The Phantom Lollipop Man

by Pamela Butchart

  But there weren’t any ghost burns. And that’s when I noticed that I could feel a BREEZE and I gasped because

  that the phantom LOLLIPOP man was NEAR.

  And that’s when I turned around and saw it, leaning against the wall.

  The phantom LOLLIPOP man’s LOLLIPOP STICK!

  I ran all the way to class. I didn’t even CARE that Mrs Seith would be after me. There was NO WAY I was going to stand, alone, in that corridor with a PHANTOM and try to communicate with it about its

  But when I walked into the classroom, Miss Jones took one look at my tights and told me to stand outside in the corridor and that she’d be out to speak to me in a minute.

  I looked through the glass bit of the door and started waving my hands ALL OVER the place to get Zach’s attention. And when he looked I breathed on the glass and drew a LOLLIPOP STICK and an ARROW pointing down the corridor and Zach’s eyes went WIDE and he nudged Jodi and she looked at me and gave me a SALUTE and I knew that meant that she was about to do something

  Jodi whispered something to Zach and Maisie and then put up her hand and said something to Miss Jones. And then Miss Jones nodded and handed Jodi the TOILET PASS.

  Then Jodi came out into the corridor and said, “Let’s go!”

  But I said that if Miss Jones came out to speak to me and I wasn’t here then I would be in DEEP trouble because I was already ON THE RUN from the scary deputy head!

  But Jodi just smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Miss Jones won’t get a chance to come out and speak to you for at LEAST ten minutes.”

  And then Jodi pointed into the classroom and Maisie gave me a THUMBS-UP and I knew that she was about to cause a

  like she had done in the staff room.

  Then Jodi said, “Where’s the LOLLIPOP stick?”

  So I grabbed her arm and took her back down the bottom corridor.

  It was GONE. But thanks to the dinner ladies, we knew EXACTLY where the LOLLIPOP man would be heading. The LIBRARY!

  Jodi said that if we got there quick we could HIDE and wait until we smelled the

  and saw the chair cushion moving a bit and that then she would do the KARLY METHOD to COMMUNICATE with him.

  So we RAN down the corridor as FAST as we could and when we got there Jodi made us get down on the ground and crawl so that Mrs Bottery the librarian didn’t notice us because we didn’t have a LIBRARY PASS

  That’s when Mrs Bottery’s phone rang and Jodi whispered, “This is our chance.”

  And then she did a DROP AND ROLL under one of the bookshelves and I did the same. And even though it had been AGES since we did our DROP AND ROLL TRAINING at Jodi’s house my body just seemed to know exactly what to do without me even thinking about it. And Jodi says that that’s called MUSCLE MEMORY and it means that your actual muscles remember how to do something even when your brain forgets and that’s why Jodi makes us practise all her moves FIFTY TIMES IN A ROW.

  So then we COMMANDO-CRAWLED all the way to the back corner of the library and hid behind one of the bookcases and waited for the phantom LOLLIPOP man to arrive and sit in his chair.

  But then Mrs Bottery said, “HELLO?? Is there someone there??” I looked at Jodi and she put a finger to her lips.

  But then Mrs Bottery said, “If there’s someone here you’d better say now. I’m about to lock up for the day!”

  And I looked at Jodi with my WIDE EYES because I did NOT want to get locked in the library AGAIN like the time with the DEMON DINNER LADIES.

  I was just about to tell Jodi we needed to ABORT THE MISSION when I heard a

  And Jodi whispered, “That’s a ghost sound!!”

  And then I smelled the WEIRD SMELL!!

  And Jodi must have smelled it too because her eyes went WIDE.

  Jodi looked at me and I looked at Jodi and I knew that she was trying to decide whether we should run so we didn’t get locked in the library overnight or whether we should stay and try to communicate with the phantom.

  Then I heard Mrs Bottery put the key in the lock and I almost

  when Jodi said, “Run!”

  We RAN through the library shouting, “DON’T LOCK US IN!”

