Chapter 9 Summary

Late that night, Eleanor tiptoes out of the room she shares with Theo. Noiselessly, she walks barefoot down the hallway, intending to go to the library. She cannot sleep, she explains to herself and so she is going to the library to get a book. It sounds perfectly logical to her. At the library door, she nearly turns back, remembering that she cannot enter the there. She smells the odor of decay and calls out to her mother. Her mother's voice answers, telling her to come along. Laughing, Eleanor follows her mother's voice to the nursery door. Eleanor pounds on the door with her fists.

Mrs. Montague answers, inviting the spirits into her room. Mrs. Montague calls out that she is a friend and only wants to hear the spirits' troubles. Eleanor turns and pounds on Arthur's door next. She moves to Theo's...