The Case of the Haunted Haunted House (2 page)

“Gordy, that's enough.” Ms. Ali looked around. “Any other ideas?”

“Bean bag toss?” Randy said.

Someone groaned.

“Balloon animals!” Spencer called out.

“Do you know how to make them?” Ms. Ali asked.

He frowned. “Well . . . I could maybe do a snake.”

Emily B. raised her hand.

“Yes, Emily?”

“Brooke's idea is the best, and
I
think we should vote for it right now.” She beamed at Brooke.

Milo shot a glance at Jazz. She was staring out the window, chin in hand. Probably thinking of the week of desserts she'd kissed goodbye.

Ms. Ali sighed. “All right. All in favor of a makeover booth—”

Jazz sat up suddenly.

“Wait!” she called out. “How about a haunted house?”

An excited buzz ran through the classroom.

“Haunted houses are for Halloween,” Brooke said.

“Playland Park has one year round,” said Frida. “It's my favorite ride.”

“Mine, too!” someone else called out.

Brooke scowled at Jazz. “Spring Thing is held outdoors, remember? How are we supposed to build a haunted house?”

Jazz smiled. “We don't have to.” She pointed out the open window. “We can use the learning cottage.”

The learning cottage was a trailer that had been used as a classroom while repairs were being done on the school. Ever since, the trailer had stood empty.

Emily B. raised her hand again. “
I
think a haunted house would be too scary for the little kids.”

“Not as scary as a first grader in make-up,” Gordy muttered.

Everybody laughed.

“That's a good point, Emily,” Ms. Ali said. “It needs to be for the whole school, not just the upper grades.”

Milo said, “My little brother Ethan loves the haunted house at Playland Park.” On their last trip, Ethan had gone through the haunted house almost as many times as the Dino Safari.

Ms. Ali still looked doubtful, but she called for a vote.

Everybody voted for the haunted house—except Brooke and the Emilies. Emily S. started to lift her hand, but Brooke and Emily B. glared at her and she yanked it down. Her feet tapped nervously under her desk.

“All right,” Ms. Ali said. “Haunted house it is. But please, let's not go overboard. We don't want any crying kindergartners.”

Gordy called out, “Does that mean no making them eat fake eyeballs and brains and stuff?”

Ms. Ali shook her head and sighed. “Time to get out your math books.”

All the kids groaned, including Milo. Then he had an idea. They were working on measurements—

“Ms. Ali, couldn't we go measure the learning cottage?” he asked. “To see how much spooky stuff will fit? You're always saying we should use math in real life.”

Ms. Ali thought for a second. Then she smiled. “Why not?”

The class cheered.

When they reached the learning cottage, Milo saw that the door hung slightly open and the lock was broken.

“I'll let Mr. Schiff know,” Ms. Ali said. Mr. Schiff was the school custodian.

Inside, the floor was a sea of broken chalk and crumpled papers. A desk with a missing leg lay on its side in the middle of the room. Someone had piled chairs in one corner. In another, rolled-up posters gathered dust.

Gordy let out a long whistle. “What a mess!”

“At least we know nobody else is using the place,” Jazz said.

Ms. Ali nodded. “I'll ask Mr. Schiff if he can clear this out.”

Milo looked around. Those big sheets of cardboard would be great for tombstones, he thought. They were a little old and ratty, but who wants a clean new tombstone in a haunted house? And that globe was falling off its stand. Maybe they could wrap it in black plastic and use it for the body of a giant spider.

He told his classmates what he was thinking.

Jazz said, “I'll bet there's all kinds of stuff in here that we could use. Hey, maybe we can clean the place up ourselves!”

Brooke wrinkled her nose. “Who wants to
clean
?”

“Not me,” Emily B. said quickly. She wrinkled her nose like Brooke. Milo thought she looked like a beady-eyed squirrel.

“I think it's a great idea,” Ms. Ali said. “If we offer to clean up, the principal might be more likely to approve our plan.”

As Milo pulled out the measuring tape, he caught a glimpse of Brooke staring at Jazz, eyes narrowed. If Emily B. looked like a squirrel, Brooke reminded him of something else.

An angry snake about to strike.

Later in the afternoon, when they got back from gym, Ms. Ali had a big smile on her face. “I asked the principal if we could use the learning cottage for our haunted house—and he said yes.”

“Can we stay after school and clean?” Jazz asked.

Brooke tossed her hair. “Emily S.'s grandma is picking us up today. We're going skating, just the two of us.”

She smiled as Emily B. shot Emily S. a jealous look. Ducking her head, Emily S. opened her desk and began shuffling papers and books around.

Ms. Ali asked who wanted to stay and clean. Jazz and Milo raised their hands, along with a few others.

When the bell rang, the volunteers loaded up on cleaning supplies and headed for the empty trailer. But halfway there, Milo realized he'd left his spelling homework behind. He dropped his mop and bucket and ran back.

Emily S. knelt on the floor next to a pile of stuff spilling out of her backpack.

Brooke stood over her. “Come on. What could be so major? We're going to miss open-skate time at the rink.” She sniffed. “Maybe I should have done something with Emily B. instead.”

Milo picked up some stray papers and handed them over to Emily S. Pink-faced, she stuffed them in her backpack and followed Brooke out.

Yikes,
Milo thought. Even Brooke's
friends
were scared of her. He found his spelling sheet and stuffed it in his pocket.

When he got back to the learning cottage, Jazz called him over. “The big black bag by Carlos is for trash. Spencer's got the recycling box. And this—” She lifted a white plastic bag. “This is the lost and found. It's for whatever we're not sure we should throw out.”

“How about the things we want to keep for the haunted house?” Milo asked.

She pointed. “In that corner.”

He went over to take a look. Wow, what a pile! He pulled out a poster and unrolled it. A pair of kittens reading
The Cat in the Hat
? For a haunted house? And how in the world were they going to use a jigsaw puzzle of the rainforest?