Later, after Sarah unpacked, James came upstairs and told her that dinner was re ady.

"Seven already? Time sure flies when you're un-packing and thinking of the misch ief you've done." Not really, but she was planning some. She had made sure to pack a stuffed cat. She would turn invisible, rub the stuffed cat against Vlad's legs, and meow. Later tonight, maybe when he was bathing. No, then she would probably never "uns ee" Vlad naked. She shivered at the thought. Then she went downstairs and into the k itchen. "Hi, I'm hungry." She said. "We have to wait for Danny." Jazz said. "Did someone say my name?" Danny asked, coming downstairs. "You're all right!" Sarah said, running and hugging her brother. "Ms. Badger, I'm hurt. I told you I wouldn't hurt him." Vlad said. "We know you're evil, Vlad Plasmius." Danny said. His ghost sense went off. "We all know who you are." "And I know who you are, Daniel. If you don't want your sisters to know your sec ret..." "Too late. We already know." Sarah said. "Well, let's all sit down and eat, shall we?" Sarah sat across from Vlad. I saw Danny's ghost sense go off. Vlad must employ several ghosts. Why didn't it go off when we first got here? May be it did, and we just didn't notice it. (It did.) "No kicking me under the table." Vlad said. Sarah said nothing. If she pretended she didn't hear him, maybe she could kick him all she wanted to. Dinner was fried ch icken. Sarah ate three pieces. "I see our Ms. Badger is hungry." Vlad said. Jazz didn't eat. "Well, eldest Badger, aren't you hungry?" Vlad asked. "No. Not right now." "Jazz, he told us no food in our rooms." Danny said.

"Ah, you were listening when I listed my rules." We'll have to know his rules so we can break them. Sarah thought. I'm glad Vlad apparently can't read minds. Jazz started to eat. "That's a good eldest badger." Vlad said. Sarah kicked him "Didn't I tell you not to kick me?" Vlad asked her. "I didn't hear you." "You're hearing me now. Don't do it again." "Kick you again? Yes, sir." Sarah kicked him again. "Stop it." Vlad told her. James put their drinks down "I would advise you to listen to him, Ms. Sarah." "He's not my father." "He does have the authority to punish you, though, Ms." "Stop kicking him, Sarah." Danny said. "Yes, Danny." "That's better, although I'm surprised you chose to listen to your brother and n ot your sitter." Vlad said. After dinner, Sarah started to help clean up. "No, Ms. Badger, that's why I have servants." Vlad laughed. "But I always help clean up at home." "You're not home." "Yes, sir." Sarah reluctantly went up stairs. She went into her room to plan her trick. I could do it now, I guess. He may be in his study, so I can see it. I already kno w he has the monitoring station in there, since I was reading his mind when Jazz accused him of having cameras almost all over the place. She grabbed her cat, turned invisible, and phased through the floor, looking for Vlad. She floated through the house until she came to the study, where she phased thro ugh

the door. Found him, and...the monitoring station. Alright! Pay dirt! She saw where Jazz was reading on her bed, probably about psychology. She saw where Danny was also reading on his bed. She saw her room. Vlad saw where her room was empty. "She's probably in the bathroom. She did eat a lot. Probably her father's genes. " Sarah floated to his ankles, rubbed the cat against them and said "Meow." Vlad jumped. "How could a ghastly cat get into my house? Why can't I see it?" Sarah smothered her giggles and flew out of the study. She flew back to her room . She turned back into a human, giggling like mad. She put the cat on her bed. Now to find Danny and tell him about it. She turned invisible again, and phased through the door. She went past Jazz's room. No need to tell her. She may get fussed at for her fu n. She floated past every room, until she couldn't recognize any of them. All the doors were colorful, the same colors as the first half of the mansion. She phased through a yellow door, thinking she would find Danny. She did. "Hey, Danny." she whispered. Danny sat up. "Sarah?" "I knew I'd find you before tomorrow morning. I just played the meanest trick on Vlad." "What'd you do? Did it have anything to with cats?" "Yes. I turned invisible, took my stuffed cat, and found Vlad in his study. He d oes have cameras almost everywhere. They aren't in the bathrooms, or his study, just like we thought. I rubbed the cat against his leg and said 'Meow'. He jumped back and as ked himself out loud, 'How could a ghastly cat get inside my house! Why can't I see it?' " Danny laughed.

"He also doesn't have any cameras in the halls. I don't think he can hear us." S arah said. "All right. But you get back to your room." "All right." Sarah phased back through the door and flew past all the other door s until she could recognize the rooms again. She turned back into a human. She went walk ing up the hall as Vlad came upstairs. "Hello, Ms. Badger." "Hi, Vlad. I was just walking off a leg cramp." A likely story. She was probably looking for Danny. Vlad thought. "Well, Ms. Badger, I trust that you want to go and explore a little outside?" "Yes, sir. May I?" "Curfew's at ten." "Yes, sir." Sarah went downstairs. She opened the front door, and stepped out. S he transformed, and took off into the air. Vlad didn't say that I had to stay on his property. She flew a few feet, and lan ded on the ground. She turned back into a human. She looked around and saw another mansion. She started to walk around. An old lady- surprisingly strong for her age- grabbe d her arm. "Who are you, and what are you doing here!" She demanded. "Sarah Fenton, I'm staying with Vlad Masters! He's an old college room mate of m y father's!" "Vlad Masters, the billionaire, did you say?" "Yes." "He killed my cat. I want to get back at him for that. I think you may be the ti cket, my dear." "He doesn't care about me, and killing me will not bring your cat back!" "I know it won't bring Ms. Tibbles back." "I knew Vlad doesn't like cats, but to kill them? No wonder he re-acts like that

