A/N: *sighs* I am so relieved that Tucker and Valerie have made-up, aren't you? All this separation anxiety was just too much for me—oh wait! That term, 'separation anxiety', is supposed to apply to babies and their moms! Oh, well, I'm sorta a baby when it comes to all this romance stuff, so it sounds apropos to me after all! Anyhow, now what? Seems like things are still in a pickle….So, after the IDNOAC commercial break, let's tune in, shall we? Here is Chapter 46…Enjoy! *frequency static clearing*….
TrueHeart—Chapter 46—Unified Plans
"Danny!" Tucker suddenly gasped, startling Valerie as they parted. Now that they had made-up, Tucker's next thoughts were about his friends. "Spectra and Bertrand have him!"
"Who have him?" Valerie asked with a frown.
Tucker quickly explained, "That's the name of those two ghosts you and Danny were fighting a few minutes ago. They are particularly nasty ones, too. They like to feed off of human misery. And they use that misery to keep themselves looking young." He suddenly paused and then excitedly continued, "And when they suck out that misery, that makes you more miserable! And that's why they wanted to break Danny and Sam up! To suck up their misery." But then, after thinking about how much trouble Danny had during the fight, he muttered really to himself, "But when they do that, it only makes you depressed. So, how come that made him so weak, then?…"
She blinked in awe. He really knew a lot about ghosts. She asked, "And you've fought them before?"
"Yeah, a couple of times, but not just me, of course. Danny and Sam…Sam!"
Valerie jumped again at his unexpected frantic cry.
He cringed and said, "Sorry! But remember that Sam was here earlier, too, and now I don't know where she is!" He hesitated at his next thought, but he then muttered that same thought out loud nevertheless, "And she's in trouble, too!"
In the next instant, he reflexively whipped out his cell phone. He was about to call Sam on it when he noticed fresh blood oozing from the ugly, deep gash on Valerie's arm. He stopped and put the cell phone down to his side, knowing what had to take place first. He grabbed his coat, which was still on the ground. And as he draped it back over Valerie's shoulders, he said, "But, even though I'm worried a lot about them, I need your help to find them; and you're in no condition to do that right this second. Right now, we have to get you some first aid. And I need some first aid, too."
"What do you mean?" she asked. She agreed she needed some patching up, but he didn't seem to have any obvious wounds.
He pulled out his PDA and held it up; but before he could say anything, two things happened simultaneously: the phone within his other hand rang, which startled him and because of it, his fingers fumbled on the slippery thin sheet of snow and dirt still covering his PDA. He gasped as he quickly lost his grasp on his PDA. He instinctually dropped his phone and recaptured his PDA with both of his hands. The phone immediately shattered to pieces on a small stone that was jutting up from the snow.
"Whew!" he uttered as he pressed his most prized possession against him. He much rather have his phone down there than his PDA.
"I'm sorry, Tucker," Valerie said when she looked at his destroyed phone.
"That's okay," he replied. "I think it'll be okay."
However, she didn't know that he was referring to his PDA when he said that. She frowned in confusion. He wasn't upset about one of his techno gear being destroyed? Nevertheless, she quickly added, "So, what did you mean that you needed first aid?"
He carefully lifted his PDA up once more; and with a smirk, he replied, "My PDA needs first aid! That's why I almost dropped it just now. It was thrown and buried in the pile of dirt and snow when Spectra shot it out of my hands when I was in the pit trying to help Danny. And there's still some dirt and snow residue on in and also probably between the keys. I need to repair it, too, before I can go look for Danny and Sam."
She rolled her eyes with both slight exasperation and amusement. "Oh, here, let me see," she said with a slight chuckle as she took the PDA away from him with her left hand.
