Ghostsitters (10 page)

Authors: Angie Sage

BOOK: Ghostsitters

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“No!” I said. “No, don't sing.
Please
.”

“Don't be shy, Minty.” Uncle Drac smiled. “Everyone has to have âHappy Birthday to You' sung to them on their birthday.”

“No. No, really I don'tâ”

And then they all started, including Nurse Watkins.

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday toâ
ooooooh
!”

Right on cue all the ghosts poured out of the cellar door along with a whole cloud of balloons and streamers! Brenda, Barry, Nurse Watkins, and Aunt Tabby all screamed. But the ghosts from Sir Horace's castle took no noticeânothing was going to stop them from enjoying the best party in hundreds of years.

Wanda started another game of ghost bumps, and some of the knights began to dance with the ladies in pointy hats. Brenda found the birthday cake and made Aunt Tabby and Barry eat some, but Nurse Watkins did not move; she just stared and stared as though
she'd never seen anything like it before in her lifeâwhich I don't suppose she had. And then a very handsome knight came over to her, bowed, and asked her to dance. Nurse Watkins stopped staring, flashed him a brilliant smile, and very elegantly glided through the hall, her nurse's cape swishing behind her as she twirled around.

“Well, well,” said Uncle Drac, “a ghost birthday party. That's
wonderful
!”

“Isn't it?” I laughed. “Have a lettuce sandwich, Uncle Drac.”

“Thank you, Minty,” said Uncle Drac. He took a big bite. “No slugs tonight,” he said with a big smile that showed his lovely pointy teeth at the corners of his mouth.

“No slugs, Uncle Drac.” I laughed. “Not even a tiny one.”

About the Author

ANGIE SAGE,
the celebrated author of the internationally bestselling Septimus Heap series, lives in a very old house in the west of England. The west of England is a
Magykal
place with marshes, ancient ports, and ruined castles. It is a great place to live and write both the Septimus Heap and the Araminta Spookie series. You can visit her online at www.septimusheap.com or www.aramintaspookiebooks.com.

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About the Illustrator

JIMMY PICKERING
studied animation and has worked for Hallmark, Disney, and Universal Studios. He is the illustrator of several picture books. You can visit him online at www.jimmypickering.com.

ALSO BY
ANGIE SAGE

SEPTIMUS HEAP, BOOK ONE:
Magyk

SEPTIMUS HEAP, BOOK TWO:
Flyte

SEPTIMUS HEAP, BOOK THREE:
Physik

SEPTIMUS HEAP, BOOK FOUR:
Queste

ARAMINTA SPOOKIE
1:
My Haunted House

ARAMINTA SPOOKIE
2:
The Sword in the Grotto

ARAMINTA SPOOKIE
3:
Frognapped

ARAMINTA SPOOKIE
4:
Vampire Brat

Credits

Cover design by Amy Ryan

Copyright

ARAMINTA SPOOKIE
5:
GHOSTSITTERS
. Illustrations copyright Â© 2008 by Jimmy Pickering. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Â© Edition JULY 2008 ISBN: 9780061975530

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