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Hoosh!

Boo bounded over the fallen bogeys, trying not to catch his claws in the net.

‘What are you doing, little wolf?’ The Greedle followed him. ‘Can’t take it any more?’

‘Go away!’ yelled Boo. It wasn’t difficult to let the tears fall now. Go on, cry! he told himself. Cry for Princess Princess, for the poor bogeys who’d been forced to do the Greedle’s will, for the Menu obediently following and helping Squeak so Boo could eat them…

‘The little wolfie’s crying!’ The Greedle’s voice was gleeful.

‘But I’m not going to go away!

I’m going to stay

We’re going to play!

Every, every, every day!’

The Greedle hovered lower and lower again. ‘Try and snap me now, little puppy. Go on,’ coaxed the

Greedle. ‘Try and bite me again!’

‘No!’ howled Boo, dodging the frozen Heroes. Past Gloria, her lipstick fallen to the ground. Past Dr Mussells, his banana frozen in his hand. Past Miss Cassandra, a few feathers still floating around her.

His paws reached her vacuum cleaner. A hopefully Heroic vacuum cleaner…

Hoooooosh!

For a moment nothing happened. The Greedle still hung triumphantly above Boo. Then some part of it must have floated into the suction from the vacuum-cleaner hose, and—

‘Noooooo!’

The Greedle vanished from the sky.

Boo gasped and dropped the handle. The vacuum kept sucking, making a rude noise as it sucked itself into the ground. He hadn’t expected it to be so sudden. Had he really sucked up the Greedle? Or was it playing tricks on him?

‘Let me out! Curse you! Let me out!’

The faint sound came from inside the vacuum cleaner.

It had worked!

‘Clawk, clawk clak clawk cluck.’ Next to him, Miss Cassandra blinked her small black chicken eyes. ‘What happened? Did I fall asleep? What are you doing with my vacuum cleaner, lad?’

Boo leapt to pull it away from her before she could

turn it off. ‘Don’t touch it! I’ve got the Greedle trapped in here!’

‘Clawk clawk, clawk…?’

‘It’s all right, Boo.’ It was Ms Punch. The ghostly teacher hovered above him. ‘I’ll take over now. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in one hundred and twenty-six years,’ Ms Punch gave a faint smile, ‘it’s how to look after ghosts. I won’t let him escape, I promise you. As long as he’s trapped in there the noise of the vacuum cleaner will drown out his hypnotic little song.’ Her smile grew. ‘I’ve waited a long time for another bogey I can actually Wham! Bam!. Now I might finally have one.’

LOST IN THE RECENT EXPEDITION TO THE GHASTLY OTHERWHEN

One sword, three daggers, one flask of deadly dum-dum dust, one razor-edged lasso. If found please do NOT return to Sabretooth the Savage. He’s savage enough already.

JONES THE JANITOR