Tucker's face instantly lit up in worry and he gasped in surprise at her sudden response. But she merely smirked as she wrapped her hand firmly around it and brought her hand close to her right, injured arm. When her hands were close enough to each other, she pushed a button on the control device on her left wrist, wincing a little when a sudden sharp pain shot through her injured arm. She ignored that and held the little PDA steady as a pink energy bubble quickly surrounded it before lifting it gently up to within its center. And now that it had finally stopped snowing, she knew she could activate the desired feature without any interference. She quickly pressed another button, and just as she did, sparks of gold electricity ignited within the rosy orb and around the encased little machine, and it shook under the energy.
Tucker suppressed a cry of worry over what she was doing to his PDA. But his face was clearly disconcerted over it. Still, he somehow had the feeling that he could now trust her.
A few moments later, the rosy energy orb dissipated and the little PDA plopped securely back into Valerie's firm hold. She smirked as she handed it back to Tucker and his face relaxed.
Still smiling, she shyly remarked, "I had interfaced this cleaning program designed just for your PDA not too long before, uhm, you know, all that bad stuff. I did it just in case, you know, we needed it."
'We'. He liked the sound of it. He looked down at his PDA. It looked brand new! And she did that just for him? He blurted out, "I love you!"
"Me or your PDA?" she teased with a grin.
"Well, both really," he answered with a mischievous smile. "But my PDA is a close second!"
Valerie squelched the tear of joy at those words. But then, she groaned, finally succumbing to the pain throbbing in her right arm, and now, her head.
Tucker gasped at the sight again of the blood oozing down her arm. He pointed to her arm and then firmly announced, "Okay, now it's time to get that fixed up. And I know exactly where we should go!"
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Sarah was surprised that Danny had not placed her back into her cage. But, she didn't know that he could not do that again now that he knew she was a bewitched human ghost. And besides, he really hadn't thought about doing that in his haste to rush and phase out through his window to fight the ghosts.
No matter the reason, Sarah had only one thought now that she was free: Derek! But where was he? The Ghost Boy had told her that his love, Lady Sam, had taken her husband; but the dove, of course, had no idea where the girl lived. She flitted frantically about, trying to think of what to do.
Finally, she alit onto the unglowing top of her cage and sighed in defeat. She felt the tears of helplessness grip her as she thought about how much of a mess she had made of everything, about all the misery she had caused. And she just knew that if she ever saw her beloved Derek again, she would make sure to try to please him and put his desires first from now on. It wasn't that she had ever been too selfish to put his desires first when it was necessary, or that he had never considered hers. It's just that she knew his desires at this moment were more important. She had to help him, to reach him at the level of his despairing turmoil in which he currently was in order to bring him back up and have him hope again. And she knew she would even agree to flee from this wretched place which was so full of even more evil ghosts if that was the way to help her love.
But then, she thought about Danny. He said he was also a ghost, no, half-ghost. She didn't understand that. Still, she didn't think he was evil. Even so, he was outnumbered by those ghosts who were. She whimpered as the tears flowed out as an out-of-control flooded river. She felt she still needed to help him. Somehow. Though she didn't know how and knew her first priority was her husband. She had to be loyal and supportive of him. After all, Derek needed her help, too.
She tried to keep her thoughts together, but she finally yielded to her sudden despair and cried even more, feeling totally lost on what to do….She stayed where she was, her head buried within her panged bosom, for a very long time….
But then, she was shaken from her depressing thoughts when the door to Danny's room unexpectedly flew open.
"Danny!" Jazz cried as she barged in, and the dove immediately flitted up in retreat to the top of the mirror adjoining Danny's bureau.
Jazz had just returned from school after finishing up with her after-school project. She had already checked on her parents and saw the note. She was worried about her brother and wished their parents would return soon so that they could talk to him. But she also couldn't wait for their parents since she didn't know when they would be back. And so, she had gone right up to talk to her brother.
Jazz caught the movement of the bird with the corner of her eye and then she gasped when her gaze perchance glanced down at the broken picture frame, the shattered glass, and the overflowing trash can, full of other pictures and mementos of Sam. And the large charred holes in the floor.
