“This is not what we signed up for,” said the woman. She and the other customers climbed off of the tour bike and headed down the street.

Goldie waved goodbye. “Thank you for trying Bloxtown Tours. Tell your friends.”

The Gearheads and Nacho followed Goldie to the front porch of the Bloxtown Inn. She tried the large front doors. The place was locked tight.

They went around the building. Li pulled on the back door. Val and Goldie pushed on each window. No luck.

“Maybe we could climb to the roof and slide down the chimney,” Li suggested.

“Wait. Look!” Val pointed to the storm cellar door. It hung open.

“Let’s go,” Goldie said.

“I guess we’re just going to ignore the No Trespassing signs.” Ruby scowled.

Val laughed. “That sounds like something I would say.” She hooked arms with Goldie and set off for the open door.

“So,” Goldie whispered to Val. “You’re afraid of bugs and rats and heights and lots of other stuff, but not ghosts?”

“Of course not. I love ghosts!” Val exclaimed. Goldie gave her a puzzled look.

The door creaked as Val pulled it completely open. A cloud of dirt greeted them and they coughed. The Gearheads waved their arms to clear the air.

Nacho took a step back.

“Come on, boy.” Goldie pulled a small flashlight from her hair. Her blond curls were like a toolbox. She also had a pencil, ruler, screwdriver, and compass in there. Ruby used her minicomputer for even more light.

Val led the way under the inn. “I’ve never been down here.”

Old barrels and wooden boxes filled the rectangular room. Cobwebs and dust covered everything. As the Gearheads walked, they left fresh footprints in the dirt.

Goldie shined her light at the stairs that led up and into the inn. A door at the top had three deadbolt locks and a large padlocked bar across the middle. They still couldn’t get into the main building.

Suddenly, a small animal raced out from behind a crate. It brushed Val’s leg as it ran out the door. But she didn’t jump or scream.

Nacho barked and covered his eyes with his paws.

“What was that?” Ruby asked. She pointed at Val. “And why didn’t it scare you?”

“It was probably just the ghost cat,” Val said calmly. “We’ve met before.”

“Wait! What?” Ruby shook her head.

“I met the ghost cat when I was little,” Val explained. “Do you want to hear the story?”

“That wasn’t a ghost cat,” Goldie mumbled. “It was a squirrel or a raccoon.” She looked around, but the critter was gone.

“I’ve got to sit down for this.” Ruby took a seat on the edge of a crate. Li kneeled on the ground and pulled Goldie down next to him. Nacho crawled into her lap.

“I was only four or five,” Val started. “My great-great-uncle had been telling me about the ghosts at this inn for as long as I could remember.”

“So you were on the lookout for ghosts?” Goldie interrupted. “You came here on a ghost hunt.”

“Not exactly. I came for tea with my grandma and my mom. The restaurant on the main floor used to serve high tea every afternoon. You could get a cup of Earl Grey and some delicious scones with jam and cream.”

“I don’t know what a scone is, but you’re making me hungry.” Li rubbed his stomach.

“A scone is like a biscuit or a cookie,” Val explained. “I must have drunk a gallon of tea, and I needed to use the bathroom. I told my mom that I was old enough to go alone. Drinking tea in fancy china made me feel very grown up.

“I walked down the hall, found the restroom, and did my business. I washed my hands, and when I turned for a towel, a cat was sitting at my feet. He was white and—”

“There are plenty of white cats,” Goldie interrupted. “Just because it was white doesn’t mean it was a ghost.”

“I know it was a ghost, because it was also kind of see-through and just appeared out of thin air.” Val opened her hands as if doing a magic trick.

“Couldn’t the cat have snuck in with you or gone under the door?” Ruby asked.

“No. It was a small bathroom. And not the kind that has stalls. There was a toilet, a sink, and a ghost cat.”

Li leaned forward on his knees. His eyes focused only on Val. “Did the cat say anything to you?” he asked, completely serious.

“No. It’s a cat. It can’t talk.”

Li shrugged. “It was a ghost cat. There might be different rules for the ghost world. Maybe animals talk and fly.” He stared at Val again. “Did he fly? Ghosts fly, right? They don’t experience gravity like we do.”

“No one experiences gravity like you do,” Goldie teased her friend. He was known as Li Gravity Zhang because no height was too high and no challenge was too big.

“I didn’t see the cat fly. He just stared at me. I tried to pet him, but he jumped out of the way. But it was faster than a jump. It was like he transported from one spot to another.” Val’s eyes were huge in the dim light. Goldie could tell she really believed she’d seen a ghost cat.

“Then someone knocked on the door,” Val continued. “And the ghost cat vanished into thin air. When I walked back to the table, I stopped a waiter in the hall. I said, ‘Excuse me, sir, there’s a cat in the bathroom.’ He froze and asked me if the cat was white and fluffy. When I said yes, he dropped a tray of scones.”

“What a waste of food.” Li’s stomach grumbled.

“The waiter told me that it was a ghost cat, and people only saw it right before something terrible was about to happen. That poor waiter was shaking all over.”

“Did something terrible happen?” Ruby asked. She was shaking a little, too.

“He did drop the tray of scones,” Val said.

“That’s not exactly something terrible,” Goldie added.

“It is if you’re hungry.” Li rubbed his stomach again.

“I don’t remember anything terrible happening that day. But I did see a ghost cat. You believe me, right?”

Li nodded, and Ruby shrugged.

Val turned to Goldie. “You believe me, right, Goldie?”

“Um…” Goldie hesitated.

“Do you think I’d lie to you? You’re my best friends.” Val’s voice wobbled.

“I don’t think you’re lying on purpose,” Goldie said quietly. “But ghosts aren’t real.”

“You weren’t there.” Val’s face grew red. “I know what I saw.”

“Let’s just focus on saving the inn. Okay?” Goldie got up and put a hand on Val’s shoulder.

“I guess,” Val whispered.