Dawn has always thought there was a secret passage hidden in her house. But she never thought there was a ghost...until now.

I was right in the middle of "The Hand of the Witch" when the lights flickered. They dimmed, went out for a second, then came back on.

My heart began to pound. Weren't there tricky spirits called poltergeists that could cause things like that?

My window began to rattle. I know the wind was blowing, but I'd never heard such a racket.

As soon as the rattling stopped, I heard a rat-a-tat-a-tat on the wall.

That did it.

"Eeee-iii!" I shrieked.

Mom was up the stairs in two seconds. "Dawn! What's the matter?" she cried.

"Mom, the lights are flickering and something's rattling my window and tapping on the wall."

My mother took a look at the book lying open on my bed. "Dawn," she said, giving me a wry glance, "there is a terrific storm going on out there. I'm surprised the electricity hasn't gone off completely. And all the windows in this old house are rattling. Those must be twenty-five-mile-an-hour winds out there. Now which wall is the tapping coming from?"

I pointed to the wall between my room and Mom's.

"Old houses make noises as they settle," Mom told me decisively. She closed the ghost-story book and laid it on my nightstand. "Why don't you go to sleep now, honey? It's late." She gave me a kiss and turned out the lights as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

I got up and turned two of the lights back on and opened the door a crack. Sleep? Was she kidding?

It was hours before I fell asleep. that was because I kept thinking I heard someone moaning. When I woke up the next morning, I still felt creepy.

The Ghost at Dawn's House
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590435086