Beware the Pirate Ghost Read Free

Sean had second thoughts. “Lester’s only seven years old. Maybe he’s sitting somewhere in a movie theater. Or maybe he slept on park bench, and right now he’s feeding popcorn to the ducks.”
    Brian shook his head and smiled. “Good try, but it won’t work. The movie theaters in Redoaks aren’t open all night, and if Lester had slept on a park bench, the police on patrol would have found him and picked him up.” He paused. “If you’re too scared to search the pirate caves, you can stay home. I’ll go by myself.”
    “Scared? Who, me? I’m not scared,” Sean answered. “I was just being a good detective by going over all the things that could have happened to Lester.”
    He turned at the doorway to face Brian. “What’ll we do about the pirate ghost?”
    “The ghost is only a legend,” Brian said. “We don’t know if it’s true or not.”
    Sean gulped. “But we’re going to find out,” he said. “Right?”
    “Right,” Brian said. He lowered his voice so that if Mrs. Hopper happened to be nearby she wouldn’t hear him. “We’ve got to find Lester before three o’clock, Sean. And we’re not going to let a stupid ghost stop us!”

4

    A S BRIAN AND SEAN pedaled toward home, Brian said, “Let’s stop and get flashlights.”
    “And get in touch with Dad,” Sean said.
    They rode past Debbie Jean’s house, and Sean grinned. “I guess Debbie Jean finally paid attention when I told her she couldn’t help us,” he said, “She was gone when we left the Hoppers’.”
    “You haven’t been looking in the right places,” Brian said. He glanced over his shoulder. “She’s on her bike, and she’s been doing a pretty good job of tailing us.”
    Sean groaned.
    “Except for when she rode through somebody’s vegetable garden,” Brian added.
    “What are we going to do about her?” Sean asked.
    “Don’t worry,” Brian said. “We’ll leave our bikes in the backyard, and after we pick up the stuff we need, we’ll cut out the back way and lose her.”
    When Brian and Sean burst into the kitchen they discovered that neither their mom nor dad was home. They called their dad’s office and got only his recorded message.
    “Lester is a real nut about caves, so we’re going to check out the pirate caves at Hernando Cove,” Brian said as soon as he heard the beep. He went on to tell what he and Sean had found out about the argument and the missing bike.
    Next, he tried to reach Detective Kerry, in case their father was still with him, but was told that Detective Kerry wasn’t in the office.
    “Leave a note for Mom,” Sean said. He pointed to a slip of paper Mrs. Quinn had fastened to the refrigerator. On it she’d written that she was following the route Lester might have taken if he had gone to visit his grandmother.
    Brian jotted down the message he’d given to Mr. Quinn.
    Sean read over Brian shoulder. “I hope Mom doesn’t know that the caves are haunted,” he said.
    “She knows they’re dangerous,” Brian said. “Remember a few years ago when she worked with a committee to get the county to put up warning signs?”
    “The signs didn’t keep kids away. The pirate ghost did,” Sean said. “That’s what Sam said, anyway.”
    The back door opened, and Sam Miyako stepped into the kitchen. “What did Sam say?” he asked.
    “I was telling Bri what you said about the pirate ghost down at Hernando Cove,” Sean explained. “He’s real, isn’t he?”
    “Ghosts aren’t real,” Brian said. He pulled two flashlights out of a kitchen cabinet drawer. He tested them and handed one to Sean.
    Sam put on a low, scary voice. “Be glad the pirate ghost didn’t hear you. He’d get revenge. Someday they’d find your bones buried deep beneath the sand … like the bones of Jack the Sailor.”
    “Who’s Jack the Sailor?” Sean asked.
    “Many years ago Jack heard about the pirate ghost,” Sam said. “Jack bragged that there wasn’t a pirate, alive or dead, who could get the