The Ghost of Slappy Read online

  I was bursting to tell her the real story. But somehow I held it in.

  I didn’t feel like eating. My stomach felt like it was tied in a tight knot. I couldn’t stop thinking about the dummy upstairs in my closet and how I had to get it out of the house. Somehow, I forced myself to eat half a plate of spaghetti.

  After dinner, I went up to my room to wait for Carlos. I texted him. He said he was on the way.

  Hurry! I typed.

  What’s the emergency? he texted back, but I didn’t answer.

  I definitely couldn’t tell him over the phone. I was afraid he might not come.

  I stood in the middle of my room with my arms crossed tightly in front of me. I tried to force away the chills that were running down my back.

  “Carlos? Where are you?” I murmured.

  I cried out when I heard a sound. From inside the closet?

  I held my breath and listened.

  Yes. A scraping sound. Definitely inside the closet.

  And then a metallic sound, the clang of clothes hangers hitting each other.

  “Ohhhhhh.” I stared wide-eyed at the closet door, as if trying to see through the wood.

  Another soft clang.

  My whole body shuddered.

  Without thinking, I moved to the closet. My hand felt icy cold against the metal doorknob.

  With a hard tug, I pulled open the door—stared into a pulsing white light—and leaped back in horror as Annalee came bursting out, howling a shrill animal howl, reaching for me … reaching …

  Her long red hair billowed over her head as she flew from the eerie light behind her. Her eyes were pale, so pale they appeared totally white. And her mouth was open in a silent screech.

  What was she doing here? She had never come upstairs before.

  I ducked as she grabbed at me. A gust of cold air followed her hand. The whole room had grown cold. I dropped to my knees as she came at me again.

  The icy wind swirled around me. I raised my eyes and saw her mouthing a word, over and over. Was it my name?

  She floated lower. I tried to roll away.

  I could see through her hands as she reached for me. I saw right through them as she came closer …

  I couldn’t keep it in any longer. I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs.

  “Noooooooo! NOOOOOOOO!”

  Somehow, I scrambled to my feet. Struggling to catch my breath, my heart thudding noisily in my chest, I lurched to the bedroom door—and out into the hall.

  I stopped when I saw Carlos at the top of the stairs. He came rushing toward me. “What’s wrong?” he cried. “Shep? What is it?”

  “I … uh …” I struggled to choke out some words. “Inside …” I pointed frantically to my room.

  Carlos brushed past me and stepped inside. I hesitated for a moment, then followed him in.

  Carlos gazed all around.

  There was nothing to see. The closet door was open. But there was no eerie, pulsing light. No Annalee. Nothing. Nothing at all.

  He turned to me. “Why did you scream like that?”

  Think fast, Shep.

  “Oh. I … uh … I stubbed my toe,” I said. I hopped on one leg, wrapping my hand around the other foot. “Wow. That was really intense. Hope I didn’t break the toe.”

  He squinted at me. I’m not sure whether he believed me or not. Finally, he shrugged and dropped down on the edge of my bed.

  “Don’t sit down. We have work to do,” I said.

  “What are you talking about?” he demanded. “Didn’t you call me over to play World of War? Where’s your Xbox?”

  “We don’t have time for games,” I said. “This is serious.”

  Carlos stared at me but didn’t reply. He was waiting for me to explain.

  Instead, I crossed to the closet. My heart skipped a beat. Was Annalee waiting inside to ambush me?

  Heart pounding, I ducked my head in and peered all around. Dark now. No pulsing light. Slappy was sprawled on the floor where I’d left him, eyes shut, mouth hanging open.

  I lifted the dummy off the closet floor and carried him out.

  “Whoa!” Carlos let out a startled cry and jumped to his feet. “How did you get that? Is he alive?”

  I shook my head. “He’s asleep. I made sure.”

  Carlos took a few steps toward me, eyes on the dummy. “You’re sure?”

  I nodded.

  “He—he didn’t just show up here—did he?” Carlos stammered.

  “No way,” I said. “Trevor stuffed him in my duffel. A little surprise.”

  Carlos reached out and squeezed the sleeve of the dummy’s jacket. “Trevor didn’t make him come alive before he gave him to you?”

