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Katie & Kimble:
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Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story
Chapter 1 THE NEW HOUSE 
Out in the country, there was a big, empty house. Well, it wasn't
really empty. In one bedroom, there was a big picture. It
was a picture of a girl and her dog. And floating in front of the
picture was a ghost. It was the ghost of a ten-year-old girl.The ghost looked at the picture. "I hope she's my age," the ghost sighed. Just then, there was a loud noise outside. The ghost quickly flew to the window. When she looked out, she saw two cars. The cars were coming into the driveway! "They're here!" she shouted. "They're here!" * * * "We're here!" Katie screamed. "We're here!" She was struggling to get the leash on her big sheepdog, Twinkle. They were sitting in the back seat of the minivan. "Okay, settle down," her father laughed. When the car stopped, Katie threw open the door. Katie was excited and Twinkle was, too. Twinkle rushed out, pulling Katie behind him. Then Twinkle stopped suddenly in the middle of the big, green yard. So Katie stopped, too. Katie looked at their new house for the first time. "It's beautiful! I love it!" Katie started jumping up and down. 
That did it. As soon as Katie started jumping, Twinkle started
running in circles. Before Katie knew it, her legs were wrapped
up by the leash.Boom! Katie dropped to the ground with a thud. Just then, Katie thought she heard laughter. She was sure of it. It sounded like a girl laughing! Katie sat up and dusted herself off. She looked around. She didn't see any children. "Katie?" Mrs. Russell shouted from the other car. "Are you okay?" "I'm all right," Katie yelled back. She tried to stand up, but she couldn't. Katie laughed a little. "It was pretty funny," she thought. "But who was that laughing?" Katie tried to undo Twinkle's leash. But Twinkle kept licking her face. Katie laughed harder. "Boy, we just got here," she said, "and I'm already ready for a break!" Katie looked at the "family train" in the sandy gravel lane. The first car was blue with four doors. Katie's mother, Mrs. Russell, and Katie's two-year-old brother, Toby, were in that car. Then came the minivan. Katie, her dad, and Twinkle rode in that. Behind their van, they were pulling a big, metal wagon. They were moving into a different house because Katie's mom got a job in a new state. 
The moving van would arrive tomorrow. Then, the next day was
Katie's birthday. She was going to be nine. Katie was
excited about her presents. She was hoping for a new bike.
But she didn't know what to expect. Four years ago, when she turned five, Katie got a dog. It was a big Old English sheepdog. It was silver—the color of stars, thought Katie. Since it was her dog, Katie got to choose the name. She chose Twinkle because the dog was silver. In the sunlight, he twinkled like a star. She also liked that name because she had wished on a star. She had wished for a dog with all her heart. Now that she was almost nine, though, Katie was more practical. She knew she got the dog because she asked her parents for one, too. But she thought wishing on the star had helped. Mrs. Russell lifted Toby from the car seat. She gathered up his blanket, his bottle and his diaper bag. Then she headed for the house. "Come on, Katie," she yelled. "Let's go see the house." Katie jumped up and ran after her across the big yard. "Come on, Daddy," Katie yelled. Mr. Russell shut the minivan door and followed her. Twinkle followed, too. The house was a big, old house out in the country. There were lots and lots of rooms. Katie was delighted because she got her own room. Katie burst through the door. "Wow! This is great!" 
In the front, past the hallway, was the living room. The living
room had a fireplace. On the right of the hallway was a long
staircase."Which room is mine?" Katie shouted. Her parents laughed. "Run upstairs and see," her mom said. "I put something in your room for you." Now Katie was really curious. She dashed up the stairs. She ran into the first room on the right. "Nope. Empty. That's not it," she said. Then Katie skipped over to the next room on the right. "Nope. Too small." Katie looked into the room across the hall. "The bathroom," she said. "That's important to know." Finally, she found it. The second room on the left was her room! There it was. The surprise. A big, framed picture of Katie and Twinkle. It was leaning against the wall. Katie ran to the picture and bent down for a closer look. "Oh, it's beautiful! It's beautiful!" she shouted. Then she sat down on the floor and started laughing. Twinkle had a funny look on his face in the picture. Soon after that, the real Twinkle appeared in the room. He wanted to be part of the fun. 
That evening, Katie was so excited she forgot all about the laughing
girl. Katie helped her dad unpack the wagon. She took the
sleeping bags into the living room. The beds would come tomorrow.
There were four sleeping bags. Katie's dad had a big, ugly orange one with yellow dots. Katie's mom had a pretty blue and green one. Katie's sleeping bag had lots of colors. It had pink and purple and blue. It also had red and yellow and orange. Katie loved it the most. Toby's bag was the smallest. It had dinosaurs on it. Katie lined up the bags in sleeping order. "Daddy will sleep on the outside," she thought. "Then Toby, Mama and me." Katie thought Toby should sleep between their mom and dad because he was only two. He might get up and run away at any moment. Katie put the bags in front of the fireplace. "That way we can keep warm," she thought. It was the beginning of summer. Sometimes the nights grew cool. 
For supper, the Russells roasted turkey hot dogs over the fire.
Then Twinkle started getting noisy, so Katie went to the kitchen to
feed him. That was her job. She went over to a box marked
"Twinkle." Then she took out his red food bowl. Next, she
took out a can of dog food and a can opener. She filled the bowl
and set it on the kitchen floor near the wall. Then she took the
blue water bowl from the box. She filled it from the tap and
set it next to the food bowl. By that time, Twinkle had almost
finished all the food. He was a big, hungry dog.After the Russells sang a few songs, they got into their pajamas. Then, Katie's mom, dad and Toby crawled into their sleeping bags. Katie let Twinkle out to do his duty. Then she moved his big dog bed an inch or two. She wanted it next to her sleeping bag. Twinkle barked at the screen door, so Katie let him in. Then she locked the door. Twinkle ran to his bed and hopped right in. Katie watched happily as Twinkle circled around. Finally, Twinkle plopped down. Katie looked at the room. The embers in the fireplace were growing dim. The sleeping bags were just as she put them. Daddy, Toby, Mama, Katie, and finally Twinkle. Katie crawled into her bag. She patted Twinkle and sighed. "I think I'll be happy here," Katie said. "So will we," her mom said. "Tomorrow's a big day. We'll have to get up bright and early. Good night, sweetheart." Toby and Daddy were already asleep. Mrs. Russell leaned over and gave Katie a kiss. Katie began to drift off into a peaceful sleep. As she did, she thought she heard the laughter of a young girl again. "Hmm. I wonder what that was. I'll see about that tomorrow," Katie thought. Then she fell asleep. © 2007 by Linda Thieman Chapter 2 is called "The First Surprise." You can order your copy of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story here, at http://www.katieandkimble.com |
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