going overboard.”
“I don’t think so. Look at that one right there.” Nova pointed to a ghost getting her hair pulled as she tried to get away. She was screaming as the two ghosts dragged her in opposite directions.
“See what I mean? The victim looks like me even though she has long hair.”
Benny studied the ghosts. “Yeah… maybe she does. So What does that mean if Nova is being depicted in these… what?... tortuous skits?”
Max Kim and Takeesha shrugged. They packed up their uneaten
lunch in silence – apparently none of them felt like eating now.
Outside the doorway of the auditorium, Brenda and Amanda waited as The Shade Riders passed.
“The ghosts picked the right victim,” Brenda and Amanda said, and laughed.
The word ‘victim’ really stung Nova. That made her so furious she wanted to punch Brenda’s lights out. Brenda continued to laugh as she pointed out the various ghosts hurting a “Nova” ghost. Nova tightened her right fist.
Before she was really aware of what she was doing, she pulled up her arm and let it fly, right into Brenda’s jaw. Brenda stumbled back, eyes wide. For the first time, she looked terrified. In the fraction of a second while she was throwing her second punch, Nova
remembered she was above the bullies. She pulled back in time. Her fist only touched Brenda’s cheek lightly. The bullies didn’t say anything more. They just turned around and ran down the mostly empty hallway.
Max Kim grabbed her arm. “How did you do that, Nova?”
“What?”
“How did you turn your eyes from blue to white to red!”
“What?”
Chapter 11 Science Fair
During the peak hours of dusk – a sliver of a moon was just visible - Nova traveled with her mom in the vet truck toward school. In the parking lot, a glorious aurora borealis billowed above the darkened school building. Waves of red, blue and purple light stretched across the vast sky. Back on the pavement, three silhouetted horses stood at a hitching post with their carts behind them. Fifteen bikes were locked to the bike rack.
Mom pulled to the curb. “I’ll pick you up in a couple of hours.” Nova closed the truck door, and Mom drove toward the farms where she would vet the sick or injured animals.
A few kids goofing off near the entrance ran inside when they saw Nova approach the doorway. “What is their problem?”
Nova strolled into the school and headed to the gym. The clean odor of floor wax, old books, and erasable board cleaner tickled Nova’s nostrils. She found her friends at one of the folding tables. “Hey you guys, I decided to come and haunt you.”
“You didn’t have to,” Max Kim said. “We’re already being haunted.”
Nova looked around and saw about ten ghosts harassing the science fair exhibitors.
“Great.” She noticed the ghosts were all staring at her. “Looks like you repaired your Autogyro.”
“Not just repaired. Now it sports a new motor, top propeller, and it has a communication system to talk to someone a mile away.” Sweat was pouring off Benny’s face and pooling on the table. He went back to trying to finish off a hamburger and fries from a local fast food place. He looked bound, and determined to eat, and miserable with the ghosts there. As soon as he swallowed the food he turned to his friends with a flushed and beaming face.