Mrs. Jaeger’s hands flew to her cheeks. She blushed with pleasure and embarrassment. “Oh, dear,” she said. “I don’t know what to say!”
“Don’t say anything, Mildred,” Mrs. Zimmermann told her. “Just come to the meeting tonight. We’ll have the formal ceremony then.”
“I’ve never been to a meeting like that before. Oh, dear, what shall I wear?” Mrs. Jaeger asked.
Jonathan smiled. “Oh, anything you wish,” he said. “Be casual, be comfortable, and be yourself. But one thing—” he broke off, his eyes growing round with alarm. “What’s that?”
Lewis’s heart thudded. A piping, eerie music filled the air, a haunting, faraway tune that was growing louder by the second. Everyone leaped up and stared at the corner of the house.
A second later Jailbird the cat sauntered around the house and into the backyard. He was whistling “Buffalo Gals” so badly it sounded like a funeral dirge.
Mrs. Jaeger looked pained. “At least,” she said, “I’m not as terrible a magician as whoever enchanted that poor cat!”
Mrs. Zimmermann began to laugh. Uncle Jonathan turned a bright pink, but then he chuckled too. Looking pleased with himself, Jailbird finished his tune and began to wash his paws as Mrs. Jaeger, Rose Rita, and Lewis joined in the laughter. It was a good sound, a lively sound, in the warm sunshine of the first real day of spring.
John Bellairs is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of many Gothic novels, including The Curse of the Blue Figurine; The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt; The Lamp from the Warlock’s Tomb; The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull; and the novels starring Lewis Barnavelt, Rose Rita Pottinger, and Mrs. Zimmermann: The House With a Clock in Its Walls; The Figure in the Shadows; The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring; and The Ghost in the Mirror. John Bellairs died in 1991.
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PUFFIN CHILLERS BY JOHN BELLAIRS
Lewis Barnavelt Books
The House With a Clock in Its Walls
The Figure in the Shadows
The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring
The Ghost in the Mirror
The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder
Professor Childermass and Johnny Dixon Books
The Curse of the Blue Figurine
The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt
The Secret of the Underground Room
The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull
The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie
The Revenge of the Wizard’s Ghost
Anthony Monday Books
The Dark Secret of Weatherend
The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn
The Mansion in the Mist