Read Online Ghosts Beneath Our Feet by Betty Ren Wright - Free Book Online

head at Katie’s expression. “I shouldn’t talk to you this way, hon—it’s not your problem.”
    â€œIt is too my problem,” Katie protested. “We’re a family.”
    â€œSome family!” Mrs. Blaine stood up and patted Katie’s shoulder. “Oh, well, we’ll get by,” she said. “Don’t worry, Katherine Jane. Right?”
    â€œRight.” As if you could stop worrying when you wanted to.
    At the dinner table that evening Jay barely spoke, and even Uncle Frank seemed withdrawn. Mrs. Blaine urged everyone to have a second piece of raspberry pie, and she chattered about the storm and about the rainbow that had arced over Newquay when the clouds finally blew away. Katie listened through Jay’s ears, and the words sounded empty, phony.
    As soon as the table was cleared, Jay went back to his room and switched on a tape. Katie waited until her mother stepped outside to get some air, and then she hurried upstairs. When there was no reply to her knock, she opened Jay’s door. The tape clicked off. He lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
    â€œI’m sorry about today,” Katie said.
    â€œThanks.” Jay didn’t look at her. “Not your problem.”
    â€œWhatever happened, I bet it was that Skip Poldeen’s fault.”
    Jay swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. “Nothing happened,” he growled, “nothing important. And now I’m grounded for a whole week! And I’m not supposed to hang around with Skip anymore.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Katie said again. “I didn’t tell Mom about him, except for his name.”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter. The guy who owned the cottage recognized Skip, and someone else told the sheriff I was with him. We didn’t do any damage to the darned cottage—we were just trying to keep dry. Oh, and we opened a can of beans while we were waiting for the rain to stop. Big deal!”
    â€œYou were on somebody else’s property.…”
    â€œI know all that. I know it!” Jay sounded desperate. “Everybody says ‘Enjoy yourself—have fun!’ But when I do—forget it.” His voice shook. “Your mother hates me.”
    Katie gasped. “She doesn’t! That’s an awful thing to say.”
    â€œSure, she does. Why not? I’m nothing but trouble to her. She’s stuck with me, right?”
    â€œWrong!” They stared at each other.
    â€œOne of these days,” Jay continued unsteadily, “she’s going to get fed up and tell me to get lost. You’ll see. When she married my dad, I was just part of the package. Well, that’s okay. I don’t need anyone looking after me. I can just—”
    There were tears in his eyes. Katie looked away, not wanting to see. This must be Jay’s secret worry—the problem he’d hinted at that first night in Newquay. She longed to comfort him, but didn’t know what to say.
    She changed the subject. “Joan and I went to the mine shaft house this morning. It’s really a spooky place.”
    Jay cleared his throat. “So?”
    â€œSo it’s really weird! When the wind blows a certain way, you can hear moaning and crying in the shaft. Joan says it’s supposed to be the spirits of the miners who died down there.”
    Jay leaned back on his elbows, looking exhausted. “You’re a goofy kid, you know that? Always hearing strange sounds! You’ve got a thing about underground ghosts.”
    â€œNo, I haven’t,” Katie said. “But I did hear a noise in the backyard the other night, no matter what you think. The sounds in the shaft—well, that was just the wind, I know. There’s something else, though.” She hesitated, then plunged ahead. “Just as I was crawling out the window of the shaft house, I looked back and saw a girl watching me. She had long blond hair, and she put out