(Your Poltergeist Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
October 17
The Sleepyside High gymnasium was decked out in school colors with balloons, streamers, and strategically placed tables offering snacks and fruit punch. Dan took Trixie’s hand and linked their fingers together as he led her through the open doors. They stopped almost immediately as they took in the crowded dance floor.
“I have no words,” Trixie said solemnly.
Dan nodded. “I almost feel like we should tell them that real ghosts don’t actually look like that.”
“Oh!” Honey exclaimed from behind. “Did we… did a memo go out encouraging people to dress up in… costume? Something we missed?”
“Wooo!” David McIntire shouted, pushing past them. “I see dead people, bruh!”
While many of the students had come to the Homecoming dance in the traditional attire of suits and ties for the boys and dresses or gowns for the girls, plenty of others had chosen a markedly different style. Mart huffed out a breath as he stepped to one side to allow another couple through the door. “It looks like we stumbled onto the set for some really low-budget horror movie,” he grumbled.
“Check out Jeannie Morris,” Dan said, smirking at his friends. “How long do you think it took her to cover all of her skin in white body paint like that?”
“I think that explains why she was absent from 7th period today,” Honey replied dryly. “Honestly? I’m surprised the faculty let some of them in. Don’t we have some kind of dress code for school-sanctioned events?”
Trixie shrugged. “I’m thinking they figured there was no stopping this crazy train and to just let it roll on. Anybody see Di anywhere?”
Honey’s eyes searched the gym before she answered. “Nope. She and Drew may not have arrived yet.”
“You know what else I don’t see?” Dan asked with a wide smile. “Ghosts. Not a one. So I say? Let’s get out on the floor and enjoy a spook-free evening, huh?”
“Dude.” Mart shook his head in exasperation. “There you go again. Always just asking for something to go horribly wrong.”
Dan only laughed at his friend’s dour expression. “C’mon, Freckles. Let’s go join the fake phantom parade.”
“Does it concern you at all that there aren’t any real ghosts here tonight?” Trixie asked him worriedly. “I don’t know why, but I was expecting at least one.”
Dan turned to face her. “I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, really. What I do know is that I’m not going to question it for now. If the ghosts want to give us a night off, who are we to argue?”
“Yeah. I guess as long as Skeazy Tyler doesn’t turn up…”
“Skeazy Tyler?” Honey echoed. “Who’s he? Or should I be asking, ‘Who was he?’”
“Ah… he’s the one I had to say I’d come to the dance with, to get him to leave… move on. He was a total donkey butt.”
Dan grinned at Trixie and tugged on her hand, pulling her along to the center of the gymnasium. “Have I told you yet how beautiful you look? Like an angel.”
She felt herself blushing as she nodded in response. “Yes. You mentioned it one or two times already,” she responded shyly.
“I’m really glad you agreed to be my date, Freckles.”
She raised her eyes to his, a soft smile on her lips. “I’m really glad you asked.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It started shortly before 9:00.
“Students!” Principal Stratton called, his voice amplified by a cordless microphone. “Attention please. It’s time to announce the couples nominated for Homecoming king and – “
In rapid succession, all around the gymnasium, the blue and white helium balloons popped, the noise similar to a series of small fireworks. Several students shrieked in surprise, moving quickly away from the table displays. The colorful streamers taped along each wall tore away and flew up toward the ceiling as if suddenly caught by a strong gust of air, followed almost immediately by paper napkins and cups, some of which contained punch that was flung across the dance floor. A howling wind whipped through the gym and panic erupted.
“Oh, crap!” Trixie exclaimed, turning in a quick circle. “Poltergeist? Where is he? She? Do you see anyone?”
Dan shook his head and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her out of the way of a group of students running for the door. “No! I don’t see a ghost anywhere!”
“Students! Students! Please remain calm!” Principal Stratton shouted, waving his arm in the air. A fruit punch bowl spun off the nearest table, splashing him from head to toe, and he jumped back with a loud cry.
“Is it possible for a ghost to… I don’t know – make himself invisible from us?” Trixie yelled, trying to be heard over the screaming, out-of-control crowd.
