Free The Red Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer Page B

help,” she said. “It’s not exactly—”
    But before Dallas could finish saying what the package wasn’t exactly, Rocco came to life. He woke as if he’d been poked with a sharp stick.
    Ftt-t-t-t-t!
    He jumped to his feet, spitting. The fur along his spine bristled. His tail puffed like a bottlebrush. And all this sudden fury was directed at the lumpy package!
    “Hey!” Jenna said. “Take it easy, Rocco.”
    But Rocco wasn’t going to take it easy. He danced over to the package on the tips of his toes and took a swipe at it. Then he leapt off the bed and streaked for the door.

    Dallas opened the door just in time for Rocco to make his exit. He whizzed down the hall.
    Quinn still stood on the other side.
    “What’s wrong with Rocco?” she asked. But she wasn’t looking at Rocco. She was looking at the package on the bed.
    “Don’t know,” Dallas replied. “You’d better go see.” She closed the door again.
    Both girls stared at the package. An eye stared back at them from behind the slit Rocco’s claws had made in the paper.
    “It looks like Rocco has it in for Miss Tate’s old doll,” Dallas said.
    “Yeah. I guess so.” Jenna sat down next to the torn package. Her knees were suddenly wobbly.
    What had gotten into Rocco? He was ordinarily a very gentle cat. She had never seen him attack anything fiercer than a buzzing fly.
    The truth was, though, it wasn’t Rocco that was scaring her.

3
“Did You Hear That?”
    “W
ell have to get more tape.” Jenna said it calmly, as though having Rocco go crazy wasn’t the least bit strange. But her legs still felt weak.
    Dallas poked at the long slit in the paper. “Either that or start over with new paper.”
    “I’ll get tape,” Jenna said.
    She didn’t know why exactly, but she didn’t want to unwrap the doll. She’d justkeep her covered until she gave her to Quinn.
    When Jenna opened the door, Quinn no longer waited on the other side.
    Jenna found tape and a bow, too, in the hall closet. When she got back to the room, Dallas stood frowning at the package.
    “Anything wrong?” Jenna asked.
    “Of course not,” Dallas snapped.
    Jenna gave Dallas a long look. Why was she so cross?
    Jenna looked down at the blue eye peering through the tear in the paper. The eye seemed to be accusing her of something. But what? She wasn’t doing anything bad to the doll. Just wrapping it. And it certainly wasn’t
her
fault that Rocco had gone crazy.
    Quickly, Jenna stretched several layers oftape over the slit. Then she put the red stick-on bow over that. The bow was left over from Christmas. It was red velvet like the doll’s dress.

    “There,” she said.
    Dallas had been watching without offering to help. “Now put it away,” she ordered.
    “Why?” Jenna asked. She was beginning to feel a bit annoyed again. Dallas could be
so
bossy. “It’s all wrapped. Quinn won’t know what it is.”
    “But Rocco will still hate it,” Dallas said. “Cats have some kind of extra sense, don’t you think? And who knows what he’ll do if he sees the package again?”
    Jenna shrugged. “Okay.” She picked up the gift and tucked it under her bed.
    “No!” Dallas practically shouted.
    “No?” Jenna turned to stare at her.
    “You don’t want that thing under your bed,” Dallas told her. “That’s not a good idea at all. Just think about it under your bed staring up at you. Right through the mattress. All night long!”
    Jenna laughed. “This is a doll, Dallas. Remember?”
    But Dallas wasn’t laughing. “You need to put it away. Really away. How about your closet?”
    Jenna shrugged. “Okay,” she said. There was no point in arguing. When Dallas got an idea into her head, she didn’t let go of it easily. And Jenna wasn’t even going to ask what Dallas was thinking now.
    Jenna put the package on the shelf in the back of her closet. She shut the door.
    “Do you think it will stay there?” Dallas asked.
    Jenna laughed again. “Do you think she’s