Courage, Dana by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Author:Susan Beth Pfeffer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497681910
Publisher: Open Road Media

7

The scariest part of it all was how easy it was to lie to my parents. I almost never do, which might have been why they believed me. Or maybe it was because I’ve had supper at Sharon’s lots of times, so there was no reason not to believe me.

I would have liked to have had supper at Sharon’s before going to the graveyard, but then her mother would have insisted on driving me home, like I told my parents she would, and I wouldn’t have been able to get to the graveyard. So instead I went to the library, and stayed there for a while, and then walked over to the deli and bought a pastrami on rye and a bag of potato chips, and took them with me to the cemetery.

It was almost dark when I got there, but there was still enough light for me to find the Ogden section to stay in. I had a list of things to worry about—bugs and snakes and birds and lightning and ghosts—but somehow I figured if any of those things showed up in the Ogden family section, they’d be higher-class versions. Peacocks rather than starlings, butterflies rather than cockroaches. Besides, the Ogdens seemed more likely to have turned into ghosts than your average citizen. If I had schools and hospitals named after me, I’d probably come around after I was dead to check things out.

So I sat down by Marguerite Ogden’s tombstone (she was Charles Ogden’s beloved wife, and the beloved mother of Mr. Rudolph Ogden) and thought for a while about being dead. What else is there to think about in a cemetery?

After about ten minutes, I decided I was glad I wasn’t dead, and glad nobody I loved was dead. So then I had this great fantasy that Mr. Ogden died and in his will he left me a million dollars because I’d saved Timmy McKay’s life, and he’d been so taken with me when he gave me a copy of his dumb book. I kept meaning to read the book, and I was kind of sorry I hadn’t. I would have known a lot more about Marguerite Ogden and all the other Ogdens I was keeping company that night if I had. I’d be able to identify their ghosts better.

Anyway, I inherited the million dollars, and I promptly read Mr. Ogden’s book, which was the least I could do, and I took the million dollars and spent it. If you’re going to have a fantasy about a million dollars, there’s no point putting the money in the bank. I bought my parents brand-new cars and took all of us on a trip around the world, and I bought Jean thousands of books, and a horse (I remembered she’d wanted one four years ago, and figured she probably still did, but had given up on ever getting it), and I bought Sharon and her mother a house, because I knew they missed having one, and I got Sharon her very own TV set and stereo, and then I got Jean those things too, and a new wardrobe.

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