The Case of the Haunted Haunted House by Lewis B. Montgomery Page B

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.”
    â€œHow 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?

    Haunted houses needed
scary
stuff. Skeletons. Axes dripping with fake blood. Pictures with eyes that followed you around and creepy things like—
    Suddenly a hand shot out and clamped around his ankle.
    Milo screamed.

The pile fell over, and Gordy climbed out laughing. “Oh, man. That was great. You should have seen your face.”
    Milo stomped away. Shoving the puzzle in the lost-and-found bag, he grumbled, “Gordy and his stupid jokes.”
    Jazz nodded sympathetically as she tossed in a DVD. “Tell me about it. Remember the time he tried to tie my sneaker to my chair?”
    For the next half hour everyone worked steadily, even Gordy. Carlos found some yellow streamers they could use to make a mummy. Spencer swept the floor, and Jazz and Pria carried out the trash. Milo took the lost-and-found bag to the front office, but the door was locked, so he dropped it in the back of their classroom closet.

    â€œThis is going to be the best Spring Thing booth ever,” he told Jazz as they walked home together. “Wait till Chris hears. He’ll be sorry he ever made that bet.”
    â€œI hope he doesn’t hear too soon,” Jazz said. “Chris hates to lose.”
    Milo shrugged. It wasn’t as if her brother could do anything about it. How could Dunk the Teacher compete with a haunted house?
    The next morning when Milo got to school, he saw a crowd of kids staring and pointing at the learning cottage.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” he asked a kindergartner.
    She looked up at him with wide eyes. “They say it’s haunted.”
    Milo laughed. “It isn’t really haunted. We’re just making it into a haunted house for the Spring Thing.”
    The girl looked doubtful. “Are you sure?”
    â€œSure I’m sure.” He spotted Jazz and pointed. “It was her idea.”
    Jazz walked up to them. “Some kid just told me there’s a ghost inside the learning cottage.”
    A third grader turned around. “I heard that it groans and rattles chains.” He let out a long, eerie groan.
    The kindergartner burst into tears.
    Jazz took her hand. “Don’t cry. There isn’t any ghost. Come on. I’ll take you in and show you.”
    â€œNo!” The girl snatched her hand away and ran off.
    â€œThis is ridiculous,” Jazz fumed.
    Milo shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be good. Like advertising for our haunted house, right?”
    â€œNot if kids are scared to go inside,” she pointed out.

    â€œThat’s just one kindergartner being a