Spooky Skeleton Read online

  “Okay, great. Does anyone happen to have qualifications as a clown?” I said.

  Two hands stayed in the air, attached to skeletons I had never seen before. One of them was missing part of his arm. Given that he was clothed, what else he was missing underneath the fabric was anyone’s guess.

  “Great. You two should both come. Bert and Buck, how about you as well?” I said.

  All the ghosts who were chosen looked terribly pleased. Bert and Buck high-fived each other.

  “When shall we report for duty?” Bert asked.

  “Two nights from now would be great. We can go over the ropes and get you settled in. Then, if you have any more questions after that, the other supernaturals can help you,” I said.

  I didn’t linger Down Below. Some of the criminal supernaturals were giving me very strange looks, and for that and other reasons I thought it best to depart as quickly as possible. To my great relief, Peter was waiting outside the door when the Fudge led me away.

  “How’d it go?” my skeleton friend asked once we were on our way.

  “Better than I expected, I think,” I said, frowning. In truth, I wasn’t entirely certain how it had gone. The supernaturals were clearly afraid of the Fudge. They hadn’t wanted to speak up until he gave the all clear. But after that, several of them had seemed quite enthusiastic.

  “I don’t like it,” said Peter. “Seems like a bad business.”

  “We just need some help until we deal with the Root of All Evil and our recruiting improves again,” I explained.

  “When is that going to be? Doomsday? Do you even know where they are?” he demanded.

  At that I clamped my jaw tightly shut. Lark, Pep, and I had found a house right in the middle of Shimmerfield that we thought the Root had taken over, but we had agreed not to tell anyone about it. If we did, Kip and the guys would just take over, and there was no way I wanted that. Besides, we hadn’t done enough investigating to know if it really was the Root or not. No reason to sound the alarm until we were sure.

  “No idea where they are,” I said out loud. “Once we find out, I’m sure you’ll hear all about it. Thanks for leading me out. Goodnight, Peter.”

  I barely heard his murmured goodnight, not that it mattered. I was in a rush to shower off the creepy feeling of Down Below and get to sleep. I had a lot to do over the next few days.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The next two days were quiet. The Spooky Times carried no mention of the murder in Shimmerfield, the Chief of Police didn’t come back to Haunted Bluff for more interviews, and there was no news.

  The lack of information had officially gotten frustrating. Cookie had said she didn’t plan to return to Elton’s house in the woods to speak to Paul. Even so, I kept as good an eye on the owls as I could, hoping to find out right away if she was lying. I never saw her leave.

  I didn’t see Grant for a couple of days. I found half a dozen excuses every day to go outside, but he was never around, and I started to grow frustrated at that as well. Why I cared I wasn’t sure. We had a date set for Friday night, so it wasn’t as if he had mysteriously edged out of my life.

  Once Thursday came, I started to turn my attention to the date. I didn’t even care if I saw him earlier on Friday. In fact, I suddenly didn’t want to see him.

  “What are you going to wear?” Pep asked. We had found Lark in the ice cream shop, where she was trying out several flavors that she was thinking of offering when she opened in the spring.

  “Bone-infused Chocolate?” she offered.

  “Not if you want to sell ice cream,” Pep responded.

  Lark marked it off the list.

  “Wear to what?” I asked. We were sitting in a booth while Lark pored over her list.

  “On your date! Where did he say you were going?” Pep said.

  “He didn’t. I did get a note from him asking me to dress warmly. Not sure what that means, though. It also said to come hungry,” I said.

  “Hmmm, so food outside,” said Lark.

  “It’s too cold for that. He must realize it’s too cold for that,” I said.

  “I’m sure he does. Grant is very precise. He’s probably been checking the weather daily,” said Pep.

  “I doubt he cares that much,” I said.

  “It might depend a bit on what you’re doing, but he definitely cares that much. Don’t even suggest otherwise,” Pep said, rolling her eyes.

  “Fine. Maybe he’s looking forward to it too. That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know what to wear,” I said.

  “You could raid Meg’s closet. She’s been getting dolled up a lot lately. I’m sure all her fancy clothes are easily accessible,” said Pep.

  “It’s all well and good for you two to raid her closet. You’re her daughters. I’m different,” I said, though I was thinking it over even as I spoke. Part of me thought it sounded exciting. I had never cared about looking pretty or wearing fancy clothes, but suddenly I did. This third date was important. Grant and I had had two perfect first dates. We both knew that if this one went well, we would be a couple.

  Where would that leave us?

  Together.

  Having to tell my family.

  And to work out my private investigating while he worked officially as an investigator.

  “What should I wear?” I said again.

  “Hmmm, if you need to be warm, a dress is probably out. You could wear tights, but in the wind that’s still cold,” said Pep.

  “Maybe a long skirt with boots?” I said.

  “Yeah, and a cowl neck top!” said Pep.

  “What’s a cowl neck?” Lark finally lifted her head from her papers.

  Pep told her, but she wasn’t happy about having to.

  “I don’t have a long skirt that’s warm enough,” I said.

  “Meg does,” said Pep with a grin.

  Well then.

