Excerpt from A BAD CASE OF GHOSTS
by Kenneth Oppel
Illustrated by Sam Sisco
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"Yes, well," said Tina, looking up from a new gadget she'd been fiddling with, "I think we can give this a try."
"What is it?" Giles asked.
"It's great," said Kevin. "She took apart practically everything in the house to make it, the radio, TV, electric egg beater. She's brilliant."
"Kevin - " said Tina.
"I know, I know," sighed her brother, "shut up."
"Exactly. Now then, what I've been working on is a device which should make the ghosts disappear for good. Stand back everyone, please."
She flipped a little switch on the side of the contraption. There was a loud whirring noise, then a coughing, spluttering sound, and a big plume of yellow and black smoke curled up into the air.
"Well," said Tina. "That wasn't a huge success, was it?"
"Tina? Kevin?" a voice called down from the top of the stairs. "What's going on down there?"
"Nothing, Mom," said Tina.
"Don't worry," Kevin said to Giles, fanning smoke away from his face. "We'll come up with something. You won't have to live with ghosts for the rest of your life."
"Maybe we should try to find out more about the woman who used to live there," Giles suggested. "Maybe that would help."
Tina looked doubtful.
"It doesn't sound very scientific," she said.
"But it's a real mystery," Giles said. Something terrible must have happened. But what? If he knew that, maybe he'd be able to free his house from all the ghosts.
From A Bad Case of Ghosts, copyright © 1994, 2000 by Kenneth Oppel.
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