Phantoms Read online

  “Since we’re using the money to help the ghosts,” Cordelia said, “I don’t have an issue.”

  Benji looked pleasantly surprised. He might have even told her so, had his cough not chosen that moment to make a sudden reappearance.

  “Thank you,” Laurel said. “You kids are amazing. But now that you know the truth, I understand if you don’t want to work here anymore. Helping ghosts is one thing. Capturing phantoms is another. They were too scary for Victor, and he was a grown man. That’s why he left.”

  “You told us Victor quit because he was tired of the ghosts,” Agnes said.

  “Exactly. He was tired of them being so scary.”

  “That’s not the same thing,” Agnes said.

  “Well, that’s what happened. You know everything now. Promise.”

  Benji’s phone dinged. He checked it and said, “My dad’s waiting outside.”

  “See you next week,” Laurel said. It was as much a question as a statement, and Cordelia thought she caught a hint of desperation in her voice. Laurel had already lost Victor. She couldn’t risk losing them as well.

  “I don’t know,” Benji said. “Ghosts are dangerous enough, but phantoms? My family could definitely use the money, but it’s not worth getting killed over.”

  Laurel said, “I’ll triple your pay.”

  Benji pumped his fist into the air. “Let’s catch some phantoms!” he exclaimed.

  “I’m in,” Agnes said. “Cordelia?”

  Her friends waited for her to agree, certain she would. After all, when had Cordelia ever turned down an opportunity to help the ghosts? They didn’t understand that things were different now. A new fear had taken root in her mind, far more terrifying than the phantoms themselves: What if my spectercles glitch again? It might not be Kyle who gets hurt next time. It might be Benji or Agnes.

  “I have to think about it,” Cordelia said.

  “I understand,” Laurel said. “And I respect your decision, one way or the other.”

  There was no desperation in her tone this time. Indeed, she punctuated her last sentence with the slightest of shrugs, as though she didn’t care one way or the other if she ever saw Cordelia again. After all, Benji had already agreed to return.

  She only needed one of them.

  That Monday, Cordelia had math first period. She met Benji at his locker so they could walk to class together. He looked a lot better, though his nose was still red.

  “Hey, Rudolph,” Cordelia said.

  “Ha, ha,” Benji said, closing his locker door. “Are you ready for this math test?”

  “I have a sharpened pencil and feelings of anxiety. So . . . yes?”

  Agnes took an accelerated math course on the other side of the school, so this was one of the few times that Cordelia and Benji walked to class alone. Normally their conversations were fluid and natural, but something had changed in the past few weeks. Silences were longer. Pauses more awkward.

  “So, Saturday.” Benji whistled. “That was crazy. I didn’t see Esmae in full-fledged poltergeist mode like you did, but she still seemed pretty scary.”

  “Definitely not on my list of favorite ghosts.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t go in the house with you from the start.”

  “You were sick. And you did sort of save the day at the end. Why’d you decide to come inside anyway?”

  “You had been in there forever. I was worried. I couldn’t just not do anything. If something had happened to you, I never would have forgiven myself.”

  Cordelia knew she was blushing but met his eyes anyway. “Well, I’m glad you came. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the spectercles sooner.”

  “That’s okay. But next time I do something stupid, you can’t get mad at me.”

  “Deal.”

  “Do you think Agnes could fix the spectercles? She created an entire dehaunter. This should be a snap.”

  “You would think. But according to Agnes, it’s like night and day. The dehaunter involved math and science. The spectercles are basically magic. She wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

  “Did they ever glitch when she was wearing them?”

  “Nope. Agnes’s theory is that the spectercles don’t have to work very hard in Shadow School, because the archimancy already makes it easier to see the ghosts. But when I’m out and about, it’s a different story. It forces the spectercles to work a lot harder, and sometimes they—I don’t know. What’s the magical equivalent of blowing a fuse?”

  “Glitching,” Benji said. He gave her a quizzical look. “Do you really have a list of favorite ghosts?”

  Cordelia counted them off with her fingers. “Mr. Derleth’s son first. Obviously. Then the girl with the pointy hat and bow. Her Bright was this animated fantasy world with purple uni-cats, so I’m giving her extra points for originality. There are only so many tropical islands I can look at. I mean, it’s your own personal heaven, people. Use your imagination! Third is a tie. The man playing the ukulele and—” She noticed the amused expression on Benji’s face. “Sorry. I’m babbling.”

  “That’s okay. It’s funny. You don’t talk about the Shady Rest ghosts the same way.” He straightened his schoolbag. “Have you decided if you’re coming back or not?”

  “Not yet,” Cordelia said. She had spent all Sunday thinking about it. On one hand, she was terrified of her spectercles going haywire at an inopportune moment. On the other hand, how could she just abandon her friends? What if one of them got hurt because she wasn’t there to help them?

  There was no good option. It was like a multiple-choice question where the teacher had forgotten to include the answer.

