The Ghastly Gerty Swindle With the Ghosts of Hungryhouse Lane by Sam McBratney

1 …
    Miss Amy and the Sweet Kids
    Amy Steadings lived with three ghosts in Hungryhouse Lane, near the quiet village of Tunwold.
    Amy was getting on in years. One day she strained her hip while carrying coal and could no longer get upstairs to clean and polish the way she used to do. The time had come, Amy decided, to put an ad in the paper and get a nice lady companion to live with her.
    This was not an easy advertisement to write, for Amy wanted to attract the right kind of person—someone who enjoyed country life and who wasn’t afraid of … well, of the
unusual.
    Oh dear, she thought. This could be tricky. People sometimes behave rather strangely when they hear the word “ghost.” It’s not quite the same as having bats or mice.
    Amy had inherited the house and its ghosts froman old friend, and she firmly believed that it was her responsibility to look after them properly. She had never mentioned them to a living soul, so no one knew they were there—no one, that is, except for the children who had lived in the house for a few weeks before Amy took it over. Such interesting children! Their names were Zoe Sweet, Charlie Sweet and Bonnie Sweet. They hadn’t been in the least dismayed to find spooks in the attic. They’d been overjoyed!
    But they were
children.
And Amy was quite certain that children could be tougher than grown-ups when it came to … well, the
unusual.
    After some deep thinking she decided that it would be silly to mention the ghosts in her ad. Eventually she settled on a form of words that pleased her:
    Elderly lady seeks companion to help with the cleaning of seventeenth-century house, also for cooking and conversation. An interest in country life is essential for this position. Full board and weekly wage. Please apply with references to the address below.
    There, thought Amy as she licked a stamp. That was quite enough information for the time being. When her new companion had settled in, perhaps the subject of the ghosts could be discussed over a cup of tea.
    She placed the letter behind the mantelpiece clock for posting.
    The Sweet kids (of whom Amy Steadings had just been thinking) had recently moved into a new house far away from Hungryhouse Lane.
    Actually, it was more of a mansion. Many of the sixteen rooms had a telephone or a television set, and around the back there were beautiful gardens, a fine big swimming pool, and stables for five horses. The house was so new that the gardens had no grass, the pool had no water, and the stables had no horses.
    The Sweet family had plenty of money. After winning a fortune in the national lottery, Mr. Sweet gave up his job, saying to his friends, “This is not going to change us at all, of course; we shall still be the same people underneath.” It was lucky that he used that word “underneath,” because on the surface Mr. and Mrs. Sweet changed completely, and they changed overnight. Money did not change their attitude to backgammon, however. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet were addicted to that game, and often discussed each other’s play in rather heated tones.
    Such a discussion was happening right now in the smallest of the three reception rooms.
    â€œTwo double fives,” said Mr. Sweet. “I ask you, two blasted double fives in a row! They cost me that game, you know.”
    â€œI don’t think so,” said Mrs. Sweet with a superior smile. “My strategy was to block you in and that’s what happened. I blocked you in.”
    â€œStrategy! Piffle!” snapped Mr. Sweet.
    The door opened and their eldest daughter appeared, glowering. Zoe could glower better than anyone in the family.
    â€œMommy, he’s juggling the pears again and dropping them violently on the kitchen floor.”
    â€œWe’re in the middle of backgammon, Zoe dear,” said Mrs. Sweet. “What does it matter if he drops a pear or not?”
    â€œBecause they’ll pick up germs. And they’ll