The Pinstripe Ghost by David A. Kelly

Author:David A. Kelly [Kelly, David A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-375-89817-4
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2011-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

Seventh-Inning Stretch

By now, it was getting dark outside. But the stadium’s bright lights lit up the field as if it were noon. It was a perfect, cool spring night for a baseball game, but not for the Seattle Mariners. After three innings, the Yankees were ahead by two runs. And after six innings, they were beating the Mariners by five.

Halfway through the next inning came the seventh-inning stretch. The grounds crew hustled out to rake the baselines. The fans stood up to stretch. The organ music for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” started. As soon as people began to sing along, Mike and Kate left their seats. Mike figured it was a good time to check out the storage room.

The food area was filling up with fans. In the background, the stadium’s organ played. Mike and Kate could hear the fans singing, “Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd.…”

“Hurry!” Mike said. The only thing in the service hallway was still the black trash cart.

When they got to the doors at the end, Kate gave a quick glance back toward Bud’s. “No one is watching,” she said.

Mike turned the knob and gave the door a push. It didn’t budge. He pushed harder, but the door didn’t move.

Kate checked again. The coast was still clear. “Let me try it,” she said. She turned the knob in the other direction and pushed. It wouldn’t move.

“How about pulling it?” Mike asked.

Kate smiled and pulled on the door. It swung open easily. The room was dark. “Yup, pull instead of push,” she said. “I should have remembered that.”

“All right!” Mike whispered. “You go first!”

Kate tiptoed in.

“Hit the light switch,” Mike said.

Kate fumbled along the wall with her right hand. No light switch. All she could feel was a metal shelf. “It’s got to be here,” she said. She tried a little bit lower. Finally, her hand found a switch. She flipped it up.

The room was empty except for an old chair and a pile of cardboard boxes against the back wall. A small light hung from the ceiling. A set of metal shelves stood to the left of the door in front of the light switch.

“Nothing here but some boxes,” Mike said. He walked over to the pile and peeked inside the top box. “I think we’ve found a ghost!”

Kate rushed over.

Inside the box was Mr. Williams’s book on baseball ghosts.

Kate smirked. “Ha-ha,” she said.

They searched the room for other clues. Something on the floor caught Kate’s eye. She bent over. “Mike, take a look at this,” she said.

Small specks of brown littered the chair and the floor. There was a thin trail of it leading from the chair to the door. Kate picked up a pinch and smelled it.

“What is it?” asked Mike.

“Dirt,” she said. “And something that looks like wood chips. But what’s dirt doing here?”

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