The First Summer of Callie McGee by A.L. Tait

Author:A.L. Tait [Tait, A.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760265762
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Published: 2023-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

In the dying light of the afternoon, as the parents sat on the deck comparing golf scores and telling stories about the fish that got away, Callie, Owen and Mitch picked their way down the coastal path to the rocky beach. Behind them, the little kids shouted and bickered their way through a soccer game, and Callie was surprised by how happy she was to hear Cody’s whoops and yells. Sasha had disappeared into the bunk room ‘to read’, having secreted Callie’s phone in her shorts pocket.

It was as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened that day.

‘So, where are we at?’ said Owen, and Callie brought her focus back to him.

Mitch read over the addresses of the houses that were empty—a total of eleven.

‘And we’re pretty confident that it’s the gang from the park?’ asked Owen. ‘Well, I am anyway.’

Callie thought about Ned, putting himself at risk to paddle out to rescue Cody—and her, if she was honest—and said nothing, confused. Would someone who would do that also be someone who stole from other people?

‘For sure,’ said Mitch, who hadn’t even seen the gang the night before. ‘It’s not like anyone else was around.’

‘Unless you count Mr Nelson,’ she reminded him. ‘And—’

Callie stopped herself. She couldn’t tell Mitch she thought she’d seen a ghost, she just couldn’t.

‘Yeah, but he’s Mr Nelson,’ said Mitch, seeming not to notice her false start. ‘He’s always out and about, and you saw his tools. He’s a good guy, everyone says so. I don’t reckon they’d say the same thing about that guy Jake that you talked about, or his mates.’

Callie looked down at the rock pool at her feet, the water so clear she could see every tiny sea snail, every little star fish, every miniature crab.

‘And?’ said Owen. He was sitting on a rock opposite her, and all his attention was trained on her. Callie liked the way he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say.

But that didn’t mean she was ready to share a ghost story.

‘And what?’ Callie parried.

‘You said “and”,’ said Owen. ‘Like you had more to add after Mr Nelson.’

Callie paused, watching a sea urchin swaying in the water as a breeze rippled the surface of the rock pool. Mitch and Owen said nothing, waiting.

‘Well, I thought I saw someone, or something,’ Callie said in a rush, ‘down in that little one-way street, at the building site.’

‘Someone or something?’ laughed Mitch. ‘Was it Mr Nelson’s ghost? Was there a mist rising and some woo-woo music in the background?’

Callie scrambled to her feet. ‘It was nothing,’ she said, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. She wasn’t in the mood for Mitch’s teasing—not that she was ever in that particular mood.

‘Did it do this?’ Mitch continued, waving his hands above his head, fingers waggling.

‘Do you have to be ridiculous your whole life?’ Owen said, standing up and knocking one of Mitch’s arms down.

‘What?’ Mitch said, rounding on his cousin belligerently. ‘There’s no ghost, and she’s losing it if she thinks there is! I reckon Mr Nelson made the whole thing up.

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