The Ghost in the Tree House

by Dori Hillestad Butler

“How did you know to go inside that case?” Little John asked. “How did you know Henry would bring the case over here?”

  “Because I’ve been watching the solid children,” Mom replied. “I knew that the boy named Henry lived in this house. And I’d just seen you all in the window. So when Sam asked Henry if he wanted to borrow some cars, I saw my chance! They packed up the case, and I swam inside. It was the only way I knew to travel safely in the Outside.”

  “It seems our boys have been doing quite a bit of traveling in the Outside,” Pops said in a grumbly voice.

  “Oh?” Mom turned to Kaz and Little John with surprise.

  Pops folded his arms. “They’ve made friends with a solid girl,” he said.

  “WHAT?” Mom shrieked. “No! You boys wouldn’t be that foolish, would you?”

  “It’s not foolish,” Little John said. “It’s nice. Claire’s nice!”

  “She can see us when we’re not glowing and she can hear us when we’re not wailing,” Kaz explained. “And she takes us everywhere inside her water bottle.”

  “Hmm,” Mom said. “That sounds dangerous.”

  “It’s not,” Kaz said. Then he told his mom about C & K Ghost Detectives and all the cases he and Claire had solved. “None of our cases have led to any real ghosts. But we still found Cosmo, and Grandmom and Grandpop, and now you guys!”

  “You know where Grandmom and Grandpop are?” Mom asked.

  “Yes,” Little John said. “They’re at an old folks’ home. Claire takes us to visit them. There are lots of solids there who can see ghosts. Grandmom and Grandpop have made friends with solids, too.”

  “Maybe we should meet this solid girl,” Mom said.

  “I’ve met her,” Pops said. “I’ve even traveled inside her water bottle.”

  Mom’s eyebrows shot up. “You have?”

  “Yes,” Pops admitted. “The boys wanted to go to the tree house and rescue you. So I went with them. That was yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?” Mom said. She wafted into the kitchen where she could see the tree house. Kaz, Little John, and Pops followed close behind.

  “I did spend a little time in that tree house,” Mom said. “But not yesterday. That was several days ago.”

  “You weren’t there yesterday afternoon. But you were there last night, weren’t you?” Pops asked.

  “We saw you,” Little John said.

  Mom shook her head. “You didn’t see me,” she said. “I haven’t been there in at least three days.”

  “Then who did we see?” Kaz asked.

  The ghost family talked long into the night. They hardly noticed Margaret’s family eating dinner or cleaning up the kitchen around them.

  Kaz showed his mom all the new ghost skills he’d learned since they’d been apart.

  “That’s wonderful, Kaz,” Mom said. “I’m so proud of you.”

  He and Little John told their parents about the library. And the secret room.

  After the solid family turned out the lights and went up to bed, Mom and Pops shared stories about where they’d been since the old schoolhouse was torn down. They’d both been drifting from place to place, trying to find their family. Mom had spent time in a clothing store, a school (Claire’s school!), and several houses. She’d heard there were ghosts in the library, but she had never managed to find the library.

  Pops had spent time in an old barn, a farmhouse, a motel, and now this house. He hadn’t run into any other ghosts like Kaz, Little John, and Mom had. He was the only one who hadn’t.

  “There must not be a lot of ghosts in this part of town,” Mom said.

  “We know there’s at least one,” Little John said as he glanced out the kitchen window. “And guess what? It’s in the tree house right now!”

  Who is it? Who is that ghost?” Mom asked as they gathered around the window.

  A ghostly light bounced around the tree house. Just like the other night.

  “Maybe it’s Finn,” Little John said. Finn was the only ghost in their family they hadn’t found yet.

  Pops tried glowing on and off in short and long bursts: short-short-short-short. Short. Short-long-short-short. Short-long-short-short. Long-long-long.

  “What are you saying?” Little John asked.

  “He’s saying hello,” Mom said.

  “Does Finn know Morse code?” Kaz asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mom replied. She turned to Pops. “We should teach the boys Morse code.”

