10 - The Ghost Next Door (3 page)

“Those two guys, Alan and Fred—they’re the guys I usually hang out with,”
he told her. “Guys from school.”

Thock.

How could he have friends from school? Hannah wondered. Didn’t he just move
here?

“Where do you go to school?” she asked, dodging out of the way as he backed
up to catch the ball.

“Maple Avenue Middle School,” he replied.

Thock.

“Hey—that’s where I go!” Hannah exclaimed.

How come I’ve never seen him there? she wondered.

“Do you know Alan Miller?” Danny asked, turning to her, shading his eyes with
one hand from the late afternoon sun.

Hannah shook her head. “No.”

“Fred Drake?” he asked.

“No,” she replied. “What grade are you in?”

“I’ll be in eighth this year,” he said, turning back to the wall.

Thock.

“Me, too!” Hannah declared. “Do you know Janey Pace?”

“No.”

“How about Josh Goodman?” Hannah asked.

Danny shook his head. “Don’t know him.”

“Weird,” Hannah said, thinking out loud.

Danny threw the tennis ball a little too hard, and it landed on the sloping
gray-shingled roof. They both watched it hit, then roll down into the gutter.
Danny sighed and, staring up at the gutter, made a disgusted face.

“How can we be in the same grade and not know any of the same kids?” Hannah
demanded.

He turned to her, scratching his red hair with one hand. “I don’t know.”

“How weird!” Hannah repeated.

Danny stepped into the deep blue shadow of the house. Hannah squinted hard.
He seemed to disappear in the wide rectangle of shadow.

That’s impossible! she thought.

I would have seen him at school.

If we’re in the same grade, there’s no way I could have missed him.

Is he lying? Is he making this all up?

He had completely vanished in the shadow. Hannah squinted hard, waiting for
her eyes to adjust.

Where is he? Hannah asked herself.

He keeps disappearing.

Like a ghost.

A ghost. The word popped in and out of her mind.

When Danny came back into view, he was pulling an aluminum ladder along the back wall of the house.

“What are you going to do?” Hannah asked, moving closer.

“Get my ball,” he replied, and began climbing the ladder, his white Nikes
hanging over the narrow metal rungs.

Hannah moved closer. “Don’t go up there,” she said, suddenly gripped with a
cold feeling.

“Huh?” he called down. He was already halfway up the ladder, his head nearly
level with the gutter.

“Come down, Danny.” Hannah felt a wave of dread sweep over her. A heavy
feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“I’m a good climber,” he said, pulling himself up higher. “I climb
everything. My mom says I should be in a circus or something.”

Before Hannah could say anything more, he had clambered off the ladder and
was standing on the sloping roof, his legs spread apart, his hands stretched
high in the air. “See?”

Hannah couldn’t shake the premonition, the heavy feeling of dread.

“Danny—please!”

Ignoring her shrill cry, he bent to pick the tennis ball from the gutter.

Hannah held her breath as he reached for the ball.

Suddenly, he lost his balance. His eyes went wide with surprise.

His sneakers slipped on the shingles. His hands shot up as if trying to grab
onto something.

Hannah gasped, staring helplessly as Danny toppled headfirst off the roof.

Hannah screamed and shut her eyes.

I’ve got to get help, she thought.

Her heart pounding, she forced herself to open her eyes, and searched the
ground for Danny. But to her surprise, he was standing in front of her, a
mischievous grin on his face.

“Huh?” Hannah uttered a gasp of surprise. “You—you’re okay?”

Danny nodded, still grinning.

He didn’t make a sound, Hannah thought, staring hard at him. He landed
without making a sound.

She grabbed his shoulder. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Danny said calmly. “My middle name is Daredevil. Danny
Daredevil Anderson. That’s what my mom always says.” He tossed the ball casually
from hand to hand.

“You scared me to death!” Hannah cried. Her fright was turning to anger. “Why
did you do that?”

He laughed.

“You could’ve been killed!” she told him.

“No way,” he replied quietly.

