The Spooky Skeleton

Francine Pascal

Sweet Valley Kids – 33

CAROLINE'S HALLOWEEN SPELL

SOMETHING'S BREWING

Elizabeth Wakefield is scared! Halloween is only a few days away, and Elizabeth suspects that Caroline Pearce may be a witch—a bad witch. When Caroline catches Elizabeth spying on her, Elizabeth really starts to worry. Is Caroline truly a witch? And if she is, is she going to cast a nasty Halloween spell on Elizabeth?

To Gabriel Allon Goldstein

CHAPTER 1

Caroline's Threat

"Only four more days until Halloween," Jessica Wakefield said. It was Friday morning.

Jessica's twin sister, Elizabeth, smiled. "I love Halloween costumes," she said.

"Me, too," said Caroline Pearce. Caroline was sitting in the bus seat behind Elizabeth and Jessica. She lived down the street from the twins.

"I love jack-o-lanterns," Elizabeth said, smiling at Caroline. Most of Elizabeth's friends didn't like Caroline very much because she was a tattletale, but Elizabeth always tried to be nice to her.

"I love haunted houses," Jessica said.

"I love trick-or-treating," Elizabeth and Jessica said at exactly the same time. Then they both laughed.

Jessica and Elizabeth often said things at exactly the same time. That wasn't surprising because Elizabeth and Jessica weren't just twins—they were identical twins.

Both girls had blue-green eyes and long, blond hair with bangs. When they wore matching outfits, most of their second-grade classmates had trouble telling them apart.

But although Jessica and Elizabeth looked the same on the outside, they were very different on the inside. Elizabeth enjoyed school, and she loved to read and to write stories. She was proud to play on a team in the Sweet Valley Soccer League.

Jessica didn't like playing sports because she hated getting her clothes dirty. She preferred to stay inside with her dolls and stuffed animals. She didn't like school very much, and she liked talking to her friends more than reading books.

Even though Jessica and Elizabeth had different interests, they were best friends. Being twins was special to them. They sat next to each other in Mrs. Otis's class at school, and they shared a bedroom at home. They knew they would be best friends forever.

"What are you going to be for Halloween?" Elizabeth asked Caroline.

"You tell me what you're going to be first," Caroline said, pushing back her shoulder-length red hair.

"I don't know yet. I haven't thought of anything really good," Elizabeth answered.

"I'm going to be a cheerleader," Jessica announced. "With pompoms and everything."

"So what are you going to be, Caroline?" Elizabeth asked again.

Caroline shook her head. "It's none of your business," she said. She leaned back and crossed her arms. "You'll find out on Halloween."

Winston Egbert leaned across the aisle. "I bet Caroline forgot what she's going to be," he teased. "Her brain must be rusting." He pointed to Caroline's red hair. "See? Her whole head is rusty!"

Jessica giggled.

Todd Wilkins was sharing a seat with Winston. "I'd rather be dead than red in the head," Todd sang loudly.

"Hey, Caroline," Charlie Cashman yelled from the back of the bus. "I think you ate too many carrots."

Caroline frowned. She hated to be teased. "Cut it out, you guys."

"Yeah, quit it," Elizabeth said. "It's not nice."

Jessica didn't understand why her sister was sticking up for Caroline. She thought the boys were funny. "Caroline, do something quick," she said. "Your hair is on fire!"

Caroline's face turned redder than her hair. She looked furious. "If you don't stop, you'll be sorry," she yelled at Jessica and the boys.

"Oh no," Charlie said jokingly. I’m scared."

Winston, Todd, and Jessica laughed.

Caroline crossed her arms. "You will be sorry," she said. "Just you wait."

CHAPTER 2

Real Witches

That morning in homeroom, all anyone could talk about was Halloween. "I'm going to be a clown," Eva Simpson told the twins. "My mom made me a great costume. It has big polka dots all over it, and a ruffled collar. I'm going to wear a big red fake nose and a bright green wig, and paint my face with sparkles."

"That sounds great," Elizabeth said. "You'll be ready to join the circus."

