Ghost Club 2

by Deborah Abela

  ‘That’s because you’re weird, too.’

  ‘Being weird is purely a matter of perception.’

  Travis snatched an iceblock from a third grader, took a bite and threw the rest to the ground.

  ‘I have been studying his behaviour for a while now.’ Edgar smiled. ‘As you know, I am quite a fan of prehistory, and there is a remarkable similarity between the earliest forms of man and Travis, which leads me to believe we are looking at a scientific phenomenon.’

  ‘Travis?’

  ‘Yes, I believe that some genes from prehistoric man have migrated over the aeons and are alive and well in Travis’s DNA.’

  ‘Well, it’s time he gave them back to Cro-Magnon Man.’ Angeline held her hand to her face and giggled.

  ‘Homo erectus, actually. They were capable of standing upright, lighting fires . . .’

  Travis stopped in front of them.

  ‘What’s so funny?’

  Edgar tried to suppress his smile. ‘We were talking about prehistory and the contributions it has made to modern society.’

  Travis frowned. ‘Okay, now it’s official – you’re both weird.’

  ‘Because we like to talk about history?’

  ‘Yes.’ Travis stepped closer, blocking out the sun and casting a deep shadow over them. ‘And because I know what you’re up to.’

  ‘We’re just waiting for assembly to start,’ Angeline said a little shakily.

  A smile slithered into Travis’s lips, like a snake ready to strike. ‘I saw you at the station.’

  Angeline felt as if two hands had gripped her throat. She opened her mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came out.

  ‘What station?’ Edgar asked boldly.

  ‘Gravesend Station,’ Travis spelt out. ‘The station that was closed yesterday because of a disturbance inside. The same station the police blocked off, the one I pass on my way home from school, and where I saw you leave in long, dark coats.’

  Angeline’s stomach lurched.

  ‘I didn’t know it was you at first, not until you got into the police car and the hood of your coat moved aside just long enough for me to see it was you.’

  Angeline’s fingers and arms tingled and all her energy seemed to drain from her. She searched the yard for somewhere to run. Some distraction. Anything that would get her away from Travis.

  ‘After you mysteriously left school yesterday, you went to the station, didn’t you?’

  ‘Our grandma came to pick us up for some important family business,’ Edgar said, undaunted by Travis’s attempt at bullying. He’d seen it all before and, even though he should have been afraid, it only made him more determined to stand up to him.

  ‘It’s funny you should mention family business.’ Travis’s eyes widened. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled clipping from a newspaper. ‘Because I think I have something you may recognise.’

  Angeline eyed the advertisement she knew only too well.

  Edgar smiled broadly and shrugged. ‘Thanks for the offer, but we don’t have a problem with ghosts.’

  Travis’s words were slow and measured, like each one was the pounding clang of a warning bell. ‘This is what you do, isn’t it?’

  Angeline felt her skin prickle with fear.

  ‘We told you.’ Edgar got to his feet and sized himself up to Travis, even though he was shorter by half a ruler and a whole lot of muscle. ‘We were picked up yesterday by our grandma because of –’

  ‘Important family business.’ Travis bumped against Edgar’s chest, stealing his breath away. ‘You said. Now tell me what you were really doing at –’

  ‘Angeline and Edgar.’ Principal Primm stepped towards them in her perfectly polished shoes. Her assistant, Ms Gently, was close behind.

  Travis stepped back and shoved the Ghost Club ad back into his pocket.

  ‘How are you both today?’ Principal Primm’s expression was caught halfway between sincerity and someone about to face their biggest fear.

  Relief flooded into Angeline’s voice. ‘We’re very well, thank you, Principal Primm. And might I say how lovely it is to see you and that you are looking very well yourself.’

  ‘I believe so, too.’ Ms Gently popped her head in from behind.

  ‘You are holding up well, then?’ Principal Primm’s relief matched that of Angeline’s. She was very much hoping there would not be a repeat of the unseemly tears that flooded her office the day before.

  ‘Yes, brilliantly.’ Angeline beamed. ‘Couldn’t be better.’

