The next morning, the Aldens got up and fixed a breakfast of orange juice, cold cereal, toast with strawberry jam, and milk. When they had eaten and cleaned up the kitchen, they ran down to the boxcar.
It was almost the same as when they had lived in it. The only new things were the plump cushions Mrs. McGregor had made for the children to sit on. Now they made themselves comfortable on the pillows. Benny pulled an apple out of his pocket and bit into it.
“Benny,” Henry asked, “don’t you ever stop eating?”
Benny grinned. “Yes — when I sleep.”
“Okay,” Jessie said, “let’s make a list of everything we need to take to the old house.”
“Well,” Violet said, thoughtfully, “we need soap and rags and a mop …”
“And oil and paint and a paintbrush,” Henry added.
“And, work gloves, and a broom and paper to line the drawers,” Jessie said.
“And food,” Benny said. “For us!”
“Okay,” Jessie said. “We’ll bike into town, buy all the stuff at the hardware store, and then we’ll go to the market and get food for lunch. And then we can go to the ‘Roth house,’ as Mr. Farley calls it.”
Henry said, “That’s fine! Let’s get our bikes and go.”
Five minutes later the Aldens were biking down a tree-lined country road to the town of Greenfield. Once they reached the small town, they stopped at Mrs. Thaler’s for the keys to the house. She handed Jessie two keys on a ring. “The larger one is for the front door and the smaller one is for the back door,” she told them.
Then they rode over to Harmon’s Hardware store. Mr. Harmon greeted them when they walked in. “Hi, Aldens. Can I help you?”
“We need a lot of cleaning things to take to the Roth house, which our cousins Joe and Alice are buying. We’re going to help fix it up for them,” Benny said all in one breath.
Mr. Harmon laughed. “It will take an army to fix that place up … and get rid of the ghosts.”
Benny and Violet exchanged looks. “Ghosts?” they said together.
“Come on, Mr. Harmon,” Jessie said. “Don’t joke like that.”
Mr. Harmon glanced at Benny’s pale face. “Sure! Sure! I’m just joking. Now what can I get you?”
Henry handed Mr. Harmon the list. Mr. Harmon looked at it and said, “That’s quite a load. Tell you what — I have a delivery out that way this afternoon. I’ll drop all this stuff off at the Roth place for you … around one o’clock.”
“Great!” Jessie said. “Thanks a lot.”
“I’ll just put it all on your grandfather’s account,” Mr. Harmon said.
Benny said, “Now we can go to the store for our lunch food.”
The Aldens walked across the street to a small market. Henry took a shopping cart, and the four children walked through the aisles. Into the cart they put a loaf of whole wheat bread, a large package of cheese slices, juicy tomatoes, peaches, chocolate cookies, and two quarts of milk. Benny added potato chips, and Violet ran back for paper plates, cups, and plastic tableware.
After they had paid, they divided the food into two bags. Henry and Jessie each put one in their bike baskets. Then they all rode the couple of miles to the old house. As they got off their bikes, a middle-aged man and woman were getting into a car parked in the street. The dark-haired woman stared at the Aldens and then walked over to them.
“We’re the Aldens,” Benny said quickly. “Our cousins Joe and Alice are buying this house.” He carefully pointed to the Roth house.
“I’m Gloria Carter,” the woman said. “I live next door to the Roth house.”
The man came over to her and she introduced him. “This is my husband, David.” She turned to Mr. Carter. “Dave, the Roth house has been sold to the children’s cousins.”
Mr. Carter slowly narrowed his eyes. “I don’t need any neighbors,” he said gruffly.
Gloria Carter put her hand on her husband’s arm and said, “Now, David, it will be lovely to have new young neighbors. I’m delighted!” She smiled. “We’re driving into Greenfield to shop now. Will you be here long?”
“We’re going to start cleaning up,” Jessie said. “We’ll be here a lot in the next few weeks.”
“How nice,” Mrs. Carter said. “Then I’ll see you again.” The Carters got into their car and drove off.
The Aldens took the bundles from the bike baskets and carried them up to the porch. Jessie unlocked the door and they went into the house. “She was a nice lady,” Benny said.
“Yes,” Violet said. “But he wasn’t very friendly.”
Henry laughed. “Oh, well, one friendly neighbor out of two is okay.”
Inside the house Benny wrinkled his nose. “Like I said before, it smells.”
Henry went to a window and pulled it up. “It’s just a little stuffy. Let’s open all the windows. Upstairs, too. That will help.”
