The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe (29 page)

It was too dark now to go back through the woods, so Seth made his way down Temple House’s long driveway. On the street, whenever
a car’s headlights approached, he stepped onto the curb. Patting the lump in his coat pocket, he thought about what Mrs. Ashe had said.
Be thankful
. He hadn’t realized until now that he really was. In spite of everything, he was.

When he turned into his own driveway, he saw the porch light on, spilling its orange glow out into the yard. His mom was home. He climbed the front steps and opened the door. The smell of spaghetti sauce drifted toward him. “Hello?” he called out.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” his mom answered from the kitchen. “Go wash up.”

He strolled down the hall toward his bedroom, but when he got to David’s old bedroom door, he stopped. Reaching into his pocket, he stepped inside. Light from the hall spilled across the floor. He pulled out the figurine, felt the weight of it, then placed it on top of David’s old bureau. He stared at it for a moment, imagining its incredible journey. “Mrs. Ashe gave this back to me,” he said quietly, thinking of his brother. “I thought you might want it.”

He almost expected a response, to see the figurine topple over, to feel a cold touch on the back of his neck. But nothing happened. He stood alone in his brother’s bedroom for a moment more, then turned toward the hall and closed the door quietly behind him. In his own room, he took off his coat and hung it on the back of his desk chair.

He was so distracted by the aroma coming from the kitchen, that when he passed by David’s door, he didn’t notice it had opened again. Nor did he hear the hush of a whisper from the shadows just inside.

Thank you to everyone who helped me work through this story. The team at Scholastic, including Rachael Hicks, Stacey Peltz, Jackie Hornberger, Chris Stengel, and Jana Haussmann, as always, has been fantastic.
Grazie
especially to Nick Eliopulos, David Levithan, Barry Goldblatt, Tricia Ready, Libba Bray, Robin Wasserman, Daniel Villela, Paul Sireci, Amanda Walsh, Bruce Roe. And of course to Maria Giella-Poblocki; my grandmother Wanda; my mom, Gail; my dad, John; my brother, Brendan; my sister, Emily; my friends at Red Horse; and especially to the bloggers, authors, and readers who continue to reach out and remind me why I like to do this crazy thing in the first place.

DAN POBLOCKI is the author of
The Stone Child
,
The Nightmarys
, and the Mysterious Four series. His recent book,
The Ghost of Graylock
, was a Junior Library Guild Selection and made the American Library Association’s 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults list. Dan lives in Brooklyn with two adorable cats and more books than he has room for. Visit him at
www.danpoblocki.com
.