She gasped. "Oh, no! So, what they were saying at school was true! It's worst than I thought!" she fretted out loud. "I can't believe that Sam would do that to Danny! And I can't believe it! They must have broken up! I've got to find him and Sam!"
The teen immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed her brother's number. But she cringed in discouragement when she heard its cute little tune singing from on top of the bureau, which startled the dove, which was still on top of its mirror. The bird quickly flew up to the overhead ceiling light, away from that new foe.
"Darn it!" Jazz groaned, not paying attention to the dove for the moment. She was not, however, surprised to see the dove at all. Danny had told her all about how he had found it, and she had seen it. But she had no time to think about that now. She quickly dialed Sam's phone. But it rang and rang and then there was a 'clicking' sound. Encouraged, Jazz quickly said, "Sam?" But she sighed when she got her answering machine instead.
"When is she going to change that lame 'doom and gloom' message?" the girl uttered with a slightly irritated frown. She hadn't ever been bothered by Sam's answering machine message before; but, of course, she hadn't been this worried before, either. She knew something was terribly wrong.
However, she couldn't have known that Sam was still senseless from the mental effort she had made saving Danny from Valerie's missiles; and that she was currently still in the purple ectoplasmic energy orb, along with her unconscious boyfriend, both on their way to Spectra's lair.
Still, Jazz was quick to leave her message, "Sam, this is Jazz. Call me. It's important."
She hung up again and called Tucker. But she heard a strange noise at the end. Then, it sounded dead, which, of course, it was, since it had fallen and shattered on the ground when its ring had startled Tucker.
The girl growled in frustration. It was then that she remembered that the dove was loose! She quickly scanned the room and saw the little bird still perched up on the overhead ceiling light. But when she looked at it just now, it looked different than the last time she had seen it for some reason. It was glowing, just as a…ghost would!
She slowly approached the ceiling light and, looking up, softly said to the dove, "How did you get loose, sweetie? I don't want you to get hurt anymore."
Sarah looked down upon the girl and had a feeling that this girl was as kind as she sounded. She had seen the girl only a couple of fleeting times while she was here, and had guessed that she was the sister of Danny. And she liked the girl from the moment she saw her. The girl just seemed so kind. And the dove couldn't help but trust her.
Then thinking about Derek's warning once more, she shook her head, trying to resist that feeling. But as she continued to observe the girl, she still couldn't help but trust her somehow. But then, she thought about Derek and his warning about her nature again. Tears began to well up. He was right, but she couldn't help it. But she also tried to fight back her tears.
She startled a little when Jazz then said with concern, "Are you okay, little one? I hope you're not sick. You look strange. Are you well enough to go back to your home yet?"
Home! Sarah couldn't hold back her emotions at the thought that she and Derek would never find one, especially when she might not ever see him again! She began to sob.
This time, Jazz was taken aback and gasped, "Are…are you crying?"
"Yes…I …am crying," Sarah answered between her heaves, just before she glided down to the top of her cage again. "You are so blessed to have a home and family! Alas, I never will! And my love is lost!" She broke down again.
Jazz was stunned at what just happened. This undoubtedly was a ghost animal! But why could it talk? She knew that ghost animals didn't speak—well except for Vlad's buzzards, but they didn't count… But this ghost animal obviously could and it was in distress. In spite of her astonishment, as Jazz slowly crept toward the bird, she found herself uttering, "Oh, I'm so sorry. What can I do to help?"
The dove blinked in disbelief. She couldn't believe what the girl had just said! Another one so willing to help her in spite of all that she had done? But maybe this one didn't know all the vile things she had done? Still, the dove startled a little when she looked up into Jazz's jade-colored eyes. They were so different from the shadow ghost's eyes when that ghost had uttered similar words. This girl's eyes breathed of the truth. She was sincere!
