us.
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
The footsteps of the ghost seemed farther away than they had been before, but still Sunnyâs machine kept beeping.
I closed my eyes tightly, hoping that if I couldnât see it then it couldnât hurt me.
âMasha!â Junchao yelled. âDo something!â
The beeping grew and grew.
I had no idea what to do. How do you fight off a ghost? Does a ghost punch you? Or does something bad happen, like furniture swirling around or forks and knives from the kitchen chasing you?
The beeping grew even louder.
The sound pressed on me from all sides.
Wooo. Wooo. Wooooo.
Sunny yelped.
I leaped to my feet. This ghost better not touch my little sister.
The beeping stopped.
I searched the dark hallway. I saw nothing. I heard nothing. I breathed, and my heart thumped a bit slower.
âWhat did you do?â asked Alice.
âI donât know,â I said.
âItâs gone now,â Sunny said.
Junchao yawned.
âHow can you be sleepy when we almost came face-to-face with a real ghost?â Alice asked.
Junchao shrugged. And then her belly grumbled. âIâm hungry too.â She laughed. âHo- ho-ho.â I loved her laugh.
âShh,â Alice hissed at her. But I could see her covering a smile with her hand.
âLetâs get back to work,â I said, trying to keep us focused. âWe need that ghost out of here.â
I picked up the bath towels that were all over the floor and walked into my room. I flicked on the light switch out of habit. But of course, the light did not come on. My closet door was closed, thank goodness. I checked out the rest of the dark corners of my room. Nothing strange or scary. So I walked to my window over my desk, moved my desk chair out a little, and stood on it to open the window. Cool night air hit my face, along with a light misty spray of rain. It felt good.
When I turned around, Junchao and Alice were hanging a towel over the mirror on my dresser. It was a small one compared to my momâs, so it was mucheasier. Sunny stood by them holding her ghost-meter thingy. She looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back. We had to get rid of this ghost.
Next, we headed into Sunnyâs room and opened her window. She didnât have a mirror.
All we had left was the kitchen, living room, and dining room. I wasnât looking forward to this part because the ghost had to be in one of them. I guessed it could have been down in the basement by the washing machine and dryer, or in the spidery storage area where my mom kept boxes and boxes of stuff that we never used. That would actually be the perfect place for a ghost. But something kept telling me that she was in that front hall closet.
âWe should head to the kitchen,â I whispered, hoping someone had a better idea.
Sunny did.
âWait,â she said. âI think Trudy can feel us working to get rid of her.â
âStop calling her that,â I whined.
Alice and Junchao eyeballed me.
âIt might be a good idea to protect ourselves more with stuff like the hangers and the powder,â said Sunny.
âThat is a good idea,â Junchao said.
âLike what?â I asked.
âI know,â said Alice. âMy grandmother said that when she was a kid, they used to fill their pockets with raw meat. It protects you from bad spirits, and also demons.â
âWhat about wild dogs?â I asked.
âI donât know about that,â Alice said.
I loved my friends, but neither of them could take a joke.
âIâm a vegetarian,â Sunny said, not looking up from the iPad.
âYou donât have to eat it. You just have to wear it,â Alice pointed out.
âIâm not wearing bloody meat,â Junchao said.
âMe neither,â I said.
âListen,â said Sunny. âThis site says that ghosts donât like shiny objects.â She looked up and shrugged.
âLetâs put necklaces and