She scowled at him, staring hard into his brown eyes. “Do you do stuff like
that all the time? Falling off roofs just to scare people?”

His grin grew wider, but he didn’t say anything. He turned away from her and
tossed the tennis ball at the house.

Thock.

“You were falling headfirst,” Hannah said. “How did you land on your feet?”

Danny chuckled. “Magic,” he replied slyly.

“But—but—!”

“Hannah! Hannah!” She turned to see her mother calling to her from the back
stoop.

“What is it?” Hannah shouted.

Thock.

“I have to go out for an hour. Can you come take care of Bill and Herb?”

Hannah turned back to Danny. “I’ve got to go. See you.”

“See you,” he replied, flashing her a freckle-faced grin.

Thock.

Hannah heard the sound of the ball against the redwood wall as she jogged
across the driveway to her house. Again, she pictured Danny plummeting off the
roof.

How did he do it? she wondered. How did he land on his feet so silently?

“I’ll only be gone an hour,” her mother said, searching her bag for the car
keys. “How is it out? It’s supposed to cloud up and rain tonight.”

Another weather report, Hannah thought, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t let them kill each other, if you can help it,” Mrs. Fairchild said,
finding the keys and shutting her bag.

“That was Danny,” Hannah told her. “The new kid next door. Did you see him?”

“Huh-uh. Sorry.” Mrs. Fairchild hurried to the door.

“You didn’t see him?” Hannah called.

The screen door slammed.

Bill and Herb appeared and pulled Hannah into their room. “Chutes & Ladders!”
Bill demanded.

“Yeah. Let’s play Chutes & Ladders!” Herb echoed.

Hannah rolled her eyes. She
hated
that game. It was so lame. “Okay,”
she agreed with a sigh. She dropped down across from them on the rug.

“Yaaaay!” Bill cried happily, opening the game-board. “You’ll play?”

“Yeah. I’ll play,” Hannah told him unhappily.

“And can we cheat?” Bill asked.

“Yeah! Let’s cheat!” Herb urged with grinning enthusiasm.

* * *

After dinner, the twins were upstairs, arguing with their parents over which
of them got to take the
last
bath. They both hated baths and always
fought to be the last.

Hannah helped clear the table, then wandered into the den. She was thinking
about Danny as she made her way to the window.

Pushing aside the curtains, she pressed her forehead against the cool glass
and stared across the drive to Danny’s house.

The sun had lowered behind the trees. Danny’s house was cast in heavy, dark
shadows. The windows were covered with curtains and blinds.

Hannah realized she had never actually seen anyone inside the house. She had
never seen Danny go into the house or come out of it.

She had never seen
anyone
come out of the house.

Hannah stepped back from the window, thinking hard. She remembered the
morning she had met Danny, after he had run her down in the back yard. She had
been talking to him—and he had
vanished
into thin air.

She thought about how he had seemed to disappear into the shadow at the side
of his house, how she’d had to squint real hard to see him. And she thought
about how he had seemed to float to the ground, landing silently from the roof.

Silent as a ghost.

“Hannah, what are you
thinking
?” she scolded herself.

Am I making up another ghost story?

She suddenly had so many questions running through her mind: How had Danny
and his family moved in without her noticing? How could he be in her school, in
her
grade,
without her ever seeing him there?

How come she didn’t know his friends, and he didn’t know hers?

It’s all so
weird,
Hannah thought.

I’m not imagining it all. I’m
not
making it up.

What if Danny really is a ghost?

If only she had someone to talk to, someone to discuss Danny with. But her
friends were all away. And her parents would certainly never listen to such a
crazy idea.

I’ll have to prove it myself, Hannah decided. I’ll study him. I’ll be
scientific. I’ll
observe
him. I’ll
spy
on him.

Yes. I’ll
spy
on him.

I’ll go look in his kitchen window, she decided.

She stepped out onto the back stoop and pushed the screen door shut behind
her. It was a warm, still night. A pale sliver of moon hung above the back yard
in a royal-blue sky.