And now that Sarah thought about it, there had been a look of dark purpose, like clouds vainly struggling to hold back a torrent, behind Spectra's eyes when she had offered to help her and her husband. And she knew to what evil that had all led. She had not recognized it before because she was blinded by her hope and trust. Maybe it was happening again now!
Sarah suddenly began to sob again and Jazz became alarmed. "Please don't cry! I'm sorry if I scared you!" She stepped back from the bird and stopped right next to Danny's desk. She declared, "Look, I moved away so I don't make you nervous! I won't hurt you! I promise."
Jazz's last words went right to the enchanted girl's central core. That is exactly what the red-haired girl's brother had said! That was it. Sarah decided to trust her and tell her everything that had happened, even as her husband's words of warning echoed in her mind. She took flight and landed on the desk.
She looked up with sad eyes at the girl and barely said, "I am sorry to upset you. I have done too much of that for everyone! But, we do not have time for every moment of the telling! I am compelled to tell you, however, that your brother, Sir Danny, left some time ago to fight some evil ghosts that were in the distance from here. And as you can see, he has yet to return. But I will also tell you that he knows the truth about his beloved, the Lady Sam. She is innocent and her heart has always been true to him. He has been encouraged about this and his heart has been mended."
Jazz blinked at the dove and blurted out, "How do you know about all of this? Who are you?"
"As I said, there is no time for every moment of telling! But I will tell you that my name is Sarah and I do not wish any more harm upon any of you."
Jazz still wanted to know more. What did this ghost mean by that? How could she hurt anyone? But her thoughts were interrupted by Sarah's frantic plea.
"Please, you must go help your brother! Since he has not returned in haste, I fear more evil may have come down upon him!"
"What do you mean?" Jazz gasped, suddenly startled by that news.
Sarah quickly told the girl about Spectra's evil plans about her brother, especially the evil ghost's desire to possibly kill him!
"How do you know about all this?" Jazz demanded more firmly this time; and the ghost dove cringed.
Still, Sarah bravely answered, "Because I have been instrumental in that evil ghost's doing! But I regret it all and your brother knows all of this and still has forgiven me! In any case, we have no time! You must go help your brother!"
"But how?" Jazz asked, now beginning to get desperate. "And which ghost was he going to fight, anyway? It might not be Spectra. If it's the 'Crate Creep', I mean, the 'Box Ghost', then there's nothing to worry about. In any case, I have to know because he might not need the help after all."
Sarah blinked in confusion. She did not know of the ghost of which the girl had just spoken. She finally uttered, "I am sorry. I do not understand. He has fought many ghosts?" Even though Danny had told her about the fact that a 'bazillion' other ghosts had wanted to hurt him, she thought he had not been serious.
"Yeah, more than even I know about, probably!" Jazz began. Then with a touch of pride in her voice, she added, "And, really, we all have. Team Phantom, that is."
Once again, the dove looked at her in bewilderment.
Jazz saw that look and was surprised that she could actually recognize any emotion in the ghost animal. Still, she continued, chuckling now a little in embarrassment, "Uh, Team Phantom? Well, yes, heh-heh, that would be me, Sam, and Tucker. And occasionally, my mom and dad."
"All of you have fought many ghosts before?" the dove asked, amazed and suddenly curious. "But why?"
"Well, not that we really want to. It's just that, there are some really nasty ones out there who want to cause trouble for us humans here in the Real World and, of course, to make even more trouble in your world. Someone has to make the sacrifice and try to keep them in line. It's just the right thing to do, you know. And Danny does that more than any of us, of course, ever since he got his powers. But we—me, Sam, and Tucker, that is—help as much as we can when we can."
"W-What do you mean by 'since he got his powers'? Sir Danny did not always have those?" Sarah found herself blurting out, suddenly remembering that the Ghost Boy had promised to tell her his story one day. She suddenly gasped, "Alas, I do not understand. Sir Danny said that one day he would explain that to me, because I still do not see how he could be both human and ghost."
