The Ghost at Camp David Page 2

  “Security, Marsh,” KC said. “The president told me they have patrols watching this place all the time.”

  “Well, I wish they wouldn’t just pop up and give people heart attacks,” Marshall said.

  “He’s right, we should head back,” KC said. “I just felt a raindrop.”

  A bolt of lightning lit the sky in a streak. Thunder followed.

  “Race you!” KC said. She took off running, with Marshall on her heels.

  Marshall stopped when he got to the wooden bridge. Rain was falling faster now, splashing in the stream. The wooden railing felt slick under his fingers.

  KC was nowhere to be seen.

  “Okay, KC, where are you?” Marshall called out.

  “Right behind you, licking my big, fat alligator lips!” KC yelled. She jumped out from behind a bush.

  “Very funny,” Marshall said. “It would serve you right if that was poison ivy. Come on, I’m getting soaked!”

  They ran along Nancy’s Walk until they came to Aspen Lodge. Behind Aspen, Witch Hazel looked sad and wet. The kids cut across some lawn to their cabin. Lights were on in both rooms.

  KC and Marshall grabbed towels and wiped their hair and faces.

  KC pulled the leaves she’d collected from her jacket pocket. “I’m going to press these,” she said. She opened her notebook and placed the leaves between the pages.

  “Hey, check your feet,” Marshall called from his room. “My sneakers are pretty muddy.”

  KC looked at the soles of her sneakers. “Mine too,” she said.

  There were chunks of mud on the floor and rug. She took her sneakers off and went into the bathroom to get some paper towels.

  Marshall came in, carrying his sneakers. “It’s probably from those dirt piles in the woods,” he said.

  KC wiped her sneakers as clean as she could get them. When she dropped the towels into the trash can, she noticed something. “Look,” she said. “The mud on our sneakers is like the red dirt I wiped from inside that little trunk.”

  Marshall grabbed some towels to wipe his own sneakers. “So?”

  “Nothing. I’m just wondering what red mud is doing inside that chest,” KC said. “Especially since Anna told us no one uses this cabin.”

  Marshall compared the red stains on both paper towels. “It does look like the same stuff,” he said.

  KC tossed the towels away. “Let’s go next door,” she said. She went to put her sneakers back on.

  “Wait a sec while I wash my hands,” Marshall said.

  Suddenly Marshall popped his head out of the bathroom. His hands were dripping water.

  “I heard something!” he said with big eyes.

  KC rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, it’s an alligator or a witch, right?”

  “No, I’m serious!” Marshall said. “It was like a knocking noise.” He pointed to the floor. “I think it came from down there!”

  Marshall shut off the water. They stood still and listened. Then they both heard a muffled noise coming from beneath their feet.

  5

  Noises in the Night

  “I know what that is,” KC said, leaving the bathroom. “When you don’t run water for a long time, the pipes can make noises. That used to happen in our apartment before we moved into the White House.”

  Marshall wiped his hands and left the bathroom. Suddenly he grinned at KC. “You don’t suppose it’s President Eisenhower’s ghost, do you?”

  “Living in the bathroom pipes? I don’t think so!” KC said.

  “But ghosts can hide anywhere!” said Marshall. He gave a tug on KC’s long, damp curls. “Even in your hair!”

  “Or inside your bed covers!” KC said. She opened the door and they ran through the rain to Aspen. The president was sitting at a small table near the fireplace. Books, papers, and his laptop were spread out in front of him. He looked up when the kids entered.

  “You guys look a little damp,” he said. “Find anything interesting in the woods?”

  “I got some pretty leaves,” KC said. “And we found Nancy’s Walk. Who’s Nancy?”

  The president rubbed his eyes. “That’s Nancy Reagan. When her husband was president, they made a lot of changes to Camp David. They fixed up Aspen Lodge to make it more comfortable. They both liked to hike, so they created that nature trail. President Reagan named it for his wife.”

  Thunder crashed over the house. Raindrops smacked the windows and exploded across the glass.

