“I know. That’s the beauty of it. It’d be like a double prank. Or a reverse prank. I’m sure my mom would know.”
“Something tells me no one will know if the ghosts are real by the end of the week,” Presley said.
When we finally arrived,I was ready for Dice to fill me in on what the brothers decided at church. He texted me during one of their stops to let me know he’d talked to Phoenix. So, while Presley and Ariel were staring at the castle, I was looking around for Dice, who was nowhere to be found.
“We were beginning to wonder if something had happened,” Alice said as she came outside to greet us. “We were expecting people to arrive much earlier, but you’re the first ones here.”
Initially, I was surprised we were the first to arrive, but it made more sense once I thought about it.
“I guess we all got a late start. Dice and Daphne have my mom, London, and Diablo. They’ll be a while yet because they’remaking frequent stops. Walter and Buck are probably following them,” I explained and shook Eugene’s hand before giving Alice a hug. “Thank you for everything,” I told her, and lowered my voice. “But extra thanks for the ghosts.”
“You’re welcome,” she said warmly. “Come inside and check it out. We can get your luggage after you’ve picked a room.”
“How many rooms are there?”
“Fifteen bedrooms,” she said.
“Fifteen?” I asked in surprise.
“Yep,” she said. “Fifteen bedrooms, twenty bathrooms, eight hidden doors, four secret passages, a theater room, a bowling alley, a game room, an indoor pool, and a lot more.”
“What are we doing first?” I asked excitedly.
“Picking a room, then retrieving your luggage. Weren’t you listening?” Ariel joked.
“Boo,” I mouthed.
Ariel gasped in mock horror. “No!”
“We thought we’d give everyone a chance to get here and get settled before we had dinner. Then a tour of the castle, and maybe a movie in the theater room if there’s time. How does that sound?” Alice asked.
“Sounds good to me,” I said and looked at Presley.
“Yeah, that should work,” she said.
“Can we choose any room we want?” Ariel asked.
“You can choose any room that isn’t already occupied,” Alice said. “The bedrooms are on the second, third, and fourth levels. Five bedrooms on each level. We’re on the fourth floor in the room farthest from the main elevator. Pop’s on the third floor in the Wild West room. He’s taking a nap right now.”
“Pop’s here?” Ariel asked excitedly.
“Of course he’s here. He would’ve grounded me if I went to a castle and left him at home,” Alice said. “Come on, I’ll show you where the elevator is.”
Presley and Ariel ran through the halls, darting in and out of doors, as if they had limited time to choose a room. I was still looking at the rooms on the second level when Ariel and Presley reappeared, both slightly out of breath.
“We found rooms,” they said at the same time.
“That’s slightly creepy,” I said. They sounded exactly alike when they spoke in unison, and it made my ears feel itchy on the inside.
“Wait until you hear the three of them do it,” Eugene said knowingly. “I thought I was having a stroke the first time it happened.”
“You did not,” Alice, Presley, and Ariel said.
“Ahhhh!” Eugene and I yelled as we both covered our ears.
I rubbed my itchy ears and shook my head. “I’m gonna go check out level three and pretend this didn’t happen.”
“The room I picked is on level three,” Ariel said excitedly. “It’s the room beside Pop’s.”