“I’ll go upstairs with you, Violet,” Jessie said. “Benny, you stay down here and help Henry.”
Upstairs, the girls went into each room and pulled the windows up. Jessie looked into the largest bedroom. “Look, Violet, there are still shades on these windows.”
Violet shook her head. “Yes, and look at them. They’re torn and dirty and faded. I wonder if these are the Roths’ shades, or if anyone lived in this house after they moved out.”
“We can ask someone,” Jessie said. “Let’s go downstairs and see where we should begin to clean.”
The girls ran lightly down the stairs and joined their brothers, who were in the living room. “Where should we start?” Jessie asked.
“We can’t start anywhere,” Benny said. “We have no cleaning things.”
Jessie laughed. “Oh, I forgot. You are smart, Benny.”
Benny grinned. “Well, then, I’m smart enough to know since we can’t clean, we can at least eat. Let’s fix lunch.”
Henry shrugged and began to laugh. “We might as well.”
Suddenly there was a loud bang from upstairs. The Aldens all jumped. “What was that?” Benny asked, his eyes wide.
Violet moved closer to Jessie. “There’s nobody here but us — is there?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“I don’t know, but I’ll go look,” Jessie said bravely.
“I’ll go with you,” Henry said.
Henry and Jessie walked up the stairs slowly. “What do you suppose it was?” Henry whispered to Jessie. He took her hand and they went from room to room.
In the large bedroom a shade was lying on the floor. Jessie laughed. “That’s what it was. That shade fell off the window. The wind must have done it.”
Henry sighed with relief. “All this ghost talk. You know it gets to you.”
“Are you all right?” Violet called from downstairs.
“We’re fine,” Henry called back. “A window shade fell on the floor. That’s all.”
“Good,” Benny called out. “Let’s eat.”
The Aldens went into the kitchen and unpacked their food. “How come there are lights and water, if no one lives here?” Benny asked.
“Real estate agents often turn them on when they know they are going to be showing a house,” Henry said. “Joe told me that.”
The children made sandwiches of cheese and tomatoes and put them on the paper plates. Benny opened the chips and Violet passed around the fruit and cookies. After Henry poured the milk they sat on the floor in the kitchen and ate.
While they were eating there was a knock at the back door. “Harmon’s,” a voice called out. The delivery boy from the hardware store brought the boxes of cleaning things into the kitchen and put them on the floor. He glanced around the grimy room and said, “Boy, you sure have a lot of work to do.” Then he left.
When the Aldens had finished eating, they put all the garbage into a paper bag. “I wonder if there’s a garbage can around here,” Jessie asked. She looked around the kitchen.
“What’s behind that door?” Benny asked, pointing to a heavy wooden door next to the sink.
“I don’t know — I didn’t even notice it until now,” Jessie said.
She pulled open the door and peered into the darkness. “No garbage can. But there’s a staircase going up. Who wants to come with me?”
First there was silence, then Benny said, “I’ll go,” but his voice was just a little shaky.
Slowly Benny and Jessie walked up the flight of stairs. It was very dark, and Benny hung onto Jessie’s hand tightly. They came to another door at the top of the stairs and Jessie opened it. They were in one of the bedrooms. She laughed. “It just leads up to the second floor.”
“I thought so,” Benny said.
Jessie lightly poked his arm. “I’ll bet,” she said.
The Aldens spent the afternoon working. Henry and Jessie scrubbed the kitchen. Violet dusted the living room and dining room, and Benny weeded the garden. After a couple of hours, they all admitted they were tired.
“Let’s go home,” Benny said.
“Yes, let’s,” Violet agreed.
They neatened up the cleaning supplies, carefully locked the back door, and went out the front door. They locked that, too.
Mr. Farley was in his yard mowing the lawn. He stopped when he saw the Aldens come out. “What have you been doing?” he asked.
“Cleaning and weeding,” Benny answered. “So when our cousins move in, they won’t have as much work to do.”
“So, they are buying it,” Mr. Farley said. “Foolish people. There is never enough room in one house for real live people and a ghost.”
“We don’t believe in ghosts,” Jessie said.
“You will,” the old man answered. “When you hear Celia Roth singing, you’ll believe in ghosts.”
“Did you know her … Celia?” Violet asked timidly.
“I did,” Mr. Farley replied. “I was just a boy when she lived here, but I remember her well. She was a beautiful, sweet girl. Maybe you’ll see her someday, when you’re in the house.”
“Mr. Farley,” Henry said, “I don’t think we will.”
Mr. Farley laughed. “We’ll see,” he said. |