Give it back Malcolm shouted Cocoa just laughed and ran for the house With her long legs Malcolm couldn’t catch up He and Dandy panted like dogs as Cocoa handed over the card to Mom Look what came in the mail Mom looked at the card Malcolm held his breath and waited for the yelling to start Instead Mom smiled This is wonderful she said You two must have done something very nice for a teacher to invite you both to her house Cocoa crossed her arms These two Mom just gave her the stink eye before turning to Malcolm and Dandy You boys head over to Ms Porter’s house I’ll call and let her know you’re coming With no choice Malcolm and Dandy headed for their bikes and their doom 10
Chapter 2 Meet the Family Malcolm Malcolm and Dandy stood on the walk in front of Pop Quiz Porter’s house and stared The house was small and brown with fancy white trim It looked like a gingerbread house from a fairy tale I feel like Hansel Malcolm said Only I didn’t leave any bread crumbs Does that make me Gretel Dandy asked Because I don’t want to be Gretel Malcolm huffed at his friend Nobody has to be Gretel But if Pop Quiz Porter 11
offers us snacks we should probably pass on them Snacks What kind of snacks Now I’m hungry Dandy grabbed his stomach and groaned Forget the snacks Let’s get this over with Malcolm rolled his bike up the walk and Dandy followed Then Malcolm stopped so suddenly that the front wheel of Dandy’s bike bumped into him What Dandy asked Malcolm pointed toward the closest window Pale blank faces stared out at them More faces stared from every window they could see Do you think those are ghosts Dandy whispered Maybe I don’t need snacks Not ghosts Malcolm whispered back They aren’t moving 12