  “Boy, what a storm,” the president said. He looked at his watch. “Dinner should be about ready. Want to check?”

  The dining room table had been set for three. Anna brought in a platter of spaghetti and meatballs. Next came a tray of garlic bread and a bowl of salad.

  “This looks and smells wonderful,” the president said. “Thanks, Anna.”

  “No trouble at all, sir,” Anna said. “I’ll be in Florence’s room if you need me. I’m sleeping there tonight.” She walked down a hallway toward the back of the building. A flash of lightning lit up the windows.

  “There’s plenty of room here in Aspen if you kids change your minds,” the president said.

  “No thanks. We like our little cabin,” KC said. “Right, Marsh?”

  Before Marshall could answer, Anna returned. “The phone in Florence’s room isn’t working,” she said. She picked up the living room phone and shook her head. “The storm must have done some damage.”

  “Thanks, Anna,” the president said. “I’m sure Gus and the staff will get it all fixed up. Besides, I have my cell phone.”

  With a nod, Anna left the room, and KC, Marshall, and the president began filling their plates.

  Suddenly they heard three knocks.

  “Did you hear something?” Marshall asked.

  “I heard knocking,” KC said.

  “Maybe it’s Gus,” the president said. He went to the door. No one was there. A wind gust blew rainwater over his feet.

  The president sat down. “Ghosts, I guess,” he said with a little smile.

  Then KC heard more knocks. She looked at Marshall. “I know it’s you!” she said. “You’re bumping the bottom of the table with your knee!”

  Marshall burst out laughing. “You should have seen your face,” he said.

  KC grinned. “Was that you in the bathroom before?” she asked. “Did you fake those noises, too?”

  Marshall had a full mouth. He shook his head.

  “What noises?” the president asked.

  KC told the president about the sounds they had both heard under the bathroom floor.

  “Marsh thought it was a ghost under the cabin,” KC said.

  The president winked at Marshall. “Well, it is President Eisenhower’s birthday,” he said.

  “I said the pipes made those noises because the water hadn’t been turned on for a long time,” KC added.

  “I’m sure you’re right,” the president said. “But there are tunnels under parts of Camp David.” He pointed his fork down toward the floor. “Under this building, too.”

  “Are you teasing?” KC asked.

  The president shook his head. “Nope. Cross my heart. There’s a long tunnel leading to the other side of the security fence,” he said. “In case the president ever has to leave Camp David fast.”

  “Sweet!” Marshall said. “Have you ever been down in the tunnel?”

  “Only once,” the president said. “It has a sort of safe room with food and fresh water, clothing, even beds. Thank goodness no president has ever had to use it.”

  “Can we see it?” KC asked.

  “Sorry, it’s top secret. Only a few people know there’s such a tunnel, and how to get to it from this building,” the president said.

  KC and Marshall glanced around the large dining room. “Is there like a secret door or something?” KC asked.

  The president nodded. “Very secret,” he said.

  They ate in silence for a few minutes.

  “I made apple pie for dessert, sir,
” Anna said.

  KC nearly jumped. She hadn’t noticed Anna enter the room.

  “I’ll save mine till a little later,” the president told her. “I don’t know about these two, but I’m stuffed.”

  “I still have room!” Marshall said.

  “Not me,” KC said. “I’ll have my pie tomorrow, Anna.”

  “And I’ve got a lot more reading to do,” the president said. He folded his napkin. “Marshall, do you want to take your pie with you over to Witch Hazel?”

  “Great idea!” Marshall said.

  Anna wrapped Marshall’s pie with a napkin and gave him a fork.

  “You sure you want to sleep over there?” the president asked. “Not afraid of things under the floor?”

  KC laughed. “I’ll sleep all night long while Marsh is hearing strange noises!” she said.

  KC found a large blue umbrella in a stand by the door. It kept her and Marshall dry as they darted across the wet lawn to their cabin. By the sofa were pillows, sheets, and blankets.

  “Anna must have done this,” KC said. She flopped onto the sofa.

