Chapter 4

Chapter 4 At the top of the cliff, Wallis took the picnic things. "I need to spend some time working on my new book," she said. "Why don't you guys go exploring? Emory Scott built a playhouse for his kids in those trees. You might want to check it out." She opened the side door. "Oh, I almost forgot," she said with twinkling eyes. "Some people think his ghost hangs around there, looking for his children. So keep your eyes open!" With that, she went inside.

The kids found a path through the trees. As they walked, Dink told Josh and Ruth Rose what Wallis had said on the beach. "So it is a ghost!" Josh said. "Creepy!" "No way" Ruth Rose said. "I don't believe in ghosts. It must be an animal trapped somewhere in the castle." "I don't know," Dink said. "Wallis told me she searched the whole place." "Besides," said Josh, "what kind of animal makes a spooky scream like that?" Just then the kids reached the playhouse. The outside of the small wooden building had been painted to look like Wallis's castle. A kid-sized drawbridge crossed a shallow moat to the front door. "Excellent," said Josh. "Let's go inside!" Ruth Rose cried, running to the door. She tugged on the handle, and the door opened with a soft whoosh. Ruth Rose curtsied. "Enter, my loyal knights!" "His Highness King Dink goes first," Dink said, nudging ahead of Josh. They crowded into the room. Everything was covered with a layer of dust. Dim light shone

through two small windows covered with cobwebs. Josh rubbed his arms. "Boy, this place is cold," he said. "Looks like no one's been in here for years," Ruth Rose said. A round table and two little chairs stood in the middle of the room on a dusty, worn rug. A shelf held a miniature set of blue dishes. Under the shelf, a lonely-looking teddy bear sat on an old sofa. "This place creeps me out," Josh said.

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"Look," Dink said. "Footprints on the rug." He stepped into one of them. "Whoever made these sure has big feet!" "Do ghosts leave footprints?" Josh asked. "Maybe it's Walker," Ruth Rose suggested. "They're too big to be Wallis's."

"But why would Walker come here?" Dink wondered out loud. "Can we go?" Josh pleaded. "I just saw a monster spider, and he was looking back at me!" "Okay, but let's come back," Ruth Rose said. "I want to clean this place. It's sad to see it all dusty like this." Ruth Rose pulled the door shut behind them. As they crossed the drawbridge, Dink noticed something in the moat. He jumped down and picked up a bright green feather. "Hey, guys, look! It's like the one that was stuck to Josh's sneaker." Ruth Rose held the feather up to the sun. "What's it from?" Josh examined the feather. "The only bird I know with this kind of feather is a parrot," he said. "But parrots don't live in Maine." Dink took the feather back from Josh, then put it in his pocket. "Okay we've explored the playhouse," Josh said. "Now you guys have to do what I want." Dink grinned at his friend. "You mean eat?" "No. I want to check out that cave down on the beach."