Jazz immediately thought, "Sir Danny?" But seeing that this ghost somehow knew of her brother's secret, she instead replied, "Well, technically, he's half-human and half-ghost…"
Sarah blurted out, "He said that, too!" But when she realized what she had just done, she apologetically said, "Forgive me, Lady Sister. I did not mean to interrupt you."
"Oh, that's okay," Jazz said with a weak smile. "I see you know that I'm, uh, Sir Danny's sister. But my name is Jazz! Anyhow, no, Danny didn't always have his powers! He got them by accident a little more than two years ago…uh, sorta..." She stopped, not wanting to get into that time complication thing.
She then continued, "And at first you could have said they were a curse because he had so much trouble controlling those powers. And he had to hide it from most of us because, I hate to say, he was afraid that our parents would've killed him!"
Sarah gasped.
Jazz hurriedly continued, suddenly stumbling over her words at how that must have sounded to this strange ghost. "Uh, but they didn't! Of course…you know, kill him, because you wouldn't have, uhm, seen him today! They now know about everything and are really very cool about it!"
She paused, not wanting to dig any deeper a hole. But then she said, "Uhm, I'm sorry if I frightened you, especially when all of this stuff must sound crazy to you, even when it sorta is! But anyways, even though Danny had to deal with controlling those powers and keeping himself safe from our parents at the time, he still had to fight ghosts and keep our town—and really, our world—safe."
Jazz smiled with a little pride as she added, "And, really, we all try to help him now as much as we can! Of course, I can't help being proud of him. I would have even if he didn't have those powers, you know, because he's really a very cool brother. But now that he uses his powers for good, he's a real hero. And I am very lucky to have him as my brother!"
Sarah's eyes widened. She could not believe what she had just heard. Those young people were willing to do that much sacrificing for so long just because it was the right thing to do? She felt ashamed about herself once more and said with earnest, "Forgive me for delaying you. I have caused so much anguish; I can bear it no more. Please, then, I beg of you once more. You must go to the aid of your brother! I fear it is that evil ghost Spectra whom he went to fight not more than an hour ago. I cannot explain how I know. I just do. Please, Lady Jazz, go!"
"But what about you?" Jazz insisted.
"I have already caused too much suffering! I only wish to find my husband and we will not bring any more grief to anyone else but ourselves. But, alas, I cannot find him! And I do not know where to begin to look. But that no longer matters. What is important is for you to help your brother!"
Jazz looked at the bird and was puzzled at what she saw. She could see only sadness and desperation in its eyes. And somehow, she felt that it needed her help, too. She said, "But you look like you're in need of some help, too! Perhaps I can do that, too!"
Sarah looked up at her, again with surprise. "I do not understand…"
"Please, I want to," Jazz gently interrupted.
Finally, the bird relented. She slowly replied, "But…perhaps, if it pleases you, you can help me! Sir Danny had said that the Lady Sam has my husband with her. Do you know where she is?"
"Yes! And, as a matter of fact, I need to go find her and Tucker so we can help Danny!" Jazz excitedly said. But before she did anything else, Jazz turned to the dove and said, "And, oh, by the way, you don't have to call me 'Lady Jazz'. Just 'Jazz' would be fine."
Sarah's eyes widened once more. Her brother had said similar words! These were indeed very special humans.
But before Sarah could say anything more, Jazz, suddenly motioning for the dove to come with her, commanded, "And let's go!"
The dove took quick flight after the girl and they both darted to Sam's house...
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But when they got to Sam's house, Jazz stopped short of knocking on the door. What if Sam wasn't home? Then, why would Sam's parents let her in? But maybe her grandmother would. She turned to Sarah and said, "This might be a little complicated, but don't worry. Oh, and you might want to make yourself invisible, Miss Dove."
Sarah obliged her and became invisible.
