Milo and the Pirate Sisters Read Online Free Page B

about last night?’ I asked, but Mister Lewis was already going invisible.
    We ran down the stairs towards the ear-splitting screams of Mum and her guests as they scrambled towards the front door, frantically waving their hands over their heads.
    ‘Mum!’ I cried.
    She turned and waved me away. ‘Run back to your room, Milo, and close the door tight. Go NOW!’ she added, just before running outside and slamming the door.
    ‘Come this way, lads,’ said Mister Lewis, becoming visible again and heading towards the sunroom, which was in a right old mess with half-eaten cakes and tarts scattered over the floor. The good china cups were in bits. But it was the creepy droning sound that brought us to a standstill. The big, openwindows were alive with bees that just kept on coming through.
    ‘Ah, it’s my little darlings,’ Mister Lewis sighed with relief. ‘Come to Papa,’ he whispered, extending his two skinny arms. I shuddered when I saw the bees settle on his hands, arms and shoulders.
    ‘I figured you might have had something to do with this, Mister Lewis,’ a voice chuckled from one of the armchairs.
    ‘Gran!’ Shane yelled. ‘Run! Save yourself from those bees!’
    ‘Bees?’ she said, getting up from the chair. ‘No, my love. These dozy little dots of yellow and black are all noise and nonsense. Now, if this was Africa where real bees are big, loud and mean, we’d be lying on the floor, screaming.’ Then she put out her hands and more bees flew to her.
    ‘My dear lady!’ exclaimed Mister Lewis.‘As usual you utterly amaze me.’
    ‘I think we ought to move,’ said Big Ella. ‘Let’s get these poor things to a safe place before those hysterical ladies send for someone to get rid of them.’
    ‘My mum wouldn’t …’ I began loyally. But when I thought it through, I figured that was exactly what Mum would do. I’ve seen her jump on spiders.
    Mister Lewis took off his hat and held it out. ‘Come along, my sweet friends,’ he said over the continuous hum. Within seconds, the bees came together, as if by magic, and swarmed into the hat. ‘Quiet now,’ he whispered to them. ‘Time for us to go home.’
    ‘Can you go invisible, Mister Lewis?’ I asked, thinking of the commotion outside.
    He shook his head. ‘No, Milo,’ he said. ‘Not while I’m carrying a hatful of bees.’
    ‘Oh shoot!’ said Shane. ‘What’ll we do?’
    ‘We’ll stay calm, that’s what we’ll do,’ said Big Ella. ‘Mister Lewis,’ she went on, ‘you go out the back door with the bees and make your way along the lane to my back garden. The key is under a flowerpot at the back door. Myself and the boys will go outside and tell the ladies that the bees have left and that all is well.’

CHAPTER NINE
HELP FROM BIG ELLA
    ‘ B ig Ella! Milo! Shane!’ Mum screeched when the three of us came out of the house. ‘You should have stayed safe in your room, Milo. You too, Big Ella,’ she added. ‘I thought you were with us. Were you stung?’
    ‘The bees have left, my dear,’ said Big Ella. ‘Everything is OK.’
    ‘Big Ella, how did you manage?’ began Mrs Grace.
    ‘Oh, I’m used to giant bees in Africa,’ Big Ella laughed. ‘One learns how to deal with them and send them on their way home.’
    There was much oooing and aaahhing from the women as they patted Big Ella and said what a brave lady she was.
    ‘I’ll take the boys to my house for tea whilst you ladies clean up the mess,’ said Big Ella.
    How cool was that!
    When we arrived, Mister Lewis was sitting in her kitchen, talking gently to the hatful of bees on his lap.
    ‘My clever friends,’ he said.
    ‘Oh, it was nothing, Mister Lewis,’ said Shane. ‘Me and Milo can handle anything …’
    ‘I think Mister Lewis is talking about his bees, Shane,’ chuckled Big Ella. ‘Now let’spack some buns and get him and his bees back to their new home. Shane tells me that it’s an old mill, Mister Lewis. How quaint.’
    Mister Lewis’s waxy face