  Meg was in the kitchen when I went looking for her. The apple order had arrived, and with it the apple seller. John was a Shimmerfield local who had had a thing for both Meg and my mom over the years. What he didn’t know about my mom was that there was no way she was ever going to date anyone. She was too busy working.

  Meg, on the other hand, didn’t go to so much trouble to get dressed up for nothing. At the moment she was wearing a red sweater and tight jeans and leaning on the counter. For the moment, Audrey had found somewhere else to be.

  “Sorry to interrupt. I’ll come back,” I said, starting to leave.

  “No, you don’t have to go anywhere. John has been trying to leave for twenty minutes,” said my aunt.

  If he had really been trying to, I had a feeling he would have succeeded. Naturally I didn’t say so out loud.

  “Good to see you, Jane. Missed you at the winter market last time,” he said.

  The locals kept the market going even in colder weather. Everyone else tried to support the farmers and would pop in to pick up whatever they had to offer. In the winter months it was usually more baked goods than lettuce, but there was always something.

  “I should be back again soon,” I said.

  “Well, anyway,” John said, “I really should be going. I have a lot of other stops to make.”

  To my surprise, he still didn’t go. Instead he lingered in the doorway while Meg blushed furiously. When he eventually managed to get out the door, it was as though the room had uttered a big, sighing release of tension.

  I didn’t know much about John other than that he knew all there was to know about apples. There were thousands of varieties in Maine, and he could name a lot of them. After he left, Meg was flushed with happiness.

  “So nice of him to drop off the apples personally, don’t you think?” she said.

  “It saves Audrey a trip into Shimmerfield. He’s definitely doing it out of the goodness of his heart,” I said dryly.

  Meg missed the amusement in my voice. She was too busy trying to regain her composure by cleaning up the already clean kitchen. I tried not to laugh
at how flustered she was. I wondered if this was what I looked like when Grant was around. I sincerely hoped it wasn’t.

  “I’m sorry. You came looking for me. What was it you needed?” she said.

  “It was actually a favor. Pep and Lark suggested it. I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t kind of desperate,” I said.

  This made Meg stop and focus. “I love to be the one you come to only in desperation. You know we’re all family here. I do have to pause, given that you say my daughters were the ones who suggested it. But go on,” she said.

  “I was wondering if I could borrow a skirt,” I said.

  Meg looked at me for a second, then just started laughing. “Of course you can. Don’t be silly! I have a whole raft of them. Most of them I don’t even wear very often. I assume you want longer and warmer given the weather? I have several of those.”

  She was looking at me closely, and I must have looked relieved. Her smile got a bit bigger. “Can you tell me what you want it for, or is it a secret?”

  “I have a date,” I started.

  “With Grant, I assume?” she asked.

  She was still cleaning the kitchen and had assumed a businesslike manner, but my heart was for some reason hammering in my chest. Asking Meg had made my third date with Grant real. I couldn’t believe the state of mind that dating sent me into.

  “Yes, how did you know?” I asked.

  “You aren’t the type to date casually. If you were, we would have seen you do more of it by now. Besides, I was at dinner when he joined us. I saw him sit next to you. I saw him look at you the way he did. I might be old, but I’m not stupid,” she said with a wink.

  “Yes, it’s for our third date,” I said.

  “You know that once you go on a third date, you’ll have to make some decisions,” said my aunt. She had stopped moving around and was looking at me quite seriously. We both knew that my mother would have to be consulted. What she would say, nobody knew.

  “Yeah, we understand that,” I said.

  Meg went into motion again. “If you understand it, then that’s all good. Let’s go look at my skirts. I have a bit of free time now,” she said.

  We stopped back in Lark’s shop to get my cousins, and the four of us headed for Meg’s closet.

  Well, one of her closets.

  “I have three, you know,” she said. “It’s why I picked that particular room, because it was the bedroom with a wardrobe in it. And there’s a walk-in closet off of that which is my main dressing room. Then I have one more room for items I don’t wear as often. Most of my skirts are in my dressing room, though.”

  “Oh, so you have all your fancy clothing easily accessible at the moment?” Pep asked.

  Meg gave her daughter a look that suggested she might be crazy. “I have all my skirts in my walk-in closet. Why?”

  “No reason at all,” said Pep, looking happy.

  Just as we reached Meg’s room, Rose appeared. “Why wasn’t I invited to the party?”

  “Because it started in the kitchen,” said Lark.

  “The only thing that saves that woman from being booted out of the kitchen is that she’s such a good cook. I know you’d pick me over her otherwise. It’s really not my fault that I can’t cook,” said Rose.

  “There is also the little matter that she’s family,” said Meg.

  Rose didn’t deign to reply to that one, but I was sure she considered herself to be as much “family” as the rest of us.

  Meg led us into her wardrobe. It wasn’t a large room, but the four of us fit comfortably inside it. Along one wall was a bench, and on another was a mirror with a chair in front of it. Rose went to curl up under the vanity, while Lark and Pep sat on the bench and Meg showed me to the section where she had hung the skirts.

  “Have a look,” she said.

  It didn’t take me long to choose two black skirts. I had a pair of knee-high black boots that would look nice with either of them. Now it was just a matter of trying them on. Meg let me into her bedroom so I could change.

