Read Online Witch Twins and the Ghost of Glenn Bly by Adele Griffin - Free Book Online

much noise as distant thunder.
    Still, four hundred ghosts are a lot spookier than one.
    Halfway down the hall, Claire saw a small shape dart forward. She drew back with a gasp. What was that? A dog?
    No, it was the same little black goat from earlier that day.
    The goat had enjoyed snacking on Lord Shrillingbird’s slipper so much that he had bravely tip-hoofed it back to the castle in search of the other one.
    “Meh-eh-eh-eh!” bleated the goat, startled by the sudden spectacle of witches and ghosts. Sensing his opportunity, he trotted after them straight into Elderberry Chamber.
    The thudding, clamorous, clanking ghosts woke up Lord and Lady Shrillingbird in an instant.
    “Who goes there?” whispered Lady Shrillingbird.
    “I don’t see anything,’“ said Lord Shrillingbird.
    Lucky for them, Claire realized, Grandy had snapped herself and the twins with a five-minute invisibility spell.
    “But don’t you hear those thuds and clanks?” hissed Lady Shrillingbird, sitting up.
    “Mmph. It’s just the bad plumbing,” said Lord Shrillingbird. “This castle is leaky and creaky.”
    “But…what about that icy draft?” Lady Shrillingbird shivered.
    “That,” said Lord Shrillingbird, “is the faulty heating.”
    “I think you should investigate,” squeaked Lady Shrillingbird, poking her husband in the ribs. “What if it’s a ghost?”
    “Bah! A ghost! You’ve lost your last marble, my lady. I’m staying put,” said Lord Shrillingbird. Though he looked as scared as his wife, Lord Shrillingbird was so used to arguing with her that he didn’t know how to take her side, even at this crucial moment.
    On Sir Percival’s signal, some of the more playful knights began pulling on the curtains. A few others used all of their phantom might to rattle the windowpanes. And one daring young foot soldier started jumping on the edge of the Shrillingbirds’ bed, causing the springs to squeak slightly.
    “Wow. This is even better than the Chain Chant spell,” Claire whispered to Luna. “These ghost guys are professionals!”
    “Better than an ogre!” Luna whispered back.
    By now, both Shrillingbirds looked terrified.
    “I’m frightened!” peeped Lady Shrillingbird.
    “I’m not!” But Lord Shrillingbird pulled up the covers and pressed his hands over his ears.
    “Fool, you’re only saying that to be stubborn!” hissed Lady Shrillingbird. “I know a haunt when I hear it, and this castle’s got ghosts!” She hopped out of bed and began nervously running back and forth. “We’d better dash. Oh, how dreadful! Well never even be able to sell it, not with a ghost ruining its market value. Hurry, my lord. Time to bolt!”
    “I’m not scared, and I don’t feel like dashing or bolting,” said Lord Shrillingbird disagreeably. Then he pretended to be relaxed by stretching his hands behind his head and wriggling his toes.
    When the goat caught sight of all those delicious-looking, wriggling toes—almost as good as a slipper—he took hold of one and gave it a gentle nibble.
    “Argh!” Lord Shrillingbird jumped out of bed and flung himself into Lady Shrillingbird’s arms. “The ghost just bit me!”
    “Dimwit! Ghosts don’t bite!” said Lady Shrillingbird, smirking.
    “Sometimes they do!”
    “Do not!”
    “Do so—argh!” Lord Shrillingbird yelped as the goat nipped for a taste of his ankle. “I think I might, actually…agree with you, my lady. Perhaps we ought to get out of here!”
    So Lady Shrillingbird grabbed her purse, then hoisted Lord Shrillingbird up and over her shoulder like a sack of grain. Then she ran for it, speeding down the hall and taking the stairs three at a time.
    “Whoa. Lady Shrill sure can move,” whispered Claire. “She’d win relays at Tower Hill Middle, easy.”
    Grandy the twins, the ghosts, and the goat followed hard on the Shrillingbirds’ heels. They tailed them through Glenn Bly’s iron-hinged doors and all the way down the lawn, to where the Rolls-Royce was