Jimmy Stone's Ghost Town (14 page)

"This is a map of Ghost Town," said Gasp.
"Once I take you out of this room, we'll make our way through the
Master Hallway, and head out into town."

"Great," I said, "you're an awesome guide.
You can make maps appear out of nowhere, but you can't even tell us
how to get home."

Gasp just looked at me. I knew that look
well. Dad gave it to me all the time. It meant it was time for me
to shut my mouth and listen. So I did.

"Look here," he said and pointed to a spot
on the map. It looked like a drawing of a little person in the
middle of a large clearing, right along the middle of town. "This
is the only prominent and meaningful nose I can think of in Ghost
Town."

"What do you mean, prominent and meaningful?
A nose is a nose, right?"

"Well," said Gasp, "just trust me on this
one. When you see it, you'll understand."

I nodded for Gasp to continue while David
and Trex looked on.

"This is a statue of Samuel Blairsden," he
said while still pointing to the little man on the map. "It's the
only statue we have in all of Ghost Town. He was one of the very
first Town Elders and is revered by everyone. Even people in the
other realms know of Blairsden and speak highly of him."

"And you think his honker is the key to our
clue?" I asked skeptically. "You think he's got the nose that's
going to lead the way?"

"Like I said, Jimmy. You'll understand when
you see it, but yes, he's the key I think."

Gasp paused to take a breath and closed his
hands before placing them back on his hips. The letter and map
disappeared into thin air and Gasp looked over at us before he
decided to tell us how he really felt.

"At least, it's the only thing I can even
think of that might fit," he finally admitted.

David and I glanced at each other before I
shrugged my shoulders and looked down at Trex. I patted him on his
head and pushed back his ears, stroking the top of his head. Trex
had always been there for me when I had to make tough decisions in
the past and I thought giving him some attention might come in
handy right now.

"Listen," Gasp said. "I
know about as much as you guys do, and my guess about Blairsden
might not be
great
but it's the only idea we've got, and right now we need to
move on
something
. I think this is probably our best shot."

I stroked Trex's head a few more times
before I knelt down next to him and lifted his snout up to my face.
I looked my dog right in his big brown eyes.

"What do you think, Trex? You think this
Blairsden is the key?"

Trex stayed silent for a moment and just
enjoyed the fact that I was nose to nose with him. And then he let
out a huge bark, almost as if to say we should get a move on.

"Okay," I said as I pushed myself off the
floor and back into a standing position. "Blairsden it is. Let's go
see what this guy has to tell us."

And with that, David, Trex, Gasp, and I
gathered ourselves and pushed our way out of Room 7 into what Gasp
had called the Master Hallway. It looked just the same to me as it
had before we'd entered the room, and that was fine. I needed some
sense of stability right now with everything else in our lives
seeming so absolutely out of control. I needed to see that same
hallway again, even if only for a few moments before we headed into
the heart of Ghost Town. Just to get my bearings back. Just to
remember what it's like to see some place you've seen before.

Man, what I wouldn't give to see home right
now.

Chapter Twenty Seven

"It's so quiet," I said as we walked out
onto the dusty, grey roads of Ghost Town. "I expected it to be
spookier. I thought there'd be creepy music playing or something. I
guess I expected Halloweentown."

"It's not just called Ghost Town because
we're all ghosts here, Jimmy. It's also called Ghost Town because
it's literally a ghost town. There's rarely anyone around. Unless,
that is, you're a ghost yourself, or the ghosts decide to show
themselves like they did for you in the Master Hallway
earlier."

"Oh, I
get
it," I said. "I mean, I don't
know why I expected to see people flying around like witches on
broomsticks or something. I guess I just thought there would
be
more
somehow."

"Is this not enough for you, sir?"

"It's more than enough, Gasp." I shook my
head and laughed just a little as I thought quickly about
everything I'd seen since arriving here in Ghost Town. "I think
I've seen and heard more than I ever wanted to know about Ghost
Town."

Gasp stepped out in front
and led the way as we walked along the cracked pavement of the
empty road. There were no lines painted on the cement and it looked
like there hadn't been a car on it in a
long
time - maybe ever.

"I'll tell you what," I
said to David as I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow. "I'll
never complain about
Bored
sylvania ever again once we get
home!"

David laughed, but not quite as genuinely as
I'd hoped. It was more nervous laughter than true hilarity.

"
If
we ever get home," he said
without taking his eyes off the crumbling road in front of him.
"
If
."

All around us were broken down buildings
with swinging wooden doors. Occasionally one would catch in the
wind and slam shut just loud enough to make me and David jump. The
buildings were probably brimming with ghosts, but none were showing
their faces, and the sad places looked completely empty.

You might expect to see a
long dirt road in a ghost town. Something with rolling tumbleweeds
and dust-filled wind kicking up patches of the road every few feet,
but this one was nothing like that. It looked like a normal road in
the middle of an older town - just one that hadn't been driven on
or used in a very long time. Sure, there were plenty of sections
that were crumbling, filled with potholes or crevices in the
pavement, but you'd also find plenty of those things right
in
Bored
sylvania.

Gasp lead the way out in front while David,
Trex, and I followed just a few feet behind. We wanted to make sure
we followed him closely, but not too close to be annoying. Gasp
seemed pretty accommodating so far - he'd proven to be trustworthy
and helpful every step of the way - so we tried to just follow his
lead without making too many demands or problems for him. Sure, I'd
lost my cool for a few moments back in Room 7, but I've learned
from that. I didn't need to be that person. I'm just fine being the
Jimmy Stone I already know.

"Can you see them, Gasp?"