  “Did she open the window, too?” Marshall asked. The only window in the small room was wide open. He walked over and shut it.

  “Why would she open a window when it’s raining?” KC asked.

  Marshall wandered into his bedroom. “My window is open, too!”

  “Maybe she wanted to air out the cabin,” KC said.

  Marshall slammed his window shut, then sat next to KC and began eating his pie.

  Suddenly something black swooped down from the ceiling, nearly hitting Marshall’s head.

  “Duck!” Marshall yelled. “It’s a pterodactyl!”

  KC dived for the floor. She peeked up as the black thing flashed by again. “No, it’s just another bat!” she said.

  The kids watched the bat do a few more turns around the room.

  KC jumped up and opened the door, letting rain blow in.

  “What’re you doing?” Marshall asked. “More bats will come in!”

  “No, they won’t,” KC said. “They don’t like humans.” She ran into the bathroom and grabbed a towel. She chased the bat around until it finally darted through the door and disappeared. KC closed the door.

  “Lock it!” Marshall said.

  “There’s no lock,” KC said. She grinned at Marshall, who was huddled on the floor. “Maybe the bat was after your pie.”

  Marshall swallowed the last bite. “Too late,” he said.

  The kids brushed their teeth and said good night. They each shut off their light.

  Ten minutes after they’d gone to bed, KC sat up. She thought she’d heard something. Yes, there it was again. Knocking noises were coming from under the floor.

  Those pipes again, she told herself. What else could it be?

  6

  Mysterious Visitor

  KC slept snuggled in blankets on the sofa. She was having a dream about paddling a canoe on a quiet stream. Suddenly the stream became a rushing river. She dropped her paddle. The canoe was out of control, racing wildly down the river. It struck a rock, and that’s when KC woke up.

  It took a moment for KC to remember that she was safe in Witch Hazel cabin. Safe and dry, with her friend in the bedroom and her stepdad right next door.

  KC’s watch showed that it was nearly midnight. Outside, wind and rain lashed the cabin. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

  But not for long. She felt a cool breeze. She heard something thump. Was she back in her dream? Back in the runaway canoe?

  KC opened her eyes. A dark figure was kneeling in front of the chest where she had put her stuff. Suddenly the figure stood up, glanced at the sofa, and ran out the door. It slammed shut.

  KC rubbed her eyes. Was that real? Or was she still dreaming? She turned on the light.

  “KC? What’s going on?”

  Marshall was standing next to the sofa in Spider-Man pajamas. His hair looked like hamsters lived in it.

  “Did you see him?” KC asked.

  “See who?” Marshall asked.

  KC pointed toward the door. “A guy, or maybe a woman, was standing in here,” she said. “He was bent over this chest. Look, he put my books on the floor!”

  KC jumped off the sofa and opened the chest. “Well, he didn’t take anything,” she said.

  Marshall sat on the sofa. “What guy? What are you talking about?”

  KC sat down next to him. “I was having this dream,” she said. “I was in a canoe and lost my paddle. The canoe was going really fast, and I hit a rock, then I woke up.”

  She looked at Marshall. “And that’s when I saw this … person. Then he ran out and you came in.”

  “Yeah, I think I heard the door slam,” Marshall said. He went over to the door. “The floor is wet here. But the wind could have blown the door open and let some rain in.”

  “But the person seemed so real,” KC said.

  “Maybe it was Gus or Anna checking on us,” Marshall suggested. “Or your stepdad.”

  KC shook her head. “They would have said something, not run out the door,” she said. “Maybe I did just dream the whole thing.”

  Marshall walked toward the bedroom. “Or,” he added in a deep voice, “it was President Eisenhower taking his little birthday stroll.”

  “Ha!” KC said. “See you in the morning.”

  Marshall closed his bedroom door. KC got up and pulled a chair in front of the cabin’s front door. She dragged the little chest over and set it on the chair seat. She piled her books on top of the chest.

  “Try to get in now,” she muttered. Then she shut off the light, curled up on the sofa, and pulled the blanket over her head.

