3 VISITING GRANDMOM AND GRANDPOP

CHAPTER 3 VISITING GRANDMOM AND GRANDPOP What were you talking about when you said, 'Did you see that?'" Little John asked Kaz as they floated inside Claire's water bottle. They were almost to Valley View. Kaz held tight to Cosmo. "I thought I saw a ghost in the window next to Eli's," he explained. "I only saw it for a second, so maybe I imagined it." "Maybe you saw the sun reflecting against the window," Mom suggested. "Lots of things look like ghosts from a distance, but they turn out to be something else," Pops added.

Kaz knew Pops was right. He and Claire had been called to solve quite a few ghostly mysteries, but none of them had resulted in any real ghosts. "It could be a ghost," Little John said. "We're not the only ghosts around here, you know. There's Beckett, there's the family that lives in the purple house, and there are a bunch of old lady ghosts at Valley View." "Don't call them old ladies," Mom scolded. "That's not polite." "But they are old ladies," Little John said. "Everyone at Valley View is old." "We're here," Kaz announced as Claire walked up to a small brick building. She pulled open the door, and a large colorful bird in the entryway squawked, "Hello! Hello!" "Ack!" Kaz shrieked, even though the bird was in a cage. Grrrrr! Cosmo bared his teeth and growled at the bird. "What in the world is that?" Mom asked.

Little John giggled. "It's a bird. His name is Petey. Right, Kaz?" Little John glanced at Kaz, then looked again. "Kaz? Are you glowing?" "You are glowing!" Pops exclaimed. "I am?" Kaz looked down at himself. There was a slight bluish glow to his skin. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was doing to make it happen. "Wow, Kaz!" Claire said, impressed. "Excuse me? Can I help you?" the lady at the counter asked. Claire quickly shoved her water bottle behind her back. "I'd uh... like to visit some people who live here," she said. "Awww," Kaz groaned, turning his arm all around. "The glow is gone already." As soon as Kaz let go of Cosmo, the dog charged through Claire's water bottle—and into Petey's cage! "Cosmo! No! BAD DOG!" Kaz yelled. He swam after his dog. While Cosmo chased Petey,

Kaz chased Cosmo. Up, down, and all around the cage. "BAD DOG! BAD DOG!" Petey squawked. Mom, Pops, and Little John swam into the cage and tried to help Kaz catch Cosmo. But Petey flew right through them. "BAD DOG!" he squawked again. "My goodness!" The lady at the counter rose to her feet. She couldn't see all the ghosts in the birdcage. She could only see Petey. "I don't know what's wrong with that bird." Claire pressed her lips together. She knew what was wrong, but there was nothing she could do to help.

"Got him!" Little John shouted as he grabbed Cosmo around the middle and swam back through the cage. Kaz and his parents followed Little John and Cosmo over to a far corner of the room—as far from Petey as they could get. Petey shook his feathers, then uttered one more "BAD DOG!" Once the bird was calm, the lady at the counter sat back down. "Sorry about that," she said to Claire. "Now, was there someone in particular you wanted to visit?"

"Uh." Claire thought for a second, then said, "Yes! I'd like to visit Victor Helsing!" Victor had done some repair work at the library a long time ago—long before Claire was even born. Claire, Kaz, and Little John had gone to see him when they wanted to learn more about the secret room. That was when they'd found out that Grandmom and Grandpop had made Valley View their new haunt. "I'm sure Victor would love some company," the lady said. "He's in room 105." She wrote it on a scrap of paper and slid the paper across the counter. Claire grabbed it. "Thanks," she said as she headed down the hall. Kaz and his family wafted behind her. Claire stopped in the doorway of room 105. "This is Victor's room," she told the ghosts. "Come find me when you're done, or I'll come find you when I'm done."