  “No,” I insisted. “I’m sure he’s asleep. He’s not dangerous.”

  “Did you tell your parents?”

  I shook my head again. “I didn’t want to. Did you tell your parents about him?”

  “No,” Carlos said. “They’d laugh and tell me I should be a sci-fi writer. They’re always telling me what I should be.”

  “Want to hold him?” I asked.

  Carlos shrugged. “Not really. What do you plan to do with this thing? You’re not going to keep it, are you?”

  “No way,” I said. “It’s evil. If it comes to life …”

  Carlos squeezed one of the dummy’s shoes. “So you’re going to give it back to Hanson?”

  “Tonight,” I said. “That’s why I needed your help. We have to figure out how to return it to Hanson. And we have to do it now. We have to get it out of this house. I’m totally creeped out, Carlos. I’ll never sleep again if we don’t—”

  “But we don’t know where Hanson lives,” Carlos said. “I think someone told me he lives in Harris Falls. That’s two towns from here.”

  I let out a sigh. “Oh, wow.”

  “Wait. Wait,” Carlos said. His eyes were shut in concentration. “We don’t have to bring it to his house. We’ll carry it to school and put it in Hanson’s classroom. You know. Maybe sit it up in his desk chair.”

  “That’s good,” I said. “But it’s night, Carlos. How do we get into the school?”

  “There’s bound to be a back door or a window open somewhere.” He frowned. “But … if we get caught …”

  “We’ll be careful,” I said. “We won’t get caught. And if we do, we’ll just say—”

  I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence, because Patti came barging into my room. “Hey, Carlos!” she shouted. She slapped him a high five. Then she saw the dummy in my arms.

  Patti laughed. “I don’t believe it. You’re playing with dolls now? Do you want to borrow my Bratz collection?”

  “I’m not playing with dolls,” I said. “It’s a dummy, not a doll.”

  “That makes two dummies in here,” she said. Then she laughed at her own lame joke.

  “Why are you in my room?” I snapped. “Get out. Seriously. You weren’t invited.”

  She reached for Slappy. “Let me hold him.”

  “No way, Patti. He doesn’t belong to me. Get lost. I mean it.”

  “I just want to hold him,” she insisted. She grabbed both of the dummy’s legs and began to pull.

  “Let go!” I shouted. “I said let go. You can’t—”

  She gave a hard tug and the dummy slid out of my grasp. Its head hit the carpet as Patti swung it away from me. And something fell out of its jacket pocket. A small piece of paper.

  I grabbed for it. But Patti got there first.

  She held the dummy under one arm and raised the paper to her face with her other hand.

  “Hey, what does this mean?” she asked. “Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano.”

  I gasped and dropped back. Carlos started to choke.

  I gaped at the dummy, waiting for it to start moving.

  Patti laughed. “What’s your problem?” She fluttered the paper in front of me. “Do you know what the words mean?”

  I swiped the dummy from under Patti�
�s arm. “You—you don’t know what you just did,” I stammered.

  “You brought the dummy to life!” Carlos cried. “It’s evil, Patti. It’s an evil thing. And you just brought it to life!”

  Patti narrowed her eyes at Carlos. “You’re joking, right? You know, I’m nine years old. I’m not a baby. If you’re trying to scare me …”

  “We’re both scared,” I said. “We’ve seen it come alive. We’ve seen it—”

  Patti laughed. “You’re both pitiful. Seriously. You’re not funny.” She started from the room, but turned back at the doorway. “Hey, I’ve got an awesome idea, Shep. Why not introduce the living dummy to your ghost friend? You can all have a party!” She disappeared down the hall, laughing as if she’d just had a great triumph.

  I held the dummy by the waist. A chill tightened the back of my neck. I raised Slappy and stared at his face. His eyes were as glassy and lifeless as always. His mouth hung open. Arms and legs dangled limply.

  “Not alive,” I said.

  Carlos remained a few feet away. I saw drops of sweat rolling down his forehead. His face was knotted in concentration as he studied the dummy.

  “But your dumb sister read the words,” he said.

  “He isn’t moving or anything,” I said. “Maybe he was alive when he arrived here. Maybe he was pretending to be asleep the whole time, and—”

  “Maybe he’s pretending to be asleep right now,” Carlos said. “Maybe he’s just waiting …”

  “Waiting for what?”

