Alexander William Joseph - A Properly Unhaunted Place

ALSO BY WILLIAM ALEXANDER

Goblin Secrets

Ghoulish Song

Ambassador

Nomad

MARGARET K. McELDERRY BOOKS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright 2017 by William Alexander

Illustrations copyright 2017 by Kelly Murphy

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

M ARGARET K. McE LDERRY B OOKS is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Book design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian and Irene Metaxatos

The illustrations for this book were rendered in pencil.

Jacket design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Alexander, William (William Joseph), 1976 author. | Murphy, Kelly, 1977 illustrator.

Title: A properly unhaunted place / William Alexander ; illustrated by Kelly Murphy.

Description: First edition. | New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, [2017] | Summary: In a world full of ghosts, Rosa and Jasper live in the only unhaunted townbut must spring to action when they realize the ghosts are lying in wait to take the town backProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016031757 (print) | LCCN 2016059961 (eBook) | ISBN 9781481469159 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781481469173 (eBook)

Subjects: | CYAC: GhostsFiction. | Haunted placesFiction. | LibrariesFiction. | Books and readingFiction. | Mothers and daughtersFiction. | SupernaturalFiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.A3787 Pro 2017 (print) | LCC PZ7.A3787 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]dc23 LC record available at lccn.loc.gov/2016031757

para mis sobrinos Suzanna Moxie y Brady Guillermo

W. A.

ROSA AND HER MOTHER MOVED into a basement apartment underneath the Ingot Public Library.

This is nice, Mom said. This will do fine.

Rosa said nothing. She said it loudly. Rosa was not impressed with the basement apartment, or the library above it, or the town of Ingot. She missed their old place in the city. She missed having windows. She missed looking through those windows to see a place that was not Ingot.

Her new bedroom was bigger than her old one, but without any outside view the room still seemed smaller. Someone had tried to fix this by installing a fake window frame and painting beautiful landscapes of forests and lakes on the plaster behind it.

Rosa closed real curtains over the fake view.

This was not home. She could unpack her stuff and spread it around, but that would not make it home. This was just an underground room she happened to be haunting.

Rosa went back into the living room. She didnt find much life in there, either. Mom lay flopped across the couch, which was in an awkward place. It blocked the way to the kitchen. Rosa wanted to shove it into its proper place, but it properly belonged in the city, in their old apartment, directly adjacent to the huge central library. Rosa couldnt shove it that far. She couldnt even shove it away from the kitchen because her mother had fallen asleep on it.

Mom looked defeated. She also looked content with her defeat, and that was worse.

Rosa climbed over her mother, who stayed asleepor at least pretended to sleepand left the apartment. She didnt bring her tool belt. She didnt even know where it was. That didnt matter, though. Not here.

She went upstairs to explore the Ingot Public Library.

Nice old building . Rosa closed her eyes and smelled the familiar, musty, dusty smell of old books given time to think. Then she opened her eyes and let herself wander into odd corners and unusual nooks. That quickly brought her somewhere she wasnt supposed to be.

This is Special Collections, dear, said a woman with wispy hair, white gloves, and aggressive eyebrows. This is where we keep very old books, maps, and historical records. You need permission to be here. You need to sign the form on the clipboard . And children arent allowed at all, even if they do sign the form on the clipboard. Childrens books are through that door, down the hall, and in the far corner. Please dont touch anything on your way there. Her voice tasted like honey dribbled over raw rhubarb.

I live here, Rosa said. She did not want this to be true, but it was, and she felt indignant to have to explain it. We just moved in. My mother is the new appeasement specialist. Librarian appeasement specialists always lived inside their libraries, or at least next to their libraries. They had to be on call at all hours.

Ah, the other librarian said. She took the time to make eye contact now. I see. Though Im not at all sure why such an esteemed specialist has chosen to work here, in Ingot.

She just needed a change, Rosa said.

Silence stretched thin between them.

Ah, the librarian finally said. Well then. Hello. Welcome. Im Mrs. Jillynip. Pleased to meet you. But please dont come and go through this part of the collection. Not without gloves.

Mrs. Jillynip went away without bothering to learn Rosas name. Then she watched Rosa sideways to make sure she didnt touch any of the maps. That made Rosa want to touch maps. She wanted to jump up and down on a big pile of maps. But she didnt. Instead she tried to leave by way of a spiral staircase in the corner of the room.

Not there! Mrs. Jillynip snapped. Then she took a breath and tried to be more civil. Please dont ever go up there.

Why not? Rosa asked.

Because nothings up there. And it isnt safe. The whole staircase might come down. Then the Historical Society would be angry with you. Plus youll probably break both of your legs. Childrens books are that way .

Rosa turned around and went that way. She passed through the childrens section. It had more dusty, creepy, glass-eyed stuffed animals than actual books, so she left to explore the rest of her new library. She noticed all the places where haints, ghosts, revenants, specters, the spirits of the living, and the spirits of the dead would collect themselves if this building stood anywhere other than Ingot. She spotted all the little things that would probably offend them, or enrage them, or send them howling in between the bookshelves in the very small hours of the night if this were any other library in any other town.

Ingot was not haunted. Ingot was the only unhaunted place that Rosa had ever heard of. The Ingot Public Library did not need an appeasement specialist. It had nothing to appeasenothing but Rosa.

She moved unappeased through the library stacks until she found the public bathroom. The sink fixtures inside were all copper, polished in some places and stained green in others. Each mirror had a small shelf underneath it, just like mirrors are always supposed to have, but the shelves stood empty. No coins. No pebbles. No candle stubs. A candle would have been especially helpful. Ghosts could use them to rest, or to pass between boundaries. Lit candles could also make nasty smells disappear, and would have been helpful in this particular bathroom.