The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs by Cynthia DeFelice

Author:Cynthia DeFelice
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780312629090
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Fourteen

Allie went inside and thought about the odd events of the morning, puzzling over the message from Mrs. Hobbs. Oh, how she longed to talk with Dub! She started to dial his number, then stopped. She reminded herself that Dub was skating with Pam. The traitor! Why was he acting so stupid, especially now?

He was the only person who knew that Allie saw and heard ghosts, the only person who had all the background information to advise her. Maybe he’d gotten home. She decided to call. To her relief, he answered.

“Dub? Hi. It’s me.” She stopped, unsure what to say next. She’d never before felt awkward with Dub. “Uh, I wasn’t sure you’d be back. How was skating?”

“Great!”

“Oh.”

“The new rink is awesome.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“How’s Pam?”

“She’s really cool, Al, when you get to know her.”

Allie couldn’t believe her ears. She didn’t want to believe her ears. She realized that what she was feeling was jealousy, which was totally dumb. How could she be jealous over Dub?

She remembered John Walker saying that Dub was jealous. Was it true? And was he trying to get back at Allie and make her feel the same way by hanging around with Pam? It was ridiculous! But maybe . . .

Meanwhile, Dub was going on and on. “Now that she’s not really friends with Karen, she’s completely different.”

“Yeah, well, wasn’t it you who said a leopard doesn’t change her spots overnight?” Allie said.

“Geez, how come you’re being so grouchy?”

“I’m not being grouchy!” Allie said loudly, hearing as she spoke how grouchy she sounded.

“If you say so,” said Dub. “Hey, how was the library?”

“Something really, really strange happened.” Allie took a deep breath and told him everything.

“Wow,” Dub said when she had finished.

“I know. Pretty amazing how she made the microfilm melt, huh?”

“You think she did that?”

“Well, I don’t think it was a coincidence. It happened just when I was reading that the fire was suspicious and they were questioning Mrs. Hobbs.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

“Dub?”

“I’m here,” Dub said slowly. “You know what you’re saying, don’t you? That would mean she killed her husband and her own baby.”

“I know,” said Allie. “And John Walker, too, don’t forget. My ghost.”

“But why would she go back in the house and nearly kill herself trying to save them if she set the fire in the first place?” Dub asked.

“To prevent anyone from suspecting her,” Allie answered. To herself she added, Obviously.

“Sounds kind of far-fetched to me,” Dub said matter-of-factly.

“Well, what do you think happened, then?” asked Allie, suddenly furious.

“I have no idea, Al,” Dub said carefully. “I’m just saying it’s kind of hard to believe that somebody would kill her own kid. Even the Snapping Turtle.”

“Then why did she make the microfilm melt just when I was about to find out more? If she’s innocent, why not let me read all about it in the paper?”

“I don’t know.” Dub was quiet for a minute. “But if she can do stuff like that, maybe you should stay away from her.

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