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Anyway, she was looking around and she went into this big chest, looking for the dress. And she was trying it on and posing in front of the mirror and—”
    Madison stopped herself.
    “Are you guys sure you want to hear this?” she said.
    “Yes, yes, yes!” Aimee yelled.
    Fiona gulped. “Go on.”
    “Well, a lot of time passed. The rumor is that Mr. Martin started to get worried about his wife after an hour or so. She hadn’t come back downstairs. So he went up to look for her. Up into the attic.”
    “Into my attic?” Fiona said. “You’re positive?”
    Madison nodded.
    “Isn’t this the spookiest? I love it!” Aimee said.
    “So Mr. Martin went looking for his wife and couldn’t find her anywhere. They couldn’t figure out what happened. The whole town of Far Hills sent out a search party, and they looked all over the house and neighborhood for his missing wife. They found nothing.”
    “Tell her the next part, Maddie,” Aimee said. “Fiona, the next part is the best—”
    “Many years later, Mr. Martin died. Everyone said he died of a broken heart. So his family moved out of the house. And when they were moving, someone found the old chest. It was sealed shut, but they pried it open and inside …”
    Fiona covered her ears. “What? Don’t tell me it was the—”
    “Say it!” Aimee cheered.
    “Inside the chest was … Mrs. Martin!” Madison screamed.
    Fiona looked absolutely horrified.
    “Or her skeleton, anyway. Some people think that Mrs. Martin had tried on the dress and then decided to hide in the trunk to surprise her husband and it closed on her, knocking her unconscious and latching shut. She never regained consciousness. Or even if she had, the chest didn’t have a safety latch inside. She was trapped forever. And ever.”
    Aimee had her hand over her mouth, acting a little dramatic, as usual. “Poor Mrs. Martin stuck in a trunk! Isn’t that great!”
    Fiona gasped.
    “I mean, it’s awful …” Aimee whispered, “that she died and all that, but—”
    “No way!” Fiona said. “This did not happen in our attic.”
    Madison nodded. “It could be true.”
    “Let’s go look!” Aimee said. “Right now.”

Chapter 8
    “I SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT my lucky charm bracelet with me tonight. I could use it,” Madison said. She was shivering a little. “I think you need a little luck to catch a ghost.”
    Madison, who was very superstitious, had collected many pieces of “lucky” jewelry so far in her life. She usually wore all her lucky rings (one on each finger), but she had taken some of them off earlier in the day. Tonight she only had on her turquoise ring from a shop in New Mexico, a present from Dad after some business trip; her evil eye ring (not an actual eyeball, but close); and her loopy interlocked silver friendship ring. Aimee had the same one, only she’d lost hers right after they bought them last year.
    “Okay, I don’t care what you say, we have to stop talking about this ghost thing right now!” Fiona yelped. She was half giggling, but Madison could tell how spooked Fiona had gotten. “Look, there are no ghosts in my house. My family has been here for like five months and we haven’t seen anything or heard anything. You guys are scaring me. Cut it out.”
    “Let’s go sit in the other room,” Madison suggested. “We can talk about other stuff.”
    “You know what? Maybe the ghost is here because of the dance,” Aimee said, skipping into the living room. The prospect of what might be hiding in the attic was getting her more excited by the minute. When she got excited, she danced. “I think the ghost is here because Mrs. Martin died during a dance—and we’re about to have a dance. You think? That’s a pretty strong connection. …”
    “Gee, that could be true,” Madison said aloud. “It makes some kind of sense. And it is Halloween …”
    “Maddie, this makes no sense!” Fiona said. “Ghosts make no sense! They aren’t real and there are no