  Mrs Bottery looked a bit shocked when she saw us. And then she said, “Oh, thank GOODNESS it’s just you two. I SWEAR I’ve been hearing strange noises in here for WEEKS.”

  We tried to leave but that’s when Mrs Bottery said, “Wait. What are you two doing in here anyway? I didn’t see you come in. Do you have a library pass to be out of class?”

  So Jodi took the TOILET PASS out of her pocket and flashed it really quickly. And even though a toilet pass is not a library pass, it’s the same COLOUR as a library pass, so Jodi just took a chance.

  But then Mrs Bottery asked us loads of questions about what books we had been looking at and if she could help us quickly before she locked up.

  So Jodi said that we’d been looking for a POEM to read at the LOLLIPOP man’s funeral.

  And that’s when the librarian got a bit upset because she said that she hadn’t known that Jack had passed away. And I noticed that she was the only one (except for Maisie) who seemed to know the LOLLIPOP man’s name.

  The librarian went and got a tissue and blew her nose.

  And then she said, “Jack spent a lot of time here, you know. He sat in that old chair at the back almost every day. He always had his nose in a new book. Wasn’t much of a talker but he loved his books. I wondered where he’d got to.”

  And then Mrs Bottery laughed and said, “You know, I think he must have read almost every book in here over the years. I think he was trying to read them all!”

  That’s when I gasped.

  And Jodi’s eyes went wide.

  Because we’d just discovered the phantom LOLLIPOP man’s

  When we got back to class, Maisie was still lying on the ground and Zach was putting loads of wet paper towels on her head and Mrs Seith was there too.

  As soon as Maisie saw us she jumped up and said that she was feeling much better and Mrs Jones looked really relieved.

  Then when Mrs Seith AND Miss Jones EVENTUALLY finished telling me off about my tights AND going on the run, I sat down and me and Jodi told Zach and Maisie what Mrs Bottery had said about the LOLLIPOP man and that reading every book in the library was obviously his UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

  Maisie said that if we could get the LOLLIPOP man to COMMUNICATE with us then he could tell us which books he hadn’t read yet and we could all use our library cards to take the books out of the library and read them to him ALOUD because phantoms might not be able to turn the pages by themselves with their GHOSTY HANDS.

  The next morning I didn’t get to school until break because I had a dentist appointment. But when I got there, the new LOLLIPOP lady had already gone back inside the school. And even though it’s only a tiny road, you’re not really supposed to cross it without the new LOLLIPOP lady, or one of the teachers or one of the Year 6 Prefects.

  So I started waving at everyone in the playground to try to get someone’s attention and THAT’S when I heard someone say, “Time to cross, lass.”

  I gasped and dropped my school bag.

  It was him!

  I stood there frozen to the spot, just STARING at him because this was the first time I’d seen him since he was a PHANTOM. I was just about to run all the way home when he walked out into the middle of the road and held up his LOLLIPOP stick.

  Then he looked at me and said, “Across you go.”

  I had

  what to do so I just did what the phantom LOLLIPOP man said and crossed the road. And when I got to the other side I RAN.

  When I got to The Den I BURST through the door. And that’s when I saw that Jodi, Zach and Maisie were all wearing some sort of weird

  made out of plastic bags and egg boxes. And there were books EVERYWHERE.

  Then Zach said, “Where have you been? We’ve used all of our library cards to take as many books out as we could and Maisie says she’d going to read every sing
le one to the phantom LOLLIPOP man if she has to.”

  So that’s when I said, “STOP!” And everyone looked

  So I quickly explained what had happened when I was crossing the road and Jodi said, “He must be ready to COMMUNICATE WITH US!”

  And THAT’S when someone knocked on the door.

  Everyone FROZE because we’re the only ones who know about The Den.

  Jodi said that it was probably just Gary Petrie and that he might have followed us. So she got up and opened the door.