  “Waiting for the right time to do something horrible to us.”

  The dummy was getting heavy. I swung it over my shoulder. Its head bounced against my back.

  “Let’s not give it a chance,” I said. “Hurry—let’s carry him to school.”

  Carlos hesitated at the door. “Your parents—”

  “They’re in the den. Your job is to distract them. Go talk to them while I sneak the dummy out the garage door.”

  Carlos eyed the dummy. “Okay. We can do this. I know we can.”

  “It’s only four blocks,” I said. I glanced out my window. The sky was dark purple and I saw big snowflakes drifting straight down. “Four blocks in the snow.”

  “We can do this,” Carlos said again. He was giving himself a pep talk.

  “Go talk to my parents,” I said. “I only need two minutes to get my coat and sneak outside.”

  Carlos disappeared into the hall. I started after him. We both trotted down the stairs. Carlos turned toward the den in the back of the house.

  I made my way to the coat closet in the front. I could hear the TV on in the den. Mom and Dad were talking over it. I heard them greet Carlos.

  I pulled open the closet door. Then I swung the dummy off my shoulder so I could grab my coat.

  I lowered Slappy in front of me. And as I lowered him, his wooden hand brushed my cheek. And then I felt something grab my nose. Something hard grabbed my nose and started to squeeze.

  The dummy’s hand. The wooden hand. The fingers had wrapped around my nose. And now the pain shot up my face. The fingers squeezed harder. My eyes began to tear. I shut them against the pain. My whole head throbbed.

  I opened my mouth to scream. But only a squeak escaped my throat.

  “L-let go!” I stammered in a whisper.

  I had the dummy by the waist. I pulled … pulled hard. But that only made the pain grow sharper.

  “You’re breaking my nose!” I managed to choke out.

  The fingers tightened and began to twist.

  Was he trying to pull my nose off?

  I shoved him away. Grabbed his arm. Tried to pry the fingers away from my face.

  But he was too strong.

  The pain throbbed everywhere. And I started to see red. And my knees started to fold. I was going down. Down into a rising darkness of pain.

  Suddenly, the wooden fingers loosened their grip. The dummy’s hand fell away. I stood gasping, wheezing, struggling to catch my breath.

  The pain throbbed over my entire face. I tried to speak but only choking grunts escaped my throat. I staggered to the wall. Raised my hand gently to my nose.

  “Owwww!”

  I pulled my hand away. My nose was too tender to touch.

  Then I saw Patti, standing a few feet away, studying me, her eyes narrowed behind her round glasses, hands on her waist. “Shep, have you totally lost it?” she demanded. “Why are you standing out here with that doll? Where did Carlos go?”

  I managed to find my voice. “He’s … in the den.”

  “Why do you have your coat? Where are you taking the doll?” Patti asked. But she didn’t wait for an answer. She stepped up to me, her eyes on my nose. “Shep—what did you do to your nose?”

  “Uh … bumped it,” I said.

  She reached up and squeezed it.

  “YAAAAIIIIII.” I let out a cry that could be heard for blocks. I dove back out of her reach.

  “Bumped it on what?” she demanded. “You could play Rudolph the Reindeer in the Christmas pageant.”

  “Bumped it on … something,” I muttered. I was in too much pain to think of a good lie.

  “You should put ice on it,” Patti said. “That’s what Mom always says to do. Want me to get you an ice pack?”

  “Uh … yeah. Sure. Thanks,” I said. Anything to get rid of her.

  She pushed past me and began hurrying to the kitchen. I waited till she was out of sight. Then I swung the dummy over my shoulder and crept to the side door that led to the garage.

  I could hear Carlos still chatting with my parents in the den. I heard Patti open the freezer door in the kitchen.

  I grabbed the doorknob. I could feel the tension rising in my throat, in my pulsing heartbeats. My whole body tingled with dread.

  One more step. One step into the garage. And I’d be on my way. On my way to saying good-bye to this evil creature.

  I reached under my coat and squeezed my silver bear charm for luck. Then I twisted the doorknob. Started to pull the door open.

