Page 29 of Ghost in the Night

Myah turns into a statue.

“Now, if you would excuse me, I have a tour to get to. But if you want to know more about ghosts, you can take my extended tour. I go into deeper history about the haunts in Savannah. Have a good night, guys!”

Myah and I watch him walk away and start his performance in the square.

“Is that it?” Myah asks, all sad.

Real talk, of all people, I would’ve thought Asher would be on our side. I’m shocked. He seemed so cool and into paranormal stuff. Maybe I misread him. Maybe he’s just like everyone else who blows off  kids.

I shake my head. “We need another opinion.”

NINE

Fromaround the corner, we watch Myah’s dad leave for lunch at noon. As soon as he’s out of sight, Robby and I run into the print shop.

“Right on time,” Myah says, sipping a soda.

“Hey … why do you work here again?” Robby asks, poking at the dust on the windowsill.

“Other than it being my dad’s store?” Myah laughs. “I, uh, kinda got in a little trouble this year. Okay, a lot of trouble.”

“What did you do?” I ask.

“I … well, it’s a long story. I’m working off my debt this summer, and I canNOT mess up or I’ll never get my phone back.”

“Heard.” Whatever she did, it must have been really bad. I haven’t seen her with a cell once.

“Anyway, we got bigger problems.” Myah grabs a newspaper off the counter. “That guy Asher was right. The city council did vote to tear the house down. And it’s happening the end of this week!”

“What?” I say, grabbing the paper out of her hand.

CITY COUNCIL APPROVES DEMOLITION

PLANS FOR CALHOUN SQUARE HOME

The article isn’t much but to sum it up: We have until Friday to prove to everyone that the Myers House is haunted. The job feels almost impossible.

“What do we do now?” Myah asks.

“Maybe we go there every night?” I suggest. “Take photos until Tim Truman’s ghost shows up again?”

“Girl, be for real,” Myah snorts. “My daddy ain’t gonnalet me stalk some house in Calhoun Square every night! Plus, didn’t you say we neededmoreevidence? Something ghost hunters would be into?”

She’s right. We need good evidence, enough to make the city stop the demolition. I pace around the store thinking hard about all the ghost tours I’ve been on and shows I’ve watched. Most of the ghost hunters had equipment, like cameras with night vision and—Wait! That’s it!

“Sound! We need sound! Didn’t you say you heard screaming?” I ask Myah. “We go into the house and bring some sort of recording equipment. If we get a recording of ghostly screaming, that’d be enough proof.”

“You don’t mean go INTO the house, right?” Robby asks. “You mean, stand outside like you did last time.”

“Ghost hunters don’t just stand outside and gather evidence. We have to go in. It’s the only way.”

“No way,” Robby says with a scoff.

“Listen,” Myah says. “The longer we wait to find Tim Truman’s ghost, the longer it’ll take to get answers about his murder. Then the longer it will take to find Jabari.”

Robby shakes his head. “No one is gonna just let us goup into that house. What if someone spots us and calls our parents? I don’t know about y’all, but my mama can fly across town in under a minute.”

“Okay, he might have a point,” Myah concedes. “I can’t get in any more trouble. We need a distraction,” she adds. “Something to keep the attention off us and keep the adults busy.”