Chapter One The second time Angelica went up the stairs she heard the music again She crept slowly stepping over the hole in the fourth stair Her heart pounded Fa-thump fa-thump fa-thump Tyler paused and leaned forward to poke the logs in the fire pit Don’t stop now Shilo said She squished closer to Cricket and grabbed 1
her hand Did she see the ghost Was it there Tyler nodded his face serious Angelica held her breath and listened Creak-creak Creak-creak It repeated over and over Creak-creak Creak-creak She tiptoed down the hall following the beam of her flashlight Spiders scurried out of her way Ouch don’t squeeze so tight Cricket said Sorry He said there were spiders It was colder at the end of the hall The creaking got louder Suddenly Angelica’s flashlight flickered and went out She froze The hall was completely dark She would never find her way back down the stairs She had to go forward 2
Crack A log in the fire popped and sent a shower of sparks up in the air The girls jumped Shilo gasped Creak-creak Creak-creak The sound was coming from the room at the end of the hall Light began to glow from a crack under the door The air in the hallway was cold Angelica took a deep breath and peeked through the door But she leaned in too far the door swung wide open and she fell into the room Crack Another log popped Something dark flew over the girls heads Cricket ducked What was that Small dark bodies zoomed past Shilo screamed Bats Cricket’s grandpa stepped out onto the farmhouse porch Everything all right down there Tyler Cricket 3