  And Slappy raised his head and screamed in a high, shrill voice: “HELP! I’M BEING KIDNAPPED! SOMEBODY—HELP ME!”

  “Oh nooo.” My whole body slumped. My hand fell away from the doorknob.

  “HELP ME! PLEASE!” Slappy screeched.

  I heard the thud of footsteps from the kitchen and den. Patti, Mom, Dad, and Carlos all came stampeding. I saw Mom and Dad’s eyes bulge when they saw me at the side door. They stared at the dummy draped over my shoulder.

  “What’s that?” Mom cried.

  “Shep, were you sneaking out?” Dad demanded.

  “That’s his new doll!” Patti exclaimed.

  Carlos hung back. He just shook his head. He knew I was in trouble here.

  I pressed my back against the door. The dummy didn’t move. It hung limply over my shoulder.

  “Did you make that funny voice?” Mom asked.

  “Uh … yeah,” I lied. My heart had leaped to my throat. My voice came out choked and dry. “I’ve … uh … been practicing in my room. Carlos saw me.”

  They turned to Carlos. He nodded.

  “Where did you get that dummy?” Dad asked.

  “Mr. Hanson let me borrow it,” I said. One good lie deserves another. I swung the dummy around and held it by its head. “But I have to take it back to him.”

  “You weren’t planning on doing that now—were you?” Dad demanded. “It’s late.”

  “Well … no,” I said. “I just brought it down to show it to you. I’ll bring it back to Mr. Hanson tomorrow.”

  “I read some weird words on a piece of paper,” Patti chimed in. “And they said I brought the doll to life.”

  Carlos and I laughed. “We were just joking.”

  “CUZ YOU’RE A BIG JOKE!” Slappy yelled.

  “Oh … !” I gasped.

  “Shep, stop that,” Mom said. “That’s not funny.”

  I covered the dummy’s mouth, but he bit my finger. “MRS. MOONEY,” he shrieked at my
mom. “ARE THOSE ORANGE AND BROWN DESIGNS ON YOUR BLOUSE—OR DID YOU BURP UP YOUR DINNER?”

  “Shep—I mean it,” Mom said, narrowing her eyes at me and tightening her lips in her angry look. “Your jokes are mean. They’re not funny.”

  “ARE YOU AN ACTRESS? YOU’VE GOT A GOOD FACE FOR HORROR MOVIES!” Slappy shouted at her.

  I wrapped both hands around his mouth, trying to make him stop.

  “Take it upstairs,” Dad said. “We don’t want to hear any more.”

  Mom squinted at me, suspicious. “How did you learn to throw your voice like that?”

  “I … I didn’t,” I stammered. “It’s the dummy. The dummy is talking. Not me.”

  Mom rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”

  “I’m not kidding, Mom. I—”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Carlos said. “The dummy is alive. He’s making the bad-news jokes.”

  Dad laughed. “You’re a good friend, Carlos. But you don’t have to make up stories like Shep does.”

  “Well, take him to your room. Your jokes are gross,” Mom said.

  “Can I have him?” Patti tried to grab him. I swung him out of her reach.

  “No way. He has to go back to Mr. Hanson tomorrow.”

  “HANSON IS SO DUMB, HIS IQ IS THE SAME AS HIS SHOE SIZE!” Slappy screamed.

  Dad squeezed my shoulder and pointed to the stairs. “Upstairs. Now. I mean it.”

  “Uh … maybe I’ll just leave him in the garage,” I said, turning and reaching for the door.

  I didn’t want the evil thing in my room all night. I wouldn’t get one second of sleep. There is no lock on my closet door. No way I could be safe from him.

  “Look at Shep’s nose,” Patti said, pointing. “Doesn’t it remind you of that cauliflower you bought at the supermarket, Mom?”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I bumped it, that’s all. It doesn’t hurt. Really.”

  “A CAULIFLOWER LOOKS GORGEOUS NEXT TO YOU!” Slappy screamed at Patti. “WHY DON’T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT WART? OH, I’M SORRY. THAT’S YOUR FACE!”

  “Mom, make him stop,” Patti said. She gave me a hard shove. Slappy almost fell out of my hands.

  “Your jokes are terrible!” Mom cried. “What’s gotten into you, Shep? You’ve never acted like this before.”