A Good Night for Ghosts Read Online Free PDF Page B

The shutters banged in the wind.
    “Hold on a second, I’ve got some matches in my pocket,” said Dipper. “I just hope they didn’t get wet in the rain.”
    Jack heard Dipper trying to strike a match. He tried one, two, three times—then he held up a small flame.
    “Yay” breathed Annie.
    Jack looked around the room. In the dancing light, he could make out wooden buckets on the floor, a couple of broken chairs, a doorway leading to a back room, and—
    Squeak!
A bat flapped above their heads.
    “Ahhh!” Jack, Annie, and Dipper ducked.
    The match went out.
    Dipper quickly lit another match. He held it up high, trying to light the room. Jack didn’t see the bat, but he saw a bricked-over fireplace, some rusty lanterns, and
lots
of spiderwebs.

    “Yikes!” said Annie.
    The match went out.
    “Help,” said Annie in a small voice. “More light, please.”
    “Nobody panic,” said Dipper. “I got two matches left.”
    “Just two?” said Annie.
    “Hey, I thought I saw some lanterns,” said Jack. “Near the fireplace. Maybe we could light
them
.”
    “Good idea,” said Dipper. “Maybe there’s oil still in ’em. I just hope I can light the wicks. Or we’ll be left in the dark with the bats.”
    “And spiders,” said Annie.
    And ghosts
, Jack thought.
    Dipper struck his next-to-last match. He held it up to find the lanterns.
    “Over here,” said Jack, pointing.
    “I see,” said Dipper. But as he knelt on the floor, the match went out. “I got just one more,” he whispered. “So we better be
real
careful.”
    Dipper lit his last match. Jack slowly lifted the glass on both the lanterns. Very carefully, Dippertouched the match flame to the wick of the first lantern. The wick sputtered and flickered to life. A yellow glow filled the room.
    “Ahh!” said Dipper. He lit the second lantern. “Beautiful. You can each carry one.”
    Jack picked up one of the lanterns. Annie put down her trumpet and picked up the other one. The firelight cast eerie shadows on the walls.
    Screeeee!
    A sound from the back room startled them. It sounded like the creak of a door opening. Jack’s heart began to pound.
    WHAM!
The sound of a door slamming shut!
    Jack’s heart beat faster and faster.
    “Hey!” called Dipper. “Who’s back there?”
    No one answered.
    Clump. Clump. Clump
. The sound of footsteps on stairs!
    Jack held his breath.
    “Who’s there?” yelled Dipper.
    “WOOOOOOO!”
    “Show yourself!” yelled Dipper.
    The shutters outside banged harder against the walls.
    “WOOOOOOO!”
    “Mercy,” whispered Dipper.
    Jack’s hand trembled, shaking the lantern and making the shadows in the room dance even more wildly.
    The moaning came again: “WOOOOOOO!”
    “Annie!” said Jack. “The trumpet! The time is right!”
    “I know it! I feel it!” said Annie. She put down her lantern and grabbed the trumpet. “Sing, Jack!”
    Annie lifted the magic trumpet to her lips and blew. A pure, smooth sound flowed from the trumpet and filled the room. As Annie played, Jack started singing:
    Ghost, ghost
,
Leave us alone!

Stop, stop!

Stop your moan… ing!
    What a stupid song
, Jack thought, but they were the only words that came to his mind. Then he remembered Dipper’s advice:
When you can’t think of words, just sing sounds. Make ’em up. Put your heart in it
.
    So Jack started singing nonsense sounds. He sang with all his heart, pouring all his feelings into the sounds, telling the ghost to go:
    Skid-dat-de-dat!

Skid-dat-de-dow!

Skiddle-skiddle

Daddle-daddle

Outta here NOW!
    Thumping noises came from the other room, as if heavy things were falling.
    “Who’s there?” shouted Dipper.
    Annie stopped playing.
    Jack stepped back in fear, waiting for something awful to happen. Then he heard laughing and whispering.
    “Hey!” shouted Dipper. He picked up Annie’s lantern and headed into the other room. Jack and Annie followed.
    Little Mack, Happy, and Big Nose Sidney were crawling toward the back