The Howling Ghost by Christopher Pike Page B

jelly doughnut.
    â€œIf you had lived here as long as me, you wouldn’t have to ask,” Sally replied, sipping her coffee. Shenodded to his doughnut. “It’s better to eat ones that don’t have stuff inside.”
    â€œWhy?” Adam asked.
    â€œYou never know what that stuff might be,” Sally said.
    â€œIt’s just a jelly doughnut,” Adam protested, although he did stop eating it.
    Sally spoke gravely. “Yeah, but where did the jelly come from? Have you been in the back room? Have you studied the supplies? You can make jelly out of raspberries and strawberries, or a respectable facsimile from scrambled brains.”
    Adam set his doughnut down. “I really don’t think so.
    â€œIt’s not always wise to think too much in this town,” Sally said. “Sometimes you’ve got to trust your gut feelings.” She leaned over and sniffed the doughnut. “Or your nose. It smells all right to me, Adam. Go ahead, have another bite.”
    Adam sipped his milk. “I’ve had enough.”
    â€œCan I finish it?” Watch asked. “I’m not picky.”
    â€œSure,” Adam said, pushing the doughnut over. “What were we talking about a few seconds ago? I forgot.”
    â€œAlien abductions,” Watch said, taking a bite out ofthe doughnut and licking the jelly as it oozed over his fingers. “They’re happening all over. Ships from other planets come down and grab people and take them into orbit for physical examinations. I’m surprised one of us hasn’t been abducted yet. I imagine we would make interesting specimens.”
    â€œI don’t believe in flying saucers,” Adam said.
    Sally snorted. “Yeah. Just like you didn’t believe in witches a month ago.”
    â€œHave you ever seen a flying saucer?” Adam asked even though he knew what Sally’s answer would be.
    â€œOf course,” she said. “Just before you got here I saw one come down up at the reservoir. Old Man Farmer was out on his boat fishing and—”
    â€œWait a second,” Adam interrupted. “I thought you said there were no fish in the reservoir? That they had all thrown themselves on the shore because they couldn’t bear to live there.”
    â€œI said he was fishing,” Sally explained. “I didn’t say he was catching any fish. Anyway, this ship came down and hovered over him and emitted this high vibration. Before you knew it Farmer’s face got really long and his eyes bulged out of his head. Ten seconds of this and he looked like an alien.”
    â€œThen what?” Adam asked.
    Sally shrugged nonchalantly. “The ship left and he continued fishing. I think he caught something that day, too. But I don’t know if it was edible.”
    â€œBut did Mr. Farmer continue to look like an alien?” Adam asked, exasperated.
    â€œIt was not a lasting operation,” Sally said.
    â€œBut his chin is still kind of pointed,” Watch added.
    Adam shook his head. “I don’t believe any of this.”
    â€œWhy don’t you take a peek in the back,” Sally said. “Old Man Farmer works here. He probably baked that doughnut you just ate.”
    As often was the case when Adam was with his friends, he had to struggle to keep up. If he hadn’t almost been thrown in a boiling vat on the Secret Path, he would have refused to believe this new story. But nowadays he always left the door to his mind open, in case what they were talking about might be true.
    â€œWhat I want to know,” Adam said, “is why Spooksville is so spooky? What is it about this place that makes it different from other towns?”
    Watch nodded. “That’s the big question. I’ve been trying to figure out the answer since I moved here. But I can tell you one thing, Bum knows the truth. I think Ann Templeton does, too.”
    â€œBut Bum won’t tell?” Adam