The Ghost Boy

Chapter 1 (Part 2)

As he wandered deeper into the house along a maze of passages, away from the open door, the smell became stronger. He went up the stairs and opened a door that led off a halfway landing. It led into a small room with a high ceiling, the only light coming from a small window which was low down in one corner. Sam felt himself choking, the air was so foul.

"Blimey, things must have been bad for the old girl near the end,",said his dad, pushing past him to open the window.

"What do you mean?"asked Sam.

"Well, the old lady who owned the house was eighty,"explained Dad."The house was much too big for her. As she became ill i imagine she couldn't be bothered with the upstairs. "Although it's obvious the cats id!" he added as an afterthought.

"Mum, this is awful! We can't live here," declared Sam to his mother as she entered the room. She was smiling to herself and wore that dreamy expression that Sam recognised immediately. Oh no! She was making plans.

"This can be the bathroom," she announced as if he had not spoken.

"Well, I'm not moving here. You'll have to leave me behind," Sam cried and he stamped out of the room.
Along the landing were two large bedrooms, each hanging with cobwebs and thick with dust. Sam looked across the wilderness of a garden to the field beyond. His heart sank. He knew that this was just what his parents had been searching for, an old house with a large garden and some land. They enjoyed restoring old things, doing alterations and decorating. But what about me, thought Sam. He remembered his comfortable room, arranged just as he wanted it - a corner for Lego, his bookshelves and his bed tucked under the sloping roof. He glanced around the dreary room he was in, absentmindedly picking at the rotten wood of the window frame. It would mean leaving his friends too. he would miss Chris and James. What about school? Would he have to go to another school? His stomach lurched at the thought. He bit his lip as tears stung his eyes.

The bedroom door creaked and the old metal latch clicked. A shadow on the wall slowly moved as the door squeaked open.

"Boo!" In jumped Rob, his elder brother, grinning at his own joke.

"Get lost, Rob," said Sam crossly, taking his anger out on his brother.

"Come on, kiddo, it's great!I've been round the back. There are steps leading to a balcony and a huge barn! And at the other side the workshop with a loft above it. I'm going to ask Dad if we can have that for ourselves. We could fit it out, get a snooker table."

Rob was just as bad as Mum and Dad. Who would want to live in a dump like this?

"I've told them I'm not living here," Sam shouted and stormed off back to the car.

That had been two months ago. His feelings had not changed. It had been arranged that he could still go to his old school, travelling by car each day, so his worst fear had been avoided. His parents had tried to explain all the advantages to him: more space to play, afield with a slope for sledging in the winter, trees to climb, the loft to share with Rob as a private den. there was even some cautious talk about a dog. He had argued with them, but they would not change their minds. Even when they heard the house was haunted, they were not put off. Now he had to face the fact that tonight he would have a new home.