15 HALLOWEEN IN SEATTLE

CHAPTER 15 HALLOWEEN IN SEATTLE Oliver didn't know much about the solid girl that Little John had left with, just that she was around Little John's age. And she carried a water bottle. That was how Oliver knew about water bottles. He'd seen Little John travel in one. "Attention!" a voice came over the intercom. "The museum will be closing in five minutes." "We have to go," Maddie said. "Thanks for bringing my boy home," Oliver's mom said. Kaz shrank down... down... down and went inside Claire's bottle. Claire and Maddie walked back to the bus tunnel in the dark and the rain.

What was Kaz going to do? There had to be millions of girls in Seattle. How would he ever find the one that Little John had gone with? And even if he did find her and Little John, would Little John come with him? How would Kaz ever explain all this to Mom and Pops? That night, Claire and Maddie put the finishing touches on their Halloween costumes. Claire was going as a mermaid. Maddie would be a punk rocker. Since there wasn't going to be a party at the library on Halloween, Maddie said she'd take Claire trick-or-treating instead. Kaz hovered glumly in the corner. "Maddie, your phone's ringing!" Aunt Beth called from the kitchen. Maddie raced out of the room. "Coming," she called.

"Cheer up, Kaz," Claire said. "We don't know for sure that Little John is gone for good. We'll go back to the library one more time tomorrow before trick-or-treating. Maybe he'll be there." Kaz doubted it. "Little John said he always wanted his own solid friend," he told Claire. "It sounds like he found one." Maddie rushed back in. "Well, here's some good news," she said. "That was Andrea on the phone. She called all the kids who signed up for the Halloween party to let them know the party was canceled, and a bunch of moms got upset! When they heard there weren't enough kids signed up, they got a bunch more kids to sign up. So the party is back on!"

"For real?" Claire said. "For real," Maddie said. "We get to skip our schoolwork again tomorrow morning so we can go to the library and help Andrea set up." "What about the underground ghosts?" Kaz said. When he remembered that Maddie couldn't hear him, he wailed, "What... about... the... underground... ghosts...? They... won't... be... happy... Solid... people... aren't... supposed... to... be... in... the... library... at... night..." Claire and Maddie looked at each other. "It's only one night," Maddie said. "Can't we be in the library one night without a bunch of ghosts getting upset?" "What if we invite the ghosts to come to the party, too?" Claire suggested. "Oh, I like that," Maddie said. "Real ghosts at a Halloween party!" "How... will... you... invite... them...?" Kaz wailed. "How... will...

they... know... we... want... them... to... stay...?" "We'll put up a big sign that says GHOSTS WELCOME!" Claire said. Maddie grinned. "People will think we're talking about costumes, not real ghosts." Then her face clouded. "Oh, but what if some of the kids are scared of the ghosts?" Claire shrugged. "It's Halloween. You've got to expect a ghost or two to show up on Halloween." The next morning Kaz went to the library with Claire and Maddie. While they helped Andrea decorate and get set up for the party, Kaz searched all eleven floors of the library one more time. Little John was nowhere to be found. The party was going to be held in the tenth- floor reading room. Kaz watched Claire and Maddie move chairs and tables away from the

carpeted area. Next they set up tables for food and games. Then they painted large signs that said: WELCOME TO THE SPL HALLOWEEN PARTY! REAL LIVE GHOSTS WELCOME, TOO! Kaz watched his solid friends hang their signs on the tenth floor, outside the children's center on the first floor, and down in the parking garage. The parking attendant raised an eyebrow. "You two know you're asking for trouble putting up a sign like that, don't you?" he said. "We don't care. It's Halloween!" Maddie said. Maddie and Claire were really excited about the party, but Kaz wasn't. It's hard to get excited about a party when you're not sure you'll ever see your little brother again. Kids started arriving for the party a little before seven. They came dressed as pirates, vampires, skeletons, characters from popular children's books, even a ghost. The one who was dressed like