when my brother and I tell him he needs a cat." The lady dragged Sarah up to her house. I hope I get back before ten. Sarah thought. What would Danny do? He would phase through the door and run away. Maybe when she's distracted. The lady pushed Sarah into a chair. "Wait here while I go to the bathroom and think about my plan." I'll admit it's the smallest room in the house, but is it really a good place to hatch plans? Sarah wondered. She watched the lady toddle off to the bathroom. She heard a door close. Now was her chance! She stood up, went to the front door , and phased through it. She transformed into her ghost form. She flew back to Vlad's, landed, and transformed back into a human. She walked back up to the house and went in. "Ah, Miss Badger! Back so soon? Did you have a nice walk?" Vlad asked. "The first part was okay. But then I went onto this old lady's land, and she dra gged me into her house, after she found out that I was staying with you. She said you ki lled her cat and that she was going to use me to get back at you for it." "Ah, that would be Ms. Diaz. I didn't kill her cat, but she keeps saying I did." "I waited till she was distracted, then phased through the front door, and came back." "Clever girl." "I just thought of what Danny would do." Danny was coming downstairs. "What?" "I went to explore a little and this old lady who thinks Vlad killed her cat- he says he didn't- dragged me into her house and said that she was going to use me to get b ack at him. She went off to the bathroom, and I phased through the door and flew back h ere. I just thought 'what would Danny do?' and I came up with a plan."

"I WOULD have done that." Danny said, smiling and proud of his little sister. "I'm thirsty." He went into the kitchen. "Hello, young man. What are you doing here?" A kindly middle-aged woman asked. His ghost sense went off. The lady was not the lunch lady. "I'm thirsty, so I figured I could get something to drink." "What would you like? Water, Coke, tea, apple juice..." "Apple juice would be fine, ma'am." "I'll get it. You wait right here." She went to the cabinet and got out a glass. Danny saw her phase her arm through the refrigerator and get the apple juice. Sh e opened it and poured him some. She floated back to him. Why didn't I notice her floating to begin with? He took it and drank it. He hand ed the glass back to her. "Thanks." He left and went back to his room. He stopped at Sarah's. He opened th e door and stuck his head in. "You need..." "To apologize to Vlad for all the tricks I've played on him. I will Monday after noon." "Good. Take..." "A bath, since I didn't take one last night." "Good." He left. Sarah got everything ready for her bath. She went into the bathroom and put her clothes on the sink. She went to the linen closet and got out a towel and bath cloth. Sh e undressed, got her shampoo, and got in the tub. She put the stopper in and turne d on the water. She washed her hair and turned the water off. She got the rag wet, la thered it, and bathed. She got out, dried off, and got dressed. She got her dirty clothes a nd left the bathroom. She smiled at Vlad as he came upstairs. "Ah! All fresh and ready for bed, I see."

"I may be fresh, but I'm not quite ready for bed." She said, as she went into he r room. It was only ten. She went over the rules in her head. No telling jokes after eleven. No shoes on the furniture no animals, no long-dis tance phone calls-unless it's an emergency and you have to call your parents, or I do. No food in your rooms. We don't want any bugs. No running or slamming doors. My study is off limits to you three unless I send for you to come in. No sliding down the banist ers, or running on the stairs. No jumping on the beds, curfew is at ten for everyone. I will lock the door at that time, dinner is at seven sharp. If you're late, you won't eat. And no using ghost powers to get in or to get food. She could break some of the rules later. Right now, she could put her shoes on t he couch, and claim that she thought he meant that they couldn't put their shoes on the furniture while they were wearing them. She could slide down the banister until he caught her. She could call Sam and just talk. That would be long distance. She w ould run up and down the stairs until she was caught. She would slam the doors- she k new she would get caught at that easily. She could jump on the bed right now. She go t off the bed, climbed back and stood up, and started jumping. She wasn't jumping long bef ore Vlad came in, carrying his belt. "I told you not to jump on the beds!" She sat down in a hurry. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry." "No, you aren't. You just memorized my rules so that you could break them on pur pose." Sarah tried not to show any emotion. He was right (for once.) "Now, come here. I'll have to punish you."

"You don't have any authority to punish us. You're just the sitter, even if it i s your house." She turned around. He popped her three times with the belt, then left. Sarah thr ew herself on the bed and cried her heart out. When was finished, she went to the s tairs and started running up and down. She had only made one trip when Vlad came up to her with the belt. "Ready for another one?" He popped her three times again and let run into her room. She threw herself on the bed again and cried her eyes out. When she was through, Jazz came to her room. "Breaking all the rules you can?" "Yes." "Which ones have you broken?" "No jumping on the beds and no running on the stairs." "I'll break some more, and give you a break." Sarah usually followed the rules. "I'll talk Danny into calling Sam or Tucker. That'll be long distance." "We'll probably all get the belt, since we're only here till Monday afternoon." "Right. You just rest your little head until tomorrow, and then you can start br eaking the rules again if you're up to it." "We'll see." Sarah said. Jazz smiled and left the room, closing the door.