Haunted by Joel A. Sutherland

Author:Joel A. Sutherland [Sutherland, Joel A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443163262
Publisher: Scholastic Canada Ltd
Published: 2018-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

As we passed Grandma’s room, she held a finger up to her lips to keep us from waking Mom and Dad then pointed up to the attic. Lucy and I crept up the stairs as quietly as possible.

The room was one big pool of shadows. The thought of wading into the darkness of the attic, with the creepy collection of old dolls in the trunk and my grandma’s ghost in my own doll, gave me the creeps. I sped to the centre and pulled the string. The overhead light made me feel a little more at ease.

I grabbed Lucy’s hand — her palm was sweaty and her fingers were shaking — and gave it a gentle squeeze. As weird as the night was turning out to be, at least we were together, and I wanted to spend more time with Grandma, even if she was a doll.

“Okay,” I said, “we’re here. Now can you tell us how we can help you?”

I put Grandma down. She paced around the attic, peering around boxes and looking under piles of her own things. “Where is it?”

“Where’s what?” I asked.

“The trunk,” Grandma said without looking at me or slowing her search. “The one with the dolls, of course.”

I frowned. “It’s right over there,” I said, pointing at a corner of the attic. “Right where it’s always been.”

Grandma looked at it but stayed where she was in the centre of the room. “Open it,” she said.

“Why?” I said. That was the last thing I would’ve expected her to say. She’d gone to such lengths to stop me from opening it when she was alive.

“I’ll tell you why,” Grandma said reassuringly. “But first, open the trunk and then everything will make sense.”

Lucy started toward the trunk, but I put my hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked, confused.

“Yes, what are you doing?” Grandma said, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice.

More than anything I wanted to believe that Grandma hadn’t moved on, that she was in Sadie Sees and speaking to us at that moment. But everything felt wrong. Everything felt off. Grandma wasn’t speaking the way she usually spoke. She’d always been direct and to the point, but she’d never been impatient or rude.

“Why didn’t you know where the trunk was?” I asked.

“What?” Sadie Sees snapped. I was through thinking of her as Grandma.

“This was your house, right?”

“Of course it was, you silly girl.”

If I had any lingering doubts, that made up my mind. “Then how’d you forget where the trunk was, you … whatever-you-are?”

“Stop it, both of you,” Lucy said. She sounded close to tears.

“Lucy,” Sadie said, “don’t listen to your sister. She’s confused, which is understandable. This is confusing for all of us. But please, open the trunk.”

I tightened my grip on my sister’s shoulder. “She’s not going to do that.”

“Ow!” Lucy said.

“You’re hurting her,” Sadie said. “Let her go.”

I shook my head. Why didn’t Sadie open the trunk herself? Why did she need us to do it for her?

“She’s not our Grandma,” I told Lucy.

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