Philip and the Haunted House (9781619500020) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the…whatever ate the pie and threw
away the paper?”
    “ You think I’m kidding? The whatever
ate the pie the second time when we tried to catch it, didn’t
it?”
    “ Don’t call it an ‘it.’ I don’t
like…it.”
    Philip frowned at Emery. “Now look at this.”
He handed Emery two more pictures.
    Emery looked at them carefully. He looked up
at Philip, his eyes wide.
    “ Even you see this one, don’t
you?”
    “ The window’s open,” said Emery softly.
“It’s not open in the first picture, and it’s open in the second.”
There were windows on each side of the front door, and one of the
windows had opened itself very slightly in between when Philip’s
father took the first picture and when he took the second
picture.
    “ Why is the window open,
Emery?”
    “ Maybe the whatever wanted some fresh
air?”
    “ I think you need some fresh air. No. The window’s open
because this house has to be haunted, Emery,” Philip said
decisively. “Windows don’t open by themselves.”
    Emery looked again at the second
picture. Without doubt, someone or... some thing opened the window while he and Philip cut
the grass.
    “ Dinner, boys. Come and get it,” called
Philip’s mom.
    Philip turned the photos upside-down on the
coffee table. “We’ll figure this out later. Let’s go eat,” he said
and led Emery into the kitchen.
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    As Philip went upstairs to take his bath
later, he heard his parents talking in the living room. It sounded
interesting so he sat on the next to the top step to listen.
    “ They haven’t caught them yet,” his
father said.
    “ You don’t think they’d start robbing
houses, do you?” his mother asked.
    “ Probably not. Not enough money in
them. They made off with quite a bit from the pizza store Saturday
night and the deli the day before. The paper said the police think
the robbers might actually be from this neighborhood since they
seem to know it so well.”
    “ Can’t they trace the money and arrest
them when they spend it?”
    Philip’s father shrugged. “Maybe. They can if
they know the serial numbers, but it’s not likely the store owners
wrote them down.”
    “ No, I suppose not,” Philip’s mother
answered.
    Philip heard someone get up so he got up,
too, and went into the bathroom. He turned on the water for his
bath and began to think. As he sat in the bathtub, he thought some
more. Usually he found some way to play in the water, but this time
he didn’t bother playing. He simply sat and thought. After he dried
off and got into his pajamas, he went downstairs to say goodnight
to his parents. He climbed back up to his room, turned off the
lights, nestled into bed, and thought some more. Soon, he had it
all figured out. He had a plan, but he’d need Emery’s help because
he knew he couldn’t act out his plan all by himself. No way.
    As Philip slept, he dreamed he moved toward a
very dark place with something close behind him. He turned and saw
another boy his size. It had to be Emery. Together they moved into
the dark place. An odd noise sounded nearby. He turned to the boy
next to him but couldn’t see the boy’s face. Together, they moved
forward. Suddenly, a bright shape came at them from the right. The
boys ducked. Then a bright shape came from the left. They ducked
again. Philip turned and a bright shape came from behind them. He
and the other boy ran. The other boy pointed. Ahead of them lay a
golden object. They ran to it, and the other boy picked it up. More
bright shapes came at them. He and the other boy ducked and ran
faster and faster toward a light gleaming ahead of them. The bright
shapes chasing them disappeared as they approached the light, and
the other boy still had it—the golden treasure.
    Philip’s eyes opened, and he could feel
his heart beating hard. Why? Oh, his dream. Then he remembered it.
All of it. A dream about entering a scary place and coming out of
it with a treasure. Two boys, like Tom and Huck.