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grommet tool.
    “Good luck, Bumpers,” she said. “You can work while I have my lunch. Just shout if you need help.”
    Then she turned on some noisy dance music and sat at her desk eating a salad that smelled sort of funny.
    I tried to follow all her directions. I had to cut the umbrella fabric just right, really close to the ribs of the umbrella. It was a very complicated process—trickier than anything I’d done before.
    Ms. Bromley came over a couple of times to see how I was doing. She had to help me here and there, but mostly she just left me alone.
    Toward the end of the period, she asked me if I was about finished.
    “All done!” I said.
    “Um, not quite, Bumpers. Look around.”
    All around me was a big mess. How did that happen?
    “It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll help.”
    I picked up the extra twist ties and grommets from the floor, and she started putting away the rest of the stuff I hadn’t used. There were still some pieces left over from my dad’s broken umbrella scattered around on the floor.
    “Wait!” she said. “I’ve just had a spectacular brainstorm.” She took two of the pointy parts of the umbrella with fabric on them and attached them to the back of the sweatshirt hood. “Bat ears,” she said.
    They looked great.
    “Put it on,” she said.
    I slipped my arms into the sleeves of the sweatshirt. Ms. Bromley zipped up the front. I lifted my arms, and the umbrella sections opened up.
    Holy moly! They looked exactly like bat wings. It was perfect!
    Well, almost perfect. One section was bigger than the other, so I looked sort of lopsided. But I figured a rabid bat was bound to be a little bit lopsided.
    Ms. Bromley pulled the hood up over my head, since I couldn’t reach back with my bat wings. She started laughing.
    “That is awesome, dude,” she said. “You are one serious bat.”

    “One serious
rabid
bat,” I said.
    “That’s even better,” she said. “What are you going to use for the foaming mouth? Shaving cream?”
    Genius idea! That’s exactly what I was going to use. My dad had a can of shaving cream. I’d spray some around my mouth for rabid foam!
    I nodded.
    “You’ve got to see yourself in the mirror,” she said. “I wish I had one here. You did a great job.”
    “Thanks, Ms. Bromley.” I smiled. Those movie tickets were mine!
    All I had to do now was figure out which movies I wanted to see.

14
The Final, Ultimate De-scaring of Charlie Bumpers
    It was just three days to Halloween. Mom was working late like she’d told us. Matt started dinner and Dad finished cooking when he got home. When we’d cleared away the dishes after dinner, I put on my costume and showed everyone.
    “It’s the best costume ever, Charlie,” the Squid said. “Next year I’m going to be a bat.”
    “Pretty good for someone who is a total klutz at art,” Matt said.
    “Not helpful, Matt,” Dad said.
    “I
said
it was pretty good!” Matt protested.
    I ignored him. Matt was good at art, and I figured he probably would have done a better job. But I was the one who’d had the idea and I was the one who had made the costume.
    After dinner, Matt showed me what he was planning for Halloween night. He had stuck a bunch of corn stalks up on the porch, along with a rickety old chair from the attic.
    “I’m just going to sit in that chair, really still, like I’m a mannequin or a stuffed scarecrow, and leave the candy in the basket by the door. And if a little kid comes up with his parents, I’ll just be a friendly ghoul and hand them some candy. But if it’s someone like Jared, I’ll slump there like I’m some kind of dummy. When he tries to take some candy, I’ll jump up and scream my head off. He’ll die of fright!”
    It sounded hilarious. “I wish I could see that,” I said.
    “No way. You’ll be wetting your pants over at Alex’s. But not to worry, little brother. Tonight I willtell you the final chilling story of Simon Purslip, the Long-Fingered Man.