Ghost Town

by Annie Bryant

  “I’m exhausted,” Lissie announced as she curled up on the couch. “Though I think it’s mostly from all the laughing.” She dug through her backpack and fished out a stash of sanitizing wipes. “Anybody else need to clean off sticky fingers?”

  Maeve wiped her face and then her fingers with the cool cloth. “I feel so much better!” she said.

  From the dark, snowy night outside, they heard a deep howl.

  “Was that the . . . the wind?” Maeve asked.

  “Doubtful.” Avery shook her head.

  “I bet it was a coyote,” Charlotte surmised.

  “No. Not a coyote. That was a wolf,” Avery announced emphatically.

  “How can you tell the difference?” Maeve asked.

  “A wolf howl sounds deep and mournful,” Avery explained. “Almost like a ghost. Coyote howls are higher pitched than wolf howls, and coyotes usually bark or yap.”

  “How do you know all this?” Lissie asked.

  “Avery watches Animal Planet all the time—twenty-four seven,” Charlotte explained.

  Mr. Ramsey smiled and nodded his head, obviously impressed. “Avery, I think you truly have the heart of a wildlife biologist.”

  Avery found that to be a very comforting thought. She flopped back on the mattress next to Charlotte and imagined herself trekking through the wilderness in search of all sorts of wild creatures. Visions of wolves and coyotes and frogs and wombats carried her blissfully to sleep.

  CHAPTER

  12

  Ranch Romp

  This is so exciting!” Sam exclaimed, throwing a handful of snow at everyone.

  “It’s amazingly beautiful, isn’t it?” Isabel asked, tilting her head way back and catching a couple of cold snowflakes on her tongue.

  The girls strapped on their rental skates and took a couple of laps around the resort’s ice-skating rink. Nik and Sam, who had never been on ice skates before, clung to each other for dear life. Isabel was the only one who seemed truly comfortable on skates. She glided effortlessly around the rink as Katani, Nik, and Sam shuffled slowly, wobbling back and forth in a humorous and desperate attempt to stay on their feet.

  Feeling brave at one point, Nik let go of Sam and Katani and tried to catch up with Isabel. Her feet, however, seemed to have a mind of their own, each going in a different, unhelpful direction.

  “Whoa!” Nik cried out, windmilling her arms as she desperately tried to keep her balance, but ultimately teetering and collapsing in a heap just as Katani and Sam skated up to her.

  “Watch out! Oh, no!” Sam cried, unable to steer herself away from her twin.

  Katani and Sam clutched each other, closed their eyes, and screamed helplessly. Katani fell on top of Nik, and Sam catapulted forward, somersaulted over her sister and landed sprawled on the ice.

  “Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!” Isabel skated up and helped each of her fallen friends to their feet.

  “My ankles are killing me!” Katani declared.

  “I think we could all use some hot chocolate,” Isabel said, clasping her mittened hands together.

  “I could use a pillow,” Sam moaned, rubbing her bruised backside.

  “MMMMMM! Hot chocolate! That’s sounds like an excellent plan,” Nik agreed. “Let’s get inside before we freeze. Arkansas girls are NOT used to weather like this.”

  Just next door was a little café open for snacks. Sam went to the counter and ordered four hot chocolates with marshmallows and whipped cream as the rest of the girls settled in front of the fire.

  The place was decorated in the same western theme as the rest of the resort, with a rough stone floor and mammoth timbers. Katani couldn’t help feeling like she was back in the 1800s.

  Moments later, the waiter brought their hot chocolate, steaming and smelling absolutely delicious. Katani wrapped her hands around the cup and inhaled the rich, chocolatey scent.

  “My fingers are numb!” Nik cried. “Hope they thaw out before our show!”

  “I can’t remember the last time we had hot chocolate,” Sam said. “It’s not usually hot chocolate weather in Arkansas. Bet you drink this stuff a lot in Boston!”

  Isabel smiled. “We get hot chocolate from our favorite bakery all the time, at least in the fall and winter.”

  As Isabel launched into a description of Montoya’s Bakery, Katani couldn’t help starting to worry again about the rest of the group. She hoped that wherever the rest of the BSG were, they were warm and safe.