"I'm going to be a dog," Amy Sutton said. "I've been practicing my bark. Ruff! Ruff!"

Just then Charlie galloped over on an imaginary horse. He was going to be a cowboy for Halloween. "Git along, little doggie!" he yelled. He galloped to the other side of the classroom, where Kisho Murasaki and Winston were having a pretend sword fight. Both of them were going to be pirates.

Their teacher, Mrs. Otis, walked into the room and clapped her hands. "OK, everybody. Let's try to calm down."

For a few seconds, the class was quiet. Then Elizabeth heard Lila Fowler whisper something to Jessica. Soon, everyone was talking again.

"I'm glad you're all thinking about your Halloween costumes," Mrs. Otis said over the noise. "Don't forget to wear them to school on Tuesday for the Best Class Costume contest."

"I hope I win," Elizabeth whispered to Amy.

"Ruff! Me, too," Amy replied.

"Since we're talking about Halloween, I want to tell you all about your special Halloween assignment," Mrs. Otis said. "We're going to the library in a few minutes. When we get there, I want each of you to check out a book about Halloween. On Tuesday you'll give your book reports in front of the class."

Elizabeth smiled. A Halloween book report sounded like fun. She couldn't wait to start working on hers. Elizabeth already knew what she wanted to write about— witches.

"Maybe you can get an idea for a Halloween costume in the library," Jessica whispered to her sister as everyone got in line to go down the hall to the library.

"Good idea," Elizabeth whispered back.

When they got to the library, Jessica and Elizabeth headed for the special display case. This month all the student artwork and poems in the case were about Halloween. Next to the display were several long shelves full of books having to do with the holiday. Elizabeth started reading the titles. She soon found a book called All About Witches.

"Look," Jessica said, pulling a book off the shelf as well. She read the title out loud. "How Halloween Started. I never thought about that before. Do you know, Liz?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. It'll make a great report."

"If you found a book, Jess, come help me," Lila called to Jessica. "I can't decide what to read about."

As Jessica went to help Lila, Elizabeth sat down on the library couch and started reading her book. She read that people used to think that women and girls with red hair were witches. Elizabeth thought that was silly. Everyone knew that there was no such thing as a real witch.

But reading about red hair reminded Elizabeth of Caroline. Elizabeth wanted to tell Caroline that she was sorry Jessica had teased her. Elizabeth looked around the library. She saw Caroline sitting at a table by herself, turning the pages of a thick, dusty old book. Elizabeth got up and walked over to her.

"Hi, Caroline. What are you looking at?" Elizabeth asked.

"Nothing," Caroline said. She closed the book and hid it under the table so that Elizabeth couldn't see the title.

Elizabeth was surprised. Caroline sure is acting strange, she thought. I wonder if she has a secret?

CHAPTER 3

The Spooky Skeleton

"Let's play on the jungle gym," Jessica said at recess.

"OK, I'll race you there," Elizabeth said. She ran off, with Jessica close behind her.

Seconds later, Jessica took the lead and tagged one of the jungle gym's metal bars. "I win!" she yelled.

"Hey, Jessica," Kisho called from his seat on a high bar. "Maybe you should be a track star for Halloween."

Amy was hanging upside down from a lower bar. "And Elizabeth could be a tortoise," she said.

"You'd better watch out," Elizabeth said with a smile, as she swung her feet up on the bar next to Amy. "I'm thinking about being a witch. I might cast a spell on you!"

"You don't know anything about witches," Caroline shouted. She was sitting on the tire swing next to the jungle gym.

"Elizabeth knows more than you any day," Jessica answered loudly. She turned to her sister and shook her head. "Caroline is such a baby."

"Forget her," Kisho said. "My dad brought home a pumpkin yesterday. We're going to make a jack-o-lantern tonight."

"Halloween decorations are the greatest," Jessica said. She climbed to the top of the jungle gym and sat down next to Kisho. "There's a woman who lives down the street from us who hangs up a huge scary skeleton every year. Her name is Mrs. Frankel."