"Please let it be Grandma Manson…please let it be Grandma Manson…" Jazz prayed under her breath as she gingerly rang the doorbell.
Jazz's heart leapt when it was Grandma Manson, ever on her scooter, who answered the door. She bit her inner cheek, trying to compose herself as she said, "Hello, Mrs. Manson. Is Sam home?"
"No, Jazzie. In fact, I'm beginning to get a little worried about her."
"Well, I haven't seen her either, but….she told me…that, uhm, I…could pick up…what I let her borrow here when I had the time. And now I do!...Uh, have the time, that is," she hesitantly lied, with a nervous smile.
One of the old woman's eyebrows shot up in suspicion, but she said instead, "Okay. But please tell her to call if you see her?"
"Sure, Mrs. Manson. And I'm sure she'll call. You know how she is. Uhm, can I go get the thing she, uhm, borrowed?" She hoped she didn't sound too pushy.
"Well, go on up, Jazzie. You know where her room is."
"Thank you, Mrs. Manson," Jazz replied.
But just as Jazz passed her, Grandma Manson said with a touch of concern, "And please be careful."
"I will," Jazz absent-mindedly replied and then gasped when she realized what had happened. She turned back to the old woman and smiled in embarrassment.
Nothing really escaped Sam's grandmother!
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Jazz quickly made her way to Sam's room and looked around. Sarah gasped as she materialized. She had been the first to see her husband in a cage. He was in the shadows at the foot of Sam's bureau.
"Derek!" she screamed in relief and excitement.
"Sarah!" he replied with as much emotion when he spied her, instinctively jumping up and pressing his paws and face against the bars nearest to her. But they jolted him and he pulled back.
The dove immediately soared over to him and since she could see that the slates were wide enough, she carefully pushed her head through, thankful that the bars would not be touching her. Derek then met her forehead gently with his own; and closing their eyes, they stayed in that embrace for several moments.
Jazz wondered how two totally different ghost animals could be capable of such an expression of love, but somehow, she knew that their love was real. She then grew embarrassed at that realization; but knowing that they were pressed for time, knew she had to break the tender moment.
"Ahem!" she said, clearing her throat loudly yet discreetly as she did. "I'm sorry, but we really have no time for this! Mrs. Manson might get suspicious if we stay too long!"
Derek had only seen Sarah all this while and had not noticed the human girl who had accompanied his wife. But when he heard the unexpected human voice, he jolted away from his wife and looking at the teenage girl, hissed with his warning, baring his claws and fangs as he did. He, of course, knew that he could really do nothing to her within this cage. But if she should try to get to him within the cage, he would be ready.
But Sarah quickly assured him, "No, Derek! It is all right! This girl came to help us!"
Derek immediately frowned when he looked back at his wife, thinking that she had fallen into still another trap. He silently whispered, and his voice was very grave, "Sarah…"
And even though she caught his reprimanding tone, she was just as quick to counter, "I know what you are thinking, beloved, but she is here to help. But there is no time to explain. Please let her help us!"
Derek saw how desperate his wife's eyes looked at her plea.
He relented, saying, "Only for you."
Sarah smiled widely and flitted back to Jazz. But as she neared the girl, she suddenly felt worried. She would not have another human become entangled in this horrible web that had been woven by all the evil she and her husband had created. Plus, she remembered her own promise to herself. That she would do whatever would please Derek if she could ever see him again. And it was his desire to leave this place and never to return. She quickly flew back to her husband.
Jazz frowned in confusion. Why did the dove turn around? But she patiently waited a moment longer. But she hoped it wouldn't be too long.
"Derek," Sarah hurriedly whispered to him when she had returned. "After this girl has helped us, I also do not wish to put her or any other human in danger any more. When she frees you, let us go in haste to flee this wicked place."
"But why did she agree to help us, then?"
"She did because it was the right thing to do. And she wishes to help her brother."
He frowned in confusion. "Her brother? What do you mean, Sarah?"
