Free The Ghost of Sir Herbert Dungeonstone by Kate McMullan Page B

reveal my big surprise!”
    Torblad stood and trumpeted once more: TOOT TOOTY TOOT TOOT!
    Master X and Coach Plungett yanked the cloth off the stone archway. It fell away and revealed a brand-new sign: DRAGON SLAYERS’ ACADEMY FOR LADS AND LASS.
    Erica gasped. “He knows I am a lass!”
    “And he is not kicking you out of school!” said Wiglaf happily.
    Erica rose to her feet. “Thank you, sir!” she cried. “This is a happy day, indeed!”

    “Sit down!” Mordred bellowed. “I’ll tell you when to stand up! I’ll tell you when a day is happy! SIT!”
    Erica quickly sat. She looked stunned. Every month, she won the Future Dragon Slayer of the Month Award. She was not used to being treated this way.
    Mordred beamed adoringly at the yellow-haired family.
    “Let me introduce Lord and Lady Smotherbottom,” he said.
    The big-boned couple stood. They smiled toothy smiles and waved.
    “And,” Mordred went on, “their very lovely, athletic, talented daughter, Janice.”
    The girl stood. Wiglaf saw that she was as tall as Harley Marley.
    “Hi ya, lads,” said Janice, chewing boldly.
    “Janice Smotherbottom,” Mordred went on, “is the very first student in the long history of Dragon Slayers’ Academy to pay her tuition in solid gold coins—up front!” His violet eyes spun with joy.
    “Uh, sir?” Coach Plungett elbowed the spell-bound headmaster. “I think you mean to say that Janice is our first...”
    “Our first girl! ” cried Mordred. “Yes! Girl! Yes! That’s what I meant to say. Our first lass! Female! Little woman!”
    Erica’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
    “Oh, Mordie!” cried Lady Lobelia. “This is a bold step!”
    “Janice is going to stay with us for a couple of days,” Mordred added, “to see if she likes it here. I want all you lads to make our one-and-only lass feel welcome!”

Chapter 3
     
     
     
     
    “ O ne-and-only lass, my foot!” grumbled Erica. She, Angus, and Wiglaf made their tired way up the wide stone steps to the dorm room.
    A feast had indeed been served—to those at the head table. The students got the usual eel casserole. Afterward, the three friends had been tapped by Frypot, the cook, for cleanup duty.
    “I was the first girl at DSA,” Erica went on. “Not Janice What’s-her-bottom!”
    “Your parents are king and queen of the realm,” said Wiglaf. “They must have paid your tuition up front in gold.”
    “No,” said Erica. “The truly rich never pay up front.”
    They walked into the Class I dorm and stopped short.
    “What happened ?” cried Wiglaf.
    “Keep it down!” Torblad called. “We’re trying to sleep.”
    Even in the dim glow of the lone night-light torch, they saw that all the cots had been shoved over to one side. A brown curtain had been strung across the center of the room. A hastily made sign tacked onto the curtain said: CLASS I LASS’S DORM.
    Erica strode over to the curtain and swept it aside. For the second time that evening, she gasped.
    Wiglaf and Angus ran over to her. When they saw what was behind the curtain, they were stunned.
    A big gold canopy bed stood against the wall. A matching wardrobe, chest of drawers, and dressing table surrounded it. A jousting pole and a pair of crossed lances hung over the bed.
    A loud snap sounded. The gum-chewing Janice rose from a trunk she was unpacking.
    “Hi ya, lads,” she said. “I’m all moved in.”
    Everything about Janice was big, Wiglaf thought. Her cheeks were dotted with big freckles. She had a big space between her two front teeth. She had big, broad shoulders.
    “Hello,” said Angus. “I’m Angus.”
    Wiglaf told her his name, too.
    “I’m, uh, Eric,” said Erica.
    “Well, you know who I am,” said Janice.
    “What school did you come from?” asked Angus.
    “Dragon Whackers.” SNAP!!
    “How come you changed schools?” asked Wiglaf.
    “Mordred showed up at Whackers one day and saw me win a jousting match,” Janice replied. “He said he wanted me for