9 Ch9-Mrs. Patty's Weird House

Chapter 9 Mrs. Patty's Weird House "Who said that?" Michael asked after we heard the weird man's voice. "Headless Marvin?" "It wasn't a person," Ryan said. "It was one of those computer voices." "Let's get out of here," said Emily, "before it's too late!"

She sounded like she was about to cry, as usual. I wanted to cry too, but I didn't want to look like a baby. "I— I'm not scared," I said. "M-me neither," said Michael. We went through the gate and climbed the front steps. You could hardly see anything. Even though I was walking on my tiptoes, the stairs squeaked with every step. I was trying to find the doorbell when I walked into some spiderwebs. They were all over lily face. Yuck! Then I put my foot in something. It was stuck! I couldn't get it out! "Aaaah!" I screamed, shaking my foot.

"You stepped in a pumpkin head, dork," said Andrea. "I knew that," I said, finally shaking my foot free. Any time somebody tells you that you did something dumb, always act like you did it on purpose. That's the first rule of being a kid. Ryan rang the doorbell. It played funeral music. I was hoping that nobody would be home, but soon we heard footsteps and the front door slowly creaked open. I held my breath. It was Mrs. Patty. She was still dressed in her witch costume. At least she didn't have an ax.

"Aha," she said in a scary voice, "my last group of trick-or-treaters is finally here." "I love your Halloween decorations, Mrs. Patty," said Andrea, who never misses a chance to brownnose a grown- up. "What decorations?" Mrs. Patty said. "My house always looks like this." I was really sweating now. "We better go," I said. "It's way past our bedtimes." "Isn't there something you want to say first?" asked Mrs. Patty. "Yeah," I said, "how does that wart stay on your nose?"

"You're supposed to say 'trick or treat,'" said Mrs. Patty. "Oh," we all said, "trick or treat."

"Before I give you candy," she said, "you must pass a test." "No, that's not how it goes," said Michael. "All we have to do is say 'trick or treat' and you give us candy. Then we leave. That's the way it's supposed to work." "Not here," said Mrs. Patty. "Do you want the candy or not?"