  “We should,” Pops agreed. “Then they could talk to us if we get separated again.”

  The ghost in the tree house drifted back and forth in front of the window. He didn’t stop at the window long enough for Kaz and his family to get a good look at him. And he didn’t respond to the Morse code message.

  “We need to find a way to get back to the tree house,” Pops said. “That’s the only way we’re going to find out who’s in there.”

  “We could wake Margaret up and tell her to call Claire,” Little John suggested. “Claire would take us to the tree house.”

  “We can’t call Claire in the middle of the night,” Kaz said, throwing his hands into the air.

  “Why not ask the solid girl to take us to the tree house herself?” Mom suggested.

  “She doesn’t see or hear ghosts like Claire does,” Kaz said. “If we start glowing and wailing in the middle of the night, we might scare her.”

  “Do you have to say no to every single idea we think of?” Little John asked.

  “I’m not really saying no,” Kaz said. “I’m saying we have to be careful how we ask her. We don’t want to scare her. It’s nighttime. Solid kids are even more scared of things at night.”

  “Kaz, maybe you or Little John should talk to her,” Mom said. “You’re kids like she is. She’s less likely to be scared of another kid.”

  “I’ll do it,” Little John cried out as he shot toward the ceiling.

  “No,” Kaz said, grabbing his brother by the foot and pulling him back. “I’ll do it. You’re not exactly subtle, Little John.”

  Little John clucked his tongue. “I can be subtle,” he said.

  Mom put her arm around Little John. “Let’s let Kaz do this, okay?”

  “Fine,” Little John said. “Can we at least go with him?”

  “Only if you’re quiet. And you don’t glow,” Kaz said.

  Kaz swam up to the ceiling and passed through into Margaret’s bedroom. Little John, Mom, and Pops passed through right behind him.

  Margaret was sound asleep, snoring in her bed.

  Kaz drifted over. “Ghost . . . ,” he wailed softly into her ear. “Ghost . . . in . . . the . . . tree . . . house . . .”

  Margaret slept on.

  Little John snorted. “There’s such a thing as being too subtle, you know.”

  “Shh!” Mom said, squeezing Little John’s shoulders.

  “Why? She can’t hear us,” Little John said.

  “Ghost . . . ,” Kaz wailed again. “Ghost . . . in . . . the . . . tree . . . house . . .”

  This time Margaret rolled over.

  “There’s . . . a . . . ghost . . . in . . . the . . . tree . . . house . . . ,” Kaz wailed. “Go . . . there . . .

  “Go . . . to . . . your . . . tree . . . house . . . Go . . . to . . . your . . . tree . . . house . . . and . . . bring . . . a . . . water . . . bottle . . . with . . . you . . . Put . . . some . . . water . . . in . . . the . . . bottle . . . You . . . can . . . pour . . . the . . . water . . . on . . . the . . . ghost . . .”

  “Kaz!” Mom, Pops, and Little John said at the same time.

  “What are you saying?” Mom cried out in shock.

  “I’m trying to give her a reason to bring a water bottle with her,” Kaz said. “So we can travel inside it.”

  Margaret tossed her blank
ets aside and walked sleepily over to her window. Kaz wondered if she was even awake as he and the rest of his family drifted around her.

  The tree house was dark.

  Margaret went back to bed. The tree house remained dark the rest of the night.

  When Margaret woke up the next morning, Kaz wailed to her again. A new message: “Get . . . Claire . . . Get . . . Claire . . .”

  Margaret’s eyes grew wide. “Who said that? Is there a ghost in my room?”

  “Yes . . . ,” Kaz wailed. “I . . . won’t . . . hurt . . . you . . . Just . . . bring . . . Claire . . .”

  Margaret grabbed her backpack and scurried away. Kaz hoped Margaret got the message.

  The ghosts had Margaret and Henry’s house to themselves for most of the day. Mom watched the tree house for signs of a ghost. Kaz and Little John played with Margaret’s and Henry’s toys. And Pops figured out how to turn on the computer and get into Henry’s bug-zapping game.