  “You guys play pool?” Sam asked when they had finished their drinks.

  “I’ve played a couple times with my sisters,” Katani answered. “How ‘bout you, Isabel?”

  Isabel shook her head. “Nope, not me.”

  “I saw they had pool tables in the game room. Wanna give it a try?” Nik asked.

  “Sure, why not?” Isabel shrugged. “As long as you guys don’t mind teaching me.”

  “No problem, Iz,” Nik assured her. “It’s easy!”

  The game room at Big Sky was a long, large room that was warm and inviting. A fire crackled in the huge stone fireplace. There were thick, plush brown rugs scattered across the polished stone floor. Two pool tables and an air hockey table stood in the center of the room, while a fringe of video games lined the walls. Snack and drink machines stood in the far corner.

  “Howdy,” a tall, dark-haired girl greeted them. She introduced herself as Jasmine, one of the teen guide staff members. “Are you all interested in playing a game of pool?” she asked.

  The girls nodded and Jasmine handed out the cues, balls, and a rack.

  “I’m not that great at sports,” Katani hesitated.

  “It’s all about hand-eye coordination. I’d be happy to show you a few tricks,” said a deep voice. Katani turned to see a tall, good-looking boy standing behind her. He took the pool cue from Katani’s hand.

  “The important thing about pool,” he said, “is how you hold the cue and line up the shot.” He eyed the table from a couple of angles, lined up the shot, and smoothly hit the cue ball with the stick, which knocked the number 2 ball into the corner pocket.

  Nik clapped her hands. “Hey, good one, dude!”

  “My name is Daniel.” He smiled an adorable, lopsided grin and then handed the pool cue back to Katani. “Now you try,” he encouraged her. “Go ahead. You’ll do fine.”

  Katani put her hand on the table and placed the cue on top of it, trying to imitate what she’d just observed.

  “Wait. Hold on a sec,” Daniel motioned as Katani fumbled with the cue. “Let me show you how to adjust it.”

  Katani was suddenly aware of how close Daniel was standing to her. He smelled kind of like woodsmoke, fresh air, and spearmint gum at the same time—a strange combination of scents that was making her a little dizzy. She could barely listen to his directions.

  “Put your left hand on the table,” Daniel instructed.

  Katani put her hand on the table, and Daniel placed his hand over hers. Katani could hardly breathe. Daniel had now taken hold of both of her hands to position the cue correctly. He spoke softly into her left ear.

  “Relax. RELAX! Your left hand is just a guide for you to rest the cue on. It doesn’t have to do any work. Now line up the shot. When you’re ready, try to hit the cue ball right in the center so it will roll straight. You’re pretty close, so you don’t want to hit the cue ball too hard. Just a soft tap,” he directed. “There, the shot’s all lined up. Pull the cue back as straight as you can and bring it forward straight.”

  Katani did as he said, and the chalked tip of the cue hit the cue ball. The cue ball hit the number 5 ball with a clink and it rolled forward into the corner pocket.

  “Yes!” Katani exclaimed, accepting a high five from her new teacher, Daniel.

  “You did it,” Isabel beamed.

  “Awesome,” Nik concurred.

  “Totally awesome,” Daniel agreed and flashed his lopsided grin. “You’ve played before.”

  Katani felt warm and fuzzy all over
and snuck a look at Isabel, whose eyes twinkled.

  “Hey, over here,” Daniel called out to three guys who’d just come through the door. “We were just going to play a couple of rounds,” he said to the girls. “Wanna play some speed pool?”

  “What’s speed pool?” Sam asked.

  “Easy. We’ll play girls against boys. Each person keeps taking a pool shot until they miss. Three missed shots and you are out! Got it?”

  “Got it!” Nik said. “Come on, girls, let’s do this!”

  “Ladies first,” Daniel gestured toward the table with a gallant bow.

  “Katani! You’re a natural!” Sam exclaimed as Katani managed to sink her first shot.

  By the end of the game Katani was surprised to realize that she was the last girl standing. Across from her, Daniel was the last boy.

  All the skaters from the ice rink had finished up and come in to check out the game room. The snowboarders had retired for the day, too, and the game room was packed.

