Free Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls by Wendelin Van Draanen Page A

Deli-Car Duo.
    It was almost seven, so it was light out, but it’s not like the sun was blazing overhead or anything. And since the air was pretty chilly, we wound up jogging most of the way to Feere Street, just to get warm.
    The street barricades were down, and as we walked to the haunted house we noticed how what had seemed spooky and creepy in the dark was pretty unscary by daylight. But it wasn’t until we got to the haunted house that I realized how fake a haunted house it really was. The pointed roof and the whole second story—the dormer windows, the shutters, the shingles—it was all a façade that was now leaning against the porch in sections.
    Holly just blinks at it. “It’s just a regular house?”
    I shake my head. “I can’t believe they did all that for one night.”
    “You girls are up early,” a man calls from under the tree where he’s collecting the spears and skulls and putting them in a coffin. He’s got a puffy black ponytail and is wearing a tool belt, jeans, and a T-shirt. And even though it’s still nippy out, he’s sweating.
    “I can’t believe you’re tearing this down already,” I tell him.
    “Hey, yesterday was Halloween,” he says as he wipes his brow. “Today is All Saints’ Day. And I’ve got a deal with my lovely wife—she helps me indulge in my obsessionwith Halloween, and I make it all disappear the next day.” He snickers. “And then she drags me to church to pray for the souls of the dearly departed.”
    I give him a little squint. “You’re serious?”
    He shrugs and grins and gets back to work. “Call it a compromise of cultures. She’s from Mexico, I’m from Hollywood. We’ve been married nearly twenty years, so I guess you’d say we respect each other’s beliefs.”
    I’m still having a little trouble wrapping my head around this, so I say, “And you believe … ?”
    He laughs. “That Halloween’s the most righteous holiday ever!”
    “But not that you’re worshipping the dead or the devil or … or whatever?”
    “No! It’s just fun. It has nothing to do with worshipping anything.”
    Then Holly asks, “So … were you an actor?”
    He shakes his head. “Set builder.” He nods at the façades stacked up against the house. “Loved the work, hated the biz.”
    We watch him take down two more spears, and then I tell him, “We were here last night.”
    He grins. “I figured that.”
    “The mummy totally got me.”
    He seems to get a big kick out of that. “You’re not alone, believe me.”
    “So … are these Hollywood props? I mean, some of them are really realistic. Like those skulls? Those are great.”
    He picks one up and jostles it in his hand like he’strying to guess its weight. “Love these babies. They’re the best money can buy.”
    “Can I see?”
    “Sure,” he says, and walks it over.
    Holly and I take turns admiring it, and when we hand it back, I tell him, “It’s really nice that you do all this. We had a great time last night. It was amazing.”
    “Why, thank you. I appreciate that.”
    “I’d worry about people stealing stuff if I were you. I mean, that’s a really cool skull. I know a lot of kids who’d want to snag it.”
    “Nah. Most kids are good.” He grins again and says, “The werewolf only had to come out twice last night, and that was for littering.” Then he goes, “Ghrrraaaaarghhhh,” and jumps at us with one hand up like a claw and the other shaking the skull.
    I back up with a laugh. “Anyway, thanks for everything!”
    “See you in church!” he calls as we head down the driveway, then snickers like it’s the silliest joke ever.
    But the instant we’re back on the street I turn to Holly and I can tell she’s thinking the same thing I am, and there’s absolutely nothing funny about it.
    We have to find Billy!

We would have gone straight to Billy’s house but we didn’t know where he lived or even what his phone number was. Casey did, but to add to the ridiculousness of