Elizabeth pulled herself upright and started to climb up to where Kisho and Jessica were sitting. "Mrs. Frankel's skeleton is awfully spooky," she agreed. "It even glows in the dark."

Jessica shivered. "Maybe Mrs. Frankel does, too."

"Is Mrs. Frankel spooky?" Amy asked.

"She lives all alone in an old house," Elizabeth said. "She looks as if she's at least one hundred years old."

Jessica nodded. "And our brother, Steven, says she gobbles up little kids for breakfast."

"Every Halloween when we're trick-or-treating we dare each other to ring her bell," Elizabeth said.

"Nobody ever wants to," Jessica added.

"But it's worth it when we do," Elizabeth said. "Mrs. Frankei gives out the best candy in the whole neighborhood. Last year we got lots of chocolate bars, big bags of caramel popcorn, and some bubble gum."

"Mrs. Frankei isn't going to hang up a skeleton this year," Caroline announced. She had gotten off the tire swing and was standing at the bottom of the jungle gym. "She's going to hang up a ghost."

Jessica frowned. "How would you know what Mrs. Frankei is going to do?" she asked.

"I know lots of things," Caroline said, sounding mysterious. "You'll see."

"Caroline's just saying that to make you mad," Elizabeth whispered to Jessica. "She's trying to get back at you for teasing her."

Jessica frowned again. "You're probably right," she said to Elizabeth. "Let's just ignore her. There's no way Mrs. Frankei is going to hang up a boring old ghost!"

CHAPTER 4

The Ghost

That day after school, Elizabeth was still trying to decide what to be for Halloween.

"How about a dinosaur?" Jessica suggested as the twins walked home from the bus stop.

"Ken Matthews is going to be a dinosaur," Elizabeth said.

"An astronaut?" Jessica asked.

"No," Elizabeth said. "Todd was one last year. I want something different."

"A ballerina?" Jessica tried again.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"How about—"

"A ghost!" Elizabeth said suddenly. She stopped walking and stood frozen on the sidewalk.

"A ghost?" Jessica asked. "Ghosts are boring. I thought you said you wanted something different."

Elizabeth grabbed Jessica's arm and pointed at Mrs. Frankel's house. "Look!" she said.

Jessica gasped. A ghost was hanging on Mrs. Frankel's door. "Caroline was right," Jessica exclaimed.

Elizabeth nodded. She was positive that nothing had been hanging on Mrs. Frankel's door that morning. But somehow Caroline had known Mrs. Frankel would hang up a ghost instead of a skeleton.

Elizabeth thought about the library book she had checked out. It said people used to believe that women and girls with red hair were witches. What if it were true? Maybe Caroline was a witch! Elizabeth felt a shiver run up her back.

"Stupid ghost," Jessica said. "It's not scary at all."

Elizabeth knew Jessica was disappointed that Mrs. Frankel hadn't put up the glow-in-the-dark skeleton. But Elizabeth had more important things to worry about.

"My library book says witches can see into the future," Elizabeth said. "Jess, do you think Caroline is a—a witch?"

"No. That's silly. There're no such things as witches," Jessica said. "Mrs. Frankel probably told Caroline about the ghost."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. Mrs. Frankel never opened the dark shutters on her windows. The gate on her fence squeaked when the wind blew. Most kids wouldn't dream of talking to Mrs. Frankel, even on a dare.

"You mean you think Caroline talked to Mrs. Frankel?" Elizabeth said.

Jessica looked at her sister and swallowed. "Yes," she said softly. "How else would Caroline have known?"

Elizabeth stared at the ghost on Mrs. Frankel's door. She remembered how mysterious Caroline had acted at the library. Maybe Caroline was hiding a secret—a big secret. Maybe her secret was that she was a real witch.

"I’m going home, Liz," Jessica said. "This is scary." She started to march toward their house.

Suddenly, Elizabeth felt like running all the way home and locking the door after her.

"Wait up," she called after Jessica. "I’m coming, too!"

CHAPTER 5

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 997