7 A SURPRISING NEW SKILL

CHAPTER 7 A SURPRISING NEW SKILL Mr. Hartshorn unlocked the control-room door and stepped inside. Kaz peeked in behind him. He didn't see anyone, ghost or solid, in there. Mr. Hartshorn switched off the spotlight, then peered under the counter and behind the door. He even opened the closet at the back of the control room. He stood there for a long time, which seemed strange because the closet was obviously empty.

"There's no one in the control room," Mr. Hartshorn said when he returned to the cafetorium. "The door was locked. And this time I had my keys with me. So how did that spotlight come on? I know it didn't turn on by itself." Nobody offered any ideas. Mr. Hartshorn sighed. "Fine. Let's get back to work. I don't want any more funny business!" Claire and Jonathan returned to their places

onstage. Other kids sat down on the floor in front of the stage and on the steps. And the kids who were working on props went back to painting leaves and cutting them out. Noah grabbed the sword he'd cut out of cardboard and swung it around. "If there's a ghost at our school, I'll find it and stab it with my magic sword!" Kaz shivered. "No stabbing," Mr. Hartshorn said. "And no more talk about ghosts." "Aww," Noah whined. Kaz didn't like Noah very much. He didn't like the way Noah teased Jonathan, but he really didn't like what Noah said about finding "the ghost" and stabbing it. Kaz knew Noah couldn't see him, but he decided to stay as far away from Noah as he could. That night, Claire did her homework in the craft room while Kaz practiced his ghost skills with

Beckett. "Can a ghost turn on a player piano or a spotlight?" Claire asked the ghosts. "Of course," Beckett replied. "It's just a matter of moving a solid object. Show her, Kaz. Go over there and turn off that table lamp." "I can't!" Kaz moaned. And Beckett knew he couldn't. "Try," Beckett insisted. Kaz floated over the table. He stared hard at the lamp. "Come on, Kaz," Claire cheered him on. "You can do it." Kaz held his breath, clenched his teeth, and sent all his energy to his finger as he reached for the switch. His finger passed through the base of the lamp. "See?" he said. "Again," Beckett ordered. "Try it again." Kaz sighed. He squeezed the ghost bead inside his pocket for luck, then reached for the switch again.

And once again, his finger passed through the lamp. "Concentrate!" Beckett said. "I am!" Kaz cried. He was concentrating so hard that the lamp blurred in front of him. He touched his finger to the switch one more time, but this time something amazing happened. The lamp disappeared from the solid world. Kaz, Claire, and Beckett all stared. They could still see the lamp even though it was no longer solid. In fact, they could see right through it as it floated in midair. But it wasn't brown anymore. Now it was the same whitish-blue color as Kaz, Beckett, and the bead inside Kaz's pocket. "How did you do that?" Claire and Beckett asked at the same time. "I-I don't know," Kaz stammered. "No, really," Beckett said very seriously as he floated around the ghost lamp. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" "I don't know," Kaz said again.

"Can you turn it back?" Claire asked. "Can you do it again?" Beckett asked. "I don't know!" Kaz threw up his hands. "I don't know how I did it. I don't know if I can put it back. And I don't know if I can do it again." "Well, first, why don't you try to make it solid again?" Beckett suggested. "How?" Kaz asked. "I'm not sure," Beckett said. "This isn't a skill I've ever seen before." "Really?" Kaz gaped at Beckett. "You mean, you can't do it?" He grinned. "I have a skill that you don't have?" "Well," Beckett sniffed. "I wouldn't call it a skill if you can't do it at will. Now can you return that lamp to the solid world or not?" Since Kaz didn't know how he had made the lamp disappear from the solid world, he didn't know if he could return it. He put his hand on the lamp, concentrated really hard, and willed it to turn solid again.