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
Tyler was laughing Yes Grandpa I just scared the girls with a ghost story that’s all No you didn’t Something flew at us That’s what made us scream Cricket narrowed her eyes Did you throw something at us Tyler To scare us She knew her older brother liked to play pranks But Tyler laughed and shook his head Those were bats Cricket I’m sure of it Shilo said She still had her arms over her head as she crouched down low Could be We see lots of bats out here this time of year Cricket’s grandpa Mr McKay said They keep the bugs from destroying our crops so we’re happy to see them Cricket and Tyler’s grandparents lived on a large farm near Pincher Creek 5
