Moon-Faced Ghoul-Thing by Barry Hutchison Read Free Book Online

Paradise growled. “You thought it might be fun ? You idiot!”
    Wesley stepped between them. “Paradise, please. Let me handle this,” he said calmly. He turned to Ben. “You idiot !” he yelped. “We weren’t bored. You were bored. Not us. Not me. I love boring. Being bored is the most exciting part of my day!”
    “I didn’t think it would—”
    “That’s just it, Ben. You didn’t think ,” said Wesley, clenching his fists and stamping his foot. “You never think, you just act. You act like everything’s an adventure. Like danger is something to be laughed at!”
    Sparks swirled around Wesley’s clenched fists. Tiny flickering dots spun in his eyes, turning them into whirlpools of shimmering light. His voice took on a deep booming tone that seemed to shake the remaining walls ofthe house.
    “But do you see us laughing, Ben?” he demanded, and flashes of power flitted across his teeth. “Do you see anyone here laughing about what you’ve done?”
    Slowly, Ben stood up. “Easy, Wes,” he said. He reached out to his friend, but a jolt of energy crackled up his arm, forcing him to jump back.

    “You’ve trapped us. You’ve doomed us to spend the rest of our lives stuck in this demon dimension because you were bored !”
    “Calm down, Wesley,” said Paradise gently. “He messed up, but he didn’t know it was going to turn out like this.”
    Wesley spun to face her. Magical energy flickered across his face and fizzled through his hair. He unclenched his fists and a crackle of purple light trailed from his fingertips.
    “Stop protecting him,” said Wes in a voice like rumbling thunder. “Stop making excuses. Why do you always—”
    WHAM!
    A metal tea tray clanged against the back of Wesley’s head. The magic glow sparked and flickered away. Wes’s eyes crossed. He wobbled gently from side to side, said “Flibble,” with quite a surprising amount of enthusiasm then fell over.
    “Sorry about that,” said Mr Nuttendudge, lowering the now badly dented tray. “Seemed like your friend was getting quite unfriendly.”
    Wesley lay face down on the floor in an X shape, his arms and legs spread out wide. Ben gave him a gentle nudge with the toe of his boot.

    “What was that about?” he wondered. “Since when was Wesley so…”
    “Angry?”
    “I was going to say ‘magic’,” said Ben. “He’s normally useless at magic stuff.”
    The goblin gave his chin a thoughtful stroke. “The Feast of Scarrabus,” he said. “It’s the day of the year when the barriers between the Monstrous Realms are at their thinnest.”
    “Meaning?” asked Paradise.
    “Meaning magic is flowing freely through all the dimensions. Even your own. Your friend has been soaking up dark sorcery and demoncraft for hours. He’s dripping with evil magic now.”
    Wesley rolled on to his side, giggled something about kittens then began to snore.
    “Are you sure?” Ben asked.
    “Positive,” said Mr Nuttendudge. “Certain. He’ll probably swell up like a balloon and pop in a minute. Won’t be pretty. No, sir. You might want to take a step back.”
    “What?” gasped Ben.
    “Or find a waterproof hat.”
    “What?”
    “There must be something we can do,” Paradise said.
    Mr Nuttendudge puffed out his cheeks, making him look even more toad-like. “We must get you home. Away from here. From the worst of the magic. We must find a way to open a portal out of Goonderslarg.”
    “Wait a minute! A portal, that’s it!” Ben held up the gauntlet. “This opens portals!”
    Mr Nuttendudge hurried to his side. “It does? May I see?”
    Ben hesitated. He knew the goblin was asking him to hand over the gauntlet, but it was his most precious possession in the world and he didn’t like the idea of taking it off and passing it to someone he’d just met. Instead, he held his arm out so Mr Nuttendudge could get a closer look.
    The goblin gave the gauntlet a sniff, then touched the tip of his thin purple tongue against the