9 A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE

CHAPTER 9 A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE It was starting to get dark outside. Margaret climbed the rope ladder first, and the other girls passed their suitcases, sleeping bags, and flashlights up to her. She piled everything on the porch and unlocked the door. The other girls climbed the ladder, grabbed their things, and crawled inside the tree house. Claire closed the door behind them and turned on her flashlight. Kaz, Little John, Mom, and Pops passed through the water bottle and expanded partway back to their normal sizes. It was too crowded to expand all the way.

They looked around, but didn't see any other ghosts in the tree house. "Maybe the ghost is hiding," Little John said. "Where?" Kaz asked. "I don't know." Little John shrugged. "But he always comes back. So maybe he never really leaves." It was a possibility, Kaz thought. Where could a ghost hide in here? "What makes you so sure there's a ghost in this tree house, Margaret?" Kenya asked as she plopped down on a red pillow. Olivia plopped down on a green pillow beside her. Margaret and Claire unrolled their sleeping bags. "I don't know if I dreamed this or it really happened," Margaret said. "But last night while I was asleep, I heard this voice. It said there was a ghost in the tree house."

"That was me," Kaz told Claire. "It wanted me to go out to the tree house and bring a water bottle that was half full of water and then pour the water on the ghost," Margaret added. Kenya and Olivia giggled. Claire shot Kaz a look. "I can explain—" he started to say. "That had to be a dream," Olivia said to Margaret. "I thought so, too," Margaret said. "I got up and went to the window, but I didn't see anything in the tree house. I've definitely seen a ghost out here other nights, though. So has Henry. Then this morning, I heard a ghost in my room. It wasn't in the tree house anymore. It was in my room. It told me to get Claire."

"How does it know Claire's name?" Olivia asked. "Wait." Kenya held up her hand. "You think the ghost is in your house now?" she asked Margaret. "Then what are we doing out here?" Margaret threw her hands into the air. "I don't know if it's in my house. I don't know if it's out here. I don't know where it is!" "But you saw a ghost inside your house this morning? For real?" Olivia asked. "Well... I didn't see it. I heard it," Margaret said.

"How do you know it was a ghost?" Kenya asked. "Because it told me it was!" Margaret said. Kenya looked doubtful. Claire stretched her legs out in front of her. "We'll see if any ghosts visit us tonight," she said. "If not, it'll still be fun to sleep in a tree house." Kaz and his family floated around the tree house. Mom stopped in front of one window and peered outside. Pops hovered in front of the other window. Kaz and Little John drifted back and forth above the girls. "I wonder if that tree branch is hollow on the inside," Little John said out of the blue. The other ghosts and Claire all turned toward the branch. "Hmm," Kaz said. "If it is, that would be a good place for a ghost to hide." Kaz stuck his arm inside the branch. "It feels hollow," he said. He shrank down... down...

down... then passed through the bark of the branch. "Our Kaz has gotten so brave," Mom said from the tree house. Having his parents and Claire so close made Kaz feel brave. He blinked his eyes a couple of times to adjust to the darkness, then looked around. He was inside a narrow, hollow tunnel inside the tree branch. Bits of dirt and dust clung to the inside of the branch. Kaz shrank down... down... down... down a little more, and swam headfirst through the tunnel. "Hello?" he called. "Is there anyone in here?" He didn't see any ghosts.