  The first skirt was made of a suede material. The bottom of it was cut at an angle that gave it a swish, which I rather liked.

  “I really like that one,” said Lark when I showed it off. The others agreed.

  I tried on the other skirt, but it wasn’t as nice. The swaying one was perfect.

  “I think it would look lovely with a gray silk top tucked in,” said Meg.

  “Do you have one?” I asked her.

  “I don’t. Since this is a special occasion, though, I think we could use a little enchantment. Just don’t tell your mother,” she warned me. Clothing was really not what enchantments were supposed to be used for, and my mother was more of a stickler for rules than Meg was.

  She picked out one of her many silk tops. With a wave of her hand, the garment went flying over to hang next to the mirror. Then she went her vanity and picked out several trinkets, including a gray pin, some makeup, and an herb I had never seen before. She tossed them all into the air, where they were suddenly suspended. “Make this garment gray.”

  The silk top changed from white to gray. We all smiled and clapped. It was very much the color of the pin Meg held in her hand. “I always work best with an example,” she explained.

  “Now, take these things up to the attic. We have a busy night coming up at the haunted house, and we all need to get ready,” she said.

  The four of us made our way to the door, with me carrying my newly loaned clothing. I had felt nervous before, but now I was starting to feel just a little bit more ready for the big night. It was amazing what a cute outfit could do.

  Just as we were about to leave the room, Meg looked over her shoulder. “Rose? Don’t think for a second that I’m leaving you here in my closet without me,” she said.

  The cat got up and trotted over, but she didn’t look happy about it. “What if there are mice?” she grumbled.

  Once we were out of Meg’s room we went our separate ways. The haunted house would open soon, and I needed to put my things away and get ready to deal with the supernaturals from Down Below.

  On any given night they could be up to all sorts of mischief. Now I had invited mischief upstairs.

  For better or for worse.

  Chapter Fifteen

  There was something wrong. I had gotten to the mailroom a few minutes early and had now been there for about twenty minutes. The supernaturals were late.

  I kept shifting from one foot to the other, wondering what to do if they didn’t show up. If they took much longer, I wouldn’t have time to train them in the rules of the haunted house before the evening was supposed to begin.

  Just as I was about to give up and go searching for them, I heard footsteps in the stairwell, then the scraping back of all the locks that Down Below kept on their side of the door. I had already undone the locks on my side of the door.

  When the noise stopped, the door still didn’t open. Then there was a banging.

  “Jane? Are you there?” Peter called out.

  “Yes, it’s unlocked,” I said.

  The door swung open on Peter, Bert, Buck, the two clown skeletons, and another supernatural. At first I didn’t know what to make of their appearance. Then it was all I could do not to laugh.

  Two of them were dressed as pirates, two as clowns. Buck was dressed as a sailor, while Peter was dressed as a leprechaun.

  “I didn’t know you had a costume shop Down Below,” I said.

  “There are a lot of things you don’t know about Down Below,” said Bert.

  “Probably best if she never does,” said one of the other supernaturals.

  With no time to lose, I led the way to the haunted house. The supernaturals couldn’t believe the mansion. They kept discussing how valuable some of the antiques were. I had to warn them away from touching anything.

  I had nearly managed to convince myself that this wasn’t a bad idea, but when Bert expressed shock at how rare our chandelier was, I came very close to changing my mind
and canceling the whole arrangement.

  Jezebel, Erika, and several other supernaturals met us as we entered the haunted house. I had decided that it would be best if the supernaturals from Down Below worked in the graveyard to start, since that would place them at the start of the haunted house, and they wouldn’t be required to do much but hang around.

  Plus, even if they did something wrong, by the time the guests got through the rest of the haunted house they would have forgotten about whatever had happened in the graveyard.

  The veteran supernaturals were there to help them out. Given that the whole experiment was Jezebel’s idea, she was extra specially pleased that there would be enough supernaturals to properly scare visitors.

  We spent the better part of an hour showing the new recruits the ropes. We warned them not to go anywhere else in the maze of the haunted house, where they could easily get lost. Not only that, but given that they were criminals, we wanted to keep an eye on them. With guests coming in and out all night it was very important that we knew where they were at all times.

  Once that plan was agreed upon, it was time for me to go and help with the other preparations for opening the house.

  It was only then that it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Cookie all day.

  Excusing myself, I went to find my grandmother. First, I wanted to make sure she was okay. Besides that, I wanted to make sure she hadn’t gone to Elton’s without me.

  “Who are you looking for?” Rose asked, having found me in the haunted house laundry room.

  I frowned down at the cat. “Cookie. I haven’t seen her in a long time. Do you know where she is?”

  “She’s guarding the hole in the wall,” said Rose.

  I rolled my eyes. This shouldn’t have surprised me. In fact, it should have been the first place I went to look. Telling myself late was better than never, I headed that way.

  When I got to the little alcove near the Cleaver Kitchen, I called out for Cookie. She didn’t answer. I came around the wall and examined what had been the secret entrance into the mansion.

  The skeletons had done an excellent job of covering it up. Even so, it was still clear that the mansion was vulnerable to attack from the outside.