Read A Good Night for Ghosts for Free Online

door.
    “Stop!” yelled Dipper. “What are y’all doing here?”
    The three boys all talked at once: “We fell out of the attic!” “Felt like something was pushing us out!” “Yeah! Then down the stairs and toward the door!”
    “Jack’s
song
pushed you downstairs!” said Annie, laughing. “He ordered the ghost to leave us alone! His singing was magic.”
    “Your playing was magic, too!” Dipper said to Annie. “You two really put your hearts in it.”
    “Thanks,” said Jack.
    Dipper looked down at Little Mack. “Now tell us what you three fools were up to!” he said.
    “We decided to play a joke on y’all,” said Little Mack. “So we snuck through the back door and up to the attic.”
    “We thought you left because you were scared of ghosts!” said Annie.
    “Heck no, man,” said Little Mack.
    “We’re not afraid of ghosts,” said Happy.
    “Not even a little bit,” said Big Nose Sidney.
    Suddenly a cold wind blasted through the room. The lanterns flickered out. An eerie green light lit the blacksmith shop.
    “WHAT?”
a voice roared.
“NOT AFRAID OF GHOSTS?”
    The voice seemed to come from everywhere—and nowhere.
    “AHHHHHHH!” the kids all screamed together.
    “HAH-HAH-HAH!” Mean-sounding laughter echoed through the shop. It grew louder and louder. “HAH-HAH-HAH!”
    “AHHHHHHH!” the kids all screamed again.
    Stomping noises thundered in the attic overhead.
    Everyone shrieked and froze with terror.
    Down from the attic came a pirate. His facewas hidden by the brim of a black hat. He wore a gray jacket with a double row of buttons, a red sash, and dark pants tucked inside black boots.
    The pirate looked like a real person,
except you could see right through him
.

T under shook the night. The wind howled. The pirate ghost floated down the stairs.
    “The ghost of Jean Lafitte!” whispered Annie.
    The ghost pointed a bony finger at Happy. “NOT AFRAID OF GHOSTS?” his voice boomed again. He pointed at Big Nose Sidney. “NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT? HAH-HAH-HAH!”
    “AHHHHHHH!” everyone shrieked again. They all scrambled out of the back room to the front room. They pushed on the front door together. But the door still wouldn’t open.
    “SCURVY DOGS! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!” the ghost of Jean Lafitte shouted.
    The pirate ghost floated to the center of the room and stopped. He rested his hands on his hips, threw back his head, and laughed again. “YOU’RE TRAPPED NOW!” Jean Lafitte roared. “TRAPPED HERE FOREVER!”
    To Jack’s horror, more ghost pirates began gliding through the walls into the room. One at a time they came: a pirate with a gold earring, another with a pistol, one with a head scarf, another with an eye patch, one with a saber, another with a bushy beard, one with a thin mustache, another with a sack, one with a striped shirt, another with a peg leg.
    Finally ten ghost pirates circled the room!
    From the center of the circle, Jean Lafitte let out another peal of mean laughter. “HAH-HAH-HAH!”
    The pirate crew snorted, snarled, and growled, “YARRR! ARGHH! ARRL!”
    Suddenly Jack started singing:
    Skiddle-diddle dog!

Hey, hey, hey!

Ghost, go away
,
Go away, go away!
    “Jack!” said Annie. “What are you doing?”
    “Play Annie! Play!” squeaked Jack.
    “I can’t!” said Annie. “We used up the magic! It’s just an ordinary trumpet now!”
    “Here, give it to me!” said Dipper.
    Annie handed Dipper the trumpet.
    Dipper put the trumpet to his lips. He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and then he blew. The air vibrated with a single warm note. Then Dipper’s fingers danced over the trumpet’s valves. A lively, swinging tune filled the blacksmith shop.
    Jean Lafitte stopped laughing his mean laugh. He held up his hands for his crew to be silent. As Dipper played, crooked smiles crossed the pirates’ faces.
    Dipper’s joyful music drowned out the noise of the storm outside. Annie snatched two rungs from a broken chair. She used them as