  ‘Really?’ Principal Primm lifted one eyebrow. ‘Only, I was most concerned yesterday when your grandmother informed us of your cousin Percy’s unfortunate and untimely demise.’

  ‘Oh, that.’ Angeline suddenly remembered and rearranged her face into a sad frown. ‘Yes, we . . . we –’

  ‘Are still terribly upset.’ Edgar patted his sister’s arm. ‘It came as a terrible blow. It’s our grandmother we’re most worried about – she and Cousin Percy were very close. We’re trying the best we can to put on a brave face.’

  ‘Oh, that is good,’ Principal Primm said. ‘Tears can be such a messy business. Necessary at times, of course, but . . . very messy.’ She wiped her hands against her skirt, remembering all those soggy tissues. ‘Please give your grandmother my very best.’

  It was only then that Principal Primm noticed Travis standing nearby and clearly listening in. ‘Step into line, Travis, assembly is about to start. And tuck in your shirt. We don’t want to look like cavemen now, do we?’

  Angeline and Edgar tried to hide another smile. Travis glared at them as he tucked his shirt in and shuffled away.

  The school bell chimed, prompting students to dawdle into lines. Principal Primm walked amid the mayhem, causing the students to fall into order and become instantly silent.

  ‘He knows what we do.’ Angeline’s voice trembled as they joined their class. Travis was a few kids ahead. He turned and gave them a hardened stare.

  ‘If we don’t do anything to further arouse his suspicion, he’ll forget about us soon enough.’ Edgar smiled.

  ‘You really believe that?’

  His smile drooped. ‘To be honest, that strains even my reserves of optimism.’

  Principal Primm reached the podium at the front. Only when the assembled students became deathly quiet did she turn to Ms Gently, who handed her a microphone. She eyed the last of the fidgety students into an uneasy stillness.

  ‘Good morning, students and teachers.’

  A lacklustre ‘good morning’ groaned back.

  ‘We here at Gravesend College have a proud tradition of excellence in behaviour, in decorum and in our thirst to be the best people we can be.’

  Angeline saw Travis’s hand slowly open up beside him. The smaller kid next to him reluctantly reached into his pocket and handed him some coins.

  ‘I think you’re being unkind comparing prehistoric man with Travis,’ Angeline whispered to Edgar. ‘I’ll bet they were much more civilised.’

  ‘And of the many events that encourage that thirst for knowledge,’ the principal continued, ‘tonight’s has to be one of our most eagerly anticipated.’ She paused for effect. ‘The Senior Student Sleepover.’

  A wave of giggles and wriggling rippled through all of Year Six.

  All of them, that is, except for Angeline.

  ‘It’s tonight?’ Her face was a portrait of pale horror.

  ‘It’s been on the calendar since the beginning of the school year,’ Edgar said.

  ‘Yes, but I was hoping it had slipped everyone’s mind.’ Angeline slumped forward. ‘Don’t we spend enough time here during the day?’

  Principal Primm waited for the assembly to quieten. ‘As with every year, our Year Six students will be
spending the night in our wonderful school learning valuable social skills.’ She looked directly at the senior students. ‘Even though many of you have been together since kindergarten, tonight will offer you the chance to see your friends in a completely new light and get a glimpse of who they truly are deep down inside.’

  ‘That’s what I’m worried about,’ Angeline murmured.

  ‘You will need to assemble here this afternoon at 5.30 pm with your pyjamas, toothbrushes and a willingness to have fun. Everything else will be taken care of for you.’

  ‘Yes, but can they guarantee my sanity?’ Angeline whispered.

  ‘You’ll be fine,’ Edgar said. ‘Your fear is overshadowing the truly non-threatening nature of this evening’s event. You might even enjoy it.’

  ‘Okay, your optimism just slipped over into pure fantasy.’

  ‘I wish you all a wonderful day,’ Principal Primm concluded, ‘and I look forward to getting to know the Year Sixes even better this evening.’

  Angeline’s face plunged into a deeper look of despair. ‘She may live to regret she ever said that.’

