Philip and the Haunted House (9781619500020) (6 page)

“
Uh, oh,” the man said. He got to his
feet.

Philip and Emery looked at each other.
They couldn’t run to the stairway because the man stood right in
their way.
What was going to happen
now?
both boys wondered.

Chapter Eleven

Emery found his voice first and blurted out,
“Are you going to chop us into pieces and eat us and hide the
left-over parts where no one will ever find them?”

The shaggy man made a ‘yuck’ face and said,
“No, thank you. I’ve already eaten.” He pointed back at a crumpled
bag tossed near where he slept. The two boys recognized it right
away. McDonald’s. Somehow knowing the man ate hamburgers and French
fries made him seem less like a monster to them.

“
Well,” the man said. “Since none of us
are supposed to be here, why don’t we introduce ourselves and
explain why we are?”

Philip felt his heart slowing down. When he’d
first seen the man, it felt like an electric shock went through
him. What a stupid question Emery had asked. Chop them into pieces
and eat them. Philip hurried to respond before Emery told the man
why they were really in the house.

“
We were… exploring. You know. This
empty house. And… and. It seemed like fun. A neat place to hide or
have a secret clubhouse.”

“
Ah, same as me. Why don’t you both sit
down?” The man turned back to his spot under the staircase and sat
on the thin mattress.

The boys didn’t move. They looked at each
other. They knew, with the man seated, they could bolt for the
stairway and get out of the house before he could catch them, but
things didn’t seem so scary now. Philip bravely took a step forward
and lowered himself to the ground. Emery followed suit.

“
I don’t have a real place to live,”
said the man. “I been sleeping outside all summer, but with the
chilly weather I found this empty house, and it seemed like the
thing to do. At least until someone kicked me out.”

“
What’s your name?” Emery
asked.

“
Walter,” the man answered. “Walter the
derelict.” The man laughed. “Life can take some funny turns, boys.
And who are you?”

“
Philip, the student.”

“
Emery, the student, too.”

“
Hello, Philip. Hello, Emery, students
both. As I said, with no place to go, I came here. You’re the two
young fellows who cut the lawn, aren’t you?”

“
You saw us? You were here then?”
Philip asked in some surprise.

“
Yep.”

“
Did you open the window while we were
working?” asked Emery. Philip had been thinking the same
question.

“
I did. How did you know?”

Philip explained.

“
Very observant of you. I love the
smell of new cut grass. Don’t you? So I opened the window and lay
down underneath it on the floor breathing it in. It’s about the
most expensive entertainment I can afford these days.”

“
Don’t you have a job?” Emery
asked.

“
Had one. Lost it. Not my fault,” he
said with emphasis, as if having the boys understand that fact was
important to him. “Can’t find another. Been over a year now, and so
no money means no apartment. The government gives me some, but it’s
not enough for me to keep living where I used to live. So I’m
trying to save up to get a new start, but...” He moved both his
hands. “It takes a while.” He looked straight at the boys, one of
the few times he had. “Boys, I have to ask you a favor. If people
know I’m here, they’re going to ask me to leave or maybe arrest me,
even though I’m not hurting anything. You think you could keep me a
secret? If you want to come back in and use this place as a
clubhouse or something, it’s all right with me. I’ll be glad for
the company.”

“
Does anyone else beside you ever come
in this house?” Philip asked. He tapped Emery’s knee, and Emery
knew Philip was really asking about the robbers and the
loot.

Walter shook his head. “Nope. And I hope no
one does. Would scare me to death if anyone did. You two scared the
dickens out of me today. Good thing I was asleep when you were
creeping around. You’d probably’ve given me a heart attack.”

“
Did you take our sandwiches off the
porch the day we cut the grass?” Philip asked.

“
Guilty,” Walter answered.

“
And another one the next day?” Emery
asked.

“
Guilty again.”

“
And did you take a sandwich from my
lunch when I left my book bag in front of Emery’s house?” Philip
asked.

“
Was that yours? Guilty a third time.
Sometimes it’s hard to get enough food, but I’ll pay you back,
boys. Soon as I get back on my feet again.”

Emery and Philip exchanged a glance, and
Philip said, “We believe you.”

No one spoke until Philip said, “Well, I
guess me and Emery better go.”

Walter looked at them. “Well, it was darn
nice to meet you. I hope we didn’t scare each other too much. Come
back again if you want, though I suppose I shouldn’t tell you to do
that. It’s probably wrong. But, well…” He shrugged. “I get
lonely.”

The two boys rose but Walter did not.

“
You boys take care. Better not let
anyone see you leave.”

“
How do you get in here?” Emery
asked.

“
I broke the little window in the back
door, and now I reach inside for the knob.”

“
Same as I did,” said Emery.

“
You’re a smart boy.” Walter laughed.
“Maybe you’ll make a good derelict someday. Get out safe now. Be
careful.”

The boys promised they would be and,
after saying goodbye to Walter, they went upstairs and snuck out
the back door. They hurried straight for Emery’s house. His mother
would be busy with his two little sisters, and they could talk in
private. And they had a
lot
to
talk about.

Chapter Twelve

Philip and Emery found the prospect of having
a secret, no-longer-haunted, clubhouse complete with a mysterious
man in it too exciting for them to tell anyone and spoil it. Right
after school the next two days they dropped their books at one of
their houses and made their slow and secret way to what they still
called the haunted house. They took Walter some food they snuck out
of their own kitchens and sat and talked or mostly listened to him
as he told them the story of his life. On Thursday, Emery
complained about some homework the boys had, and Walter told them
they should bring their tough homework with them next time. He’d be
happy to help them out with it. But since they rarely got homework
on Fridays, their next homework wouldn’t be till Monday, four days
away.

