Megan Stine_Jeffery & the Third-Grade Ghost 03 Read Online Free

was just a case of mistaken identity. They let my mom and dad go as soon as they realized they weren’t famous movie actors,” Jeffrey said. “But you were really great to let me stay herethen, Mr. Hyde,” he added politely. He hoped Mr. Hyde would get the hint.
    “What do you think?” Ben said. “Can Jeffrey stay here?”
    “Just until my mother is out of quarantine?” Jeffrey asked.
    Ben’s parents looked at each other and smiled.
    “Jeffrey, we’d like to help you out,” said Mr. Hyde. “But we decided this morning to take the family on a skiing vacation. We’re leaving tomorrow after school.”
    “That’s okay. I love to ski!” Jeffrey said. “I’m secretly in training for the Olympics. I haven’t even told my parents yet.”
    “That’s terrific,” said Mr. Hyde. “But if you came with us, you’d miss your two cousins who are coming to stay with you.”
    Jeffrey’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know about that?” he asked.
    “We called your parents to see if you could stay for dinner,” explained Mrs. Hyde. “They told us.”
    “You mean my mom doesn’t have malaria?” Jeffrey said, pretending to be surprised. “I guess I really fell for their joke that time, huh? My parents sure have a great imagination, don’t they?”
    “With you around, they’d have to,” said Mr. Hyde with a laugh.
    Jeffrey walked home glumly that night. When he got to his front yard, he saw the snow fort. It was mostly melted. And someone had chopped away at the remains, leaving only crumbled ice.
    Some holiday this is going to be, Jeffrey thought. Just three days ago it had seemed like it would be the best Christmas ever. But that was before the big fight with Max. Now Max was gone—and the rest of Jeffrey’s friends were leaving soon.
    If only Max would come back, Jeffrey thought to himself. Max would know how to take care of Jonathan and Wendy. He smiled at the thought.
    But without Max, Christmas was going to be dullsville for sure.

Chapter Five

    At lunch, Jeffrey’s bowl of alphabet soup kept giving him messages. B-A-D. R-U-N. E-X-I-T. Even his soup seemed to know that trouble was coming to his house. In fact, it would be there as soon as his father got back from the bus station. He was bringing Wendy and Jonathan.
    “She’s bossy,” Jeffrey said out loud.
    “Because she’s a girl?” his mother replied with a smile.
    Jeffrey stirred his soup. It spelled H-A-T-E.
    “And he’s always trying to get me into trouble,” Jeffrey said.
    “Jonathan is just like his father,” Jeffrey’s mom said. “He always had a mischievous sense of humor.”
    “Mischievous? Mom, you could say the same thing about Darth Vadar! Why do you always look on the bright side of everything?”
    They heard a car horn beep outside. Jeffrey’s heart told him that it was too late for any more arguments.
    His mother started for the front door, but she paused to say, “Jeffrey, you promised to make the best of this situation. I expect you to keep your word.”
    Jonathan came in first. He was a tall seventh-grader with a black leather jacket and black hair in a bristly haircut.
    “Hey, Aunt Betsy,” Jonathan shouted, giving his aunt a crushing hug.
    “Hello, Jonathan,” Mrs. Becker said, laughing and gasping for breath. “I can’t believe how big you are!”
    “Yeah,” Jonathan said. “I’ve been taking growing lessons. Ha ha ha.” He whirled and faced Jeffrey. He jerked his fists up to fighting position. Jeffrey jumped back in surprise.
    “Two for flinching. Ha ha ha!” said Jonathan. He gave Jeffrey two quick, light punches on the arm.
    Wendy came to the door more cautiously. She was Jeffrey’s age, but Jeffrey thought she was always trying to act older. Wendy had straight dark hair. Her brightly colored down jacket looked like it had never seen snow.
    “Hello, Aunt Betsy,” Wendy said. She walked in without hugging Mrs. Becker and said to Jeffrey, “Why don’t you have a holly wreath on your door? We