live.â
âItâs Hoss Williamsâs grave,â murmured Huck, creeping stealthily up to the dirt mound and sniffing it. He held his hand up so that none of us would come closer. I was grateful for that. Nearby the grave was a clump of three thick trees. Tom motioned for us to take our places behind them.
The spirits began to moan again at that point, and I have to say I began to sweat.
âI just had a thought,â Frankie whispered to me.
âDid it hurt?â
âSort of. My thought is, if the lost page is actually buried in that dead grave over there, youâll have to dig it up.â
I made a scoffing noise. âWhy should I do it?â
âThe fifty-fifty rule,â she said.
I frowned. âWhat fifty-fifty rule?â
âThe one that says that when one of us thinks up an idea, the other one has to do it.â
âI never heard of that rule.â
âItâs new.â
âShhhh!â hissed Huck. âThe evil spirits are coming!â
A muffled sound of voices floated up from the far end of the graveyard.
âWho ⦠or what ⦠is it?â I whispered to Frankie. âWhat does the book say?â
Frankieâs eyes were bugging out, trying to catch a ray of moonlight to read by. She shook her head. âI donât know. The words are too blurry to read! What if Huck is right? What if there really are evil spirits?â
âAnd what if theyâre comingâfor us?â I added.
Some vague figures approached through the gloom, surrounded by an eerie glow that freckled the ground with little spangles of light.
Huck shuddered. âItâs the spirits, sure enough! Three of them! Anybody know how to escape from evil spirits?â
âI thought you did!â said Tom.
âI thought you did!â said Huck.
âOh, man!â said Frankie
âHere they come!â I said.
Chapter 8
As the spirits approached, I could see that the eerie glow that freckled the ground with little spangles of light was coming from an old-fashioned tin lantern.
âUm, do spirits carry lanterns?â I asked.
Frankie almost jumped for joy. âTheyâre not spirits! Theyâre ⦠people! Three of them â¦.â
âAnd one of them is Muff Potter!â whispered Tom.
âCute name,â I said. âNot so cute guy.â
Muff Potter was a large, sloppy-looking man who staggered out front, his arm out and his chubby fingers seeming to point to the grave. Two others were following him, but it wasnât easy to see what they looked like.
The cemetery, of course, was darker than dark.
âThe second one is Doc Robinson,â said Huck. âI can see his long coat.â
Then, out of the shadows came the third member of the pack. It was a guy about seven feet tall, all muscles, and with a face that could stop a bus. Actually, it looked as if it had stopped a bus. The nose was all pushed to one side and the cheeks were bumpy and wide and the mouth was in a permanent angry sneer. He wore a hat pulled low over his brow, but the lamplight caught and flickered on his eyes, which were black and piercing and spooky beyond belief.
âWhoâs that?â I asked.
âWhy, thatâs none other than Injun Joe!â said Tom.
A shiver went through me when he said that. I turned to Frankie. We were both thinking the same thing.
âUm, sorry, Tom,â whispered Frankie. âTime out. We canât call the guy that name. First of all, itâs Indian , not âInjun,â and second, we would say Native American. I know that youâre from a long time ago, but itâs not nice to label someone with his ethnic heritage. Itâs insulting, and just plain inappropriate.â
I nodded, big-time. âIf that man is going to be a character in this story, weâre really going to have to change his name.â
âWhat should we call him?â whispered Huck.
âWell, heâs