Ghost Betweens Read Online Free PDF Page A

in the tree, sitting on one of the branches. A shimmering rope encircled his neck. It was a ghost hanging. This was how this guy died. He dropped, the rope snapped tight, and he struggled. After a few seconds, he hung still. The scene repeated itself. This time Josh could see more detail. The ghost looked to be in his late teens, maybe early twenties, though his face showed evidence of a hard-lived life. As the rope hit its tight point, the ghost bounced, and his eyes bugged out. He mouthed something, disappeared, and then reappeared on the branch, where he fell again. It happened over and over.
    "What are you guys looking at?" Zach said, breaking first Josh, then Whisper, out of their trance.
    "You . . . you don't see it?" he asked.
    Both Zach and Kendra looked up at the tree, frowned, and shook their heads.
    Tears forming in Whisper's eyes. "He's dying. We . . . we're watching how he died."
    "Why can't I see it?" Zach asked. He snapped a few pictures at the tree. Those had to catch it. Josh could still see it. He wanted to turn away, but couldn't. He brought his own camera up and aimed. Though he could see the hanging man clearly with his eyes, the ghost didn't appear on the view screen. He snapped a few pictures to make sure. It didn't show up.
    Josh's voice felt gravely, and he couldn't begin to imagine how it sounded to the others. "I can't be going crazy. Whisper sees it, too."
    She nodded, and he put his arm around her shoulder again, and this time led her back towards the cars.
    "Where are you going?" Zach called.
    "Come on, Zach. We promised Mr. Baxter a half hour, and it's been longer than that."
    "No. We're staying. It feels strange here, but I haven't seen anything like you guys."
    Josh looked at Kendra. "I'll drive you home."
    She took a step forward, and then looked back to Zach. "No, that's okay. I'll stay. It's not as scary as you guys are making it out to be." The shaking in her voice betrayed her, but Josh didn't push it.
    "Alright. We'll see you two tomorrow."
    "Don't stay too long," Whisper said. "Please."
    Josh could sense Kendra wanted to make some comment about Josh's arm being around Whisper, but she bit it back. He couldn't remember her ever showing restraint like that, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
    Zach waved, but his attention was already on the house. "Yeah, sure. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
    Josh and Whisper looked at each other, shrugged, and headed back to his car. He could have sworn he saw people--ghosts--milling around in the field. By the way Whisper shuddered, she saw it, too. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when they made it to his car without incident.

Chapter 7
     
    As they drove away from the farm, a weight lifted from Josh's shoulders. He glanced over at Whisper and found her a lot less tense, too. A quick look in the rearview mirror, however, brought back a bit of a chill; the sign said something different. He couldn't read the backwards writing as they sped away, but the amount of letters wasn't the same as when they drove up.
    "Sign's different."
    Whisper turned to look. "Was it? What did it say?"
    "I couldn't tell. And I'm not so sure I want to go back and find out. We can ask Zach and Kendra tomorrow."
    "Good. That works."
    "So you saw it, right? The guy sitting in the tree, falling down, and hanging in a noose. Over and over. I'm not crazy?"
    "No, you're not crazy. Or, if you are, I'm right there with you." She paused for a second. "But why couldn't they see it?"
    "I don't know. If they could, Kendra would probably still be screaming. Zach would be happy, though. He loves ghosts. Where should I take you? Home, or do you have a car at school?"
    "No, home is good. I don't have my license yet. Do you know where Craig Street is?"
    "Yeah."
    "It's at the end, almost to Street Avenue. Isn't that the coolest name for a street ever? I still laugh every time I see it."
    "In junior high, Zach and I used to plot how we were going to steal that sign. We