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We oken the nextby a terrible sound Booooooom Booooooom BooooooomWanda jumped out of bed and rushed to the door "Ara down!" I put my head under" "What’s gone?" yelled Wanda "Where?"

Boooooooo back to sleep and sat up "It’s the gong, " I said very patiently "You know, that big round thing hanging up in the hall I used to do that all the tih for me to reach " Wanda came back and sat down on her bed She looked really fed up "It’s Nurse Watkins, isn’t it?" she said "She’s waking us up and it’s only" Wanda squinted at her pink fairy watch for a long tiure out which of the fairy’s wings is pointing where It is the stupidest watch I have ever seen After a few minutes, Wanda squeaked, "It’s only six o’clock!" "That is why it’s still dark, " I said I hugged the blankets around me It was cold and I could see clouds of my breath on the air

We were in our Monday bedroom, which is my least favorite room It has two iron beds and is painted a yucky pale broith a dark brown stripe halfway up the wall--because brown is Aunt Tabby’s favorite color The beds are very old and lu in the Monday bed rooe--which thatwas exactly what Wanda and I were: poor abandoned children Suddenly it got even e We heard the sound of Nurse Watkins’s footsteps co up the stairs Wanda looked at me in a panic "It’s her Don’t you have a Plan, Ara--but thinking of a Plan when Nurse Watkins’s feet are stoh

That is when it becoh Wanda has lived in Spookie House for quite a while now, I have not told her about the eency exits in our bed roo, just like Uncle Drac does not tell Aunt Tabby everything I tell her things on what Uncle Drac calls a need-to-know basis--and Wanda did not need to know about eency exits They would only worry her; she would want to knoe ht need them "Of course I have a Plan, " I said "Coency exit frooes to our Tuesday bedroom

Wanda followed me into the cupboard; I closed the door and switched on ht Wanda did not look very happy "But she’ll guess we’re in here, " she said "Aha, " I said mysteriously "I said follow me, didn’t I? So that is what you have to do " I pushedup at the back of the cupboard and the next moment I was out in the Tuesday bedroo beds with curtains around the that does not have any holes in it--which is unusual for Spookie House Wanda tripped over my old Ghost Kit and fell out of the cupboard "Shh!" I hissed before she could go "Ouch!" very loudly, which is what Wanda always does when she falls over

The next part of the Eot dressed, tiptoed past our Monday bedroo, "GirlsGirls?" and looking under the beds with the sa for cockroaches We ran downstairs at top speed The final part of ency Plan was for Nurse Watkins to find us in the kitchen with the table laid for breakfast, cooking oat meal, and when she came in I would ask in a bored voice if she would like soot up at last But like all Plans it did not go quite as well as planned Because as we scooted past Uncle Drac’s broom cupboard I bumped into Sir Horace and he fell over with a horrible crash Drat

And then--double drat--we heard the sound of nurse shoes thudding down the stairs really fast and a loud nursey voice saying, "Girls, girls!"

I never thought in a million years that I would actually look forward to Great-aunt E, but by the afternoon I couldn’t wait for that hearse to drive up and rescue us from Nurse Watkins Wanda and I had escaped to Aunt Tabby’s rooh Spookie House hunting spiders with the vacuu corridor upstairs Aunt Tabby calls it her thinking roooes to eat mint creams and read the paper

Wanda is really good at finding hidden candy and she had discovered Aunt Tabby’s secret stash of mint creams under a loose floorboard, which made us feel much better The room has a cute littlethat sticks out, which Uncle Drac calls an oriel as sitting there, sucking the chocolate off the very last mint cream, when I saw the hearse draw up Suddenly I wasn’t so sure that I did want to see Great-aunt Emilene after all "Wanda, " I said "She’s here!" "Who?" asked Wanda, all relaxed with mint creams "Great-aunt Emilene " Wanda scuttled to theand peered overmint- cream breath all overunderwater--slowly get out of the hearse and walk around to the passenger door

Perkins opened the door and a shiny black boot poked out Wanda closed her eyes tight so she didn’t see what happened next--and what happened next was aot out of the hearse--it was Mathilda Spookie! Mathilda Spookie is rown-up cousin and she is the coolest cousin ever She earing her really around and has lots of cobwebby things stuck to it, plus her cool hat with all kinds of dead stuff on it She stood at the gate for a moment Then she looked up at Spookie House, and she had a little secret smile on her face I waved like crazy but I don’t think she saw ate and careat boots that she wears and rang the doorbell Nurse Watkins didn’t hear a thing The vac uu sound that it always does when it has swal lowed too ot to answer the doorbell all on our own I opened the door and sra ciously "Hello, Mathilda, " I said "It is very nice to see you Would you like to co a bit surprised, as I do not usually talk so politely, but just because I don’t, it doesn’t mean that I can’t Mathilda was very polite too "Thank you, Araminta, " she said "Do you mind if Ned and Jed come in too?" I didn’tas their nain with Aunt or Nurse

"We don’t mind, do we, Wanda?" I said "Who are Ned and Jed?" asked Wanda, peering out and blinking in the bright sun Sometimes Wanda reminds me of one of Uncle Drac’s bats "Yooo-hooo!" cae Wanda juer surprises than a couple of boys sticking their heads over the hedge and ht they looked like fun This was going to be good Mathilda caazed around drealad Grannie can’t come "

"Who’s Grannie?" asked Miss Nosy Bucket Wanda Wizzard Actually I was glad she asked, as I didn’t know either "Oh, you probably call her Great-aunt Euely "Great-aunt Ee slug had dropped out ofof cheese and onion chips on the side "She went to get her hair done yesterday and it turned bright orange " Mathilda giggled So did we "So she won’t go anywhere " "How bright?" asked Miss Nosy Bucket "Bright, " drawled Mathilda "Like I need these to look at her " She pulled out a pair of the best sunglasses ever and put thele-eyed Mathilda looked so cool we couldn’t quite believe she was really in Spookie House at all

No one that cool ever co her head out of the door and yelling, "Hey--Ned! Jed! Get in here--now!" She sounded just like Aunt Tabby, who is definitely not cool "Shh!" I said But it was too late Somewhere the vacuu down the stairs Back to reality, I thought There was no way Nurse Watkins was going to let Mathilda stay with us for a whole week