Free Ghost Invasion by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Page B

his sheet and began to shove him across the loft floor, trailing leather straps and the big black balloon behind them. “You’re going right home, Carson Nicely. Right this minute.”
    “Hey, wait a second,” Web said. “I want my balloon back.”
    “Well, come and get it, then,” Kate said, and she stopped long enough for Web to unbuckle the leather straps. But when Web said, “Carson promised to help me. Can’t he help me get my helium tank home?” Kate only grabbed Carson again and pushed him toward the ladder.
    “Not a chance,” she said over her shoulder. “This kid is through with helium forever. I mean, he is a reformed helium user.”
    “I’ll help you, Web,” Ari said. “We got it over here by ourselves. We can get it back.”
    So Web followed Kate and Carson down the ladder and Ari followed Web. Aurora came last.
    Ari and Web disappeared into the second row of stalls and Kate was pushing Carson out through the barn door when she suddenly realized that Aurora wasn’t right behind her. Pulling Carson to a stop, she went back into the barn and shone her flashlight all around the dark passageway—but still ho Aurora.
    “You stay here,” she told Carson. “I’m going back to get Aurora. I’ll be right back.”
    “Where is Aurora?” Carson asked.
    “I don’t know,” Kate said, but she really did. At least she had a pretty good idea.
    Sure enough, there Aurora was, standing on tiptoe peering over the door of the big box stall. When the beam of the flashlight found her she turned to face Kate.
    “I’m coming,” she said, and then turned quickly back toward the dark stall.
    “Good-bye,” Kate heard her whisper. “Goodbye, Liza.”

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Chapter 1
    K ATE NICELY CHECKED HER watch for the umpteenth time and then twisted around to look out the back window of the car. And for the umpteenth time Fifi had to look too. Standing on her skimpy hind legs, she shoved a face full of apricot-colored fuzz under Kate’s nose and yipped mournfully. “Cool it, you dumb poodle” Kate told her. “Whining isn’t going to help.”
    Kate looked at her watch again and frowned—a fierce Karate Kate scowl. She was getting more frustrated by the minute, and having a frantic poodle whining in her ear wasn’t helping any either. Fifi always hated it when Kate’s mom went off and left her in the car, but this time she seemed more hysterical than usual. And, to make matters worse, Carson, Kate’s eight-year-old worrywart of a brother, had been slightly hysterical too—at least until a few minutes ago.
    “Where’s Mom, Kate? Where’s Tiffany?” Carson kept saying. “I bet the terrorists got them.” (Carson had been worrying a lot about terrorists lately.) “Do you think the terrorists got them? Do you, Kate?”
    But then, all at once—silence. Carson was like that. He could be right in the middle of a major anxiety attack and suddenly— clunk! Sound asleep.
    Kate leaned over to check and, sure enough, he was still conked out in the front seat. She checked the time again and snorted. Then, in a very refined, adult-sounding voice, she said, “We just have to pick up Tiffy’s new skirt, dear. Would you mind staying in the car to keep an eye on Carson and Fifi? We’ll be back in ten minutes.” And then in her own voice she added, “Gimme a break, Mom!”
    Gimme a break, for sure! How could anybody in their right mind believe that it was possible to take a teenager like Tiffany Nicely into a clothing store and be out again in ten minutes?
    Putting her hand on the door handle, Kate considered—also for the umpteenth time—going into Macy’s to look for them. She’d have gone a long time ago, except that would have meant leaving Fifi and Carson alone in the car. And a public parking lot didn’t seem like a particularly good place to leave a hysterical poodle and an unconscious kid. Peeking over the front seat again, Kate nodded. Yep.