  But it definitely WASN’T Gary Petrie. And I knew that Jodi must have been right about the phantom being ready to COMMUNICATE with us.

  Because it was

  Zach got such a fright he jumped up and tripped over the bucket he’d been sitting on and landed on the ground.

  I looked at Jodi but she was sort of FROZEN TO THE SPOT. And she had her mouth wide open.

  And that’s when Maisie walked forward and said, “Hello, Jack. It’s good to see you.”

  And the phantom LOLLIPOP man stopped frowning and did an almost-smile. And then he said, “Here. That one over there dropped this.”

  I watched as the LOLLIPOP man pointed at me and then handed Maisie my bag. And that’s when I remembered I’d dropped it before when I got a fright.

  Maisie turned and handed me my bag and I gulped and took it from her.

  Then Maisie turned back to the LOLLIPOP man and said, “Would you like a cup of tea?” And Jodi sort of blinked and looked at me and I knew that she was in

  I was SURE that the LOLLIPOP man would say no or that he would just start to disappear in front of our eyes.

  But he didn’t. The LOLLIPOP man looked a bit surprised at being asked about the tea and he said, “Oh. Um. I suppose so, yes. I could use a cup of tea. I’m frozen.”

  Jodi moved away from the door and let the phantom LOLLIPOP man in and Zach jumped up and gave him a bucket to sit on.

  Maisie asked Zach if he would please make the tea because Zach always makes the tea and Zach RAN over to where the teabags are and started making loads of noise with the cups and spoons because he was obviously panicking.

  Then the LOLLIPOP man said, “Don’t suppose you lot are supposed to be in here, are you?”

  But before we could answer the LOLLIPOP man said, “Don’t worry. I won’t say a word. I know all about being places you’re not supposed to be.”

  And we knew that the LOLLIPOP man meant that he wasn’t supposed to be HERE any more and that he should have PASSED OVER into the Ghost World by now.

  Jodi eventually snapped out of her SHOCK and sat down on her bucket and Zach handed the phantom LOLLIPOP man a cup of tea. The LOLLIPOP man took a sip of the tea and then spat it back into the cup. And I didn’t know if that’s just the way phantoms drink tea or if it was because Zach used cold water from the tap.

  Maisie went into her bag and took out a biscuit and gave it to the LOLLIPOP man and he seemed to be able to eat that fine. Then when he finished the biscuit he said, “Right. Well, thanks for the tea and biscuit. I’d better be off. Shouldn’t really be here. But I can’t seem to stop sneaking back for an hour or two each day. Habit, I suppose.”

  And Maisie, “We know. But before you go, can we ask you something?”

  The LOLLIPOP man looked at us all for a second and then he sighed a bit and said, “Suppose I can’t stop you.”

  So that’s when Maisie started asking him about the library and if he still went there and if he wanted to read all the books in the library.

  The LOLLIPOP man sighed again. And then he said, “I miss being in there, surrounded by all those books. And that chair! Well, it’s the comfiest chair I’ve ever sat on, I’ll tell you that. I’m surprised you’ve noticed me in there. Not often people notice me. Not the teachers or the pupils. To tell you ones the truth, I’ve always felt like I’m invisible in this place. Don’t know why I still bother coming here. Not much else for me to do. I worked here for over fifty years, did you know that?”

  And we all shook our heads because we didn’t.

  Then the LOLLIPOP man said, “Aye. Fifty years and not so much as a farewell party. Well, that’s the people at this school for you. Mr Invisible, I am. Right, I’d better be off.”

  We watched as the phantom LOLLIPOP man put down his cup with his shaky ghost hand and started walking towards the door and that’s when I realised that the reason he had been so grumpy all these years was because he thought no one cared about him.

  And that’s when Maisie said, “WAIT! Can you meet us in the library tomorrow after school? Please?”

  The LOLLIPOP man looked at Maisie for a bit and then he said, “I can’t do that, I’m afraid. Like I said, I’m not meant to be here.”

  Maisie stood up and I could see that she had tears in her eyes.