  Principal Primm handed the microphone to Ms Gently, who followed her boss’s clipped footsteps through the crowd and back to the sanctuary of her child-free office.

  ‘I think I have a fever.’ Angeline shivered. ‘Do I look sick to you?’ She grabbed Edgar’s hand. ‘Feel my forehead. I’m burning up. I could have malaria or yellow fever. Maybe I should be quarantined?’

  ‘Your forehead feels perfectly fine,’ Edgar said. ‘Sorry.’

  Angeline dragged herself to her feet, weighed down by the dread of the sleepover. As she walked to class, she tried to ignore Travis’s gaze following her every move. She knew her day – and now her night – was going to be anything but wonderful.

  ‘Do I really have to go in?’ Angeline stood with her family in the school car park, which was swarming with chatting parents, feverish students and teachers marking rolls.

  ‘Oh, sweetie.’ Lily Usher tucked an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. ‘I remember my Senior Sleepover. We had so much fun. We stayed up after lights out, ate lollies and chocolate, and had a competition to see who could tell the scariest story. Just think of it as a slumber party with all your classmates.’

  Angeline held her stomach. ‘Now I really feel sick.’

  A steady stream of cars pulled into the school, lighting up the playground like searchlights, targeting Angeline like a scared rabbit.

  Edgar stepped close beside her. ‘You know your anthropophobia is irrational.’

  ‘I know.’ Angeline clutched her bag to her chest. ‘That’s what makes it a phobia. I can’t help it – I’m just no good with people.’

  ‘“No good” how?’ Lily asked.

  ‘I never know what to say, and when I do it comes out all wrong.’

  ‘I’d say that has a certain charm to it.’ Grandpa Huffman shivered into view beside her.

  ‘That’s because you’re my grandfather.’ Angeline looked around to make sure no one could see the ghostly old man who had appeared out of nowhere. ‘To others it’s just weird.’

  ‘But sweetheart, there’s nothing to be afraid of,’ Arthur Usher said. ‘You’ve known most of these kids since kindergarten.’

  Angeline frowned. ‘It takes me a little while to get to know people.’

  Grandma Rose nudged her gently. ‘At this rate, you’ll be 110 before you even say hello.’

  Car doors were thrown open and kids leapt out, giving their friends squealing hugs as if they’d been apart for years.

  Every ounce of Angeline wanted to crawl back into their car and drive as far away as they could – Siberia maybe, or some deserted outpost at the fringes of the Arctic circle. Once she got used to the cold and the polar bears, she was sure it would be better than the night she was about to face.

  ‘You don’t have this trouble with people at the Ghost Club,’ Grandpa Huffman said. ‘Try thinking of school in the same way.’

  ‘The club is different,’ Angeline lowered her voice. ‘There we all have the same ideas about things and . . .’ She looked around. ‘No one makes fun of me if I say something silly.’

  ‘Oh pish!’ Grandma Rose blustered. ‘We’re all human beings, which means we’re born with the right to say silly things sometimes. And if someone wants to make fun of you for that, then it seems to me they have the problem. And that’s the truth or I’ll eat my own head.’

  ‘She’s right, you know,’ Grandpa nodded. ‘Always is.’

  ‘Excuse me, students and parents,’ Ms Gently said in a voice laced with giddy anticipation, ‘it’s time to say goodbye so we can let the sleepover begin!’

  Arthur and Lily Usher took turns to hug and kiss their children. Lily held her daughter’s face with both hands. ‘Please try to enjoy yourself.’

  Angeline attempted a smile. ‘I’ll do my best.’

  Grandma Rose kissed them both. ‘It’s only until tomorrow morning.’

  ‘If I last that long.’

  ‘You will,’ Grandpa said. ‘You may even –’

  ‘Have fun,’ Angeline mumbled. ‘I doubt it, but thanks for encouraging me to believe in miracles.’

  Angeline watched as two of her classmates tried to grab each other’s pants to see who could dack the other first.

  ‘Oh, I almost forgot.’ Arthur Usher reached into the car and took two small paper bags from the glove box. ‘I made you my special chocolate and broccoli muffins for later when you’re feeling peckish.’

