6 THE GHOST AT ELI'S HOUSE

CHAPTER 6 THE GHOST AT ELI'S HOUSE Kaz and Little John swam into a girl's bedroom and peered out the front window. They saw Claire and Eli standing in the driveway with Eli's mom. It looked like Eli's mom was offering Claire a ride, but they couldn't hear through the closed window. Claire lifted her backpack to her shoulder, and with a quick wave to Eli, she set off down the street. Eli and his mom got into their car and drove away. Now Kaz and Little John were alone in Eli's house. Maybe.

"Hello? Is anyone else here?" Kaz gazed around the bedroom. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Little John called. The ghosts heard a strange popping, dropping sound. It was coming from somewhere below them. "What is that?" Kaz asked. "I don't know," Little John said. "It sort of sounds like... popcorn." "No. It sounds like..." Kaz thought for a second. "Like what?" Little John pressed. "I don't know," Kaz said. "Not popcorn, though. The pops are too slow." The ghosts wafted out into the upstairs hallway. "Hello?" Kaz called again. "Is anyone there?" Pop... pop... pop... pop... pop... Kaz noticed a desk over by the stairs. The top drawer was open. "Hey, was that drawer open a

few minutes ago?" Kaz asked Little John. "I don't know. I don't think so," Little John replied. They swam over and peered down at the open drawer. There wasn't anything very interesting inside, just some paper, envelopes, pencils, and pens. The popping stopped. The ghosts drifted down to the main floor and saw a bunch of marbles lying all over the front hallway. "Those were definitely not here before," Little John said.

"Was that what made the popping sound?" Kaz asked. He dove down and picked up a solid marble. Then, holding the marble carefully between his thumb and first finger, he carried it over to the stairs and let it fall. It bounced down the bottom three steps with a pop... pop... pop sound. "It's the same sound," Little John said. "But no one's home, so who dropped all these marbles down the stairs?" Kaz had a bad feeling about this, a very bad feeling. Click! The front door lock turned. "I think you'll really like this home," a man with a briefcase said as he opened the door and came into the house. He was probably the real estate agent. A well-dressed man and woman stepped in behind him. Kaz and Little John swam backward, away from the open door.

"It's well maintained and this is a lovely neighborhood," the real estate agent added. He set his briefcase down and closed the door. "Oh!" the woman cried out as she slipped on a marble. "Be careful. There are marbles all over the floor!" "I see that," the agent said. He hurried around the room and picked up all the marbles. He dropped them into a decorative bowl on a table and smiled uneasily at the couple. "Perhaps we didn't give the family enough notice that we were coming. Let me show you the living room." Kaz and Little John followed the group into the living room. "Notice the beautiful stonework around the fireplace." The real estate agent tapped the stones. "Woooooooooooo!" Something inside the fireplace wailed. The woman gasped. "What was that?" she asked.

"Probably the wind," her husband said, patting her hand. Kaz and Little John raised their eyebrows at each other. It didn't sound much like wind to either of them. "Hello?" Little John said to the beautiful stonework. Then he and Kaz swam into the fireplace and looked up toward the chimney. They didn't feel any wind. And they didn't see anything that could have made that woooooooooooo sound, either. By the time Kaz and Little John returned to the living room, the solid people had moved on to the kitchen. The ghosts hurried after them. "These are state-of-the-art appliances," the real estate agent said. While the man and woman checked out the stove and refrigerator, another pop... pop... pop... sound came from the front hallway. "What is that?" the man asked.