  When Margaret came home, Claire was not with her.

  “Darn,” Kaz said.

  After dinner, the doorbell rang. Kenya and Olivia came in with small suitcases and sleeping bags.

  Still no Claire.

  Then the doorbell rang again. This time it was Claire. Like Kenya and Olivia, she carried a small suitcase in one hand and a sleeping bag under the other arm. She also had her detective bag on her back and her water bottle draped over her shoulder.

  “Finally, you’re back!” Kaz said.

  Claire grinned at Kaz. Her eyes widened at the sight of Kaz’s mother behind him.

  “Claire,” Kaz said. “This is my mom. Mom, this is Claire!”

  “Nice to meet you,” Kaz’s mom said politely. She kept a bit of distance between herself and the solid girls.

  Claire couldn’t really talk to the ghosts in front of Margaret, Kenya, and Olivia. “Thanks for inviting me to your sleepover!” she said to Margaret as she adjusted the sleeping bag under her arm.

  “I’m glad you could come,” Margaret said.

  The girls trooped into the kitchen with all their things. Kaz, Little John, and their parents wafted after them.

  “Are you girls sure you want to sleep in the tree house?” Margaret’s mother asked.

  “Yes,” they chorused.

  “We’re going to catch a ghost tonight,” Margaret added.

  “Or . . . we’re going to catch some boys pretending to be ghosts,” Kenya put in.

  “Well, I’ll leave the back door open in case you want to come back in during the night,” Margaret’s mom said. “Wait! Don’t forget flashlights.”

  “All set,” Claire said, patting her bag.

  Margaret opened a cabinet under the sink and pulled out two more flashlights. She stuck one in her pocket and handed the other to Olivia.

  “Let’s go!” Kaz said. He and Little John shrank down . . . down . . . down . . . and passed through the side of Claire’s water bottle.

  Kaz’s mom looked a little unsure.

  “It’s okay, Elise,” Pops said. “I’ve done this before.” He reached for Mom’s hand, and the two ghosts shrank down . . . down . . . down . . . and passed through the bottle.

  It was a little crowded with four ghosts, so they all shrank a little more.

  “Let’s go catch a ghost!” Margaret said as she opened the back door.

  It was starting to get dark outside. Margaret climbed the rope ladder first, and the other girls passed their suitcases, sleeping bags, and flashlights up to her. She piled everything on the porch and unlocked the door.

  The other girls climbed the ladder, grabbed their things, and crawled inside the tree house. Claire closed the door behind them and turned on her flashlight. Kaz, Little John, Mom, and Pops passed through the water bottle and expanded partway back to their normal sizes. It was too crowded to expand all the way.

  They looked around, but didn’t see any other ghosts in the tree house.

  “Maybe the ghost is hiding,” Little John said.

  “Where?” Kaz asked.

  “I don’t know.” Little John shrugged. “But he always comes back. So maybe he never really leaves.”

  It was a possibility, Kaz thought. Where could a ghost hide in here?

  “What makes you so sure there’s a ghost in this tree house, Margaret?” Kenya asked as she plopped down on a red pillow. Olivia plopped down on a green pillow beside her. Margaret and Claire unrolled their sleeping bags.

  “I don’t know if I dreamed this or it really happened,” Margaret said. “But last night while I was asleep, I heard this voice. It said there was a ghost in the tree house.”

  “That was me,” Kaz told Claire.

  “It wanted me to go out to the tree house and bring a water bottle that was half full of water and then pour the water on the ghost,” Margaret added.

  Kenya and Olivia giggled.

  Claire shot Kaz a look.

  “I can explain—” he started to say.

  “That had to be a dream,” Olivia said to Margaret.

  “I thought so, too,” Margaret said. “I got up and went to the window, but I didn’t see anything in the tree house. I’ve definitely seen a ghost out here other nights, though. So has Henry. Then this morning, I heard a ghost in my room. It wasn’t in the tree house anymore. It was in my room. It told me to get Claire.”

