Ollie Oxley and the Ghost: The Search for Lost Gold
For Oliver
CHAPTER 1 NEW HOUSE Ollie Oxley squeezed his eyes shut hoping the house might change from pink to blue or even a nice shade of green He opened his eyes Still pink Bummer His black Labrador retriever rested his head on a tattered suitcase and whined It’s okay buddy Ollie scratched Gus behind the ears We’re here Wherever here is Drumroll please Ollie’s mom thumped her hands on the steering wheel in rapid-fire succession Welcome to our new house It looks like an oversized dollhouse Ollie said crawling out of the back seat It’s a Victorian Mom swooned as if that justified its cotton candy pink exterior Yes That makes it way better Ollie deadpanned It’s bad enough I’m the new kid Now I am the new kid who lives in a Barbie Dreamhouse Awesome It’s a pinkalicious delight Ollie’s little sister sprang from the car and twirled up the driveway I can perform talent shows on the balcony If your talent is annoying pest then you’ll be amazing Delilah Ollie laughed cracking himself up You think you’re so funny but you’re snot She stuck her nose in the air and flipped her ponytail as she turned away For the last time my stage name is DeeDee spelled capital D small E-E
capital D small E-E Whatever drama queen For the record that’s so dumb Spelled capital D-U-M-B Stop Mom held out her arm to block Ollie’s way You know the rules No one crosses the threshold until I roll out the red carpet Oh brother He rolled his eyes This isn’t a Broadway premiere Don’t be silly Mom said racing ahead to roll out the red Welcome Home mat Every day is a premiere More like a bad movie he muttered unloading his suitcase from the car Snapping the handle in place he dragged the bag over the buckling sidewalk and up the stairs to the front door Can’t we just be a normal family for once We are normal Mom shook out the mat A cloud of dust billowed into the air We’re just a different kind of normal Normal people don’t move all the time He blinked furiously his hazel eyes watering from the dust Mom draped a reassuring arm around his sagging shoulders Sweetie I’m tired of moving too Uh-huh Ollie raked his fingers through his straw-colored hair and zoned out on a black beetle as it scuttled across the porch He watched until it disappeared beneath a stack of yellowing newspapers This time it’ll be different I promise Mom laid the Welcome Home mat at his feet The Bingham Theater has been here since I was a kid It’s not going anywhere and neither are we Can you just try and be happy she asked digging through her purse for the house key Ollie nodded but stayed silent He wanted to be happy Really
he did But ever since his dad left five years ago everything had gone horribly wrong His mom went back to work which wasn’t a bad thing except now they moved every time she landed a new job directing some lame play or indie movie They never stayed in one place for long and he was always getting in trouble He’d done more time in more principals offices than well most principals Moving sucked but on the bright side every new school came with a fresh new start Just then the beetle crawled out from under the newspapers and froze after getting hit with a spray of snot from DeeDee’s fat pug Hank I know how you feel little dude Somebody’s always raining on my parade too Found it Mom cried jingling a set of keys in the air Don’t forget to wipe your feet on the red carpet for good luck She jammed the key into the lock turned the knob and shoved hard with her shoulder The door swung open with a slow creaking moan as if to say turn back now Ollie stepped over the red carpet and walked inside A musty smell crept into his nostrils followed by a whisper of cool air He stood still for a moment letting his eyes adjust to the gloomy interior Ugh He rubbed his eyes What A Dump The walls were the color of scrambled eggs which paired well with the old floorboards that resembled long strips of burnt bacon Dusty cobwebs dangled from a crystal chandelier in the foyer and faded curtains swayed in the breeze that came in through a broken window It was definitely a dump but at least it was better than the last dump or the dump before that or the dump before that
