Even though I was expecting him, I jumped when Mister Lewis loomed out of the long grass behind Shane’s house.
‘You sure look spooky,’ I said with a shiver.
Mister Lewis frowned. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked crossly. ‘Nothing has changed, except that I’m no longer alive. I’ve always looked like this.’
‘Oops, sorry!’ I muttered. ‘Maybe it’s the hat.’
‘Come along, young man,’ went on Mister Lewis, leaving a slight breeze as he wafted through the long grass. ‘And bring that stone with you,’ he added, pointing to the takeaway bag I’d hidden behind the pile of stones the night before. ‘I need to be absolutely sure the two pieces fit together.’
With a sigh, I shoved the stone inside my jacket and zipped up. I could feel it tingling against my ribs.
There weren’t many people about on the street. I kept well back from Mister Lewis in case they’d think I was with a freaky guy. Until I realised they couldn’t see him.
‘How come …?’ I began.
‘That nobody else can see me except you?’ Mister Lewis smiled and tapped his nose. ‘It goes with the job,’ he said. ‘When I want to, I can be invisible. Though you caught me by surprise when you came to the stony place. Still, that’s all for the good, now that you’re helping.’
Not for my good, I thought.
Even with its big red door and the word ‘Museum’ in fancy writing over it, the building still had a creepy, empty look.
‘How are we supposed to get in there?’ I whispered.
Mister Lewis took off his hat and then straightened an ear that had come loose. He looked over the railings into the basement. Apart from a litter of Tayto crisp bags and squashed coke cans, there were just boarded-up windows.
‘Let’s try Chapel Lane,’ said Mister Lewis, putting on his hat again.
This is too, too weird, I thought. I was still trying to get my head around the fact that I was following a dead man down a dark lane late at night to break into a museum. Hold that image and think how I felt.
Mister Lewis stopped in front of a small window high up.
‘That will do, I think,’ he said. ‘That will be our way in.’
‘Huh?’ I said. ‘How do I get up there?’
Mister Lewis tut-tutted, and shook his head.
‘Do you have to be so negative, Milo, my boy?’ He pointed to a wheelybin. ‘Tarra, as you say yourself. Pull it over here and you can climb up. All you’ll have to do then is smash that window. Easy.’