Free Tales from the Haunted Mansion Vol. 1: The Fearsome Foursome by Amicus Arcane Page A

so chill when she finds out who dug up her vegetables!”
    “I didn’t touch Mom’s veggies!” shouted Billy.
    But Willa was too upset to listen. “Let’s go. We’re waking them up right now!”
    “But…but Dad likes to sleep in on weekends.”
    “That’s right. So he’ll be even madder!” She placed him in an armlock, a move she’d perfected on Tim.
    Billy was starting to quiver. He looked so pathetic, in fact, that even Willa’s friends took pity. “Hey, Will, lighten up. It was just a prank,” Kayla said.
    “Yeah. Like something you might have done,” added Cassidy, “only better.”
    “You think so, huh? You think I’d do something as disgusting, as
low
, as what he did the same day my pet died? Then you’re more pathetic than he is. All of you! You’re about as pathetic as that stupid witch-bone! If I had one more wish to make, I’d wish you’d leave. All of you. Go home!” Thunder struck, adding an exclamation point.
    Cassidy, Tanisha, and Kayla didn’t respond. And really, what else was there to say? They marched back into the tent, grabbed their sleeping bags, and skedaddled.
    Willa watched them leave without a word. Yes, she’d lost her cool. But before you go critiquing our lead, remember: it had been an unusually lousy day.
    Now there were only Willa and Billy, alone in the yard. He said nothing, either out of respect or intimidation. He picked up the skillet and handed it to his sister, not knowing whether or not she’d be whacking him with it but accepting the consequences all the same. “Sorry, Sis,” he said with a whimper.
    Wow! Can you believe it? Billy apologized. He actually said he was sorry. Also, can you believe somebody actually calls their sister “Sis”?
    Well, Willa didn’t believe it. Not a word. It was just another one of Billy’s ploys. He had to keep her from blowing the whistle to Mom and Dad.
Nice try, doofus
. But then she heard a different sound, this one not courtesy of his sound effects gizmo. Willa heard crying. Real crying, from her baby brother—something she hadn’t had to deal with in a very long time.
Mustn’t weaken now, Willa. Be strong. Don’t back down. The weak get eaten.
So she simply inquired, “What’s with you?”
    “Nothing, jerkoid!” Oh, she had seen that coming. She could have seen it coming from a hundred miles away. But when Billy went sulking off with his head hanging, she chased after him.
Oh, no you don’t. There’s no way you’re playing the victim card tonight.
This time, Billy slipped out of her hold. “Okay, tough guy, why the tears? What are
you
crying about?”
    She didn’t expect an answer, at least not a legit one. Something more along the lines of
I’m crying about your face, jerkoid!
But that’s not what she got. You see, Billy had a solid reason for crying. His tears had been earned, the same as Willa’s. He was crying for…“Chubs,” Billy sniffled.
    Willa crossed her arms and stared at her brother. “Chubs. Okay. So you’re crying for Chubs.” She thought about it. She couldn’t let him get away with that one, either. “Crying for Chubs? You hardly looked at him when, well, when he was alive.”
    And that’s when the real waterworks began. Billy started to weep. “Because you stole him from me!”
    “What?” Willa was appalled. “Why would you say that? I never stole a thing from you—not ever!”
    “Yes, you did. Chubs was my pet.
My
Christmas present. I loved him and you took him away. You took him from my room and you never even asked. Never even said you were sorry! Not ever! I hate you, Willa! Not ever!”
    “Billy, I didn’t know.”
    He stomped off once more, Willa’s attempt at an apology coming too late. The damage was done—Billy was hurt; her friends were gone; Chubs was still deader than dead. Like her mom had said that morning, good times for all.
    Now there was nothing left but to clean up. Willa might have waited until morning, but she couldn’t sleep. She was a