Spook School by Sue Purkiss

Author:Sue Purkiss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 2003-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

‘Cyril,’ said Mrs Roper through chattering teeth, ‘why is it so cold?’

Ah! thought Spooker. This is it. Any minute now she’s going to realise there’s something weird going on!

‘Must be that cold front they mentioned on the weather. Mind you, I can’t understand why it’s so cold inside the house. I shall make a fuss about this, I can tell you – I didn’t pay £200 000 for a house that can’t keep the cold out. I’ll be on the phone first thing tomorrow – I’m not putting up with this …’

Mrs Roper sighed. ‘I’m sure you won’t, my love.’ She got out of bed and plodded to the airing cupboard to fetch some blankets. Soon they were snoring again.

Spooker was disappointed. They’d been annoyed, but they hadn’t been afraid, and it hadn’t struck either of them that there was something unnatural – not to mention supernatural – about the sudden freeze. They really did seem to be dense. He was going to have to do something even more obvious. He decided to do some trickery with the lights.

It was very easy to divert a bit of spectral energy to interfere with the electrical circuits. Spooker soon had the lights in the bedroom flashing on and off, and the Ropers were soon awake again.

‘Now what?’ groaned Mrs Roper.

Mr Roper leapt out of bed and pressed the light switch. Nothing happened.

‘This is outrageous!’ fumed Mr Roper. ‘There’s something wrong with the electrics too. Heads are going to roll for this—’

‘Never mind that,’ snapped Mrs Roper. ‘What are you going to do about it now?’

‘What’s happening?’ asked a sleepy voice.

Ben had been woken up by all the shouting. Spooker quickly switched the spectral energy off – he hadn’t meant to disturb Ben.

Suddenly, a familiar voice snarled in Spooker’s ear. ‘What are you letting up for? Lost your nerve, have you?’

Spooker jumped. ‘No, sir! Sorry, sir!’

‘Well, see that you don’t! Remember, an Inspectre could turn up anywhere – even in Buttercup Avenue – so don’t think you’re not being watched. I’m off now, but I’ll be back.’

‘Well, there’s a treat in store,’ muttered Spooker rebelliously, as Sir Rupert faded away.

He decided not to try the Disembodied Voice. The Ropers were making so much noise they probably wouldn’t hear it anyway. It was getting late and he was tired – he’d used up a lot of spectral energy one way or another.

* * *

Ben was looking curiously at the spot where Spooker was.

‘It’s very cold in here, isn’t it?’ he said, still looking hard. ‘Much colder than in my room.’

His parents took no notice of him. But that was nothing new, and he wasn’t thinking about it at the moment. He couldn’t think about anything except the boy who was standing in his parents’ bedroom. It would have been strange enough for any boy to be there, but there was much more to it than that. Because this wasn’t a real boy. No real boy was pale and silvery like that. Even if he hadn’t read all those ghost stories, he’d have known instantly that this boy was a ghost.

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