Jessie, Sarah, and Lizzie sat together one evening in the school auditorium watching a play. “Want to go explore the seventh graders’ part of the school?” asked Lizzie, an eleven year old fifth grader.
    “Sure!” Sarah said.
    “Sounds good,” Jessie agreed. “I’ve never been in that part.”
    “I can’t wait to be a seventh grader!” exclaimed Sarah.
    “Me neither!” Lizzie said, almost jumping out of her seat. She glanced to her right and saw a teacher heading their way. “Uh oh! We’re probably being too loud!” she whispered urgently. They sat in their seats, pretending to pay attention to the play until the teacher walked away.

“Ready to go?” Sarah asked. Jessie nodded and the three girls quickly hopped out of their seats and rushed down the hall. Breathing hard, they turned the corner into the upper grades’ half of the school.

The dimly lit hallway was deserted. Lizzie gazed around while her friends tried to figure out the difference between their part of the school and this one.
    “The lockers are a little higher,”Sarah decided. Jessie nodded. Suddenly the three girls saw a faint light coming from somewhere down the hall and they heard a noise.
   BANG! BANG! BANG! The sound was like that of metal banging against lead pipes. The girls all jumped.
    “What was that?” Lizzie whimpered.
    “I don’t know,” Sarah said trembling and staring wide-eyed around the hallway. Then it came again.
    BANG! BANG! BANG!
    “Beware! This will be end of Lincoln School!” a voice rasped. Jessie screamed.

The three friends ran back to the auditorium as quickly as their feet would carry them. Out of breath, they sat down in their seats again. They sat in stunned silence until the play ended.

    “What was that?” asked Sarah as people began to leave the auditorium.
    “I don’t know!” answered Jessie.
    Lizzie suddenly knew. “Guys, I know what it is,” she whispered. “Ghosts. I read about them in the newspaper. There have been more and more hauntings lately.” Sarah and Jessie just stared at her, disbelievingly.
    “Are you sure?” Jessie asked. Sarah said nothing, she looked deep in thought.
    “I’m sure,” Lizzie said.
    “I believe you, Lizzie.” Sarah finally piped up. “Remember what the ghost said? We must save our school!”  Lizzie nodded.
    “I’ll help, but I still don’t believe you,” Jessie said. Sarah gave her a small glare, then got up and stalked out of the auditorium.
    “We’d better follow her,” Lizzie said. Jessie nodded. They jumped up and followed Sarah. They found her leaning against the wall in the girls’ bathroom.
    “Sarah? You okay?” Jessie asked her.
    “Of course I’m not! Do you have an idea what I’ve been through with ghosts?” Sarah answered.

Lizzie shook her head. “No we don’t, Sarah. Feel like talking about it?” Jessie nodded in agreement.
    “My dad used to teach here. He was found dead in his office when I was very little. The police couldn’t figure out what had happened to him. Everyone thought he was murdered by a ghost.” Sarah looked down.

Jessie was trying hard to keep a straight face. Lizzie shot her a look and she quickly stopped laughing.
    “That’s a strange thing to believe...” Lizzie wondered aloud.
    “We should probably stop these ghosts,” Sarah whispered.
    “Yes!” agreed Lizzie. “What if we started a club?”
    “That sounds great!” Sarah said, cheering up.
    “Yeah, the Ghostbusting Club!” Jessie added, catching on to the excitement.

    The next day after dinner, the three friends sat on the front porch of Lizzie’s house, planning what to do for their new club.
    “So what do we do first?” Jessie asked.
    “I think we should start by investigating the seventh grade hallway again,” Lizzie suggested. Sarah nodded in agreement.

Jumping up, her face brightening, Sarah exclaimed, “I have an idea!” Jessie and Lizzie groaned. They both knew how dangerous Sarah’s plans could be. Sarah sniffed indignantly, reading their thoughts. “We can sneak into school tonight! Then we can see if ghosts really do haunt the hallways at night,” she continued.
    “Okay,” Lizzie agreed reluctantly.

