Ghostbusters The Return
Building!"

    Before Venkman could reply, the phone rang. "Excuse me," Janine said testily. Her manner changed completely as she answered the phone in a cheery, businesslike tone - well, cheery for her, considering the bored, nasal sound that was her typical greeting. "Ghostbusters. May I help you?" She reached for a pencil and paper. "Uh-huh... How many? And where are they now? Okay, got it. Thank you."

    She looked serious as she hung up the phone. "I think you fellas better go."

    At the same time that Ray had been sliding down the fire pole, twelve-year-old Jed Isaacs was standing in the middle of a schoolyard, fingering a red, rubber ball. He screened out the backdrop of shouts and laughter that came with the morning recess period, and stared intently into the eyes of the kid who stood opposite him.

    The batter stared back into Jed's eyes and shifted the taped-up broomstick on her shoulder. It was bad enough that Esther was the other team's best hitter, but she was also Jed's little sister.

    The rest of the kids on the makeshift diamond provided a steady stream of cheers and patter.

    "No batter! No batter!"

    "Go, Esti! Go, Esti!"

    "Home run! Home run!"

    "Swish, batter, swish!"

    With careful deliberation, fed went into his windup and let fly. Esti swung and missed. With a thwack!, the ball struck the brick wall that stood behind her, smack in the middle of the rectangle that had been chalked on the wall.

    "Whoo!"

    "You stink!"

    "Oh, snap!"

    "No pressure! No pressure!"

    The ball bounced along the ground a few times until Esti picked it up and tossed it back to Jed. He caught it with a smirk. She stuck her tongue out at him before settling back into her stance to wait for the ball.

    Jed studied her for a long moment, then reared back and released the ball once again. Esti swung. This time, she made solid contact.

    The ball sailed over the heads of Jed and his four teammates. When Esti tagged the discarded box that served as first base, the ball was still going. Two of Jed's teammates raced along in a vain attempt to catch up to it. The ball hit the ground yards ahead of them and took a high bounce. A second bounce off a parked car sent it rolling across the street amid yells of joy and anguish.

    Jed was the first to realize where the ball was headed. "Oh, man..." he moaned, scant seconds before it rolled into a storm drain and dropped out of sight.

    Everyone stared, wordlessly, at the storm drain. Then, one by one, the other kids looked at Jed.

    "How come I always gotta go get it?" he complained.

    "'Cause you got the longest arms," Esti replied.

    "But it's gross!"

    "It's our only good ball!"

    "Maybe I can't even reach it. Maybe it dropped all the way down to the sewer this time."

    One of the other kids was crouching down and peering into the drain. "No, I see it!" he called. "It's stuck right there on the ledge!"

    Jed knew he was beaten. "Okay, okay." Resignedly, he made his way across the street.

    After checking to make sure no cars were coming, he kneeled down beside the drain. Sure enough, the red ball was visible directly beneath the grate, wedged among a dark mass of unidentifiable...stuff.

    Jed sighed. "Yell if any cars come, okay?" he said to a girl in a baseball cap and uniform shirt. The girl nodded. She stepped into the gutter beside him and turned to keep an eye out for oncoming traffic.

    Jed stretched himself out into a prone position across the storm drain. Hesitantly, he extended a hand inside - then he yanlced it back and jerked himself up onto his knees. "Did you hear that?"

    "What?"

    "Something's down there!"

    "Shyeah, right!" said one of the kids.

    "Is not," another kid said with a dismissive wave.

    "Don't be a baby!" said a third.

    Esti shielded her eyes against the sun and looked down into the drain. "I don't see anything."

    Jed peered carefully through the grating. Everything looked exactly the same as it had before. The expression on his face showed that he was
Read Online Free Pdf

Similar Books

The Warrior

Sharon Sala

Catalyst

Viola Grace

Cloak of Darkness

Helen MacInnes

Thorn in the Flesh

Anne Brooke

Waiting for You

Abigail Strom

Sweetest Taboo

Eva Márquez