11 THE UNDERGROUND

CHAPTER 11 THE UNDERGROUND Sorry," the security guard said to Claire and Maddie the next afternoon. "I can't let you see that video." Rain plunked against the outside windows. "What? Why not?" Claire asked as Kaz passed through her water bottle and exp-a-a-a-a-a-nded beside her. The security guard laughed. "Because you're kids!" "So?" Maddie said. "The video is not a toy," the security guard said. "I'm going to see if Little John came back last night. Okay, Claire?" Kaz said. She nodded

slightly. Now, where would Little John be if he did come back? Kaz wondered. Probably the children's center. Kaz swam up over the security guard's head and through the glass wall behind her. "Little John?" he called, looking around. "Are you here, Little John?" Kaz didn't see his brother. He drifted down through the short, slanted wall into the "secret room" that Little John had found yesterday. No Little John in there, either. Claire and Maddie were still arguing with the security guard when Kaz passed back through the wall. He searched the rest of the first floor, then sailed up along the conveyor belt that carried books from the book return to the second floor. "Little John?" he called again. But Little John wasn't on the second floor. Kaz searched the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh floors.

He called Little John's name on every single floor. No luck. The only place he hadn't checked was the parking garage. Kaz floated down through all the floors, all the way to the parking garage. "Little John?" he called, looking both ways. Nothing. Kaz considered passing through the concrete floor. Maybe this time he would keep going without turning around. But without knowing for sure whether that would lead to Little John, or anywhere, he didn't think he wanted to try it. He went back up to the main floor to see if Claire and Maddie had managed to talk the security guard into showing them the video. But the security guard was all alone at her table. Where were Claire and Maddie? "Over here," Claire called as Kaz started to pass through the glass wall. He was going to search the children's center. But Claire and

Maddie were sitting by themselves in the front row of the dark auditorium. They looked as glum as Kaz felt. "That security guard wouldn't let us look at the video," Claire said. "We even tried to get Andrea to talk to her, but she wouldn't. Andrea's canceling the Halloween party."

"She is? Did something else happen to make her cancel it?" Kaz asked. Claire shook her head. "She just said that since a bunch of kids said they weren't coming now, it made sense to cancel it." "So, no Halloween party. We don't know what happened to Little John. Plus, it's raining outside," Kaz said. This had turned into a really crummy visit to Seattle. "I'm really sorry about Little John," Claire said. "Thanks," Kaz said. "Hey, I just thought of something," Maddie said, sitting up a little straighter. "People say there are ghosts in the Underground. The Underground tour is only a couple blocks from here. We could walk down there. It's not tourist season, so we could probably get on the next tour. If there's a ghost in there, maybe he can help us solve one or both of our mysteries."

"How would a ghost in the Underground be able to help us?" Kaz asked. "What would he know about ghosts in the library?" Claire shrugged. "It's worth a try. Unless you've got a better idea?" she asked Kaz. Kaz didn't. So he shrank down... down... down and went inside Claire's water bottle. The Underground tour began aboveground, in a building that looked like an old saloon. Claire and Maddie sat on hard wooden benches listening to their tour guide, Wendy, talk about the early settlers. Kaz stayed inside the bottle. Wendy led the group outside into the rain. Some people put up umbrellas as they tromped across Pioneer Square. They crossed the street and stopped beside a stairwell. "Be careful. The stairs might be slippery," Wendy said as she headed down the stairs and