“I think we’ve established over the past couple of weeks that just about anything is possible!”
Thinking hard, she whirled around again, her eyes tracking around the gym. She yanked her hand from Dan’s, then kicked off her heels and dashed across the wooden, juice-covered floor, skidding and almost losing her footing entirely more than once. She dropped to her knees in front of the largest of the snack tables and lifted the plastic tablecloth that covered it, bending slightly to look beneath.
There was a young girl there, crouched like a wild animal, glowering with an anger that seemed to radiate off her in waves. She opened her mouth and let out a scream of pure rage that sent Trixie scrambling backward.
“Trixie!” Dan took her by her arms and lifted her up, setting her back on her feet.
“She’s under the table! We have to do something!”
Suddenly, Mart was at Dan’s side. “Honey’s in the hall, trying to direct the students outside,” he told them quickly. “Have we found our ghost?”
Trixie pointed to the table, instinctively ducking out of the way of a plate of cookies hurled in their direction. “We aren’t gonna be able to talk our way out of this one! She’s… I’ve never seen anyone so mad. Or scary.”
Mart reached into his pocket and pulled out a small fabric bag. He loosened the strings and turned it upside down, dumping the contents onto the tabletop. He brushed the dried herbs across the surface, murmuring something Trixie and Dan could not hear over the still frantic cries of the remaining students fighting to get out of the gym. He turned and clutched his sister’s hand. “You’re up!”
“What?”
“C’mon, Sis. Concentrate!”
“I don’t know what you mean!”
Dan stepped closer to her and took her other hand in his. “Freckles! Look at me.”
She turned anxious eyes on him and he smiled a gentle smile totally at odds with the utter chaos around them. “Make her go away,” he said simply.
“What…? How?”
“Concentrate.”
Trixie drew in a ragged breath and closed her eyes tightly. “Go away,” she whispered. “Go away. Go away. Go away.”
The table rocked and fell over, a half-eaten cake crashing to the floor.
“Go away,” Trixie called in a louder voice. “Go away.”
The young girl rose, her face contorted in undisguised hatred. She screamed in fury, a high-pitched shriek that reverberated throughout the gym.
“Go away! Go away! Go! Away!”
There was a moment where time itself seemed to stop. Silence fell over them, jarring after the deafening pandemonium. The napkins and streamers fluttered in the air, drifting in an impossible, slow-motion dance. Trixie’s eyes snapped open. “Go away,” she said with preternatural calmness.
The girl did not quietly fade from view or vanish. With a final, earsplitting wail, she burst apart, shattering like glass in a miniature explosion of light. And then she was gone.
Trixie was only dimly aware of Dan gathering her in his arms and holding her close. She could feel herself shaking, trembling so violently she vaguely wondered if she was in the middle of some kind of seizure.
Mart exchanged a measured look with Dan before turning toward the gym door. The principal and two teachers were making futile attempts to restore some sense of order as students pushed and shoved one another in their efforts to get out. He thought at first that they were in luck, that no one had or was paying them any particular attention, but as he scanned the dwindling crowd, he realized that a lone figure was standing off to one side, staring directly at them.
Lester Mundy’s expression was cold and hard and Mart suspected they had a problem - one that likely needing addressing sooner rather than later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mart was the last one to arrive at the emergency Bob-White meeting in the clubhouse. He wearily grabbed himself a chair and took a seat as the others watched him expectantly. Groaning softly, he leaned forward and balanced his elbows on the table, then dropped his head into his hands.
“What did you find out?” Honey asked quietly. “Anything?”
“Mmmm. The official word is that they’re blaming it on a ‘freak windstorm.’”
“Seriously?” Dan demanded in disbelief. “A windstorm? A freak windstorm? Indoors?”
“Yeah. And when you think about it, what else could they say? Of all the possible explanations, that one’s the least crazy. They’ve already got Mr. Nelson going on about the open doors and the hall serving as some kind of wind tunnel and apparently everyone’s buying it.”
“Not everyone,” Di corrected pointedly. “We know different.”
Mart glanced up at her. “Yeah. Sorry about all this.”
