Ann Martin - The Ghost At Dawn's House

She started up the stairs — and that was when the thing came flying down at her. It was little and shrieked and had a head of white foam. When it collided with Stacey, it left foam all over her Hawaiian shirt.

"Yikes!" cried Stacey. She backed against the wall.

The foam-thing was rubbing at its eyes. It stumbled forward and Stacey caught it before it fell down the stairs.

"Claire!" Stacey exclaimed. "Is that you?"

"Yes," wailed the foam-thing. "It's (gulp) meeeeeee!"

Stacey glanced at the top of the stairs. Margo and Vanessa were standing there solemnly, looking down at their little sister. Stacey said later that that's when she first thought something was really wrong. If the older girls had

pulled some sort of prank, they would have been laughing hysterically at the sight of the foam. But they were as somber and silent as rocks.

"Margo? Vanessa?" Stacey said. She steadied Claire and began to lead her upstairs.

"It's not our fault!" Margo cried. "Really."

"Honest," added Vanessa, wide-eyed. "Don't blame us." She was so upset, she forgot to rhyme her words.

Stacey made a huge effort to control her temper. "What happened?" she asked.

Nobody said a word.

"Claire?" Stacey peered into Claire's face, wiping away some foam.

"Shampoo," Claire managed to reply.

"Shampoo? Is that all?" said Stacey, suddenly feeling better. "You guys tried to give your sister a shampoo? Well, what's wrong with that? It was very thoughtful. I just wish you'd asked me first. Come on, Claire. All we have to do is wash it out."

Still the girls remained quiet. Stacey noticed that the foam was unlike any she'd seen before. It was thick, almost as thick as shaving cream, and just slightly blue in color. But Stacey didn't pay any attention to that. She simply drew a bath for Claire, stripped off her clothes, and sat her in the tub. Then she began to rinse the

soap off by pouring cupfuls of water over her head.

"Ow! Ow! Owie!" cried Claire.

"What's wrong?" asked Stacey.

"It stings."

"Keep your eyes shut, okay?"

"Okay," replied Claire, "but it still stings."

It wasn't until Stacey had poured twelve cups of water over Claire's head that she began to feel uneasy again. The shampoo wasn't rinsing out.

Stacey dumped another cupful onto Claire. This time she rubbed Claire's hair vigorously. The foam puffed up as if it were alive. It was thicker than ever.

"Margo? Vanessa?" said Stacey.

"Yes?" they whispered. They were sitting squashed together on the toilet, their hands in their laps. They'd watched the rinsing process wordlessly.

"What shampoo did you use on Claire? The baby shampoo?"

Stacey had given Claire several shampoos when she and Mary Anne had gone to Sea City with the Pikes. She had always used Johnson's Baby Shampoo. Nothing like this had ever happened.

"Um, no," replied Vanessa. "We used . . . we used something new."

"What was it?" asked Stacey.

"I don't remember the name."

"Can you show it to me, please?"

Margo and Vanessa looked at each other. Vanessa nodded at her sister. Margo reached behind her and pulled something out of the wastebasket. She handed it to Stacey.

It was a small plastic bottle. And it was empty.

"You guys/' said Stacey nervously. "I hope this wasn't your mom's. You didn't use up something of your mom's . . . did you?"

They shook their heads.

Stacey read the label on the front of the bottle. It said:

Trial Size Only

Not for sale

CALLADEW'S PERFECTION SHAMPOO Concentrated

On the back, the directions cautioned:

Concentrated shampoo — use sparingly.

Pour several drops onto palm of hand.

Rub hands together vigorously to create foam.

Rub foam into hair.

Rinse twice. Process need not be repeated.

Stacey looked up at the girls. "Where did you get this?" she asked.

"In the mail," Vanessa replied. She didn't

look at Stacey. "Mom and Dad always let us have the samples."

"Last week we got two sticks of gum," added Margo.

"And you guys ate them/' said Claire accusingly from under her cap of foam.

"So this came in the mail today?" said Stacey.

Margo and Vanessa nodded.

"I hate to ask, but how much did you use?"

"The whole bottle," said Vanessa. "We felt bad for taking all the gum. So we gave Claire all the shampoo."

"Oh, Vanessa." Stacey was irritated and couldn't hide it. "You're old enough to know you're supposed to read the directions first. Didn't you look at the label?"

Vanessa hung her head. "No," she murmured.

Stacey realized she ought to see what Nicky was up to. She got to her feet. "I want you two to stay here and keep rinsing. I have to check on Nicky. I'll be right back. Be nice to your sister."

Stacey went downstairs, partly to calm down. That, of course, was when she discovered that Nicky was gone. Forty-five minutes later, Claire still had a head of foam, and Nicky still hadn't returned.

Stacey called me. I was at home alone and

had been hearing one weird sound after another coming from the secret passage. I was delighted to give Stacey a hand. I couldn't wait to get out of my house.

"Oh, thank you for coming!" Stacey exclaimed when I reached the Pikes'. "Mrs. Pike is going to be home in about fifteen minutes, and I have two disasters here. Can you go look for Nicky? I better stay with the mess in the bathroom."

It was getting to be a familiar scene. I walked around our neighborhood calling Nicky at the top of my lungs. He didn't answer. I looked behind bushes and up trees. He was a champion hider.

I had just reached the edge of my property when once again, Nicky appeared suddenly. He was dusty, and a vaguely familiar odor clung to him, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Hi," he said. "Looking for me?" He flashed me a grin, then went on chewing away at an enormous wad of gum.

"Nicky! Where have you been? Stacey was worried."

Nicky wet his hand and rubbed at a scab on his knee. Then he blew a large bubble that popped, leaving wispy pink strings all over his face. But he didn't answer me.

"You are an absolute mess/' I told him. "You're filthy."

"Yeah," he said, sounding pleased.

I shook my head. "Come on. I'll walk you back to your house. Your mom'll be home any minute now."

"Okay." Unexpectedly, Nicky slipped his hand into mine as we walked along. It was dirty, sticky, and wet, but I held on to it.

When we reached his front door, I opened it and called inside to Stacey. Then I left. I didn't think it would look good for me to be there when Mrs. Pike returned.

Stacey was relieved to see Nicky, but Vanessa wasn't. She was in a bad mood. Stacey had said that she would have to tell her mother what she and Margo had done.

"Why isn't Nicky in trouble, too?" she demanded.

Before Stacey could answer, Nicky broke in, "Oh, you're just jealous.' You wish you had a dog friend who could rescue people from avalanches."

"A dog friend! What are you talking about? You don't have any dog friend," scoffed Vanessa.

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Can it, you guys!" ordered Stacey.

I wasn't around to hear any of that, but if I had been, it might have helped me out. As it was, an idea was growing in my mind. Just a little one. A sprout. Just enough to make me think I wouldn't have to worry about sounds in the passage again that day.

As it turned out, I was right.

Chapter 13.

There were no more sounds in the secret passage that afternoon. I even felt brave enough to explore it again. I propped the wall open in my room and entered, carrying a flashlight. I walked purposefully to the spot where I'd found the book the day Mary Anne had been over. I wished I hadn't left it there. I wanted to get a good look at it. But it was gone.