The children gathered around the tv as Muiel searched for some cartoons for them to watch. Eustace went back into the kitchen to fix up the back door so that Muriel wouldn't see the large claw marks. One of the older boys wandered back to where Eustace was working. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Eustace was startled at first but quickly recovered. "Can you tell when one of those things is hanging around here?"

The boy nodded. "I can feel it when there is another presence."

"Good. You can help by keeping watch while I work out here. I still want to fix this cellar door so that nothing can get in there without me knowing about it."

The small ghost followed Eustace out to the cellar to keep watch while Eustace put a strong lock on the cellar door and attached one of the small alarms to the door so that he would hear if somebody opened it.

When Eustace was finished with the cellar door, the little ghost to followed him out to the barn and kept watch as he secured the barn door with several heavy boards. Then Eustace moved his truck close to the front porch. Finally, the two of them went back into the house where Muriel was busy fixing lunch.

The children nibbled on cookies while Muriel and Eustace ate sandwiches. Then two of the little girls helped Muriel clean up the kitchen while Eustace went in to read the paper. The other children moved to a corner and began talking until the girls rejoined them. Then four of the children stood watch while the others faded out to rest. Muriel came back in to watch tv and noticed that all except for four of the ghosts were gone.

"Where are the others?

"They're all resting Ma'am. We're staying awake to keep watch until it's our turn to rest."

"Oh, I see." Muriel smiled gently at the little ghost. "Well, why don't the four of you get some rest while we keep watch?"

The four ghosts talked it over then one of the little boys answered. "That's nice of you to offer Ma'am but we can see and feel things that you can't. Also, to wake us up you would have to know how to summon us."

Eustace had put down his newspaper and was listnening to the conversation. "Does that dog summon you or do you all live in our attic?"

The four children looked at each other as if silently communicating then the little boy answered. "We usually stay in the cemetary or up on the mountain trail where we died. Courage has a spell to summon Mr. Worth. The same spell can summon us but only if Mr. Worth allows us or asks us to answer the summons."

Eustace looked puzzled. "How did the dog get that spell?"

Again the little ghosts appeared to be communicating for a few moments before the little boy answered

Eustace's question. "Mr. Worth asked that lady, I think her name is Shirley, to make the spell for Courage after Courage returned the necklace that had been stolen from us."

"Where did the dog get the necklace?"

"He found it burried in the yard. We had been searching for the necklace for a long time. We could feel that Courage had it. He went to Shirley to find out why we were haunting him and the two of you. Shirley explained to him that we were after our necklace so he it back to us. Then Mr. Worth asked Shirley to create the spell for Courage as our way of saying thank-you."

Eustace nodded. "You were the kids who were causing so much trouble a few months ago weren't you?"

The boy nodded. "We didn't mean to cause any trouble. We just wanted to get our necklace back."

"What's so special about that necklace?"

The boy studied Eustace for a few moments then finally answered. "The necklace was given to us right after we were all burried together in the tomb. We were stuck here on earth but we we're still very young and had almost no power. Other stonger, evil spirits kept threatening us and we were all afraid even though Mr. Worth tried to protect us. People kept hearing our cries for help and a medium, Shirley's grandmother I think, made the necklace for us. It has a pendant with a prayer / spell of protection on one side and symbols of protection on the other side. We learned the prayer of protection which use that a lot but the symbols also help protect us."

"So, where's the necklace now?"

"Mr. Worth wears it."

Eustace nodded and returned to his newspaper as the four children moved to different corners of the room.

Meanwhile, Courage and Mr. Worth appeared in front of the library and slipped quietly inside with Mr. Worth staying invisible. After a long search of various books of the town's history, they still had no answers. Mr. Worth began to study various old newspapers while Courage began reading through various books on the occult. After several hours of searching they still had no answers. They were almost ready to give up when Courage stumbled upon a book with a picture of a demon similar to the one he saw. He excitely took the book to Mr. Worth who silently read a couple of pages then handed the book back to Courage.

"According to this book, that particular type of demon has to be summoned in order to walk the earth. They are usually summoned in pairs which means that there are at least two of them."

Courage gulped and shivered wondering who would summon something like that, how many of them had they summoned and, for the love of all that is good in heaven and on earth, WHY?

Mr. Worth seemed to read the little dog's mind. "Well it doesn't appear that there that many of them or things would be much worse. As far as who brought them here and why, those are very good questions that I really wish I had answers to."

Courage looked up at his friend and spoke as clearly as he could. "Did the book say how to get rid of them?"