  “How does it know Claire’s name?” Olivia asked.

  “Wait.” Kenya held up her hand. “You think the ghost is in your house now?” she asked Margaret. “Then what are we doing out here?”

  Margaret threw her hands into the air. “I don’t know if it’s in my house. I don’t know if it’s out here. I don’t know where it is!”

  “But you saw a ghost inside your house this morning? For real?” Olivia asked.

  “Well . . . I didn’t see it. I heard it,” Margaret said.

  “How do you know it was a ghost?” Kenya asked.

  “Because it told me it was!” Margaret said.

  Kenya looked doubtful.

  Claire stretched her legs out in front of her. “We’ll see if any ghosts visit us tonight,” she said. “If not, it’ll still be fun to sleep in a tree house.”

  Kaz and his family floated around the tree house. Mom stopped in front of one window and peered outside. Pops hovered in front of the other window. Kaz and Little John drifted back and forth above the girls.

  “I wonder if that tree branch is hollow on the inside,” Little John said out of the blue.

  The other ghosts and Claire all turned toward the branch.

  “Hmm,” Kaz said. “If it is, that would be a good place for a ghost to hide.”

  Kaz stuck his arm inside the branch. “It feels hollow,” he said. He shrank down . . . down . . . down . . . then passed through the bark of the branch.

  “Our Kaz has gotten so brave,” Mom said from the tree house.

  Having his parents and Claire so close made Kaz feel brave. He blinked his eyes a couple of times to adjust to the darkness, then looked around. He was inside a narrow, hollow tunnel inside the tree branch. Bits of dirt and dust clung to the inside of the branch.

  Kaz shrank down . . . down . . . down . . . down a little more, and swam headfirst through the tunnel.

  “Hello?” he called. “Is there anyone in here?”

  He didn’t see any ghosts.

  He swam a little farther, until he came to a metal box that seemed to be blocking most of the rest of the tunnel. Kaz didn’t dare get too close to it. He could feel air from the Outside coming up around the sides of the box. That meant there was probably an opening to the Outside on the other side of the box.

  Kaz turned a somersault and started to swim back the way he had come.

  He stopped swimming when he heard a loud SCREAM above him.

  Mom, Pops, and Little Jo
hn suddenly appeared inside the tunnel with him.

  “What’s going on?” Kaz asked as he swam in place.

  “The ghost is back,” Little John said. “Only it’s not a ghost. It’s a kid with a flashlight!”

  “Who?” Kaz asked.

  Little John shrugged. “All we saw was the flashlight. Whoever it was just opened the door and came in. Then those girls started screaming and shuffling around.”

  “The intruder backed off right away,” Pops said. “Who wouldn’t with all the noise those girls were making? At least one of the girls ran after him. The others started to open the windows. That’s when we passed through the branch. We didn’t want to blow into the Outside.”

  Mom wrung her hands together. “Those solid girls will probably go back inside their house after they catch the intruder,” she moaned. “And then we’ll be stuck inside this tree forever.”

  “No, we won’t,” Kaz said. “Claire won’t leave us here. She’ll come back and rescue us.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Mom asked.

  “Positive,” Kaz said.

  Kaz?” Claire called from outside the tree branch. “The door and windows are closed. You guys can come out now. But hurry!”

  “See?” Kaz said to his family. “I told you Claire would come back.” He swam through the branch and back into the tree house. Little John, Mom, and Pops swam behind him.

  “I knew she’d rescue us,” Little John said as he started to expand.

  “No, don’t expand,” Claire said. She held out her water bottle. “Quick! Get in here.” She strained to see out the window as she spoke to the ghosts. “I think Margaret and Kenya caught the person who tried to break in. I want to see who it is.”

  “We do, too!” Kaz said as he passed through the side of the bottle. Little John, Mom, and Pops were right behind him.

  Claire flung the strap around her neck, then hurried out the door and down the rope ladder. When she was close to the ground, she jumped the rest of the way.

  It was dark outside, but a light on Margaret’s house lit up much of the backyard.