  “Well, here’s my take,” Benji said. “I don’t think the spectercles were the reason everything got screwed up. I think it was because we didn’t go into the house together. If I had been there, I could have helped you. This whole ghost business has never been about just one of us. It’s always been a team effort. You put the three of us together, and there’s nothing we can’t do. So along those lines, let me be brutally honest. I’m too scared to do this without you. You make me braver, Cordelia. Because I know if anything goes wrong, you’ll figure out a way to save us in the end.”

  Cordelia studied her shoes. “That’s sweet,” she said, though it was infinitely more than that. You make me braver. It might have been the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.

  “Besides,” Benji continued, “if you stopped coming every Saturday, think of how much you’d miss those ghosts of yours!”

  “It’s not the ghosts I’d miss,” Cordelia blurted out. She saw Benji’s look of surprise and quickly added, “You and Agnes. I’d miss both of you. My friends.”

  “Friends,” Benji said, clearly disappointed. Being friends was nice. But it wasn’t what he really wanted. He opened his mouth to say something else, and Cordelia’s heart fluttered in her chest. He’s going to ask me out again, she thought. Right now.

  “What’s the difference between a linear and nonlinear function?” he asked. “It was on the study guide, but I still don’t get it.”

  She was surprised by how disappointed she was.

  13

  The Landmark Inn

  Cordelia returned to Shady Rest the following Saturday.

  Laurel seemed happy enough, but Kyle now regarded her with suspicion, as though at any moment she might lose her nerve and abandon him to the clutches of their invisible quarry. Cordelia hated the idea of anyone questioning her courage, particularly when it came to the ghosts, but there was no other way to explain her behavior without revealing her use of the spectercles. At any rate, Laurel seemed in no hurry to return to their ghost-hunting expeditions; except for a short trip to capture a “rose” about as frightening as the flower itself, the next few Saturdays were spent inspecting the village. They found, in total, two malfunctioning screens, one window that had broken in a recent storm, a hole in the wall that surrounded the property, and three glowing ghosts.

  One afternoon
, out of little more than boredom, they dared each other to see who could get closest to the purple house. Benji had managed to reach the front porch before he saw something dark sweep across the window.

  It was the last time they played that game.

  The snow melted, setting the stage for spring. Dr. Roqueni sent the kids a postcard from the Uffizi Gallery in Italy. Mr. Shadow had gone over to meet her, and they were having a wonderful time touring the sites together. That being said, she believed her “European adventure” was coming to a close. She missed the school, the students, and “even, if you’ll believe it, the ghosts!”

  Dr. Roqueni had already purchased her ticket for a return flight. She would be home in a month.

  The kids were both excited and nervous. They had missed the principal, but she was going to be furious when they told her about Shady Rest (which they planned to do the moment they saw her, before they lost their nerve). Once things cooled down, however, Cordelia knew Dr. Roqueni would want to see the village for herself—which held the potential for some epic crossover possibilities. For instance, right now phantoms and glowing ghosts had to remain frozen forever, with no hope of a happy afterlife. But if they opened their boo-tubes in Shadow School, there was a perfectly good dehaunter just waiting to set them all free.

  Shadow School and Shady Rest, working together. The idea made Cordelia smile.

  The week after Dr. Roqueni sent her postcard, things got crazy.

  They hadn’t gone on a single “phantom job” since Esmae’s house, but that Saturday there were three paying customers in need of their services. The houses were relatively close to one another—two in the same town, amazingly enough—and Laurel hoped to capture all their phantoms in a single day. Normally Cordelia would be game for such a challenge, but she couldn’t stop worrying about the spectercles. They hadn’t glitched since Esmae’s house, but they still made her nervous, like a dog that had bitten her once and could never be trusted again.

  Fortunately, these new phantoms, while horrific in appearance, showed no inclination to harm them. The first one was the size of a small child, with insectile features and translucent nubs protruding from its shoulder blades like half-finished wings. The problem they faced with its capture was more practical than dangerous: the phantom sat on the edge of a bookshelf with its head cradled in its arms, and, as such, there was no way to get the ghost tent around it. After much deliberation, they decided to ease the bookcase from the wall. The phantom hovered in midair for a solid minute before drifting to the floor like a fallen leaf. From there it was easy pickings.

  To find the next phantom, all they had to do was follow the trail of icicles that hung from the ceiling. These led them to the attic, where a screaming woman with flaming-red hair was encased in a block of ice like some sort of prehistoric discovery. Although unnerving, the phantom did not pose nearly as much threat as the attic floor, which was covered in a solid sheet of ice that made setting up the equipment a challenge. Every time Kyle fell, he glared at Cordelia as if it were her fault.

  The last phantom was more pathetic than scary. His features were totally ordinary, except for the tiny blue handprints that had been pressed all over his face. As if this wasn’t bad enough, he was trapped knee-high in the kitchen floor of his haunt, his bare feet dangling from the basement ceiling. His feet were covered with the same blue handprints. Cordelia imagined some ghost toddler tormenting him with finger paint while he was trapped.

  They captured the ghost quickly. Cordelia thought he looked grateful.

  As they left the house, the owner handed Laurel a white envelope. She slipped it into her pocket and gave the kids a smile of appreciation. Cordelia smiled back, feeling proud of herself. They had captured three phantoms in a single day. Best of all, her spectercles hadn’t glitched once.

