The Flying Hornswaggle Malcolm sat up stretched and yawned Yes Saturday The laziest day of the week He went to the kitchen and poured a bowl of Toasty-Os cereal Then he grabbed a spoon and rushed into the living room to watch his favorite TV program Ghost Stalkers He’d never missed a single episode The hosts of the show were Bob Nick and Carol three ghost hunters who travel 4
from city to city searching for phantoms apparitions and spirit activity Welcome to this week’s episode Nick said holding a satellite thingie over his head Malcolm never understood why they used such clumsy equipment Their meters and sensors were about the size of his TV More than once a ghost had picked one up and bopped Nick over the head with it Malcolm had done a lot of ghost hunting and one thing’s for sure you never let a ghost touch your tools He’d e-mailed the hosts four times to suggest they get an Ecto-Hand Held-Automatic-Heat-Sensitive-Laser Enhanced Specter Detector When it comes to ghost detecting it was the best Malcolm had just bitten into a spoonful of cereal when Bob said Today we’re
stalking the bay area There’ve been quite a few sightings lately of the legendary ghost ship the Flying Hornswaggle The camera panned across the beach Malcolm nearly choked on a Toasty-O Whoa He couldn’t believe it This wasn’t just any bay area It was the one just across the bridge The Ghost Stalkers had filmed here If only he’d known As you know Bob continued the Flying Hornswaggle was commanded by Captain Crusty Scab the nastiest pirate to ever set sail Yes Carol added he was famous for raiding plundering and robbing passing ships And after taking all the loot he’d run his victim’s underwear up the ship’s mast Even though cereal milk dribbled down his chin Malcolm kept his eyes glued to 6
the TV The camera flashed to Nick again He was standing by a blond woman with a huge gap in her front teeth It was ssso ssscary she whistled I was sssitting alone watching the wavesss when I heard a ssship’s horn A ship’s horn Nick asked Yesss It sssounded like thisss Bell-oo ga Nick nodded It was a pretty impressive imitation Ssso I looked up and there it wasss She turned and pointed toward the gray clouds The Hornssswaggle sssailing across the sssky It must have been terrifying Nick said The woman clutched her hands to her chest I was ssscared sssilly Can you describe it he asked her 7
