Free Home, Sweet Haunt by P.J. Night Page A

shaft and slipped into Nora’s room. “Your new friends are way better than your old ones. That was fun tonight!” Lucas yawned. He turned back to shut the panel door, when Nora bolted up off her bed.
    â€œIt was fun!” She agreed that her new friends were awesome. “And the fun isn’t over.” Nora asked Lucas to show her how to work the ropes and pulleys to raise and lower the small platform.
    Lucas flexed an arm muscle. “It’s hard to move the dumbwaiter. You have to control your speed going down.” He showed her how to put one hand over the other. “And the way up is even tougher.” Lucas imitated a pulling motion. “That’s why I got here after you. Ittakes a lot of muscles to pull your weight up.”
    â€œI’m strong enough,” Nora said, feeling insulted. She was older and bigger and definitely stronger than Lucas.
    Plus, she really wanted to get back to the sleepover. She wanted to hear the rest of Aleah’s story, eat more candy, and hang out till morning. She could ride the dumbwaiter back up early tomorrow morning before her parents noticed she was gone.
    â€œI’ll sneak around with you in the morning,” Nora promised her brother. “Right now, I’m going to go—”
    â€œNora? Lucas?” It was their mom.
    Lucas shoved the dumbwaiter panel shut as their parents entered Nora’s bedroom. Nora grabbed the baby kitten poster, positioned it over the opening, and struggled to make the torn tape bits stick. When she stepped away from the wall, the poster was crooked, but the panel was covered.
    Standing near the dresser, Mrs. Wilson shot the two kids a look. She had an expression that indicated she knew they’d been up to something, but she wasn’t sure what. Usually that expression was pointed at Lucas, but tonight she kept staring at Nora. Mrs. Wilson studied her silently for a long time.
    â€œNora. Lucas. Bedtime,” Nora’s mother said at last. “Be sure to brush your teeth.”
    â€œBlech.” Lucas moaned as he turned and walked out of Nora’s room toward the bathroom.
    â€œWe’re locking the front door tonight with the top bolt. Now that we know there are rumors the building is haunted,” she told Nora, “we want to keep you and Lucas safe from all those ghost hunters roaming the hallways.”
    â€œOh, Mom,” Nora said, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t know you believed in ghosts.”
    â€œIt’s not the ghosts,” Mrs. Wilson said. “It’s the curious strangers who are lurking around tonight. Too many strangers.”
    Ugh. Nora was immediately reminded just how hard it was going to be to get permission to leave the apartment ever again. She’d thought that since she’d had such a great day, and nothing disastrous had happened, they might come around. But no. They were back to their worried, paranoid ways, not wanting her or Lucas to stray too far or anyone to come near the apartment.
    Sheesh, they’d survived a fire! No matter what her parents said about lightning strikes, something that awful could never happen twice. No way! Nora was going to haveto show them it was safe for her to be out in the world.
    After her parents went to bed, Nora waited a few minutes to make sure no one was coming back to check on her. She carelessly ripped her poster off the wall and dropped it on the floor. Climbing into the dumbwaiter shaft, Nora had to tuck her feet under her legs to make her body small enough to fit in the opening. It was cramped inside, and her right foot immediately fell asleep.
    Nora reached out and took hold of one of the thick, rough ropes. With a yank on the pulley to loosen the rope, Nora gripped the frayed cord in both her fists. Then, hand-over-hand like Lucas had shown her, very slowly Nora began to lower herself down.
    She got past her own floor without a problem, but as she tried to go below the ninth floor, the