Spell of the Screaming Jokers by R.L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page A

not?” she asked. “Your card games are doing Max a world of good!”
    â€œBecause when we play, Mrs. Marder spies on us!” I exclaimed. “With a telescope! Then she makes those awful jokers appear.”
    Mrs. Davidson raised her eyebrows.
    â€œIt’s true,” I insisted. “And they aren’t only on the cards. They show up in real life too! They attacked Frankie and Louisa—just like the creatures who attacked those poor kids in the story you told us!”
    Mrs. Davidson shook her head. “You’re imagining this, Brittany dear.” She patted me lightly on the shoulder.
    My heart sank. Mrs. Davidson didn’t believe us.
    Probably no one would believe us, I realized with dread.
    Who could believe such a wild story? As my words spilled out, even I thought I sounded crazy!
    â€œMaybe you should play checkers today,” Mrs. Davidson suggested.
    â€œCould we play in the living room?” Jeff asked.
    Mrs. Davidson looked puzzled. “Why?”
    â€œIt’s the windows,” Louisa told her. “Mrs. Marder spies on us through Max’s windows.”
    â€œOh, all right.” Mrs. Davidson laughed. “The things you kids think up!” She led the way to Max’s room.
    â€œMax?” She bent over him. “Do you feel up to playing in the living room today?”
    Max shook his head silently.
    I glanced at the windows. They had shades rolled all the way up. “Let’s pull down the shades,” I suggested. “Then we can play in here.”
    Mrs. Davidson laughed again. But she lowered the shades. That made the room so dark, we had to turn on some lamps. But at least Mrs. Marder couldn’t spy on us.
    â€œSurprise, Max!” Louisa announced as she carried a checkerboard over to his bed. “We’re going to play checkers. I’ll play you first.”
    â€œAnd I’ll play the winner,” Jeff told Max.
    But Max only stared at the checkerboard.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, Max?” Mrs. Davidson asked. “Wouldn’t you like to play checkers for a change?”
    Max shook his head. “No,” he whispered.
    He looked so unhappy.
    â€œAll right, Max.” I sighed. “We’ll play Hearts if you want.”
    â€œWhat?” Louisa exclaimed. “Am I hearing you right?”
    â€œYeah,” Jeff added. “This is a switch for you.”
    I shrugged.
    I had come prepared.
    I reached into the back pocket of my jeans and drew out a deck of cards.
    â€œThere’s no way Mrs. Marder could have put any evil spell on these,” I announced as I handed my cards to Max. “Want to deal?”
    Max smiled as he took the cards.
    â€œOh, thank you, kids!” Mrs. Davidson exclaimed. “Now everyone’s happy. Have a good time!” Then she left us to our game.
    Max slid out of bed. He walked slowly over to the table and sat down. He began to shuffle the deck. Louisa cut the cards and Max dealt our hands.
    I didn’t feel at all scared. I wasn’t one bit worried about anybody getting a joker.
    When the cards had all been dealt, I picked up my hand. I straightened the cards. I looked at the first one.
    And gasped.
    There it was—a hideous joker.
    My hands began to tremble.
    How could this be? How did the joker get into my deck?

17

    I felt a weird buzzing in my ears. For a moment, everything in the room seemed to fade. To turn gray.
    I shook my head.
    Everything came back into focus. I was staring at the card in my hand. A joker—with cold, evil, yellow eyes. The most horrible one I’d seen yet.
    It was screaming!
    â€œNooo!” I shrieked.
    I hurled my cards at the window.
    How did she do it?
    How did Mrs. Marder work her evil magic on my cards? How did she see us with the shades pulled down?
    We didn’t stay at Max’s long that afternoon. I was still shaking when we left his house.
    â€œAre you okay?” Jeff asked me as we headed down Fear