As Hannah headed across her back yard, taking long, rapid strides, crickets
began to chirp loudly. Danny’s house loomed in front of her, low and dark
against the sky.

The ladder was still propped against the back wall.

Hannah crossed the driveway that separated her yard from his. Her heart
pounding, she crept across the grass and climbed the three low concrete steps
onto the back stoop. The kitchen door was closed.

She stepped up to the door, pressed her face close to the window, peered into
the kitchen—and gasped.

Hannah gasped because Danny was staring back at her from the other side of
the window.

“Oh!” she cried out and nearly toppled backwards off the narrow stoop.

Inside the house, Danny’s eyes opened wide with surprise.

Behind him, Hannah could see a table set with bright yellow plates. A tall,
slender, blonde-haired woman—Danny’s mom, most likely—was pulling something
out from a microwave oven onto the counter.

The door swung open. Danny poked his head out, his expression still
surprised. “Hi, Hannah. What’s up?”

“Nothing. I—uh—nothing, really,” Hannah stammered. She could feel her
cheeks grow hot, and knew she was blushing.

Danny’s eyes burned into hers. His mouth turned up in a grin. “Well, do you
want to come in or something?” he asked. “My mom is serving dinner, but—”

“No!” she cried, much too loudly. “I don’t—I mean—I—”

I’m acting like a total jerk! she realized.

She swallowed hard, staring at his grinning face.

He’s laughing at me!

“See you!” she cried, then leapt awkwardly off the stoop, nearly stumbling to
the ground. Without looking back, she took off, running at full speed back to
her house.

I’ve never been so embarrassed in my entire life! she thought miserably.

Never!

When she saw Danny come out of his house the next afternoon, Hannah hid
behind the garage. Watching him walk his bike down the driveway, she felt her
cheeks grow hot, felt embarrassed all over again.

If I’m going to be a spy, I’m going to have to be a lot cooler, she told
herself. Last night, I lost it. I panicked.

It won’t happen again.

She watched him climb on his bike and, standing up, pedal to the street.
Pressed against the garage wall, she waited to see which direction he turned.
Then she hurried into the garage to get her bike.

He’s heading toward town, she saw. Probably meeting those two boys. I’ll let him get a head start, then I’ll follow him.

She waited at the foot of the driveway, straddling her bike, watching Danny
until he disappeared down the next block.

Sunlight filtered through the overhanging trees as she began pedaling,
keeping a slow, steady pace as she rode after him. Mrs. Quilty was out weeding
her garden as usual. This time, Hannah didn’t bother to call hello.

A small white terrier chased her for half a block, yapping loudly with
excitement, then finally giving up as Hannah pedaled away.

The school playground came into view. Several kids were playing softball on
the corner diamond. Hannah looked for Danny, but he wasn’t there.

She continued on into town. The sun felt warm on her face. She suddenly
thought about Janey. Maybe I’ll get a letter from her today, she thought.

She wished Janey were around to help spy on Danny. The two of them would be a
great spy team, Hannah knew. She wouldn’t have lost her cool like she had last
night if Janey were around.

The town square came into view. The flag above the small, white post office
was fluttering in a warm breeze. Several cars were parked in front of the
grocery. Two women holding grocery bags were talking at the curb.

Hannah braked her bike and lowered her feet to the ground. She shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand and searched
for Danny.

Danny, where are you? she thought. Are you with your friends? Where did you
go?

She pedaled across the small, grassy square toward the post office. Her bike
bumped over the curb and she kept going, around the side of the building to the
alley.

But the alley was silent and empty.

“Danny, where
are
you?” she called aloud in a quiet singsong. “Where
are
you?”

He was only a block ahead of me, she thought, scratching her short hair. Has
he vanished into thin air again?

She rode back to the square, then checked out Harder’s Ice-Cream Parlor and
the diner.

No sign of him.

“Hannah, you’re a
great
spy!” she laughed.

With a sigh of defeat, she turned around and headed for home.

She was nearly to her house when she saw the moving shadow.

It’s back! she realized.

She shifted gears and started to pedal harder.