Fee-Fi-Fo-Run!

“I hate bats! ” Bess squealed.

“That’s not a bat, ” Amara said angrily. “That’s my cousin Ernest! ”

Nancy looked closer. The bat was dangling from a string attached to a pole.

Holding the pole was a seven-year-old boy. He wore a baseball cap and a grin.

“Ernest Shane! ” Aunt Ellen scolded. “You just scared Amara’s guest! ”

Ernest pouted. “I wouldn’t be doing this scary stuff if I could just go to Amara’s sleepover! ” he said.

“I told you a zillion times! ” Amara cried. “This sleepover is for girls only! ”

“But you’re going to be scared! ” Ernest said. He flexed his scrawny muscles. “You need a big strong guy like me to protect you! ”

“Thanks, ” Katie said. “But we can protect ourselves. Right, Lester? ”

“Right on! ” Lester squawked. “Arrk! ”

Ernest’s eyes lit up when he saw the parrot. “A parrot! ” he gasped. “Way cool! ”

Nancy smiled. She couldn’t blame Ernest for wanting to join the sleepover.

“You can have some of our pizza if you’d like, ” Nancy suggested kindly.

“No thanks, ” Ernest said. “I have better things to do.” He flung his rubber bat over his shoulder and left the tower.

“Sorry, girls.” Aunt Ellen sighed. “But Ernest can be a bit lively.”

“You mean pesty! ” Amara muttered.

Aunt Ellen shook hands with all the girls and learned each of their names.

“Are you going to show us around the house? ” Nancy asked. “And introduce us to the villains? ”

“No, Nancy, ” Aunt Ellen said. She smiled. “The villains will find you! ”

“Say cheese! ” Mari said, quickly snapping a picture of Aunt Ellen.

Aunt Ellen rubbed her eyes from the flash. “Now, why don’t you girls settle downstairs in the library? ” she said. “Before your pizza gets cold.”

Amara explained the house as they ran down the stairs.

“Aunt Ellen and Ernest live on the second floor, ” she said. “There’s a storage room in the basement. But all the fun stuff happens on the main floor.”

The girls reached the main floor and they had company — a woman with a huge warty nose.

“Have you seen Hansel and Gretel? ” the witch asked. She licked her lips. “They’re late… for dinner.”

Nancy recognized the witch from “Hansel and Gretel.” She wore a long black skirt, a scarf, and a tattered shawl.

“May I take your picture? ” Mari asked.

“Only if you get my best side, ” the witch said. She turned her head sideways.

That nose can’t be real, Nancy thought as Mari snapped the picture.

“Wicked witch! ” Lester squawked from Katie’s shoulder. “Wicked witch — arrrk! ”

“Ahh! ” the witch said. She leaned in close to Lester. “That’s exactly what I need for my next brew: feather of parrot! ”

Lester stretched his neck. He nipped the witch right on her nose!

“Owwww! ” the witch yelled. She grabbed her nose. “No one pecks me on the wart and lives to squawk about it! ”

The witch then spun around and huffed down the hall.

“She was just pretending to be mad, right? ” Bess asked.

Amara shook her head slowly. “I never saw her pretend like that, ” she said.

“And I never saw such a big honker, ” Mari said as she pulled out the picture.

The girls followed Amara down a hallway and past doors.

Nancy stopped at a door covered with vines. “What’s this? ” she asked.

“See for yourself, ” Amara said. She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

The girls stepped inside a room filled with plastic plants, trees, and flowers. In the middle was a thick green pole covered with vines.

“That’s the bean stalk! ” Amara said proudly. “Like the one Jack climbed.”

Nancy looked up the bean stalk. It led to a big hole in the ceiling.

“What’s up there? ” Nancy asked.

“Climb it and find out! “Amara said.

A narrow green ladder was attached to the bean stalk. George climbed first. The others followed.

“Up, up, and awaaaay! ” Lester squawked from his perch on top of Katie’s head.

One by one the girls scurried through the hole in the ceiling. Soon they were standing in a room filled with a giant table, a giant chair, even a giant pair of slippers on the floor!

“Welcome to the giant’s house! ” Amara announced.

“Hey, look! ” Mari said. She pointed to a plate of giant cookies on the table.

“They’re from my aunt Ellen, ” Amara said. She held up a note that read: HOPE YOUR SLEEPOVER IS HUGE! LOVE, AUNT ELLEN.

The girls grabbed cookies. Then —

“Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum! ” a voice boomed. “I smell chocolate chip cookies — YUM! ”

The sound of thunderous footsteps filled the room. “Uh-oh! ” Katie giggled. “Here comes the giant.”

Nancy’s eyes grew big. The floor felt like it was trembling!

The girls laughed and shrieked as they scurried back down the bean stalk.

“That was fun, Amara, ” Nancy said.

Amara wasn’t smiling. “I think I need some… pizza, ” she said in shaky voice.

Hmm, Nancy thought. Maybe Amara is afraid of heights!

The girls stopped in the hallway and grabbed their gear.

“Don’t go into the library until I take a picture, ” Mari said.

Nancy and her friends posed between the library door and a potted plant.

“If I say cheese one more time I’ll turn into a mouse! ” George whispered.

Mari snapped the picture. Then everyone filed into the library.

“This room isn’t scary at all, ” Nancy said with a smile. There was a crackling fire in the fireplace, soft leather furniture, and bookshelves filled with fairy-tale books.

“It may be a library, ” Amara said, “but you don’t have to whisper.”

The girls piled their gear in a corner. Katie put Lester back in his cage. She placed the cage on a small round table.

“Okay, gang, ” Amara said. She lifted the lid of a pizza box. “Let’s pig out! ”

But when Nancy looked at the pizza she gasped. Written with mushrooms was the word BEWARE!

“That’s a joke, right? ” George asked.

Amara didn’t answer. She handed out paper plates and the girls began to eat.

“Mmm, ” Bess said. “For a creepy pizza it sure is yummy.”

“You guys, ” Mari said slowly. “Wasn’t there a fire in the fireplace? ”

Nancy turned to the fireplace. The flames were out. But then all of a sudden they shot back up!

“Did you see that? ” Bess squeaked.

Just then a book fell off the shelf. Then another! And another! And another!

The girls giggled and screamed. They jumped up and ran out of the library.

“Way cool! ” George cried.

“I’ll bet you’ve seen that a gazillion times, Amara! ” Nancy said.

Amara’s eyes were as wide as Frisbees. She shook her head slowly. “No, ” Amara said. “I never saw the books fall off the shelves. Or the fireplace go on and off. And I never felt the giant’s footsteps either! ”

Nancy stared at Amara. No wonder she looked so scared!

“Uh-oh, ” Mari said. “Maybe this place really is spooked! ”