The Ghastly Gerty Swindle With the Ghosts of Hungryhouse Lane by Sam McBratney Read Free Book Online Page B

lounge-sofa isn’t there anymore.”
    Frowning, Amy went to see for herself. The sofa had certainly disappeared. So had the two fine bronzes that sat on the mantelpiece. And the long brass fireplace fender with all the hearth irons. Amy’s hand shook as she clutched the ruby brooch at her throat.
    â€œCharlie, look in the front room. Is the writing bureau there? It has solid-silver candlesticks on top of it.”
    After a few seconds Charlie returned with the news.
    â€œNope. It’s gone and so are the candlesticks. We’ve been done.”
    â€œDone?”
    â€œHe means we’ve been burgled, Miss Amy,” said Zoe.
    â€œThe attic,” Amy said breathlessly, seizing Zoe’s hand and shaking it. “Check the attic for me, child. Quickly!”
    Knowing exactly what she meant, Zoe sprinted up the two broad flights of stairs to the twist in the upper landing. One glance into the attic confirmed that the big glass bottle had been stolen and so had the elephant’s foot. Had the robbers got their evil hands on little Bobbie, too?
    No! Zoe spotted her huddled in a corner. The awful spiky hair—snipped off so that she could be sold as a boy sweep—made her look like a human brush. What a pity, thought Zoe, that you couldn’t give a spook a good cuddle.
    A tortoise could have passed Zoe as she came down the stairs. What could she possibly say to that old lady? All her friends had died, she had only memories, now even her best furniture was gone and the spooks had been kidnapped. Two of them, anyway. You needed more than a first-aid kit to mend a broken heart.
    On the first landing she met Bonnie, who was staring pop-eyed at the empty space where the big grandfather clock used to be. So that was gone too.
    â€œZoe?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œAre the bugglers jugglers?”
    â€œ
What?
”
    â€œThe bugglers have taken Charlie’s juggling balls,” Bonnie said in a frightened whisper.
    â€œTry harder not to be a complete dope,” said Zoe. “Burglars aren’t jugglers. Come on, let’s break the news.”
    The news, of course, was bad from start to finish. Amy sat on a hard-backed chair in the middle of the kitchen, saying, “They were my responsibility. I have let them down badly, you know. All they ever askedfor, apart from a little conversation now and then, was to be left alone. And I couldn’t even manage that.”
    She was feeling old and useless, Zoe could tell. But it wasn’t your fault, Miss Amy, she was about to say, when Bonnie started to howl.
    â€œTHE BIG CLOCK IS GONE AND CHARLIE THEY’VE GOT YOUR JUGGLING BALLS BUT I ONLY PUT THEM THERE BECAUSE YOU SAID SHE DOESN’T USE TOILET PAPER AND SHE WANTS TO MARRY A DUCK.”
    Gerty, who had been quietly trying to make sense of this whole conversation, now gave up with a shake of her head. They’d all gone barmy.
    â€œThey haven’t got my juggling balls.”
    â€œYes they have, Charlie. I put them in the big clock and they took it away.”
    â€œThey’re in my rubber boots,” said Charlie. “I switched them for Lulubelle.”
    â€œThe doll was in the clock?” cried Zoe.
    â€œProbably still is. She’s been kidnapped,” said Charlie.
    Bonnie had gone completely stiff. Then, on hearing the word “kidnapped,” she threw herself sideways and began to beat the living daylights out of a flowery cushion. To do this she used her head as well as her hands and feet.
    â€œTHEY’VE GOT MY LULUBELLE THEY’VE GOT MY LULUBELLE AND I’LL NEVER SEE MY LULUBELLEAGAIN,” she screeched, assisted by the loyal Muldoon in the hall.
    â€œLook, dear, have a blueberry muffin,” said Gerty. “There’s no use getting worked up over a silly old doll. It didn’t even have a mouth, now, did it? There are plenty more where that old rag came from, I can tell you.”
    â€œShe did have a mouth,”