by Ellen Oh
“Oh, me too!” Dayo said.
“Come visit me!” Olivia said. “I’d love to see you both whenever you can.”
The girls immediately launched into a discussion of New York, and Harper began to rave about the pizza and bagels and how no other city could ever get them right. Dayo rolled her eyes, causing Olivia to laugh.
“I’m glad I’m leaving the island,” Olivia said. “It’s too sad here now. All I can think about is my mom.”
The friends grew quiet. Dayo gave Olivia a hug while Harper patted her shoulder awkwardly.
“Oh, hey, I’ll be able to visit the both of you, too. My dad promised.”
Harper beamed happily. “Awesome! You can stay with me. We have lots of room and my house isn’t haunted anymore!”
“Or you can stay with me and eat the most amazing food of your life in a house that’s never been haunted,” Dayo interjected.
Olivia smiled. “Oh no, what do I do?”
Harper frowned. “It’s no contest. If I could, I’d live with Dayo also. Her mom’s food is seriously the best.”
“I tell you what, I’ll stay with you first and then we can both go stay with Dayo,” Olivia said, throwing her arms around each girl. “That way we’ll all be together.”
“Brilliant!” Dayo said. “I’ll start taking your cookie orders today.”
“I’m not sharing mine!” Harper shouted.
Olivia had given Harper and Dayo a bunch of presents to take home. But the gift Harper loved the most was a picture of all three of them on the beach. Olivia had put the photo in a pretty frame decorated with seashells and colorful beads. Harper would treasure it for what it represented: real friends. While she still missed Rose, and always would, it was nice to have two real-life friends.
They were scheduled to take the last shuttle of the day at five p.m. Harper and Dayo were done packing early and were going to look for shells when Yuna appeared and handed Harper the phone. “It’s Grandma.”
“Grandma!” Harper yelled. “Are you okay? How are you feeling? When are you coming home?”
“I’m fine. Your mom said she’d drive up next week to pick me up. I’d go home now but your aunt Youjin won’t let me travel, even though she has a brand-new baby and shouldn’t be worrying about me also!”
“Oh, I’ll come up, too, Grandma! I have so much to tell you.”
“Tell me everything now,” Grandma Lee said. “And don’t leave anything out.”
It took over an hour for Harper to tell the entire story. Dayo chimed in whenever Harper forgot an important point. Grandma was an appreciative audience and asked a lot of questions.
“What happened to Todd and Olivia?” Grandma Lee asked.
“Now that the Razu are gone, they aren’t tied to the island anymore,” Harper said. “So, Olivia is going to move to New York with her father. They’re taking her mother’s body to be buried in Florida first. Everything has been hushed up. Olivia said that they had to make payments to everyone to keep quiet about what happened, which I think is just wrong, but I guess that’s what really rich people do.
“Oh, but the good news is that Mr. Bennington promoted Aunt Caroline to some top position, and she’s now in charge of the whole resort.”
“That’s wonderful! I always liked your aunt Caroline,” Grandma Lee said. “But what about Leo? You still not good with him?”
Harper made a face but was glad her grandmother couldn’t see it. “I would have been, but Mom and Dad said that Leo is going to be staying with us for the school year because Aunt Caroline and Uncle Justin are gonna be so busy and they want him to go to school near us. Mom’s clearing out her office and turning it into a guest room.”
“Maybe he’ll be a good help to you,” Grandma Lee said, “since he can see spirits also.”
“I don’t see how,” Harper said grudgingly. “He’s a big chicken.”
“I think hanging around you and Dayo would be good for him.”
Harper sighed and looked at her friend, but Dayo just shrugged. “I kind of like him.”
“Well, since Leo is going to be living with us, I guess he could train with us,” she said grudgingly. “But only if he wants.”
“That’s my good girl,” Grandma Lee said. “Fighting spirits is hard work. The more spirit hunters we have, the safer we all are.”
Harper was thinking about this after lunch when Leo pulled her and Dayo aside.
“I just want to thank you for helping me out with the ghost thing,” he said.
“Gosh, Leo, it wasn’t just for you,” Harper snapped.
“I know, I know. You guys are heroes, and I think it is really uncool that the Benningtons are making it all hush-hush. Now no one can know how you saved the world and stuff,” Leo said.
Harper’s eyes bulged in astonishment. “Leo, did you just compliment me?”
He smiled. “Don’t get a big head over it.”
“Aw, look at the cousins being so cute and everything,” Dayo said.
Both Harper and Leo scowled at her, which made Dayo laugh.
“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about all those dirty tricks I played on you in the past.”
Harper’s mouth gaped open again, but this time Dayo nudged her.
“Well, okay then,” Harper said. “And thank you.”
The cousins smiled at each other. “And if you want, you can learn about being a spirit hunter with me and Dayo.”
“Really?” Leo said. “Because I thought about it and realized it would be better to know how to get rid of the bad ones if I ever come across one.”
“That would be smart,” Harper responded. “So, you’re in?”
Leo nodded. “In.”
Dayo beamed. “Hey, we’ll be like the Three Musketeers, but we’ll be the Three Ghostbusteers.”
Leo groaned. “That’s awful.”
“Hey, Dayo can call us whatever she wants as long as she brings her mom’s cookies,” Harper said.
“You and food.” Leo shook his head.
“Should we invite Kelly to join us, too?” Dayo asked.
“No!” Leo and Harper said in unison. The two cousins smiled at each other, finally in complete agreement.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Harper said. And she meant it.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If you are here on this page, then that probably means you read this entire book. And that makes you my reader. And that makes me happy. Thank you, dear wonderful reader, for reading my scary little book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Courtesy Ellen Oh
Originally from New York City, ELLEN OH is a former adjunct college instructor and lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. She also loves martial arts films, K-pop, K-dramas, and cooking shows, and she is a rabid fan of the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra series. Ellen is the president and founder of We Need Diverse Books and the author of the Prophecy trilogy (Prophecy, Warrior, and King) for young adults. The Spirit Hunters series is her first for middle grade readers. Ellen lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband and three children and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel. You can visit her online at www.ellenoh.com.
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COPYRIGHT
SPIRIT HUNTERS #2: THE ISLAND OF MONSTERS. Copyright © 2018 by Ellen Oh. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art by Matt Rockefeller
; Cover design by Joel Tippie
* * *
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956220
Digital Edition JULY 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-243013-7
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-243011-3
* * *
1819202122CG/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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