  “Come on, Daniel! You can take her,” a tall boy named Orville called out as the final round began. Katani continued to knock in shot after shot, and to everyone’s amazement, including her own, she won the game.

  “Woo-hoo!” Katani cheered. “All right!”

  “I must be a good teacher,” Daniel said with a wink as he high-fived Katani.

  What a nice guy, she thought.

  “Awesome,” Nik proclaimed, also giving Katani an enthusiastic high five.

  “You girls going boarding tomorrow?” Daniel asked as he congratulated Katani.

  “I don’t know,” Katani said. “I’ve never snowboarded before.” She wanted to add how klutzy she was at sports, but then thought better of it. They would discover that soon enough when she was tumbling down the mountain.

  “Well, if you need a few pointers, let me know,” Daniel offered with a smile.

  Orville suggested they all meet on the slopes the next day, and the girls agreed.

  As she helped put away the pool cues, Katani heard a couple of girls behind her whispering loudly. “Hey, look, isn’t that Nik and Sam?”

  The buzz started to spread, and soon it seemed that everyone was whispering and pointing to the twins.

  Orville was the first to whip out his lift ticket and a pen and ask for an autograph, and then it seemed everyone in the room was scrambling for a scrap of paper. The group pressed closer to Nik and Sam, demanding autographs and shouting out all sorts of questions.

  Katani and Isabel were pushed to the side as kids tried to get up close to Nik and Sam.

  Nik and Sam were very gracious and open to talking to everyone. Katani couldn’t believe how they could stand answering the same questions over and over.

  Katani checked her watch. The twins had been fielding questions and signing autographs for quite some time, and they were starting to look tired.

  “Nik and Sam,” she called out. “Time to go! Sorry, guys,” Katani held out a hand to the crowd that clearly meant STOP. “Nik and Sam are late for an appointment. Maybe you can catch them later. Come on, girls,” she motioned for Nik and Sam to follow her as she grabbed Isabel’s arm. “We gotta get a move on.”

  Outside the game room, Nik smiled gratefully, then slapped a hand on Katani’s shoulder. “Thanks for rescuing us, Katani!”

  “Yeah! You should be a band manager or something. You’re really good at getting people to listen,” Sam said, slapping her hand on Katani’s other shoulder.

  Katani smiled. Band manager. She liked the sound of that. As long as the band manager could design costumes and do all that creative stuff, too.

  When the girls reached their floor, Nik whipped out her key and unlocked the door to the twins’ suite.

  “What’s this?” Sam asked when she saw how the room had been transformed.

  There, in front of the huge window that overlooked the resort lawn and the fabulous backdrop of Lone Mountain, were four sleeping bags with four fluffy pillows.

  “Hi, girls,” said Nik and Sam’s mom. “This is a slumber party, Big Sky Resort style. I got the resort concierge to rustle up some sleeping bags to make it more like the real thing.”

  “A slumber party with a major view!” Isabel exclaimed. She couldn’t take her eyes off the majestic, snowy mountain framed by the glow of the moon.

  It was fairly dark, but the girls could still see that the snow was swirling and whirling in the darkness between the window and the mountains.

  “I hope Mr. Ramsey and the girls are safe,” Isabel whispered softly, folding her arms in front of her and shivering a bit.

  “Don’t worry, Isabel.” Nik slung an arm around Isabel’s shoulder. “I bet there are a ton of motels and restaurants off the interstate for them to get out of the storm.”

  Isabel gazed over at Nik’s guitar in the corner. Nik followed her gaze. “Do you play the guitar?” she asked Isabel, jumping at the chance to take Isabel’s mind off her worries.

  “I’ve always wanted to take guitar lessons,” Isabel admitted. “I can only play a little bit, though—just a few chords.”

  “Well, there’s no time like the present.” Sam pushed the guitar in her direction.

  “Really?”

  “Why not? We only started playing a couple of years ago,” Nik said.

  She handed Isabel the guitar and picked up the mandolin. Sam began strumming softly on her banjo. Nik patiently showed Isabel some basic chords and then went to get her backup guitar. As they strummed together, all three began to hum sweetly. Sam and Isabel strummed a chord, and Nik broke out in her lonesome, melodic voice, “There’s a little girl with a barrette in her hair bouncing on her daddy’s knee . . .”

