Ghostsitters

1

Slugs

2

Bats

3

Nurse Watkins

4

Girls!

5

Ned And Jed

6

Pizza

7

Ghost Catch

8

Secrets

9

Birthday Bother

10

Horse-With-Pedals

11

The Ring

12

Ghost Battle

13

Surprise, Surprise!

About the Author

About the Illustrator

Other Books by Angie Sage

Credits

Copyright

About the Publisher

M
y uncle Drac says some funny things. Last week he said, “There is always a slug in the lettuce sandwich of life, Minty.”

I had to think for a while until I understood what he meant. You see, Uncle Drac loves lettuce sandwiches, but even he does not like slugs. I figured he meant that just when you are enjoying something—like eating your favorite kind of sandwich—something yucky
always happens (like finding a slug in it) to stop you from enjoying it.

Sometimes Uncle Drac is a little bit gloomy, so I do not always take notice of what he says—but last week I could see exactly what he meant. I kept thinking really good things were happening and then they turned out to have a great big fat slug in them.

Last Monday was the beginning of spring break, which Wanda and I had been looking forward to. And in two days' time it was going to be my birthday, which I was
really
looking forward to—although I am not sure if Wanda was. Wanda is Wanda Wizzard, and she lives with me in Spookie House. She didn't always live here, but it is much more fun since Wanda, her mom, Brenda, and her dad, Barry, moved in. Of course there is also my uncle Drac, who can be quite fun sometimes too, and then there is my aunt Tabby, who is never fun—even though she thinks she is.

Wanda and I were eating our breakfast in the third-kitchen-on-the-left-just-past-the-boiler-room when Aunt Tabby—who was stirring the oatmeal and opening her mail at the same time—let out an excited shriek. Wanda and I both
nearly jumped off our chairs, as Aunt Tabby does not usually shriek (unless Uncle Drac drops a wardrobe on her foot). In fact Aunt Tabby was so excited that she dropped the rest of the mail in the oatmeal and all the ink ran off the envelopes and turned it blue, so we were allowed to have Brenda's Choco-Drop Krackles for breakfast instead.

Aunt Tabby threw the letter on the table and squeaked, “I've
won
!”

“Won what, Aunt Tabby?” I asked.

“The competition!” said Aunt Tabby.

I was surprised, as it is Wanda's mother, Brenda, who enters tons of competitions, not Aunt Tabby.

“Drac will
love
this,” said Aunt Tabby.

Although this did not exactly answer my question, it did narrow the field, as Uncle Drac does not like many things. Basically he likes bats, the dark, and sleeping, although not necessarily in that order.

“Have you won a new sleeping bag?” I asked.

“No, Araminta,” said Aunt Tabby. “It's
much
better than that.”

“
Two
new sleeping bags?” said Wanda, who does not have a great imagination. “Or three new sleeping bags or maybe even
four
—”

“No, Wanda,” said Aunt Tabby very patiently.

“So what
have
you won?” I asked very
im
patiently.

Aunt Tabby gave me her wouldn't-you-like-to-know look.

“Tell us, Aunt Tabby—
please
,” said Wanda, who is very nosy and can't stand not knowing things.

“Here you are,” said Aunt Tabby, handing Wanda the letter. “Good reading practice for you, Wanda.”

I was a bit annoyed that Aunt Tabby had given the letter to Wanda, as she takes forever to read anything and it meant that I had to look over Wanda's shoulder to read it.

“Stop breathing down my neck, Araminta,” moaned Wanda.

“I'm not breathing, I'm
reading
,” I told her.

“You
are
breathing,” said Wanda. “You are
always
breathing, Araminta. It is very annoying.”

“Well, I am
so
sorry, Wanda. I will try not to in the future.”

“Araminta, Wanda,” said Aunt Tabby, giving us one of her looks. “
Stop
it.”

So we stopped it and Wanda read the letter, which was very interesting.

I was impressed. What an amazing prize! “That is
fantastic
, Aunt Tabby,” I said. “I have
always
wanted to see the giant vampire bats of Transylvania.”

Aunt Tabby looked surprised. “Have you?”

“Yes! It will be
so
exciting. What a brilliant way to spend my birthday!”

Aunt Tabby looked a bit embarrassed. “I'm sorry, Araminta,” she said. “I told Brenda and Barry that they could come if I won.”

“Brenda and Barry!” I couldn't believe it.
Brenda and Barry didn't even like bats. Brenda always screamed when one flew at her and Barry never stopped moaning about shoveling up bat poo. It just wasn't fair. I
love
bats.

Aunt Tabby tried to explain. “Brenda showed me the competition,” she said. “It was in one of her magazines. I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. So it is only fair, Araminta.”

“What about my birthday?” I said.

Aunt Tabby looked a bit flummoxed. If you ask me, I think she had forgotten about my birthday. “
Well
, Araminta,” she said in the extra-chirpy voice she uses when she is trying to make you not notice something. “You and Wanda will have a
lovely
time together and then we will
all
celebrate when we get home. Won't that be nice?”

No, I thought, that will not be nice. Because when they get home it will not be my birthday anymore—it will be just another day.

And that was the first slug in my lettuce sandwich—but not the last.

Wanda was still staring at the letter. “But the tenth is
today
,” she said.

Aunt Tabby let out another shriek. “
Today?
Oh, goodness, I must go and tell Drac!” And she rushed out of the kitchen.

“Araminta…” said Wanda in a thoughtful way.

I smiled, thinking that Wanda was going to say something nice—like how I shouldn't be upset because she had lots of exciting plans for my birthday.

“Yes?” I said.

“Pass the Choco-Drop Krackles.”

 

I left Wanda to pig out on all the Choco-Drop Krackles, because it is not a pretty sight watching Wanda Wizzard slurping her breakfast. As I was stomping up the stairs to our Monday bedroom, I realized that things were not as bad as I had thought—in fact they were pretty good.

If Aunt Tabby, Uncle Drac, Brenda, and Barry were all going away, then Wanda and I would have Spookie House all to ourselves—apart from Sir Horace, Fang, and Edmund, of course, who are our three resident ghosts. Sir Horace is a knight who lives in a suit of armor, Fang is his faithful wolf, and Edmund is Sir Horace's weedy page. And the more I thought about it, the better it got, because I suddenly realized I could have a birthday party! I have always wanted to have a birthday party, especially with ghosts, but Aunt Tabby does not approve of birthday parties. She says, “A birthday party will make you overexcited, Araminta, and you are quite overexcited enough as it is.”

 

I felt so excited that I went and offered to help Aunt Tabby pack. She was not at all grateful. “No thank you, Araminta,” she said. “I do not want a goldfish in my cosmetic case again.”

I thought that was unfair, as I was
much
younger when I had filled Aunt Tabby's cosmetic case with water and put my goldfish in it—and I would not have done that at all if Aunt Tabby had let me take the fishbowl on vacation with us.

I decided to help Uncle Drac instead. I knocked on the little red door at the end of the landing that leads into Uncle Drac's bat turret and a gloomy voice said, “Come in, Minty.”

I carefully pushed open the door. “How did you know it was me?” I asked.

“No one else comes to see me,” said Uncle Drac, sounding very sorry for himself.

Aunt Tabby does not like it when I go into the bat turret because, she says, it is dangerous. I suppose it is, really, but I am used to it. Uncle Drac has taken out all the floors so that his bats can fly all around the turret, and he sleeps in his old flowery sleeping bag that hangs from one of the rafters. He was sitting on a rafter next to his suitcase—which was flowery just like his sleeping bag—and his
favorite bat, Big Bat, was sitting on his hand.