The three girls stood up and Lizzie ran inside to tell her mom they’d be back in a few minutes. When Lizzie emerged from the house, they set off on the short walk to their school.    

When they reached it, Jessie turned to her friends. “How are we going to get in? Aren’t the doors locked?” she asked.

Lizzie shrugged and walked up to the entrance. She pulled on the door and it swung open easily. “I guess not,” she said. The three friends stepped inside the dark school. They looked around; they had never seen it completely deserted.
    “Where do we go?” Lizzie asked.
    “I think the seventh grade hallway,” Jessie said.
    “Me, too,” Sarah agreed.
    “Okay, let’s go!” Lizzie said.  She started walking in the direction of the hallway. Sarah and Jessie looked at each other and shrugged. They followed Lizzie inside.

When they reached the hallway nothing happened at first. Then the rasping voice came. “Beware, girls. This is not the time to kill. Go, before it is!”

Sarah stood her ground looking fierce. Jessie and Lizzie looked on the brink of panicking.
    “We will not leave!” yelled Sarah. Lizzie could tell she was angry and wanted revenge.
    “Sarah...” Jessie cautioned.      
    “No!” Sarah said, turning. “Leave it to me! I know what to do!” Jessie stepped back at Sarah’s tone.

Lizzie grabbed Jessie’s arm. “Let her,” she whispered. “This is important to her.” Jessie nodded.
    “Now, ghost,” Sarah retorted. “Leave us all alone, or I will have to do something to you.”
    “Go ahead and try,” the voice cackled. Sarah didn’t even flinch.
    “Fine! Show me what you can do and I’ll show what I can do,” she yelled fearlessly.  
    “Get out!” yelled the voice. A gust of wind started blowing. It got stronger and stronger. Soon it was strong enough to blow the three girls out of the school. They flew and flew until they finally blacked out.

Lizzie woke up in her bed at home. Her first thought was, Run! Wait, where am I? She sat bolt upright remembering what had happened. She jumped out of bed, dressed, and ran as quickly as she could to Sarah’s house. She knocked and Sarah answered quickly.
    “Hi!” Sarah said, as if nothing had happened.
    “Hey, what happened last night? I mean I know what did, but who exactly was that?” Lizzie said quickly.
    Sarah’s face darkened. “I don’t know, Lizzie. I don’t know,” she said, looking down.
    “You really want revenge, huh?”
    “Yeah... I do.”
    “Well that’s a good thing.”
    “How is it?”
    “Because it means you have a strong will. I don’t know anybody as brave as you. The way you stood up last night to the ghost. Amazing!”
    “Really?”
    “Totally! We better head to school.”

Lizzie hooked her arm into Sarah’s and they left for school. They swung by Jessie’s house to pick her up. She wordlessly joined them.

When they arrived at school, there was a crowd of kids surrounding a teacher. The three friends looked at each other and started running toward the crowd.
    “...these students will not be joining us today,” the teacher finished. The bell rang and everyone ran into school. Jessie, Sarah, and Lizzie slid into their seats. Lizzie glanced around the classroom and noticed that there were only about thirteen students in the room. Jessie stared at her inquisitively. Lizzie shrugged.

A few  days passed and eventually the only students to show up to class were Jessie, Sarah, and Lizzie.
    “Maybe we should ask our teacher what is going on,” Sarah suggested.
    “Good idea,” Lizzie said.
    “Yeah, maybe,” agreed Jessie.

Sarah started to walk toward their teacher. Jessie rolled her eyes. Lizzie gave her an “Oh, come on!” look. Jessie slowly followed her friends.
    “What is going on?” Sarah demanded of the teacher.
    “Sarah, what do you mean?” asked Ms. Harris.
    “I mean, why are all my classmates missing?” Sarah answered.
    “Sarah, we don’t know. We truly don’t,” Ms. Harris said.

