R. L. Stine_Mostly Ghostly 07 by Freaks, Shrieks Page A

capture evil ghosts. One day, the ghosts escaped. And the four of us were no longer alive.
    That's all we know.
    Mom and Dad went off to find answers. They think they can find a way to bring our family back to life. They told us to wait for them in our old house, with Max and his family.
    But they've been gone a
long
time. Tara and I really miss them. We've been feeling very sad lately.
    We turned onto Bleek Street, our street. I heard shouts from the next yard. A boy was screaming.
    Tara and I hurried across the street. We saw the Wilbur brothers, Billy and Willy—the worst kids at Jefferson Elementary.
    They were teasing a little red-haired boy. He looked to be only five or six.
    Billy Wilbur grabbed the boy's baseball cap and tossed it to his brother, Willy. They were playing keep-away with the little guy's cap. They held it right in front of his face, then jerked it out of his reach.
    The little boy started to cry. That made the Wilbur brothers toss back their heads and heehaw with laughter.
    “Come on, Nicky.” Tara tugged my arm. “Let's go have a little fun with those Wilbur brats.”

B ILLY W ILBUR HAD THE little boy's cap. He squatted down at the edge of a flower garden and started scooping with one hand, filling the cap with mud.
    “Give me my cap!” the little boy pleaded. Tears ran down his red cheeks. “It's my new cap!”
    “It's
our
new cap now!” Willy said.
    Billy stood up and whirled around. He raised the cap, brimming with mud. “You want it back, Casey?” he said, grinning. “Okay, I'll give it back.”
    “Put it back on Casey's head,” Willy said, grinning at his brother.
    Tara swooped up behind them. She grabbed the cap and plopped it down on Billy Wilbur's head. The wet mud oozed down his face.
    Casey's mouth dropped open in surprise.
    Billy turned angrily to his brother. “Hey, punk! Whatja do that for?” He pulled the cap off and tossed it at Willy. He wiped mud off his face with one hand and smeared it down the front of his brother's shirt.
    “Hey!” Willy jumped back. “I didn't do anything!”
    I grabbed him by the shoulders and made him spin around a few times. Tara had ahold of Billy. We pushed them forward and made them crack heads.
    They both cried out angrily.
    Casey laughed.
    “What's your problem?” Billy Wilbur shouted angrily.
    “What's
your
problem?” Willy screamed.
    They both turned on little Casey. “What are you laughing about, punk?” Willy snarled. “It's time for your mud bath, isn't it?”
    Casey stumbled back.
    “Yeah,” Billy agreed. “Mud bath time.”
    “Nooooo—please!” Casey screamed.
    They both dove at him. But Tara and I grabbed the two Wilburs by their ankles.
    “Whoa—!”
    “Hey!”
    We pulled them up till they were standing on their heads.
    Casey stared at them in shock. “How do you do that?” he asked.
    “I … don't… know,” Billy Wilbur said.
    “I can't get down!” his brother groaned. “Casey, help us down!”
    Casey stood there frozen, gaping at them.Then he grabbed his muddy cap and took off running down the block.
    As soon as he was gone, Tara and I let go of the Wilburs. They flopped onto their stomachs, confused. Then they both jumped up fast.
    They gazed all around. They scratched their heads.
    “Weird,” Willy Wilbur muttered.
    “Totally,” his brother said.
    They took off running in the other direction.
    Tara and I laughed. “That was kinda fun,” I said.
    “Too easy,” Tara replied. “Hey, Nicky. Maybe that's what we could be doing for laughs. Turn everyone upside down!
Terrorize
the neighborhood!”
    I nodded. “Well … we're already terrorizing Max!”
    “He'll like what we did to the Wilburs,” Tara said, straightening her cap. “If he ever speaks to us again.”
    We crossed the street. Our house was two blocks away. A girl raced past on a bike, pedaling furiously. She almost knocked us over. She had no idea we were there.
    I heard footsteps on the sidewalk behind us.
    I spun around—and saw a