7 GHOST HUNTING

CHAPTER 7 GHOST HUNTING Was the other ghost in the garage now? Was that the problem? Kaz couldn't see the whole garage from inside Claire's water bottle, but he could see a lot of it. He didn't see any ghosts in there. "Maybe we should take Sparky around front and see if he'll go in the main door," Claire suggested. "That's a good idea," Brynlee said. They all ran up the grassy hill behind the fire station and around to the front of the building. RJ pushed open the main door, and Sparky ran

through it with his tail wagging. He charged into the office and went from one desk to another, greeting all the firefighters. "Weird," Brynlee and RJ said. "What's weird?" Dick asked. "The fact that you two have this twin thing where you say the same thing at the same time?" "No," Brynlee said as Kaz passed through the water bottle and expanded to full size. "You know how Sparky won't go in the TV room?" RJ said. "He was like that with the back door just now, too. He wouldn't go into the garage. We thought maybe he didn't want to go into the fire station at all anymore. But he didn't mind coming in this door." "That's a funny fire station mascot," David said with a laugh. "A dog who refuses to go into the fire station." Several of the other firefighters nodded in agreement. "Let's see if he'll go into the garage from

inside the fire station," RJ said as he headed for the back hallway. "Come on, Sparky!" Kaz would've preferred to look for Little John, but he followed Sparky, RJ, Brynlee, and Claire down the hall. When they reached the door to the garage, RJ pulled it open. Sparky sat down and let out a low growl. While RJ held the door open, Brynlee walked through and turned around at the top of the stairs. "Come here, Sparky!" she said, patting her legs. RJ tried to nudge Sparky through the doorway

from behind, but the dog refused to go. "Arooooooooooo!" he howled. Little John wafted into the hallway behind them. "There you guys are!" he said to Kaz and Claire. "Little John!" Kaz cried. He swam to Little John and threw his arms around his brother. "You're here! You're safe. You're not blowing in the wind somewhere." Sparky leaped up and wagged his tail at Little John. "Now what's that dog doing?" Brynlee asked. "Why is he so excited all of a sudden?" "Of course I'm not blowing in the wind," Little John said. "Were you worried, Kaz? I told those firefighters last night to tell you I was here." "Yeah, but we didn't get the message until this morning," Kaz said, finally letting Little John go. "And we didn't know for sure it was you." "Who else would it have been? Who else would have asked for Claire?" Little John asked as

he tried to pet Sparky. But Sparky swam right through his hand. "Where were you?" Kaz asked. "Last I saw, you were inside that fire truck when the alarm sounded. But when the fire truck came back, you were gone." "I was still inside the fire truck," Little John said. "When the firefighters opened the doors to the truck, I was afraid I was going to get sucked into the Outside. So I shrank and hid inside the glove box. I didn't know when it was safe to come out, so I stayed there for a long, long time. When I came out, the truck was back in the garage. It was nighttime, and everyone was gone." "Hiding in the glove box was a smart idea," Kaz said. "I know," Little John replied. "I'm glad we found you," Claire accidentally said out loud. "Who are you talking to, Claire?" RJ asked. "Is it the ghost?" Brynlee asked.

"Uh... yeah," Claire said quickly. "Let me get out my equipment and I'll catch it." She unzipped her bag and pulled out her ghost glass and her ghost catcher. She aimed them both at Little John. Kaz gasped. "No!" he cried, swimming between Claire and Little John. "You can't suck my brother into that machine!" Claire's ghost catcher was really just a handheld vacuum that she'd covered in foil. She hadn't turned it on yet, but Kaz knew it was LOUD. And strong. Much stronger and scarier than any outside wind. "Relax, Kaz. We'll be safe inside Claire's water bottle," Little John said. Oh, Kaz thought. Of course. After all, Claire never planned to use her ghost catcher on any real ghosts. She just needed it so other solids would think she'd caught a ghost. Kaz and Little John shrank down... down... down... and passed through the side of Claire's water bottle. Once they were safe inside, Claire turned on her ghost catcher. It made a terrible