A Good Night for Ghosts

some change. “Tomorrow I’ll be getting paid fifteen cents for this load,” he said. “In case I don’t see you again, here’s your share: five cents for you and five for you.”
    “No, no, keep it,” said Annie. “You should keep it all for your family, Dipper.”
    “What? That’s not right,” said Dipper.
    “It
is
right,” said Jack.
    “Then what did y’all do that work for?” asked Dipper.
    “We didn’t do that much,” Jack said. “Not nearly as much as you did. It was a lot harder job than I thought it would be.”
    “Then why did y’all keep working?” asked Dipper.
    “It was fun hanging out with you,” said Annie.
    Dipper laughed. “Well, you two sure are a couple of potato heads,” he said.
    “What’s that mean?” asked Annie.
    “It means you don’t have any more brains than a pair of potatoes,” said Dipper.
    Jack and Annie just laughed.
    “Sure you won’t take any money?” said Dipper.
    “Absolutely!” said Annie.
    “Well, thanks a million for your help,” said Dipper. He climbed back into the driver’s seat of the cart. “Hey want me and Lady to give y’all a ride back to the coal yard?”
    “Yes!” said Jack and Annie together.
    “Good. Climb on!” said Dipper.
    “Thanks, man!” said Jack.
    Annie grabbed their trumpet. Jack grabbed his bag, and they sat on the cart bench next to Dipper. Jack was still hot and sweaty. He was tired and his arms were sore. But for some reason, he felt great.
    “Let’s go, Lady,” said Dipper.
    Lady the mule began pulling the creaky cart along the Mississippi River. And Dipper began singing again:
    I’ve got those coal cart blues
.
I’m really all confused…

T he sky had grown cloudy, and a warm breeze was blowing.
    Dipper stopped the cart and listened. “Hear that?” he said. “Parade’s coming this way.”
    Jack heard band music in the distance.
    “Is that parade for All Saints’ Day?” asked Annie.
    “Maybe. Or maybe for a million other things,” said Dipper. “Folks in this city will find any excuse for a parade.”
    Soon the parade came into view.

    Horseback riders wore plumed hats and black masks. Following them were people dressed up as clowns, kings, queens, fairies with fluttering wings, ghosts, and skeletons.
    “We read that New Orleans might be the most haunted city in the country,” Annie said to Dipper, “especially on the eve of All Saints’ Day. We heard there’re
real
ghosts in a cathedral, a hotel, and a blacksmith shop.”
    “Yeah, and plenty more places, too,” said Dipper. “But I’m not afraid of ghosts. I’m not afraid of anything.”
    “Me neither!” said Annie.
    “Um, me neither,” said Jack.
    A band followed the people in costumes. The musicians were playing trumpets, tubas, trombones, and drums—lots of drums. The joyous music filled the New Orleans air. Jack and Annie couldn’t help nodding their heads in time to the beat. Jack noticed that Dipper was nodding his head, too.
    “Hey, there’re the fellas!” said Annie.
    Happy, Little Mack, and Big Nose Sidney were walking alongside the band, singing their hearts out.
    “Looks like they’re having fun!” said Annie. She nudged Jack. “Doesn’t it?”
    “Yeah!” said Jack. “A lot of fun! Music is so much fun! I wish I had musical talent! You’re so lucky, Dipper!”
    “You really are, Dipper!” said Annie. “Musical talent is really a great gift to share with the world!”
    Dipper just shook his head, as if he thought they were crazy. “Biggest potato heads I’ve ever met,” he said.
    Jack and Annie laughed.
    Dipper gave the reins a shake. “Go ’long, Lady. Keep me on my path.”
    How weird that Dipper said that
, Jack thought. Their mission was to keep him on the right path, too—the path to becoming the King of Jazz.
    As Lady plodded along the bank of theMississippi, Dipper started singing nonsense words:
    Skid-dat-de-dat

Skid-dat-de-doo!
    “That sounds so cool,” said Jack. “What’s that song?”
    “Not a song. I’m just scat-singing, man,” said Dipper.
    “Scat-singing?” said Annie. “What’s that?”
    “When you can’t think of words, just sing sounds,” said Dipper. “Make ’em up. If you put your heart in it, folks will understand you.”
    “I didn’t know a person could make music like that,” said Jack.
    “Heck, yeah, you can make music any way you want,” said Dipper. “Just listen to the world: There’s church bells, the washerwoman singing about her wash, the