“Sorry about what? Why are you apologizing?”
“I know you were really excited about the whole ghost thing, when you thought it was just a fun party theme.”
“Well… it’s not like you’re to blame for the ghosts themselves,” she said, blowing out a short breath. “You can’t control that.”
“We’re at least partly to blame,” Trixie said grimly. “I’m pretty sure that the spirit activity in Sleepyside has dramatically increased because of us.”
Honey regarded her friend soberly. “You mean because they’re seeking you out now? Because they know you can see them and they want your help?”
“Yeah.”
“But how does that explain tonight?” Di wanted to know. “From what you’ve said, it sure doesn’t sound like this girl wanted your help.”
“No. True. But Vernon did warn us that a poltergeist could show up to cause trouble. I guess one did.”
Dan reached out and placed his hand on top of hers. “One did… and we got rid of her. You got rid of her. Freckles, you did it.”
“No. We did it. I couldn’t have done that on my own. It was the three of us together.”
“Well… however you want to look at it, it means we now know we can handle the bad spirits along with the forgetful and confused and crazy ones.”
“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “She was only a little girl. A very angry little girl, granted, but still just a small child. What happens if the next one is someone older and maybe a lot more powerful?”
Dan shook his head and gently squeezed her fingers. “We’ll keep working on this. On the research and the spells, but don’t psych yourself out. You were amazing tonight, Trix.”
She looked over at her brother. “Why me? Why did you tell me to do it? Make her go away, I mean.”
“It’s what you’re good at, Sis. Even more than either of us. The ghosts listen to you.”
“You’re Miss Lonelyhearts. Not me.”
“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the, er… more difficult spirits. Like the one at Town Hall.”
It was clear by her expression that Trixie remained doubtful, but she did not offer further protest. “What about Lester?” she asked instead. “What do you think is going on with him?”
“That, I don’t know. I didn’t see him anywhere while I was waiting for Principal Stratton to make his statement. I think we need to be aware that he’s watching us for some reason, and we need to be especially careful about what we do or say in his presence.”
“Could he be a witch, too?” Di asked. “Witch? Warlock? Wizard? Whatever… could he be one? Is there anything to say it can only be you guys?”
Mart shrugged. “We certainly can’t rule it out, but somehow that’s not the sense I get.”
Honey lifted her hand and covered a yawn. “I’m sorry. I don’t know about you all, but I’m exhausted. Tonight was insane, and somehow tomorrow we’re gonna have to pretend to be as baffled by this ‘freak windstorm’ as everyone else and get through the day and the game tomorrow night. I don’t even want to think about it. I just want to go home and go to bed. Can we meet again in the morning after we’ve had some sleep and time to think?”
“I second that motion,” Di said, nodding. “But I add to it the invitation to you and Trix to come spend the night at my house. What do you think? Not a slumber party exactly, but to be honest, I’m not sure I want to go home alone. I mean, yeah, okay, my family’s there, but that’s not the same thing…”
“Let me call Mother and let her know. I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. Trix?”
“Uh… I guess I’ll check with Moms.”
Mart pushed away from the table and stood. “Don’t worry about it, Sis. I’ll let her know. Dan can drive you girls to Di’s, unless you need to go home first to pick up an overnight bag?”
Di rose as well, reaching for her small clutch purse. “No. They can borrow pajamas from me and we always have extra toothbrushes on hand for guests.”
As Mart shut down the clubhouse for the night, turning out the lights and locking the door, Dan pulled Trixie aside. “Freckles? I’m really sorry our date didn’t exactly go as planned.”
“Yeah,” she agreed ruefully. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“So can we try again another night? Obviously a school dance isn’t an option any time soon, but what about something else? Dinner and a movie, maybe?”
“Are you willing to risk it?”
“Risk it?”
“Yeah. Risk having another date turn into a total disaster thanks to some unhappy spook?”
He leaned in and quickly brushed his lips across hers, surprising her with a brief kiss. “I’m willing to risk just about everything for you, Trix,” he murmured. He smiled at her wide-eyed look and nodded toward his van. “I think everyone’s waiting for us, Freckles. You ready to go?”
