Free The Yggyssey by Daniel Pinkwater

tomatoes (small pieces)
    3–4 minced or chopped nasturtium leaves
    Mix all ingredients in a salad bowl, using chopped green nasturtium seed pods instead of leaves if you prefer. If the salad is not moist enough, you may add a teaspoon of safflower or soy oil.

    That's one of his. It was in the newspaper.

CHAPTER 32

Talking to a Dead Bunny
    I found Chase sniffing some nasturtiums near the deserted and overgrown tennis court behind the hotel. She was about the size of a medium-to-large cocker spaniel on this particular day.
    "You know, those are okay to eat," I said. "I just read a recipe in the newspaper."
    "Tell me something I don't know already," Chase said. "I'm a rabbit. I know what's what."
    "How about you telling me something?" I said.
    "Such as what?" Chase asked, moving over to sniff some wild parsley.
    "Such as what is the deal with the ghosts disappearing? Where are they all going, and why?"
    "You don't know?" Chase asked.
    "If I knew, why would I ask you? Billy the Phantom Bellboy claims to know all about it but says he can't tell. Been sworn to secrecy."
    "Billy the Phantom Bellboy doesn't know what he is talking about," Chase said. "It's no secret. The ghosts are going down below to enjoy the big event."
    "Down below? Big event?"
    "Do you know about Walpurgisnacht?"
    "You mean Walpurgisnacht, or Walpurga's Night, also known as Hexennacht or Witch's Night, in German? It's an old pagan festival that later got hooked up with the birthday of a saint named Walpurga, and it's supposed to be when all the witches and ghoulies and goblins come out and have a big whoop-de-doo on a mountain called the Blocksberg, also known as the Brocken, which is the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. Is that what you mean?" I asked.
    "How do you know so much?" Chase asked.
    "I have volume V–W of the
Children's Encyclopedia
in my room," I said. "In Sweden the holiday is known as Valborgsmassoafton or Valborg, which is the Scandinavian name for St. Walpurga. In Finland it's Vapunaatto, and in Estonia it's Volbriöö. People, especially students, have bonfires, and dance outside and drink too much. And it comes
exactly six months before or after Halloween to the day. So why are all the ghosts leaving to go to it when Halloween is barely past?"
    "I didn't say ghosts were going to it. I just asked if you knew what it was."
    "Which I do," I said.
    "Which you do," Chase continued. "And I only brought it up as an example of a big supernatural wing-ding. You know, ghosts love a good party."
    "And there's going to be one."
    "Yes."
    "And it's down there, you said."
    "Yes. Down there."
    "In the Underworld."
    "Not exactly."
    "In hell."
    "Well, no."
    "In a big hole in the ground."
    "Technically, yes."
    "There's going to be a big supernatural wing-ding in a hole in the ground."
    "Not really. The wing-ding is on top of a mountain."
    "And this mountain is..."
    "Down there."
    "And it's called?"
    "What, the mountain?"
    "Okay, yes, what is the mountain called?"
    "It's called the Devil's Shoestring."
    "Interesting. And where is it located? Don't say down there."
    "Hackensack."
    "Hackensack? That's in New Jersey!"
    "This is a different one. And it's called Old New Hackensack. There are worlds within worlds."
    "And in Old New Hackensack there's a mountain called the Devil's Shoestring."
    "It's tall and skinny."
    "And this is where the supernatural hootenanny is going to happen."
    "On the mountain, and in the vicinity."
    "And all the ghosts are going there."
    "Yes."
    "Can I go to this party?"
    "I suppose, if you knew where it was."
    "You just told me, Hackensack, but not the one in New Jersey."
    "That's right, Old New Hackensack."
    "So I could go?"
    "If you knew how to get there."
    "How do I get there?"
    "Can't tell you. Sworn to secrecy."
    "How to get there is a secret?"
    "Yes."
    "So Billy the Phantom Bellboy was right."
    "Just about how to get there—the rest anybody can know."
    "Are you going?"
    "Probably."
    "But you won't take me with