Uncle Arvie was probably far, far away now, sailing along on the wind, going wherever it took him. I found one bright star and made my wish. I wished for the other thing that Aunt Julia couldn’t give me.
“Maybe this wind will bring more ghosts,” I said. “Maybe this wind will bring me and Billy our pepperonis.”
It could, I thought. This wind could bring our fathers sailing right through our windows. You never know about ghosts.
READ AN EXCERPT FROM SHARON CREECH’S NOVEL
The Boy
on the Porch
1
The young couple found the child asleep in an old cushioned chair on the front porch. He was curled against a worn pillow, his feet bare and dusty, his clothes fashioned from rough linen. They could not imagine where he had come from or how he had made his way to their small farmhouse on a dirt road far from town.
“How old a boy is he, do you think?” the man asked.
“Hard to say, isn’t it? Seven or eight?”
“Small for his age then.”
“Six?”
“Big feet.”
“Haven’t been around kids much.”
“Me neither.”
The man circled the house and then walked down the dirt drive, past their battered blue truck and the shed, scanning the bushes on both sides as he went. Their dog, a silent beagle, slipped into his place beside the man, sniffing the ground earnestly.
When the man and the dog returned to the porch, the woman was kneeling beside the old cushioned chair, her hand resting gently on the boy’s back. There was something in the tilt of her head and the tenderness of her touch that moved him. He wondered if they would have their own child one day. No, no, time enough to think about that. No need to rush things.
2
The young couple, whose names were Marta and John, were reluctant to go about their normal chores, fearing that the boy would wake and be afraid, and so they took turns watching over the sleeping boy. It did not seem right to wake him.
For several hours, they moved about more quietly than usual, until at last John said, “It is time to wake that child, Marta. Maybe he is sick, sleeping so much like that.”
“You think so?” She felt his forehead, but it was cool, not feverish.
And so John and Marta made small noises: they coughed and tapped their feet upon the floor, and they let the screen door flap shut in its clumsy way, but still the child slept.
“Tap him,” John said. “Tap him on the back.”
And so Marta did, tapping him lightly at first, and then more firmly, as if she were patting a drum. Nothing.
“Lift him up,” John said.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t. You do it.”
“No, no, it might scare him to see a big man like me. You do it. You’re more gentle.”
Marta blushed at this and considered the child and what might be the best way to lift him.
“Just scoop him up,” John said.
And so Marta did just that. She scooped up the boy in one swift move, but he was heavier than she had expected, and she swayed and turned and flopped into the chair with the boy now in her arms.
Still the boy slept.
Marta looked up at John and then down at the dusty-headed boy. “I suppose I’d better just sit here with him until he wakes,” she said.
The sight of his wife with the child in her lap made John feel peculiar. He felt joy and surprise and worry and fear all at once, in such a rush, making him dizzy.
“I’ll tend to the cows,” he said abruptly. “Call me if you need me.”
Her chin rested on the child’s head; her hand pat-patted his back.
“It’s okay,” Marta whispered to the sleeping child. “I will sit here all day, if need be.”
Their dog normally shadowed John from dawn until dusk, but on this day, he chose to lie at Marta’s feet, eyes closed, waiting. Before John went to the barn, he scanned the drive again and circled their farmhouse. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he hurried on to his chores.
Marta closed her eyes. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she whispered.
About the Author
Lyle Rigg
SHARON CREECH is the author of the Newbery Medal winner WALK TWO MOONS and the Newbery Honor Book THE WANDERER. Her other work includes the novels THE GREAT UNEXPECTED, THE UNFINISHED ANGEL, HATE THAT CAT, THE CASTLE CORONA, REPLAY, HEARTBEAT, GRANNY TORRELLI MAKES SOUP, RUBY HOLLER, LOVE THAT DOG, ABSOLUTELY NORMAL CHAOS, and CHASING REDBIRD, as well as three picture books: A FINE, FINE SCHOOL; FISHING IN THE AIR; and WHO’S THAT BABY? Ms. Creech and her husband live in Maine. You can visit her online at www.sharoncreech.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors and artists.
Back Ad
Also by Sharon Creech
Walk Two Moons
Absolutely Normal Chaos
Chasing Redbird
Bloomability
The Wanderer
Fishing in the Air
Love That Dog
A Fine, Fine School
Ruby Holler
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup
Heartbeat
Who’s That Baby?
Replay
The Castle Corona
Hate That Cat
The Unfinished Angel
The Great Unexpected
Credits
Cover art © 2013 by Zdenko Basic
Copyright
Illustrations copyright © 1996 by Stacey Schuett
PLEASING THE GHOST. Text copyright © 1996 by Sharon Creech. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Creech, Sharon.
Pleasing the ghost / by Sharon Creech.
p. cm.
Summary: Nine-year-old Dennis, whose uncle and father died within a year of one another, is visited by the ghost of his uncle, and together they settle some unfinished business.
ISBN 978-0-06-440686-4
EPub Edition March 2013 ISBN 9780061972485
Version 04122013
[1. Ghosts—Fiction. 2. Uncles—Fiction. 3. Aunts—Fiction. 4. Communication—Fiction.] I. Title. II. Schuett, Stacey, ill.
PZ7.C8615Pl 1996
[Fic]—dc20
95-52280
CIP
AC
* * *
13 14 15 16 17 LP/BR 34 33 32 31 30 29 28
Revised paperback edition, 2013
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http:
//www.harpercollins.com
Sharon Creech, Pleasing the Ghost
(Series: # )
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends