Milo and the Pirate Sisters Read Online Free Page A

sweet and jolly to our enemy? Of course I had to wade in too. ‘Tough luck,’ I muttered. ‘Poor nose.’
    ‘None of your business,’ he snarled.
    His mum gave him a whack on the ear. ‘You talk good to those nice boys,’ she said.
    ‘It’s OK, Missus,’ said Shane. ‘We understand. A bee sting is pretty painful.’
    ‘And two or more are totally painful,’ I added, trying to sound sympathetic.
    ‘So mind yourself, Crunch,’ said Shane. ‘Bees are dangerous.’
    ‘Deadly dangerous,’ I added, hoping that would make him think twice before trying to tackle us again.
    Even under the green cream, we could see Crunch’s mouth silently muttering stronger words.
    His mum saw it too. ‘You say goodbye,’ she said, giving her son another dig. ‘We need to get you home. You don’t want to be late for the bus.’
    ‘You going somewhere, Crunch?’ I asked.But his mum was pulling him along the street.
    ‘That felt good,’ laughed Shane as we moved along.
    Until next time we see him, I thought. Maybe we should have said nothing. Still, his mum was a feisty lady who liked good manners, so she might be on our side.
    When we let ourselves into my house, we gagged at the smell of Mum’s fancy candles in the hall. There was loud chatter and laughter from the sunroom.
    ‘Mum! Me and Shane are just going up to my room,’ I called out from the hall and hoped she wouldn’t haul us in to be exhibited to the women.
    ‘To do some work, Missus Doyle,’ Shane fibbed, giving me a wink. ‘Hard sums,’ he added.
    ‘Good. You are such diligent boys,’ Mumsaid, loud enough for all to hear.
    ‘Yes, we are,’ replied Shane in his oiliest good-guy voice. ‘What does “diligent” mean, Milo?’ he whispered as we went upstairs.
    ‘Dunno,’ I sniggered. ‘But it must be harmless.’
    My grin faded when we got to my room and I looked at the wardrobe. The door was wide open and so was my window. ‘He’s not here!’ I exclaimed. ‘Mister Lewis is not here! He must have gone back to the mill.’
    ‘Oh shoot!’ wailed Shane. ‘You said he’d help us find out about the mill and stuff.’
    ‘Well, how was I to know he’d skive off …’ I began. Then, as I looked around, my heart jumped, like, all the way up to my head.
    ‘My telly!’ I cried. ‘Someone has broken in and nicked my telly and scared Mister Lewis away!’
    ‘No way,’ said Shane, rushing over to examine the table where I keep my telly – as if it would pop up by itself and say boo!
    ‘Hellooo,’ said a sleepy voice from under my bed.
    ‘Mister Lewis!’ I laughed with relief. ‘Why are you under there?’
    ‘Eh, for comfort, lad, and to stay hidden – just in case your mum might look in and see me with this TV gadget that I’ve seen you play with. But no matter how much I press buttons or shake it, nothing happens, so I had a good sleep instead.’
    ‘Wow!’ laughed Shane, peering under the other side of the bed. ‘He’s even tried your XBox, Milo. But he hasn’t plugged anything in!’
    ‘Ah, so that’s where I went wrong,’ said Mister Lewis. ‘I thought it might be fun,’ he went on as he stood up and stretchedhis skinny arms. ‘It gets boring when you’re not here, Milo. I’ve read most of your books, especially
Skulduggery Pleasant
and
Extreme Adventures.
I’ve even been back to the museum, but there’s no fun in scaring the same people all the time.’
    Then he gave a great sigh. ‘I feel I should put on a brave face and venture back to the mill and try to be a proper ghost …’ He stopped when we heard a loud, screechy commotion from downstairs.
    Mister Lewis clapped his hands to his ears. ‘The women! It’s those awful women! Oh lawks!’
    ‘Mister Lewis!’ I said valiantly. ‘Don’t talk about my mum and her friends like that.’
    ‘Nor my gran,’ put in Shane.
    ‘No, no, boys! It’s those scary women from the mill. I could hear them at night, shrieking in the other rooms …’
    ‘The ones you told me