The Ghost Witch by Betty Ren Wright

Author:Betty Ren Wright
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504013390
Publisher: Holiday House

“Come in, come in!” he shouted. “I’m just decidin’ whether I have enough stuff here to borrow my son’s truck and run it all out to the recycling center. What can I do for you ladies?”

“Tell us what your Halloween surprise is going to be,” Chris said. She giggled and her face grew pink. “We won’t tell anyone else, honest!”

Mr. Barkin thought it over. Then he grinned at them.

“All right, I’ll do just that,” he decided. “You can tell me what you think. The surprise is—I’m going to fix up a haunted house and charge boys and girls to go through it.”

He didn’t seem to notice Jenny’s quick step backward or hear Chris’s gasp.

“See, I’ve still got the old place that belonged to my folks,” he went on. “It’s too big for one person to live in, but I just can’t make myself sell it. What I’ll do is buy some of those cardboard skeletons and fix up a few ghosts out of old bed sheets. Then I’ll put candles in all the rooms and play spooky music on my tape player. I’m bettin’ kids’ll pay fifty cents just to prove that they’re brave enough to walk through the place. Because it’s Halloween and all.”

“Not me,” Chris said quickly. “I hate haunted houses.”

Mr. Barkin looked hurt. “Other towns have haunted houses for Halloween,” he said. “They make good money, too.”

Jenny tried to cheer him up. “Well, I think it’s a great idea,” she said. “You can put up signs to announce it.”

“That I will.” Mr. Barkin’s grin came back in a hurry. “It’ll be dandy. You’ll see.”

Later the girls walked to the corner together, once again without speaking.

“I hope it works out,” Jenny said finally. “Mr. Barkin will feel bad if it doesn’t.”

Chris shook her head. “A make-believe haunted house is different from a real haunted house, I guess,” she said. “But I don’t like either one.” She hurried off, looking unhappy.

All the way home, Jenny thought about Mr. Barkin’s surprise. No matter how Chris felt, she knew Mr. Barkin was right. Kids liked being scared, as long as it was Halloween and they knew it was all make-believe. She thought about cardboard skeletons and bed-sheet ghosts. They could be a little scary, she supposed, in an old house on a dark night. But would her classmates be really impressed? She hated to think Mr. Barkin might be disappointed.

As she walked, an idea started to grow. It got bigger and bigger, until by the time she’d reached her own apartment building she was running. She raced up the stairs and unlocked the apartment door. The smell of fresh cookies told her what her mother was doing.

She hurried into the kitchen. “Tomorrow after school I’ll go to Miss Nagle’s house to feed Rufus,” she announced. “By myself, okay?”

“You will?” Her mother held out a warm sugar cookie. “That will help a lot,” she said. “Good for you, Jenny.” She looked as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

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