Free A Weird Case of Super-Goo by Kenneth Oppel Page B

brightly-coloured liquid, the other with green and purple powders, and a third with what looked like tiny eyeballs.
    After they’d unloaded the car and taken all of Aunt Lillian’s things up to the spare bedroom, they sat around the living room, talking.
    “This is really so nice of you,” she said. “There was just no way around it, though. My apartment had to be sprayed.”
    “You’ve got a bug problem?” Giles asked.
    “No, no,” she laughed. “Not bugs. Spirits. Ghouls. The odd demon or two. They’re everywhere. I’ve called in the supernatural exterminator. He should have them cleared out in no time.”
    “But where did they come from?” Giles asked.
    “Oh, you know, the usual places. A few probably followed me home from the occult bookstore. Others might have jumped out of a graveyard or some dusty old magic book.” She threw her hands up into the air. “These things happen.”
    “To some people,” said Mrs Barnes wryly.
    “Well, we had ghosts once,” Giles pointed out.
    “Yes, well, that had nothing to do with us,” said Mrs Barnes indignantly. She did not like to be reminded of the ghost incident. “The house was haunted when we moved in, that’s all. We were never told about it.”
    “Really?” said Aunt Lillian, her face all lit up. “Oh, I’d love to hear all about it.” She looked at Giles. “Maybe you can fill me in later.”
    “So how’s your work going, Lillian?” Mr Barnes asked politely.
    “Well, it’s been a little slow…To be honest, I’m out of work. There’s not as much demand for horoscopes as there used to be. Everyone’s into crystals and aromatherapy these days. But—” and her face broke into a mysterious smile—“I have been working on a little something of my own, on the side.”
    “Oh?” said Mrs Barnes nervously.
    “A new wrinkle cream,” she said. “I’m just putting the finishing touches on the recipe.”
    “You invented it yourself?” Giles said.
    “Well, I’ve taken bits from here and there. I brought my equipment with me so I wouldn’t lose any time. That’s why I have so much luggage. I thought maybe you could lend me a hand, if you had some free time after school.”
    “Sure,” said Giles.
    “Um, Lillian,” said Mrs Barnes warily, “there’s no weird hocus pocus involved in this new wrinkle cream of yours, is there?”
    “Oh, no,” said Aunt Lillian with a laugh, “no hocus pocus.”
    “That’s good,” said Mrs Barnes, looking relieved.
    “Just cooking,” said Aunt Lillian, smiling innocently. “Good old herbs and spices.”

Chapter 3
Pig’s Spit and Alligator Eyes
    School was going to be torture with his new orange hair.
    As Giles walked down the hall toward his locker, he knew everyone was staring at him. He could hear them whispering, then laughing, then calling out jokes.
    “Hey, Giles, you look like a jack-o’-lantern!”
    “Ooooh, is your hair hot to touch?”
    “It looks like an atomic bomb went off over your head!”
    Giles tried to stare straight ahead and pretend he hadn’t heard. He could feel his face burning. He’d never felt so embarrassed in his whole life. He had wanted to dye his hair back to its normal colour, but with all the commotion of Aunt Lillian’s arrival, he hadn’t had time. So now he was stuck with flaming orange hair for the whole day!
    In class, he sat as far away from Kevin and Tina as possible, and wouldn’t even look in their direction. But during recess, Kevin caught up to him.
    “Hey, Barnes, you weren’t really serious about quitting, were you?”
    “Yes, I was,” he said, walking on.
    “Well, I wouldn’t quit if I were you,” said Kevin, hurrying to keep up.
    “Why not?”
    “Because Tina’s already looking for someone to replace you!”
    “Fine by me,” said Giles. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to English class.”
    “You’ll be sorry, Barnes!” Kevin called out. “It’s not easy finding work in genius businesses these days!”
    Giles kept