The Haunted

“You know the Caldwells needed a babysitter for Robbie tonight,” her mom told her. “Besides, Kate and Zoe are both coming over next week.”

James sat down next to his dad and grabbed a drumstick. From across the table, Megan glared at him. He smiled back at her, taking a bite of his chicken. She turned away angrily.

He was anxious for Robbie to come over. It was the first time his friend would see the new house, and James was looking forward to showing off his room. Maybe he’d even take him into the basement. It wouldn’t be that spooky with the two of them together.

Of course, they’d have to go down there in the daytime.

“What are we having for dinner tonight?” he asked. There was a lot of food on the table, and he was afraid they’d be eating leftovers. The thought embarrassed him.

His mom smiled. “Don’t worry. You guys won’t starve. We’ll order a pizza or something.”

Feeling better, James dug in, eating four drumsticks, three rolls and a bunch of sliced cucumbers, washing everything down with multiple glasses of iced tea. Ordinarily, he would have returned to his room after finishing his meal—that Star Wars game was addicting—but the images of the dream were still in his mind, and he did not want to go back into the house alone. So he wandered around the yard, pretended to be interested in some new flowers his mom had planted near the fence, and waited until his parents started carrying the dishes inside before finally following them into the kitchen. He hazarded a glance at the basement door as he passed by—

Had the door been ajar before?

—and hurried back up the stairs to his room.

Robbie was supposed to come over around three, but he was late, and it was after four when his family’s car finally pulled into the driveway. James had spent the last hour alternately slouching in a chair in front of his computer desk, lying down reading a book on his bed, and sitting on the floor with his back against the wall while he played with his DS, unable to decide which pose would make him look cooler when his friend arrived.

He heard the parents talking downstairs, and though he wanted to wait here until Robbie came up and discovered him casually lounging in his slammin’ new bedroom, James discovered after several seconds that he didn’t have the patience, and he ended up hurrying downstairs and meeting his friend in the living room. He couldn’t help grinning when he saw how Robbie was looking enviously up at the stairs. The Caldwells’ house had only one story.

“Thank you so much for this,” Robbie’s mom was saying.

“We’re glad to do it,” his own mom replied. “James has been very excited that Robbie’s coming over.”

“Hey,” James said, reaching the bottom of the steps and nodding hello to his friend.

“Cool house,” Robbie told him.

“Right?”

“Why don’t you show him around?” his dad suggested. “You could start with the basement.”

Robbie’s eyes widened. “You have a basement?”

James nodded, his smile fading.

His dad elbowed him playfully. “I’m surprised you didn’t tell him. Wanted to keep it a secret, huh?”

“Yeah.” Again James nodded, trying to maintain what was left of his smile.

“Let’s check it out!”

Feigning an enthusiasm he did not feel, James led his friend through the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen. “That’s the door,” he said, pointing.

“Cool!” Robbie pulled it open. “It looks like it’s going to be a closet, but there’s stairs!” He immediately started down, and, reluctantly, James followed, flipping on the light at the top of the steps before descending.

Maybe he’d been building it up in his mind into something it wasn’t, but when he reached the bottom, James felt a distinct letdown. This wasn’t the spooky chamber he’d been dreading but merely a small storage room lined with boxes and sacks filled with unpacked junk from their old house. He glanced toward the corner where the dirty man had been standing in his dream. An exercise bike was pressed against the wall.

“This is killer!” Robbie was walking up the narrow open space in the center of the cellar. “You should ask your parents if you can make this into your room!”

James shook his head. “Not enough light. Besides, I like to have a window.”

“You could put extra lights in here. And you’d have tons of privacy. And if a tornado hit, you’d be totally safe.”

“Come on. How often does New Mexico have tornadoes?”

“Sometimes.”

“In Jardine? Never.”

“But this is so great! And it’s underground!”

While the basement wasn’t what his mind had made it out to be, James still didn’t want to stay here any longer than he had to, so he said, “You want to see great, check out my real bedroom. It’s upstairs. You can see the street from my window.”

Robbie grinned. “That’s cool, too.”