The Sleepyside High gymnasium was decked out in school colors with balloons, streamers, and strategically placed tables offering snacks and fruit punch. Dan took Trixie’s hand and linked their fingers together as he led her through the open doors. They stopped almost immediately as they took in the crowded dance floor.
“I have no words,” Trixie said solemnly.
Dan nodded. “I almost feel like we should tell them that real ghosts don’t actually look like that.”
“Oh!” Honey exclaimed from behind. “Did we… did a memo go out encouraging people to dress up in… costume? Something we missed?”
“Wooo!” David McIntire shouted, pushing past them. “I see dead people, bruh!”
While many of the students had come to the Homecoming dance in the traditional attire of suits and ties for the boys and dresses or gowns for the girls, plenty of others had chosen a markedly different style. Mart huffed out a breath as he stepped to one side to allow another couple through the door. “It looks like we stumbled onto the set for some really low-budget horror movie,” he grumbled.
“Check out Jeannie Morris,” Dan said, smirking at his friends. “How long do you think it took her to cover all of her skin in white body paint like that?”
“I think that explains why she was absent from 7th period today,” Honey replied dryly. “Honestly? I’m surprised the faculty let some of them in. Don’t we have some kind of dress code for school-sanctioned events?”
Trixie shrugged. “I’m thinking they figured there was no stopping this crazy train and to just let it roll on. Anybody see Di anywhere?”
Honey’s eyes searched the gym before she answered. “Nope. She and Drew may not have arrived yet.”
“You know what else I don’t see?” Dan asked with a wide smile. “Ghosts. Not a one. So I say? Let’s get out on the floor and enjoy a spook-free evening, huh?”
“Dude.” Mart shook his head in exasperation. “There you go again. Always just asking for something to go horribly wrong.”
Dan only laughed at his friend’s dour expression. “C’mon, Freckles. Let’s go join the fake phantom parade.”
“Does it concern you at all that there aren’t any real ghosts here tonight?” Trixie asked him worriedly. “I don’t know why, but I was expecting at least one.”
Dan turned to face her. “I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, really. What I do know is that I’m not going to question it for now. If the ghosts want to give us a night off, who are we to argue?”
“Yeah. I guess as long as Skeazy Tyler doesn’t turn up…”
“Skeazy Tyler?” Honey echoed. “Who’s he? Or should I be asking, ‘Who was he?’”
“Ah… he’s the one I had to say I’d come to the dance with, to get him to leave… move on. He was a total donkey butt.”
Dan grinned at Trixie and tugged on her hand, pulling her along to the center of the gymnasium. “Have I told you yet how beautiful you look? Like an angel.”
She felt herself blushing as she nodded in response. “Yes. You mentioned it one or two times already,” she responded shyly.
“I’m really glad you agreed to be my date, Freckles.”
She raised her eyes to his, a soft smile on her lips. “I’m really glad you asked.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It started shortly before 9:00.
“Students!” Principal Stratton called, his voice amplified by a cordless microphone. “Attention please. It’s time to announce the couples nominated for Homecoming king and – “
In rapid succession, all around the gymnasium, the blue and white helium balloons popped, the noise similar to a series of small fireworks. Several students shrieked in surprise, moving quickly away from the table displays. The colorful streamers taped along each wall tore away and flew up toward the ceiling as if suddenly caught by a strong gust of air, followed almost immediately by paper napkins and cups, some of which contained punch that was flung across the dance floor. A howling wind whipped through the gym and panic erupted.
“Oh, crap!” Trixie exclaimed, turning in a quick circle. “Poltergeist? Where is he? She? Do you see anyone?”
Dan shook his head and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her out of the way of a group of students running for the door. “No! I don’t see a ghost anywhere!”
“Students! Students! Please remain calm!” Principal Stratton shouted, waving his arm in the air. A fruit punch bowl spun off the nearest table, splashing him from head to toe, and he jumped back with a loud cry.
“Is it possible for a ghost to… I don’t know – make himself invisible from us?” Trixie yelled, trying to be heard over the screaming, out-of-control crowd.
