After they’d all left, Artemis stood there looking lost.
“Why does it feel like I’m the only one insulted by thoseguys?” She motioned to the spot where theDMWvan had parked.
“Rest assured,” I said, “I also thought Tad Thompson was a bag of dicks.”
“But you don’t care that they’re using the town?”
“Yeah, of course I do. I hate tourists. And I hate people like Tad Thompson who think we should be throwing ourselves all over him. Where are they from? LA?”
“Seattle.”
“Freaking city people think we’re poor midwest bumpkins or something. Just because I grew up sticking cicada shells to my shirt and making mud pies doesn’t mean I’m stupid. We don’t have to like what they’re doing, and we don’t have to pretend to like it.”
Artemis said nothing to this. She turned the other way, hands on her hips, scanning for something on the street. She could sense ghosts nearly as far away as I could see them.
“Is your mom really trying to getmoretourists to come here?” I asked.
“It’s her one goal in life,” Artemis said. “She wants Addamsville to be the tourist capital of Indiana.”
“That’s certainly a title.”
“The whole town council has been looking for ways to extend the tourist season.”
I’d heard. The ghost of Harben Mill was now rumored to show up on clear spring nights, waiting for her boyfriend in theDenfords’ cornfields. Theater two at the Royal Six, believed to be haunted by Mr. Beverley, the building’s original owner, now mysteriously echoed with theMary Poppinssoundtrack very very early on summer mornings. Coal miners could be seen walking the frozen lake in winter. Only the last one was kind of true.
It was bad enough just in the fall. Tourists had found our trailer on the bluffs before. They thought it was a meth lab. They nosed around our property until Sadie or I came out with Dad’s wood-chopping axe and scared them off. We’d tried talking nicely before—well, Sadie had—but that just made them try to ask permission.
More tourists would come because of the George Masrell fire andDead Men Walking.The two events happening so closely together was already state news. If we got any unluckier, it would be national news. And Addamsville was perpetually unlucky.
“Why’d you look worried earlier?” I asked. “The coal mine, Maple Hills, or Forester House?”
“I checked Maple Hills last night, and the ghosts there are calm. No firestarters there in a long time.” Artemis turned. “And I figured Forester had to give permission for them to film at his house, so he’s not planning to kill them. But I’ve never been in the coal mine. And it’s a lot closer to Masrell’s house. And you looked over at me, and I figured Masrell had told you where the firestarter was when you saw him today.”
“Yeah. Bad news.”
Artemis reached out for me, but didn’t touch me. “Zora, we have to do something. We can’t let them go in the mine if there’s a firestarter down there.”
“Yeah, I know. But they’re not going to listen to either of us if we tell them not to go in, and if we damage the mine to make it seem unsafe, then we won’t be able to get in and find that firestarter ourselves. I’m sure its entrance is down there.”
Artemis’s face lit up. “You want to—oh, Zora, that’s great! We can start hunting again! And my research—I can learn so much more if you’re there!”
I jabbed a warning finger at her chest. “This istemporary. Understand? A one-time deal. Someone has to take this thing out, and I’m the only one around to do it.”
“So when are we going? Tonight? We have to get there before them.”
“No. I can’t take the Chevelle down in the mine, and I’m not fighting another firestarter hand to hand. We’re focusing on making sure it doesn’t attack theDMWcrew first.” I sat back against the Chevelle and thought. “All right. How about this. You’re upset about the filming, right? That the show is going to bring a flood of tourists that are going to ruin the town?”
“Yes...”
“We screw up their filming. When those ghost-hunting shows get ‘evidence’ that turns out to be bored local teenagers, they can’t use that as proof, and it makes the town look like afraud. Might get them out of the mine faster, and while we’re there we can keep an eye out for the firestarter. That’s what, three or four birds with one stone?”
“How did you think of that so fast?”
“I’m always thinking about ways things could go badly for me. That means constantly thinking of terrible things I could be doing. Is it risky? Sure. Do I think I can pull it off? You bet. I wouldn’t have suggested it if I couldn’t.”
“What do you plan on doing to them?”
“Uh”—I waved my hands in the air—“play tricks on them? Make them look like idiots? It happens all the time on ghost-hunting shows, right? Except we’ll do it better.”
