Jimmy Stone's Ghost Town (17 page)

We all just continued to stare.

"But there are seven things you must find,
Jimmy. This is merely the first."

The Oracle Essex writhed above us in the air
and her tattered dress waved and curled in the wind around her.

"Now, you must leave Ghost Town and make
your way to the next realm. There you must find your second
item."

I wanted to speak. I
wanted to say something to Gasp, to David, to Trex, to
anyone
, but as much as I
moved my mouth it didn't make a difference. No sound would come
out.

"Seven things you must
find, Jimmy," she said again. "When you see the Transport Tree
appear, trace the letters on it, just like you did in
your
world and it will
take you to your destination."

The Oracle Essex seemed to smile slightly
and wave her hands wildly before us. It was almost as if she truly
enjoyed being the bearer of these messages, whether good or
bad.

"Good luck," she said.
"They won't all be as easy as
this
one."

And with those words, the Oracle Essex began
spinning quickly in a tight hurricane of wind and dress and dirt
and everything else you can imagine. As she started to disappear
into her glowing ball of light, I heard her repeat the first few
lines of the letter.

"Seven things you must find.

One thing for each day.

Seven things you
must
find.

Or else they
all
will
pay!"

The words faded out just as the glowing ball
spun away into the night sky, but we already knew them by heart
anyway. We knew our mission by now and we planned on doing our best
to find those seven things, save the Seven Realms, and find our way
home.

When the smoke cleared, we all took a few
seconds to catch our breath and gather our thoughts before any of
us even moved. It had been one of the craziest days any of us had
ever experienced, and it didn't look like the coming days were
going to be any less crazy.

"Well," I said to David and Gasp as I
cracked the slightest smile. "One down. Six to go."

David and Gasp sighed heavily before we all
started chuckling just a little. Then the chuckling turned into
laughter and before we knew it the three of us were bent over in
full-on belly laughs, resting our hands on our knees, and petting
Trex on the head.

"Only six," said Gasp and laughed even
harder. "No problem!"

"Six is nothing, right?"
asked David as even
he
got in on the joke.

And if it weren't for Trex interrupting us
with an enormous echoing bark, we probably would never even have
noticed that the tree we were once standing under - that perfect
little tree in the midst of such imperfection here in Ghost Town
Cemetery - had now transformed itself into one of the tallest,
straightest trees we'd ever seen.

In fact, we'd only seen
one that tall and that straight before. And, just like that tree
we'd seen previously, this one was
glowing
too.

"Transport Tree," I said loudly and moved
toward the middle of the glowing circle. "She must be making it
easy for us this time."

"Time to find your second item, Jimmy," said
Gasp. "And this is where I leave you, sir."

"But I thought--"

"I know what you thought, Jimmy. And, if you
remember correctly, I told you earlier that you won't know me as
Gasp the Ghost in any of the other realms. We must change our
identity each and every time we move."

I lowered my head and looked down at my
shoes. I was just beginning to get used to Gasp.

"But don't worry, sir," Gasp said as he
smiled toward me and David. "I'll be there. You just won't
recognize me, but trust me. You'll know it's me when the time is
right."

I smiled and turned my head back up for Gasp
to see. I looked him straight in the eye and nodded. I'm sure he
knew, with that nod, how much I appreciated everything he'd done
for us here in Ghost Town.

"So where are we going now?" asked David as
he stepped closer to the tree, Trex's leash tightly in his hand.
"Where do we need to go to find that second item?"

"Let's take a look," I said and moved in as
close to the Transport Tree as I could.

I scanned the bark for a few seconds before
I saw exactly what I was looking for.

"Here," I said pointing to the two letters
emblazoned on the tree's surface. "This is how we go into Ghost
Town. I traced the GT on the tree and next thing I knew I was on
the floor in the middle of some room in Ghost Town."

"So," David said, "like I
asked you before. Where are we going
now
?"

I looked closely at the letters and tried to
think about where they might lead before I answered David.

"Honestly," I said, "I
have
no
idea."

The letters WW stared me right in the face.
I lifted my finger to the very top of the first W and placed it in
the corner.

"But I do know this," I
said as I started to trace the letters on the Transport Tree.
"Wherever we
are
going, it's going to be quite the adventure."

And as I traced the top right corner of the
second W, there was a loud clap of thunder and a quick flash of
light.

And before we knew it, we were gone.

For now, at least.

The End.