The Howling Ghost Read Online Free PDF

ago.”
    â€œAre you sure the light came from here?” Adam asked.
    â€œPositive,” Cindy said.
    Watch was doubtful. “These wires are worn. I don’tthink they’re capable of carrying an electrical current.”
    â€œI know what I saw,” Cindy insisted. She scanned the rest of the room. “He must be here somewhere,” she said softly, desperately.
    Adam tried to make her feel better. “If a ghost did take your brother, it might have taken him somewhere else.”
    Cindy sighed. “So, you’re saying he could be anywhere, which is the same as saying we’re never going to find him.”
    â€œNo,” Adam said quickly. “I meant we’ve only begun to search. Let’s look around some more.”
    There wasn’t much to the room. Besides the searchlight, there was a plain wooden desk and chair, a simple cot, and a bathroom that looked as if it hadn’t been used in years. The faucet in the sink didn’t even work. When they tried it, a faint smell of gas came out instead of water.
    But Sally did find something unusual on one side of the desk. Carved in the old wood, on opposite sides of a roughly shaped heart, were two words: Mommy and Rick. The words were probably carved by a child. Adam looked to Sally and Watch.
    â€œDo you know who operated the lighthouse last?” Adam asked.
    â€œI heard it was a bloodsucking sailor,” Sally said.
    Watch shook his head. “No. The bloodsucker was the guy who used to run the bait shop on the pier. Bum said the lighthouse was last run by a woman—an old woman.”
    â€œIs she dead now?” Cindy asked.
    â€œMost old people in Spooksville are dead,” Sally said.
    Watch nodded. “This was at least thirty years ago. I’m sure the woman is dead.”
    â€œYou have to be dead to be a ghost,” Sally said, trying to encourage Cindy.
    â€œWhat about this Rick?” Adam asked.
    Watch shook his head. “I don’t know what happened to him. Bum might, if we can find him. There might also be records in the library that we could check.”
    Sally made a face. “We have to go to the library? Yuck!”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with the library?” Adam asked reluctantly.
    â€œThe librarian’s a little strange,” Watch said.
    â€œA little?” Sally said. “His name’s Mr. Spiney and when he takes your picture for your library card, he actually takes an X-ray. He likes to see your bones when you check out a book, to make sure they’rehealthy. If you go in the reference room, he locks you inside. Just in case you’re thinking of stealing one of his precious magazines or papers. The last time I went in there I was a prisoner for two nights before he let me out. I read the last ten years of Time magazine and Fangoria.”
    â€œI’m glad you put the time to good use,” Watch said.
    â€œMr. Spiney also forces you to drink milk when you’re at the library,” Sally said. “ ‘Don’t want to let those bones crumble before their time,’ he always says. I swear I saw that guy at the cemetery once digging up skeletons. I hear he’s got a whole closet full of bones at home.”
    â€œLet’s not worry about Mr. Spiney,” Adam said, not wanting to listen to another weird Sally-Watch conversation. “I want to go to the library.” He paused and turned to Cindy. “As long as that’s all right with you?”
    Cindy nodded sadly, still looking around. “I was hoping so hard I’d find Neil here, waiting for me.”
    Adam patted her on the back. “We’re making progress. That’s what’s important.”
    They started to follow Watch down the stairs.
    It was then that the searchlight came on.
    By mysterious chance, the light was pointed notout to sea but toward the stairway. Watch was already several steps down the stairs when the light blazed to life, but