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CHAPTER 6 .... .., -- --- --! I told you!" Henry said. "I told you I saw a ghost in the tree house last night. And I told you I heard a ghost in our house!" "There's no such thing as ghosts," Henry's dad said as he turned a page in his newspaper. "No one ever believes me," Henry grumbled. "I believe you," Margaret said. "I've seen a ghost in the tree house, too. I didn't see it last night, but I believe you saw it. It tracked in mud and messed up the pillows. That's how I know it was there last night." Henry shifted in his seat a little.

"Wait. Ghosts don't track in mud," Kaz said. "We don't walk on the ground, so our feet don't ever get muddy." But Kaz and Little John and Pops had all seen the ghost glowing in the tree house during the night, too. "Maybe you girls tracked in the mud yourselves when you were in there yesterday afternoon," Margaret's mom suggested. "We didn't," Margaret said. "I know we didn't because the ground was dry yesterday afternoon. It didn't rain until last night." "Maybe someone went in after it started raining?" Dad suggested. "How would they have gotten in? The door is locked!" Margaret said. "Ghosts can walk through walls," Henry said. "Maybe you didn't lock the door. Or maybe someone figured out the combination," Mom said. "No one knows the combination except people in this family and Kenya and Olivia," Margaret

said. Henry bit his lip. "Okay, kids. Time to get ready for school," Dad said. They all got up from the table and went to gather their things. When no one else was looking, Kaz saw Henry kick a pair of shoes under the bench by the back door. Then Henry sat down and put on a different pair of shoes. Kaz peered under the bench. He saw that the shoes Henry had kicked under there had mud on them.

But that didn't make any sense. Henry was in his bedroom when they all saw the ghost in the tree house last night. Kaz, Little John, and Pops spent the rest of the morning near the kitchen window, watching the tree house. But if the ghost was still out there, she wasn't showing herself. "Margaret said she'd let Claire know if the ghost came back," Kaz said. "Maybe Claire will come home with Margaret after school, and she'll take us back to the tree house." "Oh, I hope so," Little John said. Pops sniffed. "We can solve this problem on our own," he said. But as morning turned to afternoon, neither Pops nor Kaz nor Little John had figured out a way to get to the tree house. They didn't even know whether the ghost was still out there. They hadn't seen any more glowing.

A few hours later, Margaret and Henry came home with their mom. First they had a snack in the kitchen. Then Margaret and Henry turned on the computer and started a game that had something to do with zapping bugs. "This is how solid children spend their time?" Pops said as he stared at the screen. "It looks fun!" Little John said. "It looks... dull," Pops said. Yet he couldn't seem to tear himself away. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Was it Claire? "I'll get it," Margaret said. She raced to the door. Kaz floated behind her. It wasn't Claire. It was Kenya and Olivia. Kaz groaned. Maybe Claire was still coming. He swam to the window and looked up and down the street. He didn't see Claire, but he saw those same older boys sitting on the grass next door. They had a gray metal case in front of them and a

bucket of small objects. But Kaz couldn't tell what any of that stuff was. "So, what are we going to do about this ghost?" Olivia asked. "Maybe we should call that Claire girl again," Margaret said. Yes! Kaz thought, turning toward the girls. Call Claire! Call her right now. "It's not a ghost," Kenya said. "Then what is it?" Margaret asked. "I'm not the only one who's seen it. My brother saw it last night. And this morning there was mud on the rug in our tree house. But the door was still locked. How did someone get in through a locked door? It has to be a ghost." Kenya shrugged. "Or someone who knows the combination to the lock." "Who knows the combination besides us?" Margaret asked. Kenya strolled over to the window. Kaz darted out of her way.