A Gust of Ghosts (23 page)

Authors: Suzanne Harper

BOOK: A Gust of Ghosts

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“Backstage jitters,” he said with a careless wave of his hand. “I always felt this way before the curtain went up. But stage lore says that the more nervous you are, the better the show, so this one should be absolutely
spectacular
.”

He gave Poppy a weak grin, then stopped pacing and stood with his head bowed as Mrs. Rivera led her group to an area just in front of the tall column that marked Chance's grave. “And here we have the final resting place of a great Shakespearean actor,” she said. “Some people have said that on a clear, dark night like tonight, they have seen him walking and giving the speech that he loved the most when he was alive. Perhaps we shall be lucky enough to see him tonight....”

Chance waited five seconds (Poppy could see him counting them off silently), then stepped out of the darkness with a flourish.

The crowd gasped.

“To be or not to be,” he said, his voice ringing out and echoing through the warm Texas night. “That is the question....”

Mr. and Mrs. Malone were sitting on the wooden bench under the cypress tree.

“Isn't it peculiar what some people will believe,” Mrs. Malone said, smiling at the squeals of fright that wafted through the air when Buddy appeared, playing a song on his guitar.

“To each his own,” Mr. Malone said philosophically, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Not everyone can possess the kind of scientific minds that we have, my dear.”

“That's true,” she said, squeezing his hand back.

Her attention was caught by something on the edge of the cemetery, where a broad swath of grass lay between the tombstones and the trees.

“Rolly,” she called out in a penetrating whisper. “Don't get too far away.”

“It's okay.” His voice floated back to her. “I'm just playing with Bingo....”

Mrs. Malone frowned. “Do you think we should take Rolly to see someone, Emerson? I've heard of children having imaginary friends, but, really, an imaginary
dog?
It seems a bit odd to me â¦”

“If that's the oddest thing he ever does, we should thank our lucky stars and go on a cruise to celebrate,” said Mr. Malone with a touch of vinegar in his voice.

“Emerson!” said Mrs. Malone, but she was smiling. “Well, perhaps you're right. Everything does have a tendency to work out in the end. After all, even though we didn't find any ghosts here, we did keep the grant, and Mirabella does seem to enjoy putting on her cemetery show. And, of course, the children needed a little project to keep them busy this summer, so it's nice they were able to help her.” She sighed happily. “Yes, everything worked out very well, indeed. And some other investigation will come along soon, I'm sure of it.”

“I am, too,” he said. “Oh, look!”

Even from a distance, they could see the statue of the angel suddenly start to glow and could hear the visitors
ooh
and
aah
.

Hidden behind the statue, Poppy, Will, and Henry sat with the ghost of Travis Clay Smith, smiling at each other.

“I'm
so
glad we came to see this,” a woman said.

“I can't wait to tell my friends,” another woman agreed. “They'll all want to visit Shady Rest Cemetery when they hear about it!”

“I'll bet you'll be featured in every travel guide after this,” Poppy whispered to Travis.

“Yep. A star attraction. Right up there with the Alamo and Ralph the Diving Pig,” said Travis proudly.

“And did you read the words carved under the statue,” the first woman said. “âOur Darling Angel'! Isn't that touching!”

Will and Henry sniggered. Travis blushed.

“Hey,
I
didn't write it,” he muttered. “And I didn't pick out that statue.”

“See,” Will said to Poppy. “I told you he'd hate it.”

“The little cherub?” asked Poppy mischievously. “I think it's sweet.”

“It's a
baby
,” said Travis, who was starting to scowl.

Henry gave Travis's foot a friendly nudge with his own. “It's not just a baby,” Henry said, pretending to be very serious.

Travis gave him a quick glance.

“It's a baby with
wings
,” Henry said, and his face broke out in a grin.

For a split second, Travis looked madâthen he glanced up at the statue and started laughing, too. “You're right,” he said. “It's a fat baby with wings!”

“It's a fat baby with wings standing on
tiptoe
,” added Will, getting into the spirit of things.

“It's a fat baby with wings standing on tiptoe and wearing a
toga
....” said Henry.

As Will and Henry kept teasing Travis, Poppy leaned her head back on the headstone and closed her eyes. She began thinking about how she would write up the notes of this investigation and what journals she would send her article to and what kind of title she would choose....

Maybe she should try to catch readers' eyes with humor. “The Case of the Gallivanting Ghouls,” perhaps?

Of course, a certain formality in a title was always helpful; it made people take the work more seriously. Maybe something like “The Incident of the Angel That Glowed in the Night”?

Dimly, Poppy heard Mrs. Rivera leading the cemetery visitors to where the Hitchhiking Prom Queen awaited. The tourists can only see the ghosts when they buy a ticket, she thought with some satisfaction. But
we
can visit them anytime we want.

As if the ghosts had heard her thought, a windâwarm and welcoming and scented with perfumeâswept through the cemetery and made the tree branches sway against the starry night sky.

And then the title of her article came to Poppy, as clearly as if a ghost was whispering it in her ear.

“A Gust of Ghosts.”

She smiled and opened her eyes. That sounded perfect.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S
UZANNE
H
ARPER
grew up in Texas and lives in New York City. You can visit her online
at www.suzanneharper.com.

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www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors and artists.

CREDITS

Cover design by Paul Zakris

COPYRIGHT

This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used to advance the fictional narrative. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

The Unseen World of Poppy Malone: A Gust of Ghosts

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

The text of this book is set in 12-point ITC Esprit.

Book design by Paul Zakris

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harper, Suzanne.

A gust of ghosts / by Suzanne Harper.

p. cm.â(The unseen world of Poppy Malone)

“Greenwillow Books.”

Summary: Nine-year-old Poppy is not sure she believes in any of the paranormal talents her family members claim to have, but when a crew of ghosts follows her home from the graveyard she may be the only one who can help them move on.

ISBN 978-0-06-199610-8 (trade bdg.)

EPub Edition Â© MAY 2012 ISBN 9780062101754

[1. GhostsâFiction. 2. Family lifeâTexasâFiction.

3. Austin (Tex.)âFiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.H23197Gus 2012Â Â Â [Fic]âdc23Â Â Â 2011041879

12Â Â 13Â Â 14Â Â 15Â Â 16Â Â
LP
/
RRDH
Â Â 10Â Â 9Â Â 8Â Â 7Â Â 6Â Â 5Â Â 4Â Â 3Â Â 2Â Â 1

First Edition