Midnight Reynolds and the Agency of Spectral Protection (Midnight Reynolds, 2, Band 2) - Hardcover

Holt, Catherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807551287 ISBN 13: 9780807551288

Verlag: ALBERT WHITMAN & CO, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Twelve-year-old Midnight Reynolds has a huge secret—she's a spectral protector, someone who helps ghosts cross over into the afterlife. Alongside her best friend Tabitha, Midnight is busy juggling the wilds of middle school with her undercover ghost-hunting job. When mysterious and dangerous robberies start happening in their small town, all signs point to some sort of spectral manipulation, and Midnight’s boss asks her to take over the investigation. Can Midnight find the culprit and stop them before the spectral energy endangers their town?

This series has twists and turns galore for budding mystery lovers, all seen through the lens of a lovable and smart heroine. And the positive female friendships and hysterical writing will keep series fans coming back for more.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Catherine Holtwas born in Australia, but now lives in New Zealand, where she spends her time writing books and working in a library. She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Midnight Reynolds and the Agency of Spectral Protection

By Catherine Holt

Albert Whitman & Company

Copyright © 2018 Catherine Holt
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8075-5128-8

CHAPTER 1

Midnight Reynolds tightened her grip on the stall door in the museum's restroom. Since she'd moved to the town of Berry, West Virginia, she'd stopped a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old woman from stealing the souls of the dead, she'd made enemies with two of the most popular girls in school, and she'd dressed up as a Viking for Thanksgiving. But what she was about to do was more terrifying than all of those things combined.

In fact, triple it, and it still wouldn't be close.

"Come on," her best friend, Tabitha, said in an encouraging voice from the other side of the door. "It's going to be okay."

"But what if it's not?" Midnight made no effort to turn the handle. Fear leached into her bones. She'd actually been looking forward to the museum field trip until Mrs. Peyton had announced that Midnight would be paired with Logan Johnson — her crush. Which was why she was now locked in the toilet stall. "It's all been a big mistake. I'm not remotely ready. I should've known."

"If you don't come out, I'll have to climb over the stall door, and you know much I detest exercise." Tabitha's voice was mournful. "Not that I understand why it's a problem. You talk to Logan all the time. He sits our table. He laughs at your jokes."

"It's complicated." Midnight reluctantly stepped out into the brightly lit restroom and sighed.

It had been six months since she'd turned twelve and discovered her special ability to see spectral energy — the souls of people who had died. All because she'd been born at midnight on Halloween (hence her weird name). And, after a small hiccup, where she'd accidentally thought spectral energy was something evil that needed to be captured, she and Tabitha had spent the last two months working for a secret organization called ASP — Agency of Spectral Protection.

Working for ASP let her combine her love of spreadsheets and time management. Plus, each week, money was transferred into her bank account to cover her expenses, with some left over for a college fund. Her boss, Peter Gallagher, had even arranged for her to have a pretend babysitting job as a cover for why she was out so much. And her work with ASP let her make up for the damage she'd done when she'd been trying to fight spectral energy.

Unfortunately, none of it helped her speak to boys. Or, in this case, one boy.

Nor had it changed the fact that with her mousy brown hair, large glasses, and sludge-green eyes, she looked more like a goblin than a superhero. At least, she thought so.

"After everything you've faced lately, how can you be scared of this?" Tabitha's blue eyes filled with the confusion. As usual, she was wearing all black, right down to her lipstick, which meant that her confused expression looked similar to her scornful one, but Midnight had learned to tell the difference.

Midnight fumbled around in her pocket for her spreadsheet.

"It's scary because it's messing with my system. See, here in red is school time. That's when I can just be 'regular Midnight' and have normal conversations with kids at school. Kids like Logan. And this orange is home time. It's where I'm 'family Midnight' — the obliging daughter who doesn't throw a tantrum just because she has to dress as a shield maiden for her mom's wedding, even though it's the Most Ridiculous Thing in the World. Of course Taylor's pretending to love the idea, because that's just what she does —"

"I think 'family Midnight' is getting off target." Tabitha coughed. "And I still don't see what all this has to do with today."

"Because this pink section is where I'm 'protector Midnight,' and you can clearly see the museum falls into the pink section. We came here three times last month to do research. Spending unscheduled time with Logan will make me cross pink and red. Anything could happen."

Tabitha blinked and handed back the spreadsheet. "Okay, first, you know I don't like pink. I wish you'd stop using it. And second, while I think your spreadsheets are awesome, you can't compartmentalize your life. Logan's your friend. Your good friend." Midnight frowned. She'd come up with her spreadsheet system after reading the Agency of Spectral Protection's handbook. The handbook was split into twelve chapters, all going into great detail about how spectral protectors needed to behave in public and what they could and couldn't do.

And the most important rule of all? It was on page two:

Don't let civilians find out about spectral energy, because it could cause unnecessary attention and prevent ASP from doing our job. And when we don't do our job properly? Chaos follows.

Chaos? Not on her watch.

"But what if I slip up and talk about work? I haven't planned anything to say to him. For example, all those jokes he laughs at? You don't think I just leave them to chance, do you?" Midnight said as Tabitha dragged her out of the restroom into the foyer, where the rest of the class was milling around, taking selfies and talking in loud voices. Over to the left, their teacher, Mrs. Peyton, was deep in conversation with the museum staff.

The Berry Early History Museum was a two-story building that had thick interior columns, whose sole purpose seemed to be to make the place look spooky — at least to most kids. In the last few months, Midnight's definition of spooky had undergone a few changes.

"You'll be fine. If you get really stuck, you can just text me. Or you could talk about this lousy weather."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Midnight perked up and glanced out the window that ran down one side of the building. A gloomy, rain-soaked sky stared back at her. A true case of April showers. "My mom's been freaking out that her perfect outdoor spring wedding will be washed out. I downloaded a weather app to show her, but I think that's just made it worse."

"See, that's a start," Tabitha said as Mrs. Peyton gestured to the group.

"Okay, class. I'd like you to find your study partner," their teacher said. "You each have a sheet of questions that need to be answered, and I want you to work as a team. We'll meet back here for lunch, and then we'll go through the gold-mining exhibition."

"You can do this." Tabitha nudged Midnight toward Logan and then disappeared.

"Hey, Midnight. I wasn't sure where you were, so I grabbed an extra worksheet," Logan said with a shy smile. His thick brown hair fell in a tangle across his brow, almost covering his dark-chocolate eyes. He was wearing a green hoodie with Elementary written across it, with a magnifying glass next to the word. It was cute, and she knew Sherlock Holmes was his hero.

"Thanks," she gulped, not willing to admit she'd been hiding in the restroom like a coward. But Tabitha was right. Midnight had hung out with Logan plenty of times over the last couple of months, and if worst came to worst, she could always show him the weather app. It wasn't conversation gold, but it was better than reverting to the girl she once was around him. The one who couldn't even say a full sentence.

"Everyone's going to start with the geography questions, so I was thinking we should begin at the other end, with the dinosaurs. It'll be less crowded," he said, proving he was cute and smart.

"Good idea," Midnight said as they broke off from the rest of the class and headed to the next floor up.

"So, have you been here before?" Logan asked.

She nodded. "Yes....

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: ALBERT WHITMAN & CO
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0807551287
• ISBN 13: 9780807551288
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 264
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar