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Chapters (49)
  1. Cover
  2. Farewell Summer
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. Almost Antietam
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Shiloh and Beyond
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-One
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Appomattox
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Afterword
  46. FAREWELL SUMMER
  47. Also By Ray Bradbury
  48. Copyright
  49. About The Publisher

‘Then let’s go in.’

They did, slamming the door as they went.

Chapter Thirty-Three

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The house stood on the edge of the ravine. It looked haunted, just like everyone said it was.

Tom and Charlie and Bo followed Doug up the side of the ravine and stood in front of the strange house at nine o’clock at night. In the distance, the courthouse clock bonged off the hour.

‘There it is,’ said Doug. He turned his head right and left, as if he was looking for something.

‘What are we gonna do?’ asked Tom.

‘Well,’ said Bo, ‘is it haunted, like they said?’

‘From what I’ve heard, at eight o’clock, no,’ said Doug. ‘And not at nine. But starting around ten, strange sounds start to come from the house. I think we should hang around and find out. Besides, Lisabell said that she and her friends were going to be here. Let’s wait and see.’

They stood by some bushes by the front porch steps and they waited and at last the moon came up.

There was a sound of footsteps along the path somewhere and from inside the house, the sounds of someone going up some stairs.

Doug stood alert, craned his neck, but he couldn’t quite see what was going on.

‘Heck,’ said Charlie at last. ‘What are we doing here? I’m gosh–awful bored. I got homework. I think I better head home.’

‘Hold on,’ said Doug. ‘Let’s wait just a few more minutes.’

They waited as the moon got higher. And then, a little after ten, as the last peals of the courthouse clock faded away on the night air, they heard the noises. From inside the house, faint at first, almost imperceptible, there came a sound of rustling and scraping, as if someone was shifting trunks from one room to another.

A few minutes later, they heard a sharp cry, and then another cry, and then a sort of whispering and rustling and, finally, a dull thump.

‘Those,’ said Doug, ‘were definitely ghost sounds. Like someone getting killed and the bodies being dragged around the rooms. Doesn’t it sound like that?’

‘Heck,’ said Tom, ‘I don’t know.’

‘Don’t ask me,’ said Bo.

‘Well,’ said Charlie, ‘it’s sure a god-awful racket. If there’s another scream, I’m getting out of here.’

They stood alert and waited, almost not breathing. Silence. And then, suddenly, more groans and cries and then something that sounded like a weak cry, ‘Help.’

Then it faded away.

‘That’s it,’ said Charlie. ‘I’ve had enough.’

‘Me too,’ said Bo.

The two boys turned tail and ran.

There was a great whispering and the hair stood up on the back of Doug’s neck.