“Help!” Genie yelled. “Ali, help me!”

Ali watched in dismay as Henrietta floated up to thé ceiling. She landed on the crystal chandelier and set all the glass beads tinkling. Then she began to examine Genie more closely. She patted and stroked her hair and felt her clothes.

“Stop it!” Genie wailed. “I'm not a doll!” She stared down at Ali and then covered her eyes with her hands. “Get me down, Ali!” she called. “You know I don't like heights!”

“A talking, moving doll!” Henrietta's eyes opened wide in delight “I've never had one of those before.”

“Henrietta!” Ali called urgently. “You have to let Genie go. She's not—”

Ali stopped. She had been about to tell Henrietta that” Genie was not a doll at all, but she wasn't sure Henrietta would understand. After all, Genie was the same size as a doll, and Ali was pretty certain that Henrietta had never come across a real, live genie before.

And Ali wasn't supposed to tell anyone about Little Genie. If she did, Genie could be sent back to live in her Lava lamp.

“Please give Genie back to me, Henrietta,” Ali said. “She's my doll, not yours.”

Henrietta scowled at Ali, while Genie looked outraged.

“Excuse me!” Genie protested “I'm not a doll,I'm a—”

“Shrjh!” Ali said quickly. She glanced at Henrietta. She had turned Genie upside down and was examining her curly-toed pink shoes. “We can't tell her the truth. It might scare her”

“Scare her!” Genie repeated, hanging upside down with her ponytail swinging wildly. “She's a ghost!”

“I know, but ghosts might get scared too,” Ali pointed out “Can't you use your magic to escape?”

“It won't work on a ghost,” Genie replied.

“Henrietta,” Ali called more loudly. “Please give Genie back to me.”

“No!” Henrietta retorted triumphantly. “You can't have her back She's my doll now.”

As she spoke, she flew off the chandelier and floated toward the stairs. Ali hurried after her Henrietta flew up the stairs and along the corridor Panting, Ali reached the landing just in time to see the ghost disappear into the Green Bedroom with Little Genie still clutched in her hand.

Ali ran down the corridor and stopped in the doorway. Henrietta was sitting on top of a glass case pointing to the dolls inside.

“This one in the blue satin dress is my favorite,” she was saying to Genie.

“Genie?” Ali moved cautiously into the room. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, I think,” Genie said, still looking a bit nervous. “Henrietta's telling me all about her dolls.”

‘-They're really beautiful,” Ali said loudly, walking farther into the room. She wondered if there was a chance she could grab Genie. Henrietta didn't seem to be taking much notice of her at the moment She was too busy looking at the dolls in the glass case.

“If you've got all these lovely dolls,” Ali went on, “why do you want Genie?”

Henrietta turned and glared at Ali. “I haven't got any dolls anymore,” she snapped. “That's why I need a new one.” She clutched Little Genie to her even more tightly. Genie gave a muffled squeak

“I thought all these dolls were yours,” Ali said, pointing at the glass cases.

“Yes, but I can't have them.” Henrietta looked sad. “They're locked away, I miss them.”

Ali found herself feeling quite sorry for the forlorn little ghost “Why can't you just play with them at night when no one's here, and then put them back in the morning?” she suggested.

Henrietta looked scornfully at her. “I'm a ghost silly,” she said. “I can't open the glass cases.”

Ali frowned. “I thought ghosts could walkthrough walls and stuff like that,” she said. “Can't you just get through the glass?”

Henrietta's ghostly cheeks turned a very pale shade of pink. “I'm not very good at walking through walls,” she confessed.”! missed a lot of classes at Spook School.”

“Mmm” Ali said, glancing at Génie. “That reminds me of someone else!”

“There must be a way we can help Henrietta play with her dolls again,” Genie whispered to Ali. “Thçn she'll let me go.”

“Maybe I could get the dolls out of the glass case,” Ali said.

“I don't think that's a good idea,” said Genie. “Look” She pointed to a sign on the wall that read THESE DISPLAY CASES ARE

PROTECTED BY ALARMS.

“Anyway, we can't just let Henrietta take the dolls,” Genie added. “People will notice they're gone and call the police.”

“What Henrietta needs is some new dolls,” Ali said.

“Well, you still have one wish left,” Genie reminded her in a low voice. “Wishing for Tiffany to see a ghost wasn't a real wish, remember?”

“Oh yes!” Ali started to feel more hopeful. “Henrietta, if I give you some brand-new dolls, will you give Genie back tome?”

Henrietta looked amazed. “New dolls?” she repeated. “For me?”

“Lots of them,” Ali told her

Henrietta nodded eagerly. “Oh yes,” she said. “I don't want this old doll if I can have lots of new ones.”

“Thanks a lot!” Genie muttered.

Ali took a deep breath. “I wish she began in a low voice, so that Henrietta couldn't hear hen “…I wish that Henrietta had lots and lots of brand-new dolls, all for herself!”