روح همسایه فصل 06

The Ghost Next Door - Chapter 6

Hannah screamed and shut her eyes.

I’ve got to get help, she thought.

Her heart pounding, she forced herself to open her eyes, and searched the ground for Danny. But to her surprise, he was standing in front of her, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Huh?” Hannah uttered a gasp of surprise. “You—you’re okay?”

Danny nodded, still grinning.

He didn’t make a sound, Hannah thought, staring hard at him. He landed without making a sound.

She grabbed his shoulder. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Danny said calmly. “My middle name is Daredevil. Danny Daredevil Anderson. That’s what my mom always says.” He tossed the ball casually from hand to hand.

“You scared me to death!” Hannah cried. Her fright was turning to anger. “Why did you do that?” He laughed.

“You could’ve been killed!” she told him.

“No way,” he replied quietly.

She scowled at him, staring hard into his brown eyes. “Do you do stuff like that all the time? Falling off roofs just to scare people?” His grin grew wider, but he didn’t say anything. He turned away from her and tossed the tennis ball at the house.

Thock.

“You were falling headfirst,” Hannah said. “How did you land on your feet?” Danny chuckled. “Magic,” he replied slyly.

“But—but—!”

“Hannah! Hannah!” She turned to see her mother calling to her from the back stoop.

“What is it?” Hannah shouted.

Thock.

“I have to go out for an hour. Can you come take care of Bill and Herb?” Hannah turned back to Danny. “I’ve got to go. See you.”

“See you,” he replied, flashing her a freckle-faced grin.

Thock.

Hannah heard the sound of the ball against the redwood wall as she jogged across the driveway to her house. Again, she pictured Danny plummeting off the roof.

How did he do it? she wondered. How did he land on his feet so silently?

“I’ll only be gone an hour,” her mother said, searching her bag for the car keys. “How is it out? It’s supposed to cloud up and rain tonight.” Another weather report, Hannah thought, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t let them kill each other, if you can help it,” Mrs. Fairchild said, finding the keys and shutting her bag.

“That was Danny,” Hannah told her. “The new kid next door. Did you see him?” “Huh-uh. Sorry.” Mrs. Fairchild hurried to the door.

“You didn’t see him?” Hannah called.

The screen door slammed.

Bill and Herb appeared and pulled Hannah into their room. “Chutes & Ladders!” Bill demanded.

“Yeah. Let’s play Chutes & Ladders!” Herb echoed.

Hannah rolled her eyes. She hated that game. It was so lame. “Okay,” she agreed with a sigh. She dropped down across from them on the rug.

“Yaaaay!” Bill cried happily, opening the game-board. “You’ll play?” “Yeah. I’ll play,” Hannah told him unhappily.

“And can we cheat?” Bill asked.

“Yeah! Let’s cheat!” Herb urged with grinning enthusiasm.

After dinner, the twins were upstairs, arguing with their parents over which of them got to take the last bath. They both hated baths and always fought to be the last.

Hannah helped clear the table, then wandered into the den. She was thinking about Danny as she made her way to the window.

Pushing aside the curtains, she pressed her forehead against the cool glass and stared across the drive to Danny’s house.

The sun had lowered behind the trees. Danny’s house was cast in heavy, dark shadows. The windows were covered with curtains and blinds.

Hannah realized she had never actually seen anyone inside the house. She had never seen Danny go into the house or come out of it.

She had never seen anyone come out of the house.

Hannah stepped back from the window, thinking hard. She remembered the morning she had met Danny, after he had run her down in the back yard. She had been talking to him—and he had vanished into thin air.

She thought about how he had seemed to disappear into the shadow at the side of his house, how she’d had to squint real hard to see him. And she thought about how he had seemed to float to the ground, landing silently from the roof.

Silent as a ghost.

“Hannah, what are you thinking?” she scolded herself.

Am I making up another ghost story?

She suddenly had so many questions running through her mind: How had Danny and his family moved in without her noticing? How could he be in her school, in her grade, without her ever seeing him there?

How come she didn’t know his friends, and he didn’t know hers?

It’s all so weird, Hannah thought.

I’m not imagining it all. I’m not making it up.

What if Danny really is a ghost?

If only she had someone to talk to, someone to discuss Danny with. But her friends were all away. And her parents would certainly never listen to such a crazy idea.

I’ll have to prove it myself, Hannah decided. I’ll study him. I’ll be scientific. I’ll observe him. I’ll spy on him.

Yes. I’ll spy on him.

I’ll go look in his kitchen window, she decided.

She stepped out onto the back stoop and pushed the screen door shut behind her. It was a warm, still night. A pale sliver of moon hung above the back yard in a royal-blue sky.

As Hannah headed across her back yard, taking long, rapid strides, crickets began to chirp loudly. Danny’s house loomed in front of her, low and dark against the sky.

The ladder was still propped against the back wall.

Hannah crossed the driveway that separated her yard from his. Her heart pounding, she crept across the grass and climbed the three low concrete steps onto the back stoop. The kitchen door was closed.

She stepped up to the door, pressed her face close to the window, peered into the kitchen—and gasped.