  ‘But they’re providing all the food.’ Angeline’s night just swerved down a new avenue of horror.

  ‘Yes, but just in case they don’t feed you enough,’ Arthur said. ‘I couldn’t bear to know you were going hungry.’

  Angeline and Edgar gingerly took the bags, forcing their mouths into delighted grins.

  ‘Thanks, Dad,’ Edgar said. ‘We’ll look forward to them.’ He paused before adding an excited, ‘Yum!’

  The twins waved their family goodbye.

  ‘Yum?’ Angeline asked when they were far enough away. ‘You’ve never said yum in your whole life.’

  ‘I was taken by surprise,’ Edgar said. ‘I always panic when I discover Dad’s baked for us.’

  ‘Someone has to tell him he can’t cook.’

  ‘Not us – it’ll devastate him. As his children, it’s our job to pretend we like it.’

  ‘For how long?’

  ‘The rest of our lives . . . or until he accidentally poisons one of us, whichever comes first.’

  Angeline opened the bag. She took a whiff and winced. ‘I think I know which one it’ll be.’

  Arthur Usher sounded the horn as they drove to the exit. The twins held up the bags and rubbed their stomachs. When they’d made sure their family was out of sight, they threw them in the bin.

  ‘Sorry, Dad,’ Angeline said. ‘I want to have at least a small chance of surviving the night.’

  The last of the cars had left the school when a black van with red flames painted down the sides screeched to a stop outside the fence. Music thumped out in booming waves.

  ‘Travis.’ Angeline may as well have been whispering her doom. ‘This is now officially the worst night of my life.’

  ‘It’ll get better,’ Edgar suggested.

  ‘That’s only because it couldn’t get worse.’

  Travis stepped out of the car and slung his bag over his shoulder. The van spun its wheels and took off with a fanfare horn blast.

  Angeline turned away and folded her shoulders in, trying to be as invisible as possible. ‘Please don’t come over here, please don’t come over here,’ she pleaded. Long moments passed when nothing happened – until Travis’s bag dropped at her feet.

  ‘I haven’t been this excited at schoo
l since someone let off the fire alarm during last term’s geography test.’

  Angeline looked down and silently begged the ground to open up and swallow her whole, which it stubbornly didn’t do.

  Once the students had all been accounted for, Ms Gently said with a beaming grin, ‘Dear students, your beloved principal would like to say a few words.’ Ms Gently almost bowed as she stepped aside for Principal Primm, who was dressed in a bright red tracksuit in an attempt to appear as a regular human being.

  It didn’t work.

  With an eagerness plucked from the finest manual on being a good principal, she announced, ‘Welcome to your very own Senior Student Sleepover.’

  There was an instant outburst of cheers and applause.

  ‘We are very proud to have each and every one of you as a student of Gravesend Preparatory College, a school with a proud tradition of excellence for over 150 years. But let’s not waste another second of fun – let the Sleepover begin!’

  Principal Primm turned in a crisp spin, followed closely by Ms Gently. They led the way behind the school to a rarely used laneway that stretched between a long, drooping row of weeping willows. Beyond the knobbled trunks on one side was the sports oval. On the other side was the beginnings of a sprawling, out-of-bounds area called Bridie’s Forest.

  ‘This is really going to happen, isn’t it?’ Angeline sighed.

  Edgar nodded.

  ‘Then let’s get it over with.’ Angeline picked up her bag and trudged behind the others. She stared at the ragged collection of kids. Some had moved into small, whispering huddles, others were laughing and nudging each other. Everyone seemed to have naturally fallen into a group. Everyone but her.

  ‘It’s going to be fine,’ Edgar said. ‘You’ve got me.’

  She gave him a half-smile. ‘That’s the only reason I haven’t escaped yet.’

  Evening was approaching, and with it the beginnings of night. A light breeze rustled through the willow branches, sending them swaying back and forth like giants limbering up before an attack.

  ‘These trees creep me out,’ Ravi said.

  ‘Why?’ Lila asked.

  ‘They always look so sad.’