Read Online Ghost Boy of Mackenzie House by Patti Larsen - Free Book Online Page A

“Maybe I’ll have time, now.”
    Filing done, there wasn’t much for Chloe to do. She left Aunt Larry to her work and drifted into the main part of the house, closing the office door behind her.
    She jumped when she heard the first drops of rain hit the windows. They were huge, fat drops that made heavy splat sounds, a few at first, then more and more as the sky got very dark and opened up. Chloe was breathless. The whole house vibrated with the rain, it seemed, the sound of it drowning out everything. Chloe stood frozen until banging on the kitchen door shook her out of it. She ran to open it and found Marsh standing there, soaked through, rain dripping from his ears and the tip of his nose, his red curls plastered to his face. He held up a bunch of wildflowers in one hand, several of which were bent to the side, stems broken.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said.
    Chloe took pity on him. “It’s okay,” she answered. “Come on in.”
    Two towels later and he was pretty much dry. Chloe was putting the poor flowers in a glass of water when Aunt Larry poked her head out long enough to smile at them before going back to work.
    â€œSome rain, huh?” Marsh was back to his old grinning self.
    â€œYeah,” Chloe said.
    â€œSo what do you want to do?” He perched himself on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island, bare feet swinging. “TV will be kind of messed up because of the thunder and lightning.” In answer, more thunder rumbled overhead. This time it was dark enough from the sullen cloud cover that Chloe caught the flash of lightning that preceded it. “Same for dial-up Internet. Got any games?”
    Chloe wasn’t sure. Aunt Larry would know, but she didn’t want to disturb her again.
    â€œEver play rummy?” Marsh fished a beat-up old deck of cards from his pocket. Chloe hadn’t and, intrigued, let him teach her. It became apparent to her that she was a sore loser. She tried not to complain too much but when she lost she thought the game was dumb. However, the more she huffed, the more she won. When she figured out Marsh was letting her win, she laughed.
    She had a good hand and was about to put herself out when she heard a noise like a sigh from behind her. Chloe jumped so much she knocked over her glass of water and had to run for a tea towel to clean up the mess. She looked over her shoulder a few times, nervous again. It was dark enough from the storm clouds that the ghost boy could make an appearance.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Marsh asked.
    Chloe almost didn’t tell him. But she needed to share it with someone and he was her only option.
    â€œYou can’t think I’m crazy,” she whispered to him. Marsh perked up.
    â€œPromise,” he whispered back.
    Chloe shivered. “I’ve been hearing, you know,… noises.”
    â€œYeah?” Marsh was all ears.
    â€œAnd feeling like, I don’t know, someone is… watching me.”
    His eyes were huge. “Yeah?”
    â€œAnd the other night… I was going to sleep… ” There was no way she was telling him she talked to her parents every night so she glossed over that part. “I heard this sigh, you know? And felt someone sit down on the bed.”
    â€œBeside you?” Marsh’s voice squeaked.
    Chloe nodded. “Right beside me. So I looked.”
    â€œAnd?” He swallowed hard.
    â€œThere was… ” She hesitated. She had him. It would be easy to pretend she was pulling a joke on him. She was sure his brothers did it to him all the time. But he believed her so far and she needed someone to. So, she took the plunge.
    â€œThere was a boy sitting on my bed.”
    Marsh let out his breath in a whoosh of air. “No way! What did he look like?”
    Chloe was so grateful he believed her without hesi tation that she told him everything. “He was kind of glowing, you know? I think he was our age.” She