“I think we’ve established over the past couple of weeks that just about anything is possible!”
Thinking hard, she whirled around again, her eyes tracking around the gym. She yanked her hand from Dan’s, then kicked off her heels and dashed across the wooden, juice-covered floor, skidding and almost losing her footing entirely more than once. She dropped to her knees in front of the largest of the snack tables and lifted the plastic tablecloth that covered it, bending slightly to look beneath.
There was a young girl there, crouched like a wild animal, glowering with an anger that seemed to radiate off her in waves. She opened her mouth and let out a scream of pure rage that sent Trixie scrambling backward.
“Trixie!” Dan took her by her arms and lifted her up, setting her back on her feet.
“She’s under the table! We have to do something!”
Suddenly, Mart was at Dan’s side. “Honey’s in the hall, trying to direct the students outside,” he told them quickly. “Have we found our ghost?”
Trixie pointed to the table, instinctively ducking out of the way of a plate of cookies hurled in their direction. “We aren’t gonna be able to talk our way out of this one! She’s… I’ve never seen anyone so mad. Or scary.”
Mart reached into his pocket and pulled out a small fabric bag. He loosened the strings and turned it upside down, dumping the contents onto the tabletop. He brushed the dried herbs across the surface, murmuring something Trixie and Dan could not hear over the still frantic cries of the remaining students fighting to get out of the gym. He turned and clutched his sister’s hand. “You’re up!”
“What?”
“C’mon, Sis. Concentrate!”
“I don’t know what you mean!”
Dan stepped closer to her and took her other hand in his. “Freckles! Look at me.”
She turned anxious eyes on him and he smiled a gentle smile totally at odds with the utter chaos around them. “Make her go away,” he said simply.
“What…? How?”
“Concentrate.”
Trixie drew in a ragged breath and closed her eyes tightly. “Go away,” she whispered. “Go away. Go away. Go away.”
The table rocked and fell over, a half-eaten cake crashing to the floor.
“Go away,” Trixie called in a louder voice. “Go away.”
The young girl rose, her face contorted in undisguised hatred. She screamed in fury, a high-pitched shriek that reverberated throughout the gym.
“Go away! Go away! Go! Away!”
There was a moment where time itself seemed to stop. Silence fell over them, jarring after the deafening pandemonium. The napkins and streamers fluttered in the air, drifting in an impossible, slow-motion dance. Trixie’s eyes snapped open. “Go away,” she said with preternatural calmness.
The girl did not quietly fade from view or vanish. With a final, earsplitting wail, she burst apart, shattering like glass in a miniature explosion of light. And then she was gone.
Trixie was only dimly aware of Dan gathering her in his arms and holding her close. She could feel herself shaking, trembling so violently she vaguely wondered if she was in the middle of some kind of seizure.
Mart exchanged a measured look with Dan before turning toward the gym door. The principal and two teachers were making futile attempts to restore some sense of order as students pushed and shoved one another in their efforts to get out. He thought at first that they were in luck, that no one had or was paying them any particular attention, but as he scanned the dwindling crowd, he realized that a lone figure was standing off to one side, staring directly at them.
Lester Mundy’s expression was cold and hard and Mart suspected they had a problem - one that likely needing addressing sooner rather than later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mart was the last one to arrive at the emergency Bob-White meeting in the clubhouse. He wearily grabbed himself a chair and took a seat as the others watched him expectantly. Groaning softly, he leaned forward and balanced his elbows on the table, then dropped his head into his hands.
“What did you find out?” Honey asked quietly. “Anything?”
“Mmmm. The official word is that they’re blaming it on a ‘freak windstorm.’”
“Seriously?” Dan demanded in disbelief. “A windstorm? A freak windstorm? Indoors?”
“Yeah. And when you think about it, what else could they say? Of all the possible explanations, that one’s the least crazy. They’ve already got Mr. Nelson going on about the open doors and the hall serving as some kind of wind tunnel and apparently everyone’s buying it.”
“Not everyone,” Di corrected pointedly. “We know different.”
Mart glanced up at her. “Yeah. Sorry about all this.”
