Read [Janitors 03] Curse of the Broomstaff for Free Online Page B

chin with the pen. “One more thing!” She bent over and scratched out a final sentence at the bottom of the page:
P.S. My socks are warm and fuzzy!
    Then she folded the note and slid it across the table to Alice. Daisy set down the pen. No one said anything about her quick postscript. It was gibberish to Alice and Bernard. But Spencer’s mouth had fallen slightly open, and he studied Daisy with a curious expression.
    Daisy finally looked over at him, a pleased smile across her face. “Well,” she said, “I’m ready when you are. I’ve always wanted to go to Disneyland!”

Chapter 7
“Treasure!”
    A light snowfall flittered in the headlights of Bernard’s garbage truck. The flurries had come and gone since dinner—never enough to whiten the road, but keeping the windshield wet so that Bernard had to use the wipers.
    Bernard’s garbage truck smelled weird. Spencer hadn’t expected a nice scent, but the sight of so many car fresheners had momentarily lifted his hopes. Bernard had at least a few dozen pine-tree-shaped fresheners dangling from the truck’s rearview mirror.
    There was a myriad of scents: cinnamon, coconut, vanilla, sprucewood, lavender, and even bacon. The hodgepodge of fragrances, combined with the truck’s preexisting odor of garbage, had been terrible at first. But after so many hours in the truck, Spencer had grown accustomed to the smell.
    Spencer yawned. They were somewhere in eastern Wyoming. The Mickey Mouse clock on the dashboard said it was just after ten o’clock. They’d been driving steadily since noon, stopping only to refuel the garbage truck. Even lunch and dinner were eaten on the go. Alice had packed a cooler with enough food for the three of them.
    Once she had finally agreed to let Spencer and Daisy go, Alice had gone above and beyond to prepare them for the journey. In addition to the meals, Alice had packed a gigantic duffel bag with blankets, sleeping bags, and clothes. Spencer’s sister had a few clothes that would fit Daisy, as well as a coat, gloves, and hat. Thanks to Alice Zumbro, they were prepared.
    “Ahh, goodie,” Bernard said, cranking the big garbage truck around a corner. “Here we are at last.”
    Through the headlights and falling snow, Spencer saw a parking lot. Along both sides were rows of yellow school buses. There must have been more than fifty, all lined up and carefully parked. The windows were dark, and a bit of snow had started to gather on the roofs of the vehicles.
    “It’s like a bus cemetery,” Daisy whispered as they pulled into the lot.
    “Actually,” Bernard said, “it’s a district bus depot. This is where all the buses park overnight.”
    “Where are all the bus drivers?” Daisy asked.
    “Probably at home sleeping,” answered Bernard.
    “But how’d they get home if all the buses are here? Ooh, maybe there’s a special bus that all the bus drivers ride.” She scratched her head. “But who would drive it?”
    “Is this the second rendezvous point?” Spencer asked, distracting Daisy from her chain of useless questions.
    “That’s right,” said Bernard. “We’ve got about two hours here.” He parked the garbage truck in the center of the lot, with rows of quiet school buses on either side. “See if anybody from the team shows.”
    In Spencer’s vision of Walter, the warlock had mentioned that he wouldn’t meet them until the third rendezvous point. But that still left Penny and Alan unaccounted for. Either one could show up here.
    Bernard’s blue eyes scanned the area, pausing on a distant dumpster. “I’m going to check out the trash,” he said. Reaching over, he opened the glove compartment and fished out a headlamp. Bernard strapped the light over his aviator cap, clicked on the bulb, and turned to the kids. “You two stay here.” Then he lowered himself from the truck and took off at a jog toward the dumpster.
    “Guy’s crazy,” Spencer said. “We’ve been with him for ten hours and don’t know a