Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie by John Bellairs

Author:John Bellairs
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 1994-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Nothing more happened that day, nor the next one. Gramma had perked up quite a bit, though, and Major Dixon began to look more cheerful. He and Johnny had a couple of chats about what each had been doing over the past several months. Major Dixon said that regardless of Johnny's decision, he and Johnny would vacation together next summer, and they spent some time dreaming up places they could go.

Meanwhile, Johnny kept an eye open for any sign of activity at the professor's house, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Professor Childermass was at home: Johnny saw him come out to collect his morning paper on both Saturday and Sunday, and his maroon Pontiac stayed parked at the curb in front of his house. And Johnny saw no sign of Father Higgins' big Oldsmobile.

Fergie spent both Friday and Saturday nights. During the day he and Johnny practiced throwing and catching a football in front of Johnny's house. It gave them the opportunity of keeping the professor's house under observation without seeming to spy on it. Johnny was lousy at sports. He was not well coordinated, so many boys didn't even want to play catch with him. But Fergie didn't mind, and since Fillmore Street was always very quiet, they could stand right out in the street and pass the football back and forth.

Their stakeout paid off Sunday evening. Like most boys their age, Johnny and Fergie had a tendency to put off homework until the last minute. Fergie had a big test in Latin coming up, and he was not very good at it. Johnny, whose average in Latin had never fallen below an A, offered to help him review, so the two spent a couple of hours that afternoon running through noun declensions. At about eight p.m. Fergie heard a car outside and got up to look out the window. "It's Higgy," he said in an excited voice. "C'mon, John baby. It's time to fish or cut bait!"

Johnny didn't know exactly what that meant, but he closed his book, grabbed his jacket, and followed Fergie. His dad and Grampa were deep in a game of checkers, and Gramma was in the kitchen humming to herself. Johnny casually waved to his grandfather, knowing that the old man would think he was just walking Fergie partway home. Grampa barely nodded, and then with a triumphant grin he made a double jump on the checkerboard.

The two boys walked onto the porch just in time to see the professor's door close as Father Higgins went into the house. "I bet they're gettin' ready to go right now," said Fergie. "What a break!"

"What are we gonna do?" asked Johnny, feeling cross. "Sneak into the house and spy on them?"

"Nope," said Fergie in a smug tone. "We're gonna stow away. C'mon, Dixon, we better move fast!"

They loped across the street. Hardly anyone in Duston Heights ever locked his car, so when Fergie tried the back door of the Oldsmobile, Johnny was not surprised that it clicked open.

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