That night Philip’s father walked in the door
after work and called Philip’s name. Philip rolled off his bed—he’d
gotten home from the haunted house moments earlier—and went
downstairs to meet his father.

“
Hi, Dad.”

“
How are you, Flipster?”

“
Good.”

“
I got a phone call today about
you.”

Philip felt goose bumps run up his arm. Had
someone seen him going into the haunted house? “About what?” he
asked trying not to sound nervous.

“
The real estate agent called praising
what a good job you did fixing up the lawn on the house around the
corner. He said he’d be happy if you could go around to every house
he’s trying to sell and fix it up. He’s finally getting some calls
about it.”

About
it
? The haunted house? “You mean someone’s going
to
buy
the house?” Philip
asked, again trying to maintain a normal tone of voice, even though
he got more nervous with each passing sentence his father
spoke.

“
Well, not yet, but he’ll be taking
some people to see the house tomorrow morning.”

“
Tomorrow morning?”

Philip’s father gave him a funny look. “Yes,
tomorrow morning. Why?”

“
Oh, no reason. I guess I’m used to the
house being empty is all.”

Philip’s mother walked into the living room,
and Philip’s father greeted her. “Hi, honey. What’s for
dinner?”

Philip tuned out the rest of the conversation
and took himself back up to his bedroom. People were visiting the
haunted house tomorrow morning. He had to warn Walter. If they
caught Walter in the house, who knows what would happen to him? He
said he could be arrested and put into jail. Even if he didn’t get
arrested, he’d get chased out and have no place to live, and it was
getting colder every day.

Philip looked out the window into the dark
evening. He’d never be allowed out of the house this late, but he
had to find some way to warn Walter nonetheless.

“
Dinner, Philip,” he heard his mother
call.

Dinner. Six o’clock already, and he had to go
to bed at nine-thirty. He didn’t have much time. Maybe Emery... no,
Emery wouldn’t be able to help. He’d heard Emery tell Walter he was
going over his aunt’s house tonight. Philip knew he’d never be home
in time and couldn’t get out of the house even if he got home in
time. He couldn’t even phone Emery to talk things over. The best he
could do was to go and get Emery extra early next morning before
school.

“
Philip, while it’s hot. Let’s go,”
came his father’s voice.

Philip rolled off the bed and started
downstairs to dinner. This was a tough problem to find an answer
to, but he’d always managed to come up with something before
whenever he got into trouble. He sure hoped he could come up with
something this time.

Early next morning Philip put his finger to
his lips as he led the way into the haunted house. “Shhh, follow
me,” he said.

He led the way through the kitchen to the
basement door. He opened it.

“
Walter? Walter, are you
there?”

A voice came from the dark basement. “Yes,
I’m here. Philip?”

Philip hit the light switch and waved his
hand to go forward. Down the steps he went and turned to where he
knew Walter would be lying. Walter was on his knees climbing out
from under the staircase. He stood up and his eyes opened wide when
he saw the two people standing before him.

“
Walter,” said Philip, swallowing hard,
“I’d like you to meet my Dad.”

Chapter Thirteen

“
And then what happened?” Emery
asked.

“
Well, Walter looked... shocked; even
sad. Like I did something wrong to him.”

“
He probably thought you were trying to
get him kicked out of the house.”

It was Friday morning, and the two boys
walked to school as Philip brought Emery up-to-date.

“
But I wasn’t.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me before you went
there?”

“
Last night you were over your aunt’s,
and I had to do something before the real estate agent took
strangers in the house. I didn’t know how early the agent guy would
show up today. I thought about calling you this morning, but then I
thought we might not have enough time before school started, so I
set my alarm and got up at
seven
o’clock, woke up my dad, and talked him into going to the
haunted house.”

“
So what happened when your father saw
Walter?”

“
He started talking to him. He told
Walter not to worry. He told him I said nice things about
him.”

“
Was your father mad we snuck in the
house?”

“
Well, that sort of got pushed out of
the way because of Walter.”

“
Man, just when we find a great place…
but w
hat happened?”

“
So my dad invited him to our
house.”

“
To your house! Inside? Is he there
now?”

“
Yeah.”

“
What’s your father gonna
do?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
You don’t know!”

“
No. My father chased me out and told
me to go to school.”

“
Boy, I’d love to know what’s happening
to Walter. I like him.”

“
Me, too. My dad’ll probably tell me
tonight.”

“
When he does, call me right
away.”

“
Don’t worry. I will.”

“
So did he tell you yet?” were Emery’s
first words. He rushed to Philip’s house as soon as he could
Saturday morning.

Philip’s glum face told him the answer. “No.
Nothing last night and he already went out this morning.”

“
No! How could he not tell you? What
did he say? Did you ask him?”

“
Yes, I asked him. Of course I asked
him. Ten times I asked him. He only said Walter was being taken
care of.”

“
Did he say it... how did he say it?
‘Taken care of.’ He didn’t mean he’d get punished, did he? Like in
jail.”

“
No, I don’t think so. My dad smiled
kind of funny.”

Emery looked confused.

Philip shrugged. “Like he made a joke or was
hiding something.”

Emery slumped into one corner of his sofa.
Philip slumped into the other corner.

“
Grownups never tell you anything,”
Emery grumbled. “You think your dad will tell you anything
today
?”