  The next morning KC woke up with the sun in her eyes. She lay in the nest of blankets and thought about the night before. She looked at the chair barricade in front of the door and almost laughed.

  She sat and stretched. The figure she saw—or thought she saw—must have been part of her dream.

  She got up and knocked on Marshall’s door. “Are you awake?” she asked.

  “What time is it?” came Marshall’s voice.

  KC checked her watch. “Almost eight. Let’s go get breakfast.”

  They both got dressed and hurried next door to Aspen. The ground was wet, but the rain and wind had stopped. It looked like a perfect day.

  They found Anna in the kitchen. “How did you sleep?” she asked.

  KC knew Marshall wanted to say something about the “ghost” last night, but KC spoke first.

  “It was great,” she said. “Where’s my stepdad?”

  “He had to leave,” Anna said. “He’ll be back later. He left you a note in the dining room.”

  On the table in the dining room, there were two glasses of juice and two place mats. Leaning against one of the juice glasses was an envelope with KC written on the front.

  KC opened the envelope and pulled out a slip of paper. She showed it to Marshall.

  GOOD MORNING, KIDS.

  HAD TO GO BACK TO WHITE HOUSE. EMERGENCY MEETING. WILL RETURN BY AFTERNOON AT LATEST.

  ANNA WILL BE AROUND ALL DAY. ASK GUS TO SHOW YOU THE BEAVER POND.

  LOVE,

  DAD

  7

  What’s Under the Floor?

  “I wish he had told me he was going,” KC said. She slipped the note under her place mat.

  “Why?” Marshall asked. He sipped his juice.

  KC shrugged. “I don’t know, it just feels weird without him here.”

  Anna came in carrying a tray. “I made scrambled eggs,” she said. “Or there’s cereal, if you prefer that.”

  “Eggs are great, thanks,” KC said.

  Anna set plates of eggs and toast in front of KC and Marshall.

  “I have to drive to town for a few lunch things,” Anna told them. “I’ll be back soon. Would you like to come with me?”

  “No, we’ll be fine,” KC said.

  They heard Anna close the door as she left.
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  Marshall stuck his fork into his eggs. “Oh, I heard it again,” he said.

  “Heard what?” KC asked. She nibbled her toast.

  “That bumping noise,” he said. “You know, under the bathroom floor.”

  “Is there a basement under our cabin?” KC asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Marshall said. “There’s no door to get to it.”

  “We should ask Anna if she ever heard noises when she was over there,” KC said.

  “First let’s ask Gus to take us to the beaver pond,” Marshall said. He had an orange juice mustache.

  They finished breakfast and headed outside. Gus was standing next to a truck, talking to another man. A third man was working at a metal box at the top of a telephone pole.

  “Don’t say anything about last night,” KC said.

  “Why not?” Marshall asked.

  “Because if it was all a dream, I’ll feel like a jerk,” KC said. “But if there really was someone creeping around in the cabin, it could have been Gus.”

  The kids walked toward the men. When they got closer, KC read the words THURMONT TELEPHONE on the side of the truck.

  “Morning, kids,” Gus said when he saw them. “The president had to leave real early, eh? I saw the helicopter take off.”

  “Yes, but he said he’d be back soon,” KC said. “Are they fixing the phones?”

  “Yes’m,” Gus said. “It’s a broken wire. Should be done in a jiffy.”

  “Can you show us the beaver pond?” Marshall asked. “The president said we should ask you.”

  “Be happy to,” Gus said. “Give me a while to wrap up a few things.”

  “Let’s wait in Aspen,” KC said. “Maybe my stepfather will call me when the phone is fixed.”

  Back inside the lodge, KC found a book and curled up on a sofa. Marshall walked around the room, poking at the walls and bookshelves.

  “What’re you doing?” KC asked.

  “Seeing if I can find the passage your stepdad told us about,” he said.

  “Marsh, it’s supposed to be top secret,” KC said.

  Marshall wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “That’s why I want to find it!”