Mr. Worth listened carefully to Courage then shook his head. "No, it didn't say how to get rid of them. But it did say that they are fairly weak at first then slowly gain power as they feed off of fear. These demons have been around for several days now. I can sense that they have become fairly powerful -- at least the one that came to your house last night was. But it wasn't so powerful that it could actually hurt somebody - not yet anyway. We have to figure out what to do very soon before they gain too much power. If they get too strong there is no telling what they could do."

Courage shivered once again as he put the book back in it's place. The two searched the library for a little while longer then finally decided to leave. Instead of just teleporting back to Courage's house, Mr. Worth wanted to walk back through town. Courage agreed that a nice walk might be just what he needed so they made their way down Main street with Mr. Worth staying invisible as he glided by Courage's side. Suddenly, Mr. Worth stopped. He bacame visible just long enough to point to a majestic old building then disappeared as Courage followed him inside an old church. Since they were alone, Mr. Worth became visible again as he glided toward the altar. Courage watched in amazement wondering how his friend could enter a church. Mr. Worth read Corage's mind and answered the pink dog's unspoken question.

"Since I am not evil, in fact I am quite the opposite, I can freely enter a church. Actually, I am encouraged to come in here although I don't come in very often."

Courage was puzzled as he did not completely understand things like God or churches but one thing he did know was that he felt completely safe here. He jumped up on a pew as Mr. Worth approached the altar and knelt down.

After a few minutes, Mr. Worth rose. As they left the building, the tall ghost began to speak. "This whole thing has me very worried Courage. Those demons are far to powerful for me to even think of trying to fight and they are only going to get more powerful. They have
already gone into the cemetary which means that it is no longer safe for the children and I to return there. Soon, there won't be a safe place except for this church. And then what? Unless we get some help, we could all be doomed."

Courage looked back at the church then up at his friend.

"I prayed for help but the answers haven't come yet. I have been given a different prayer for protection for the children to use. It will only keep safe from the demons for a little while longer but at least it buys us some time."

Courage remembered the new chant he had heard the children use up in the attic. He let himself think about it as loudly and clearly as he possibly could.

Mr. Worth read Courage's mind. "That was one I came up with a few nights ago. Something just felt wrong. The prayer of protection that we normally use just wasn't enough to take that feeling away so I thought about it and came up with a new one. The new one has elements of the Lord's prayer along with parts of the other spell. Come to think of it, I think we probably felt the presence of those things when they first appeared just like you, Muriel, and Eustace did." The ghost stopped suddenly. "One of those things is very close to us right now! Let's get back to the church where we're safe!"

Since it wasn't safe for them to just teleport to the church, the two ran as fast as they could back into the building.

Back at Courage's house, Muriel was beginning to worry. "What is taking them so long? I thought they would be back in time for lunch."

Eustace got up to put his newspaper in the recycling container then returned to his chair. "I'm sure they're just fine Muriel. Probably still going through books at the library."

"I hope you're right Eustace." Muriel rose from her chair and went into the kitchen.

Eustace waited until the kitchen door was closed then motioned to one of the little ghosts to come closer.

A little girl glided silently over to Eustace.

"Is there any way you can find out if the teacher and Courage are okay?"

The girl looked back at the others three ghosts who glided over to where she was. One of the boys answered Eustace. "We can try to summon him. But he might be angry if he is busy and we summon him when we don't need him."

"Is there any way one of you can go to where he is to see if everything is okay?"

All four of the ghosts shook their heads. One of the little girls explained. "Mr. Worth would really be angry if we did that. We're never supposed to split up and travel alone without his permission."

Eustace nodded. "I see."

The oldest one of the boys materialized and glided over to where the other four children were standing. "If Mr. Worth doesn't return soon then we'll try to summon him. If he doesn't answer then three of us will go looking for him."

The other four children stared silently over at the oldest boy then nodded.

Eustace looked out the window. "It will be dark in a couple of hours so we can't wait to much longer."

The little ghosts all nodded in agreement then four of them disappeared while three others appeared to take their places standing watch.

Back at the church, Courage and Mr. Worth stared nervously out the window. "We have to get back to your house soon Courage. The children are probably worried about me and I am certain that Muriel is worried about you."

Courage looked up at his friend wondering why they couldn't just teleport like they usually did.

Mr. Worth answered the dog's unspoken question. "It isn't safe to teleport with one of those things too close by. It could easily grab me and you both and carry us away to another dimension."

Courage whiimpered softly staring anxiously out the window. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Mr. Worth looked down at him. "Let's go quickly before it returns."

Courage held on to the tall ghost's hand and the two of them disappeared.