  Isabel joined Nik and Sam in the ballad’s refrain:

  Hold on and don’t let go

  Put one step forward, two steps back.

  No one ever learned to dance without getting just a little off track.

  When your feet get tangled up,

  you feel just like a fool

  Remember I’ll be there taking every little step with you.

  “Hey, Katani. Join in!” Sam invited as Nik started in on the second verse.

  Katani shook her head and clamped her mouth shut.

  “Come on, Katani,” Sam tried to convince her. “What’s the problem? Just sing along!”

  Katani shook her head again and pressed her lips together. She locked eyes with Isabel and the two broke into uncontrollable giggles.

  Nik put down her guitar and stared at the two giggling girls. “Is there something weird going on here?” she asked.

  Isabel choked back another giggle and shrugged.

  “What?” Nik asked.

  “WHAT?!” Sam demanded.

  “Well, it’s just that Katani isn’t . . .” Isabel hesitated.

  “Isn’t what?” Sam pressed.

  Katani and Isabel looked at each other and let the giggles flow again.

  “Katani is known for her organizational skills, not her singing skills,” Isabel finally managed to spit out.

  “That’s putting it mildly!” Katani blurted. “I can’t even sing ‘Happy Birthday’ without making every dog in the neighborhood howl!”

  “Come on! You can’t be that bad,” Sam said.

  “Believe me . . . I’m pretty much tone deaf,” Katani admitted, shaking her head.

  “Well, you didn’t think you could play pool, and look how that turned out,” Nik reasoned. “Give it a try. You don’t have to be a Grammy contender to have a little fun.”

  “Join in,” Sam insisted.

  The twins stopped begging and continued to play and sing, nodding encouragingly at Katani every now and then.

  What do I have to lose? Katani thought. She started humming softly at first, then she sang louder and louder, and really let go at the chorus, “Hold on and don’t let go. Put one step forward, two steps back. No one ever learned to dance without getting just a little off track.”

  Five songs later, Katani was belting out the refra
in of the twins’ foot-stomping jam “Old Enough.” Katani knew her voice was terrible and her harmony was way off, but suddenly she didn’t care! She sang loudly and proudly, pouring all her emotions into the awesome lyrics.

  Isabel and Katani hooted and hollered wildly for Nik and Sam when they finished the song.

  “Thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight,” Sam spoke to the fake audience.

  “We’d like to thank our guest musicians, the talented and beautiful duo, Isabel Martinez and Katani Summers. We couldn’t have done it without them both!” Nik added.

  By now the light had completely drained from the sky and they could no longer see the white peak of Lone Mountain. There was a knock at the door and a waiter rolled in a cart filled with pizza rolls, buffalo chicken wings, cheese and crackers, a huge bowl of fruit, a plate of cookies, and all sorts of other goodies. The girls put their instruments down and started digging in.

  “I might not have a career as a singer,” Isabel giggled in between bites of pizza, “but Katani Summers is going to be a famous fashion designer someday.”

  “Really?” Nik asked.

  “Aww, we sort of hoped you’d become our manager!” Sam made a funny face.

  Katani laughed. “That sounds like fun, but I’ve always wanted to be a fashion designer. I’ve already started a scarf-making business, and it’s going great. I’m saving all my pennies and dimes and hopefully, by the time I finish college, I’ll be all set to launch my fashion empire.”

  “That’s awesome!” Nik and Sam said simultaneously.

  “So how did you get interested in music?” Isabel asked.

  “We used to go to concerts with our parents where there were guitar pickers. Our dad would always play with them. That’s how we started to love music,” Nik explained.

  “Our dad inspired us first,” Sam said, “but I loved Emily Robison, the banjo player from the Dixie Chicks, so I just had to learn the banjo. And Nikki learned the guitar so she could accompany me.”

  “Doing concerts is great, but we’d love to get into acting, too,” Sam told them.

  Nik nodded in agreement.

  “Really?” Katani asked. “Wow, you guys have some big dreams!”