Her speech increased in pace with her desperation. "There is so much to explain, but we have no time at the moment. He is the same dark-haired boy whom we helped Spectra tear away from his love. I fear that that wicked sorceress may have him within her clutches as we speak!"
Derek paused at first. He tried to think about whom his wife was speaking. It was not the boy he overshadowed, and it was not the boy with the red hat. Then he knew and said, "Yes, I remember the boy. His name is Sir Danny, is it not?"
She nodded.
But then he anxiously asked, "But how do you know of this and that it is indeed true that he is within the power of that wicked creature?"
Sarah's eyes averted his as she replied, "I do not know. Buy I have a strange feeling about it and no more. But, we have no more time. I do not wish to cause any more discord between us. I was wrong to have press for it and thus put us in even more peril. And I do not wish to cause any more harm to another living being by any more delays or by any other means. So, I beg you, Husband, let us not tarry any longer. We must be on our way!"
Derek was surprised to hear this from his wife. After all, hadn't they argued over this very subject before they had been attacked by Bertrand the last time they were in the Ghost Zone? Had she changed her mind? Why? But he couldn't say anymore. He nodded and replied, "All right, Sarah. Let us go, then."
She was glad that though he had remained silent a little too long while he mulled over what she had said, in the end, he finally agreed to flee with her. The ebony dove quickly flitted back to Jazz.
Jazz, meanwhile, was getting more anxious. Why were they taking so long? And now she could hear the elevator. Grandma Manson had grown suspicious! But just before the girl was going to say something to the animal couple, Sarah was flying right back to her.
The dove apologized, "I am sorry we took so long, Lady Jazz. I thank you with my entire being for all that you have done for me, for us!"
"That's okay. But we need to go—now!" Jazz quickly replied. She hurried over to the where the wildcat was confined. She opened the cage, but just as she was about to reach in, the lynx leapt upward out of the cage under his own ghostly power.
Jazz stepped back in surprise, just as Derek politely said with a respectful nod of his head, "A thousand 'thank you's', mi lady! My dear wife and I are indebted to you. But we must go now. We cannot bear to have another human put at risk for our sake any more. Come, Wife!"
Sarah flew over to her husband and alit upon his back. She turned to the still astounded girl as she and her husband hovered in place and hesitantly added, "Thank you again for helping us. We will never forget your kindness. But please also forgive us, but we are going to flee from here and never return. I hope you find your brother!"
Without another word, the ghost animals lifted upward as one and quickly becoming intangible, phased through the window and into the rapidly retiring day.
"Wait!" Jazz called after them as they began to phase out of the window. "I don't know how to find Danny!"
But the ghost couple didn't turn back or answer her.
Jazz turned to leave, trying not to panic. But the next sound she heard helped her snap back to her senses. Grandma Manson's scooter was making its way to Sam's room. The teen took a deep breath to compose herself and walked calmly out of Sam's room. She met the old woman just as she did.
"Oh, there you are, Jazzy. I hadn't seen you go and I was getting a bit concerned that I was losing it. Did you get what you came for?"
"Uh-huh!" Jazz nervously blurted out.
But Sam's grandmother frowned when she didn't see anything in the girl's hands. "Where is it?"
This time, Jazz laughed, trying to brush off what the old woman had said. But it was obviously a nervous laugh. "Did I say, 'Uh-huh'? I meant 'Uh-uh'! I'm such a loon! I got it back from Sam yesterday! Sorry to have bothered you, Mrs. Manson. I'll tell Sam to call you if I see her, okay? And you don't have to let me out. I know the way! Bye!"
And before Mrs. Manson could say anything else, the girl had darted down the stairs and out the front door.
The old woman turned her head and peeked into Sam's room, followed by looking to where Jazz had gone. She frowned in bewilderment and then scratching her head, quipped with a slight chuckle to herself, "Don't even try to figure that one out, Millie!"