  Things were looking up.

  That Wednesday, they had an orientation at Cavendish Regional High School (which included students from Ludlow, Cavendish, and two other neighboring towns). Cordelia hated it. The building was new and modern, without any character at all, and the students seemed too happy, like they were hiding something. (Especially the pretty freshman who kept talking to Benji. Cordelia did not care for her at all.)

  The other eighth graders wanted to stay at Cavendish all day, but Cordelia was glad when they finally returned to her school. As soon as the dismissal bell rang, she ran up to the mirror gallery to sketch the ghosts, which she hadn’t done in months.

  Agnes found her shortly afterward. She plopped down on the floor and handed Cordelia a brown paper bag. “I forgot to give this to you this morning. It’s a high-school-orientation brownie! I put sprinkles on top to represent all the new people we’re going to meet.”

  Cordelia placed her drawing pad to the side and took a bite. The brownie was moist and delicious, but she didn’t like the way the sprinkles got caught in her teeth.

  Agnes said, “I just found out my friend Mark will be going to Cavendish too!”

  “And we like Mark?”

  “We do. But not how you’re thinking.”

  “Ahh. What about the other one?”

  “Kedar? He’s going to some private school where you have to wear uniforms. Oh! They’re finally showing that new anime in Denham. I’ve been dying to see it for months.”

  Cordelia vaguely remembered. “What was it called again?”

  “I Am Me, Are You? Kedar asked if I wanted to go, but I don’t want it to just be me and him. That’s a little too datey. I was thinking you and Benji could come too. We could get ice cream afterward and try to figure out what the movie was about!”

  “That’s still datey. It’s even worse. It’s double datey. That’s like . . . twice the datey.”

  “So what?” Agnes asked.

  “So it might be awkward. Benji and I are just friends. Besides, he already asked me out once and I said no. I can’t just change my mind.”

  “Why not?”

  Cordelia didn’t have a good answer. She had to admit that the idea of going to the movies sounded fun. (Maybe not the actual movie itself—the Benji part.) But then she thought about how out of place she had felt at Cavendish among the unfamiliar faces and ghostless halls.

  Next year, she’d need Benji more than ever. She couldn’t risk dating him and jeopardizing their friendship.

  “Benji is just my friend,” Cordelia said.

  “Whatever you say,” Agnes said, picking up the sketchbook and flipping through the pages. “Just me and you should go then.”

  “Sorry, Ag. You know I’m not a huge anime fan.”

  “But this one’s four hours long!”

  “Not a selling point.”

  Agnes flipped to the next page of the sketchbook. It was a drawing of a mean-looking girl in a white T-shirt and jeans. “Oh, I like this one! The artwork, I mean. Not the ghost. She’s kind of scary.”

  “Thanks,” Cordelia said. She was particularly proud of the drawing, and gratified that someone else had noticed its quality was a notch above her others. “That’s Esmae.”

  Agnes looked surprised. “Her dress and hair are pretty modern looking. You sure she was a phantom?”

  “Very sure.”

  “That’s weird, then. As far as we know, the only way to become a phantom is after jealousy for the living completely blackens your heart. That’s a long process! In his journals, Elijah said it took at least seventy years, usually more. But Esmae looks like she could go to our school. How long can she possibly have been dead for? A few years? A decade?”

  “Maybe she was already bad when she was alive. Gave her a head start on becoming a phantom.”

  “Elijah never mentioned it working like that, but I guess it makes sense. Or maybe he was just wrong about how long it took.” Agnes closed the drawing pad and handed it to Cordelia. “It doesn’t matter. The important thing is Esmae can’t hurt anyone else.”

  “Exactly,” Cordelia said.

  The weather was beautiful that Saturday, and after their three-p
hantom marathon the previous week, Cordelia expected an easy day of work. Ideally, they wouldn’t have to leave Shady Rest at all. She wanted to bike around the village with her friends, enjoying the sun.

  As soon as Cordelia’s mom dropped them off at the main office, however, Laurel led them straight to the van. “We’d better get started. Long drive today.”

  She wasn’t kidding. They took the highway through Franconia Notch, where the Old Man of the Mountain used to watch passing travelers (Cordelia had learned about the famous outcropping during a far less eventful field trip), and rocketed past the breathtaking scenery that characterized northern New Hampshire. After crossing the Vermont state line, they exited the highway and passed through a cute town before turning at a fancy wooden sign reading The Landmark Inn and Convention Center. Kyle slowed down, in deference to the many speed bumps that lined the private road. To their left was a pond surrounded by a walking path, to their right a beautifully landscaped golf course. Given the ideal weather, Cordelia expected to see lots of people outside, but there wasn’t a soul in sight.

  At the end of the road sat a gigantic manor built from stones of varying hues. It looked like a castle. For some reason, Cordelia thought that might be important, though she couldn’t figure out why.

  The kids got out of the van and helped unload the equipment.

  “If I told you how much it costs to stay at this place, you wouldn’t believe me,” Laurel said. Cordelia liked her necklace today, a large emerald in an elegant setting.

  “Maybe they should lower their prices,” Benji said. “Business doesn’t look so great.”