2 MEET LITTLE JOHN

CHAPTER 2 MEET LITTLE JOHN So tell me what's been happening at the library," Claire said later when she and Maddie were setting up a cot next to Maddie's bed. Kaz and Little John hovered above them. "You said kids weren't signing up for the Halloween party because they think the library's haunted." "It is haunted," Maddie said. She handed Claire two pillows. "How do you know?" Claire asked. She plopped down on the cot and grabbed her notebook and pen. "Have you seen a ghost in the library?"

"No, but I've heard it," Maddie said. "So have a bunch of other people. It lives inside the dumbwaiter." "What's a dumbwaiter?" Little John asked Kaz. Kaz shrugged. "What's a dumbwaiter?" Claire asked Maddie. "It's like an elevator for books instead of people," Maddie replied. "There's a little compartment, and librarians put books in there and send them to people who want them on other floors in the library." "Hmm, okay," Claire said. She wrote Seattle Public Library Ghost in big letters in her notebook. Below that, she wrote lives in the dumbwaiter. "So, is that where you hear the ghost? Inside the dumbwaiter?" "Yes," Maddie said. "What does it say?" Claire asked. "It doesn't say anything," Maddie replied. "It just cries and cries and cries. It's a very sad

ghost." She sat down on her own bed across from Claire. "What makes her so sure it's a ghost?" Kaz asked. So many of the cases C & K Ghost Detectives had solved ended up not being ghosts. Claire wrote sad ghost and cries a lot. "How do you know it's a ghost?" she asked. "What else could it be?" Maddie asked. "People always think a real kid got stuck in the dumbwaiter—" "Ghost kids are real kids!" Little John blurted.

"Shh!" Kaz said. He couldn't hear Maddie over Little John. "So they get a librarian to come open it up, but there's never anyone in there," Maddie went on. "The crying gets louder, though, when the dumbwaiter is open. Plus, there are all these other weird things that keep happening at the library. Elevators and escalators stop working for no reason. Doors open and close all by themselves. It's got to be a ghost, don't you think?" "Maybe," Claire said. She wrote down everything her cousin said. "If you can see and talk to the ghost, maybe you can find out why it's so sad," Maddie said. "If we fix whatever's wrong, maybe it'll go away. Then kids will sign up for the Halloween party, and we won't have to cancel it." "I'll do my best," Claire said, closing her notebook. "Good. We'll go to the library tomorrow. As soon as Mom says we've done enough

schoolwork," Maddie said. She picked up Claire's water bottle and tried to see inside. "I can't believe your ghost friends can really fit in there." "Oh, they're not in there right now," Claire said. "They're not?" Maddie said. "Where are they?" "We're... over... here...," Little John wailed. "Behind you..." He started to glow. Maddie turned. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. "Maddie, meet Little John," Claire said, gesturing toward him. "Hi...," Little John wailed. He waved at Maddie. Maddie grinned. "Hey, I can see ghosts now, too! Just like you." "You can only see him because he's glowing," Claire said. "That's what ghosts do when they want us to see them. My other ghost friend, Kaz, can't glow."

"Don't remind me," Kaz moaned. It was the only ghost skill he hadn't learned yet. "But he's here, too," Claire said. "Kaz, say hello to Maddie." "Hello...," Kaz wailed. He tried to glow. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists and told his body to glow. But as usual, nothing happened. "Hi," Maddie said. Little John stopped glowing. Maddie blinked. "Hey, where'd that ghost go?" she asked. "He's still there," Claire said. "It takes a lot of energy for ghosts to glow, so he's not glowing anymore." "You mean he's tired?" Maddie asked. "Sort of," Claire replied, stifling a yawn. "Ghosts don't sleep. But they run out of energy if they use their ghost skills a lot." "Speaking of sleep," Maddie said. "You look like you could use some."