"The other ghosts, you mean, Jimmy?" Gasp
kept walking ahead of us and never even stopped to turn around when
he answered my question. He just spoke up a little louder to make
sure we heard what he was saying.

"Yeah," I said. "I mean, if they don't
always show themselves. We obviously can't see them unless they
come out of hiding, but can you guys all see each other all the
time? It would seem weird if you couldn't. Like you'd all be
running into each other all the time or something."

"We can see each other," Gasp replied as he
quickened his pace just a bit, clearly hoping to make it to the
statue of Samuel Blairsden as quickly as possible. "Just like you
said - if we couldn't see each other, we'd be floating right
through each other all the time. What a mess, sir!"

Just as Gasp finished his sentence he veered
off toward the left, and led us down another street. The first
street didn't end, but seemed to continue on in the same direction
for miles. Just miles and miles of abandoned - well, they looked
abandoned to us, at least, since we couldn't see any of the ghosts
floating around inside - buildings and slightly crumbling roadway
as far as any of us could see.

It was a good thing we had Gasp around to
guide us because everything looked the same here in Ghost Town. The
roads all looked the same. The buildings all looked the same. And
with no activity going on in town - that we could actually see,
anyway - there was nothing for us to use as a landmark. There were
no distinguishing marks to keep our route.

But Gasp, of course, knew exactly where he
was going here in Ghost Town. He led us down several streets as we
turned left, left again, and a right through the streets of town
until we were on a straightaway that appeared to end in a large
circle with a tall black object in the middle.

"See that?" Gasp asked pointing up ahead at
the lone object in the middle of the large circle. He still didn't
stop walking, just kept on pointing as he trudged on. "Over there.
In the circle. Do you see?"

David looked up ahead of us and pulled on
Trex's leash to keep him moving at our fast pace. I pulled up next
to them and looked toward the circle as well.

"Yeah," I said loudly enough to make sure
that Gasp could hear me. "Up there. I see it."

I quickened my steps just a bit to pull
ahead of David and Trex. I wanted to get a little closer to Gasp -
maybe pull even with him - to show him that I was serious. I wanted
to make sure he knew that I wanted to find this first item just as
badly as he (and the other Elders) wanted me to. I wanted him to
know that I was here to find these things that the Oracle Essex
spoke of, get them to "her" (whoever she was), and find a way to
get home. As much as I'd wanted to be out of my house before, I now
wanted to be back in it just as badly.

"Is that it?" I asked as I pulled even with
Gasp and moved my feet fast enough to keep his swift pace. "Is that
the Blairsden statue?"

"That it is, Jimmy." Gasp smiled just
slightly and sped up a little more. The excitement of reaching our
destination was clearly making him giddy and anxious. He just
wanted to get there. "That's Samuel Blairsden."

As we approached the large, black statue I
could see the excitement as well in David and Trex. They were now
up right on our heels as they'd also begun to increase their speed
as we decreased the distance from our destination.

We were just about to reach the everlasting
image of Samuel Blairsden and what we hoped would be the clue we
needed to find the first item in the Oracle's little riddle. We had
to be less than twenty feet or so now. We were so close that we
could practically smell the weather residue dripping off the
statue.

It was all coming together and David, Trex,
Gasp, and I were getting happier as we got closer and closer.

That is, until we saw the four of them step
out from behind the statue's square base and stand in a line in
front of us, straight across the roadway. Four young boys just
standing there, staring us down, and looking like they wanted
nothing more than for us to leave.

"What's going on--"

"Shh," said Gasp quickly and put up his arm
to stop us dead in our tracks. "I suggest you stop here and keep
quiet."

"But--"

"This," Gasp said, "is going to be a
problem."

Chapter Twenty Eight

"Did you ever have that
one group of kids in your world that just didn't really care about
anyone but themselves, Jimmy? You know, the kind that just seem to
have the most fun when they're putting someone else through the
most agony? The kind that just
love
to pick on everyone and cause trouble
everywhere?"

"Do I?!" I said. "I
probably would never have met David here if it weren't for that
exact group of kids. The Coogan Boys were intent on making
everyone's
life a
living
hell
where
I come from."

"Good," Gasp said. "So, then you know
exactly what you're staring at in the four boys in front of
us."

"Who are they?" I asked. "And what do they
want with us?"

"That's Syob Nagooc," Gasp said as if the
tongue-twister he just spat out was everyday language for him.
"That's what they call themselves. If you look hard enough around
Ghost Town, you'll probably see their graffiti tags all over the
sides of some of our buildings."

Gasp stopped just about a
foot in front of us and stared straight back at the boys. David,
Trex, and I stood behind him, frightened, but ready to do whatever
Gasp needed of us. All I wanted to do is get to that damn statue,
find our first item, and move on. We didn't have
time
for
this!

"But what--"

"They want nothing more from us, Jimmy, than
to ruin our day. They're just bullies and they like to cause
trouble. They're probably the only ghosts in all of Ghost Town that
seem intent on ruining our peaceful, happy existence for
everyone."

I stepped up right behind Gasp and whispered
into his ear.

"What are we going to do?"

Gasp didn't turn around. He didn't push me
back in line. He didn't lose his cool. And he didn't whisper back
to me, but instead answered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We're going to do what we need to do."

I didn't like the sound of
that, but before I had the chance to really take it in and let the
fear wash over me, one of the boys stepped in front of the other
three and started floating in the air, just like Gasp. It was
almost as if he was trying to prove to us that they were ghosts
too. As if we needed
proof
at this point.

"What do you guys want with our buddy Sam
here?" the boy said and started chuckling to himself. The other
three boys fell right in line with him and began chuckling too. "As
you can see, we're a little busy with him ourselves."