“Sorry about what? Why are you apologizing?”
“I know you were really excited about the whole ghost thing, when you thought it was just a fun party theme.”
“Well… it’s not like you’re to blame for the ghosts themselves,” she said, blowing out a short breath. “You can’t control that.”
“We’re at least partly to blame,” Trixie said grimly. “I’m pretty sure that the spirit activity in Sleepyside has dramatically increased because of us.”
Honey regarded her friend soberly. “You mean because they’re seeking you out now? Because they know you can see them and they want your help?”
“Yeah.”
“But how does that explain tonight?” Di wanted to know. “From what you’ve said, it sure doesn’t sound like this girl wanted your help.”
“No. True. But Vernon did warn us that a poltergeist could show up to cause trouble. I guess one did.”
Dan reached out and placed his hand on top of hers. “One did… and we got rid of her. You got rid of her. Freckles, you did it.”
“No. We did it. I couldn’t have done that on my own. It was the three of us together.”
“Well… however you want to look at it, it means we now know we can handle the bad spirits along with the forgetful and confused and crazy ones.”
“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “She was only a little girl. A very angry little girl, granted, but still just a small child. What happens if the next one is someone older and maybe a lot more powerful?”
Dan shook his head and gently squeezed her fingers. “We’ll keep working on this. On the research and the spells, but don’t psych yourself out. You were amazing tonight, Trix.”
She looked over at her brother. “Why me? Why did you tell me to do it? Make her go away, I mean.”
“It’s what you’re good at, Sis. Even more than either of us. The ghosts listen to you.”
“You’re Miss Lonelyhearts. Not me.”
“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the, er… more difficult spirits. Like the one at Town Hall.”
It was clear by her expression that Trixie remained doubtful, but she did not offer further protest. “What about Lester?” she asked instead. “What do you think is going on with him?”
“That, I don’t know. I didn’t see him anywhere while I was waiting for Principal Stratton to make his statement. I think we need to be aware that he’s watching us for some reason, and we need to be especially careful about what we do or say in his presence.”
“Could he be a witch, too?” Di asked. “Witch? Warlock? Wizard? Whatever… could he be one? Is there anything to say it can only be you guys?”
Mart shrugged. “We certainly can’t rule it out, but somehow that’s not the sense I get.”
Honey lifted her hand and covered a yawn. “I’m sorry. I don’t know about you all, but I’m exhausted. Tonight was insane, and somehow tomorrow we’re gonna have to pretend to be as baffled by this ‘freak windstorm’ as everyone else and get through the day and the game tomorrow night. I don’t even want to think about it. I just want to go home and go to bed. Can we meet again in the morning after we’ve had some sleep and time to think?”
“I second that motion,” Di said, nodding. “But I add to it the invitation to you and Trix to come spend the night at my house. What do you think? Not a slumber party exactly, but to be honest, I’m not sure I want to go home alone. I mean, yeah, okay, my family’s there, but that’s not the same thing…”
“Let me call Mother and let her know. I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. Trix?”
“Uh… I guess I’ll check with Moms.”
Mart pushed away from the table and stood. “Don’t worry about it, Sis. I’ll let her know. Dan can drive you girls to Di’s, unless you need to go home first to pick up an overnight bag?”
Di rose as well, reaching for her small clutch purse. “No. They can borrow pajamas from me and we always have extra toothbrushes on hand for guests.”
As Mart shut down the clubhouse for the night, turning out the lights and locking the door, Dan pulled Trixie aside. “Freckles? I’m really sorry our date didn’t exactly go as planned.”
“Yeah,” she agreed ruefully. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“So can we try again another night? Obviously a school dance isn’t an option any time soon, but what about something else? Dinner and a movie, maybe?”
“Are you willing to risk it?”
“Risk it?”
“Yeah. Risk having another date turn into a total disaster thanks to some unhappy spook?”
He leaned in and quickly brushed his lips across hers, surprising her with a brief kiss. “I’m willing to risk just about everything for you, Trix,” he murmured. He smiled at her wide-eyed look and nodded toward his van. “I think everyone’s waiting for us, Freckles. You ready to go?”