  And she said, “Please, Jack. PLEASE. We just need to give you something. It’ll only take a minute. And then you’ll be free to leave for ever. I promise!”

  The phantom LOLLIPOP man scratched his ghosty, white moustache with his hand for a minute and then he said, “Fine. I’ll be there.” And then he left.

  As soon as the door was shut I lay down on the ground because my legs felt like JELLY and my head was SPINNING.

  Zach kept saying, “Did you see his shaky hands? DID YOU?” Zach said that Jack must have had to concentrate REALLY HARD to stay VISIBLE and not turn into a

  the whole time he was in here and that that was why his hands were shaking.

  Then Jodi said, “So what’s the plan, Maisie? Are we going to ask Jack to tell us which books he’s not read when we meet him in the library tomorrow?”

  And Maisie smiled and said, “No. Not even CLOSE.”

  That’s when Maisie told us that she didn’t think reading all the books in the library WAS the LOLLIPOP man’s UNFINISHED BUSINESS. She said that she thought the LOLLIPOP man was upset because no one ever

  when he was ALIVE and that his funeral must have already passed and that no one from school even went to it to say goodbye and that that was TERRIBLE.

  That’s when I remembered that everyone we spoke to in the school didn’t seem to know the LOLLIPOP man very well and that some of them didn’t even know his name.

  Then Maisie said, “So that’s why he has to meet us in the library after school tomorrow. We’re going to invite all the staff and bring cake and give him the biggest goodbye party EVER!”

  The next day, I was really nervous about the Phantom Party because Maisie had made us tell all the teachers that it was a “CELEBRATION OF THE LOLLIPOP MAN’S LIFE” and that we would be reading a POEM and putting up the POSTER and that there would be LOTS of cake. But she hadn’t told ANYONE about the fact that the LOLLIPOP man was actually going to be there in the

  Me, Jodi and Zach had spent the night before making the poster and writing the poem. And Maisie had been baking like MAD in her kitchen with her mum and she kept sending us photos of all the different cakes they had made. Then when it was half an hour before the party, Miss Jones let us leave class early so that we could go to the library and set everything up.

  Then when we got there we all

  because the librarian had made the library look REALLY POSH with decorations and lamps and she was wearing a long dress and everything!

  Then the dinner ladies turned up and they’d brought LOADS of sausage rolls and sandwiches and MINI SHEPHERD’S PIES!

  Zach helped Maisie set up all her cakes and then Maisie wrote “WE’LL MISS YOU, JACK!” on the biggest cake with pink icing.

  Me and Jodi put up the poster and it had LOADS of stuff on it that we’d found out Jack liked, like a LOLLIPOP stick, and a drawing of his favourite chair and loads of books and some biscuits.

  Then the head teacher came over and handed us something in a box and said, “I hope this is OK. The office ladies told me you were raising money for one, so the rest of the teachers and I thought we’d help you out.”

  And we opened it and saw that it was better than OK actuall
y because it was a GOLD PLAQUE that you hang on the wall and it was engraved and EVERYTHING. And it said,

  As soon as we showed Maisie, she burst out crying and said that they were HAPPY TEARS because it was obvious that all the teachers DID care about the LOLLIPOP man and that maybe they just hadn’t been very good at showing it when he was alive.

  Then all of a sudden, the end-of-day bell went and Maisie told everyone to get ready for the

  And THAT’S when the phantom LOLLIPOP man walked into the library. And the thing that I was nervous about happening HAPPENED.

  The office ladies fainted and Mrs Bottery was running around with her hands in her hair and Miss Jones sort of fell to the ground and was mumbling something and the dinner ladies wouldn’t stop screaming and Mr Graves fainted RIGHT on top of a SHEPHERD’S PIE! It was CHAOS!

  And then Maisie shouted, “SURPRISE!!”

  Once the ambulance had taken some of the office ladies away, we all went over to where the LOLLIPOP man was having a seat because he looked a bit confused.