Andrea and Hermione looked at each other, almost as fearfully as Edward had looked at them.
"What ghost?" asked Andrea.
"Don't you know?" Edward asked. "The ghost that…that terrorizes the town! It scares everybody! And it especially scares me. And everybody laughs, then, because they all think I'm a wimp."
"I don't think you're a wimp, Edward," said Hermione kindly.
"Maybe you don't," said Edward, looking like he was starting to cry; even Andrea felt just a little bit sorry for him then. "Everybody else does, though. And how do you not know about the ghost? Are you from a different town?"
"No." Andrea shook her head; if she had been wearing her pigtails, like she usually did, then they would have whipped from side to side, like they usually did, but she wasn't wearing her pigtails, now, because she never wore them when she was in water or in her bed, and that included the pool. "Listen, Edweirdo, I know this might be hard to believe, but we're from the year 1995. We accidentally got here by a portal, and we don't know how to get back…but we'll help you defeat the ghost, if you like."
"You'll…you'll do that? Really?" said Edward in small voice. "I believe you guys. This is the Wizarding World, remember?"
"Yeah, I do. And of course we'll help you get rid of the ghost," said Hermione, smiling at him. "We're your friends, Edward. And we're also going to help you get over your fear of pretty girls."
"Actually, I'm afraid of all girls, not just the pretty ones," said Edward. It was hard to tell which one was redder, Edward's face or Andrea's red swimming suit. "I don't know why, but I always do weird things when I'm around them. I trip and my face gets all hot and my brain jams and I stutter and things come out of my mouth a lot differently than they were in my mind."
"Well, we'll help you with that, too," said Andrea. "The more important thing, though, I think, is to get rid of the ghost."
"Yeah, I agree," said Edward. "So you'll really help me?"
"Of course," said Hermione. "Just like I said before, Edward, we're you're friends. I've got a problem, though."
"What is it?" asked Andrea and Edward, both at the same time.
"I don't know how we're going to get rid of the ghost," said Hermione. "I don't really think I've read anything that would help me get rid of a ghost."
"Hmm," said Andrea studiously, even though she actually wasn't studious.
"Wait a minute, Edward," said Hermione. "Could you give me a bit of background info on this ghost?"
"Well," said Edward, screwing up his face in an effort to remember, "nobody's sure, but they say that around 100 years ago, in 1845, this man lived with his wife in an enormous house with a stable outside, and they also used to own this pool before he died. Then, he had to move because of his wife's job.
"The house they were moving to was too small to keep horses in, so he decided to have one last ride on his horse. He really liked his friends, and he didn't want to leave them, of course, so he was sort of crying. The tears were clouding his eyes so much that he couldn't really see where he was going, and he fell right into a ditch. It was said that he and his horse both died that day, when they fell into the ditch."
"Oh, how horrible!" Hermione gasped.
"Well, of course, his wife still had to move, so she left without him. And they say that, to this day, the ghost of the man and his ghost horse still ride in the pool, terrorizing the people in the pool because they can't stand to see happy people, since it reminds them of how they never were happy, crying because they wish that the wife wouldn't leave. They never found the bodies."
"Oh my God," said Andrea. "That is horrible!"
"Hmm," said Hermione. "I have no idea how we're going to get rid of this ghost. I'm sorry, Edward. We might not be able to help you…but we'll try. I know we'll try."
"Okay, then." Edward looked around himself. "Well…the ghost rides in here, like, every day, so…well…he should be along pretty soon."
Then, as though on cue, they heard a voice, a really spooky one, that could only belong to the ghost Edward had been talking about.
"ARRRGGGHHH…I WILL MAKE YOU ALL SUFFER! IF I CAN'T BE HAPPY, NOBODY CAN! ARRRGH!"
"IT'S THE GHOST!" Edward screamed, latching himself onto Andrea.
Andrea and Hermione looked at each other. They didn't know what to do. This was really going to be a problem.
