The Fantastic Family Whipple by Matthew Ward Page A

cluster. He appeared to be the oldest of the bunch. “Pleased to meet you,” he said with a bow.
    Next to introduce themselves were Rosalind and Roxy Goldwin, the eldest of the girls, whose lush, flowing hair was blonde and brunette, respectively. As they stepped out from behind their siblings and curtsied, Arthur noticed Henry and Simon’s eyes bulge slightly.
    It wasn’t long before Roland, Rosalind, Rupert, Roxy, Rodney, Randolf, Radley, and Rowena—their ages ranging from around seventeen all the way down to four—had all stepped forward and given their introductions.
    As button-nosed Rowena completed her curtsy, Mrs. Whipple clapped her hands and said, “What a delightful group of children!”
    “Why, thank you, Mrs. Whipple,” replied Rita Goldwin. “Hopefully you’ll be able to meet the rest of them some day. It’s a pity they all couldn’t be here tonight. Our two eldest—the twins—are off studying abroad, traveling the world through the Clapford Fellowship. They’ll be green with envy when they hear we got to meet you. And then there’s little Rowan, who just had his first birthday and iswith the nanny tonight. And then…Now, wait a minute—where on earth is Ruby? She ought to be here with us.”
    There was some shuffling amongst the Goldwin children, and then—as Arthur looked on in disbelief—from out of the cluster stepped the green-eyed ghost girl.
    Arthur’s heart began thumping against his ribcage—but it wasn’t much more than a reflex. At this point, he was far too confused to be completely terrified.
    The ghost girl held up the corners of her black V-neck dress between her black fingernails and curtsied, then stepped back into the crowd of children. When she glanced toward Arthur, the boy flinched in fright—but then, to his continued bewilderment, her mouth curled into an amiable smile. The smile lasted only a moment before she looked away again, leaving Arthur more confused than ever.
    “Ahem,” said Mrs. Goldwin. “Would you like to introduce yourself, young lady?”
    The ghost girl stepped forward once more. “Oh, right. Sorry,” she said. Executing a halfhearted second curtsy, she added, “Ruby,” then returned to her previous position. Next to the others, she might well have been the illegitimate daughter of Dracula, sent to be raised by a family of fashion models.
    “You’ll have to forgive Ruby,” explained Mrs. Goldwin. “As record-breaking children go, she’s a bit…unpolished. And for some reason, she insists on dressing herself like a corpse these days. Powder and lipstick are meant to enhance your features, dear—not deaden them.”
    Ruby gave a strange, joyless smile, then shifted her eyes to the sky, as if halfheartedly searching for some distant heavenly body.
    Arthur remained thoroughly perplexed. Apparently, he was not the only one who could see the ghost girl. Indeed, it seemed she was simply an odd-looking member of the Goldwin family. But how could this be possible when he had witnessed a figure bearing her exact likeness not long ago on the Crosley estate?
    “Well, it certainly was a pleasure meeting you and your lovely children,” Mrs. Whipple concluded. “We must arrange a joint outing sometime. Where was it you said you lived?”
    “Just down the road, actually,” said Rex Goldwin. “Would you believe we’ve just purchased the old Crosley estate?”
    As a wave of realization swept over Arthur, he did not notice his father’s face grow a shade paler, from something of an eggshell cream to more of a glacier white.
    “Have you now?” said Mrs. Whipple. “My—that
is
close. I’m surprised we’ve never seen any movers.”
    “Well,” Rex replied, “we’ve only just closed the deal this week, so we’re still at the Dwellinger Grand for the present moment. But we’ve been visiting the grounds for over a month now with various architects and landscape designers; you can imagine the work we’ve got ahead of us to make the place