Lizzie stepped forward. “At least allow us to help stop it from happening!” she exclaimed.
    “We know what is happening!” Jessie joined in. ”So just let us help!”  
    “That’s a very interesting claim. What exactly do you know?” Ms. Harris inquired.
    “We know that something is haunting the seventh grade hallway,” Lizzie said.
    “Ghosts?” Ms. Harris asked curiously, with a hint of a smile.
    “Yes!” exclaimed Sarah.
    “You three do know that ghosts don’t exist. Right?” Ms. Harris told them.
    “They do exist!” Sarah almost yelled.

Ms. Harris looked surprised. “Maybe, they do,” she said kindly. “I’ll tell you what. If you think you can get these students back in one night, I’ll give you these keys.” She pulled a silver keychain out of her drawer. “These open every door in the school,” she continued. “I have another idea, too.” Ms. Harris stepped out of the classroom.

Jessie looked at Sarah, Sarah looked at Jessie, Lizzie looked at both of them. They all shrugged. When Ms. Harris finally came back in the room there was a crowd of kids of varied ages behind her.
    “What is this?” Jessie asked.
    “These are your helpers,” Ms. Harris explained.
    “Really? We get help?” Sarah asked, grinning.
    “Really,” agreed Ms. Harris. “They already know what is going on. What’s your plan?”

Lizzie stood looking at the other kids, smiling. It looked like all the fourth, sixth, and seventh graders were there. “I think we should come tonight and talk to this ghost again,” Lizzie said. “I don’t think it can do anything to seventy-five kids.”
    “How are we going to get in?” asked a fourth grader.
    “Ms. Harris has given us the keys,” Jessie explained.
    “We should meet here at eleven tonight,” Sarah said. Everyone cheered in agreement. Just then the bell rang and everyone ran for the doors.
    “See you tonight!” Lizzie called after them.

    That night, everyone was at the school. Jessie, Sarah, and Lizzie had arrived a little early to unlock the front of the door. The rebellion trooped inside the school.
    “Let’s go kick some ghost butt!” yelled one seventh grader. Everyone trudged into the
seventh grade hallway.
    “Ghost!” Sarah yelled, stepping to the front.
    “Oh no! I’m so scared! There are kids in the hallway,” said the sarcastic raspy voice. It sounded different, but Sarah couldn’t figure out why it was so familiar this time.

One of the sixth grader’s eyes widened and she whispered something to her neighbor. The news spread quickly like a game of telephone from student to student. When it finally reached Lizzie and Jessie, they looked at each other amazed. Lizzie turned around and told a fourth grader to call 911.
    “Don’t mess with us!” Sarah yelled. The voice grunted, but didn’t respond. Sarah opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she heard sirens.

Lights flashed and confused yelling started. The group rushed toward the principal’s office pushing Sarah along in front of them. Principal Fun, next to his microphone, looked up startled at the sight of the students. Sarah looked shocked as she realized who had been pretending to be the ghost.

Lizzie started circling the office curiously. She tripped on something under the rug. She knelt down to uncover it. It was a trap door handle! Lizzie swung it open and found a ladder. She climbed down and found a secret room. There were twenty-two kids in the room. All fifth graders. They were her classmates! “I found them!” She called up.
    “Who?” asked Sarah appearing at the top of the ladder.
    “Our classmates!” Lizzie answered helping them one by one up the ladder.

When Lizzie finally climbed up out of the hole she heard a police officer say to Principal Fun, “...for the kidnapping of twenty-two fifth graders and the murder of Joseph All.”

“Bet you miss your father, huh, Sarah?” Principal Fun snarled, his wrists in handcuffs.

“I don’t miss him as much now that he has been avenged,” Sarah retorted, smiling.
    “Principal Fun, you are so not fun!” said a fourth grader as Principal Fun was led out of the school.