A Good Night for Ghosts

ragman blasting his tin horn for folks to bring out their rags. Folks selling things, like that pie man. Listen to him.”
    Dipper pointed to a man sitting in a red wagon, calling out in a strong, rich voice, “Sweet potato! Sweet potato pie! Lemon pie! Apple pie! Any pie you like!”
    “Listen to that voice,” said Dipper. “That’s music. And listen to those sounds—” Dipper pointed to some women walking beside the road.
    The women carried baskets on their heads and called out in singsong voices, “Blue-berries!” “Rasp-berries!” “Black-berrieeeeeeeeeeeeeees!”
    “I see what you mean,” said Annie. “Music is everywhere.”
    “You got it, girl,” said Dipper. “You can even hear it in Lady’s hoofbeats. Listen.”
    Jack listened to the rhythmic
clippity-clop, clippity-clop
of the mule.
    “See? There you go!” said Dipper. “That’s a song—
Go ’long, mule, go ’long, mule.”
    Jack and Annie listened to the steady music of Lady’s hoofbeats, until finally the mule came to a stop.
    “Well, here we are at the coal yard,” said Dipper. “I’ll leave Lady here till tomorrow.”
    They all jumped to the ground.
    “Thanks for your music, Lady.” Dipper patted the mule on her nose. Then he turned to Jack and Annie. “Afraid I have to leave y’all now,” Dipper said. “But it’s been great.”
    “Yeah, um…,” Jack began, trying to think of a good reason to stay with Dipper.
    “I’d like to hear you blow that horn when the time’s right,” Dipper said to Annie. “And don’t forget to say hi to Teddy and Kathleen for me.” He winked, then waved and started walking away.
    “But—but, Dipper!” called Jack.
    “Sorry, man! I’m late!” Dipper shouted over his shoulder. “Thanks a million!” He waved again and kept going.
    Jack and Annie looked at each other in a panic. “We have to stay with him!” said Annie. “Wait, wait, Dipper!” She and Jack ran after him.
    “Where are you going now?” Jack asked.
    “My next job,” said Dipper. “I have to haul bananas till dark.”
    “Really?
Another
job?” said Jack.
    “Hey guess what?” shouted Annie. “We
love
to haul bananas!”
    “Yeah. Yeah, we do,” said Jack.
    Dipper stopped and stared at them. “What is wrong with y’all?” he said. “Don’t you know how to have fun?”
    Jack didn’t know what to say.
    “Seriously,” said Annie. “We
do
love to haul bananas. And you make everything more fun with your singing.”
    “Yeah, you’re a good singer!” piped up Jack. “That’s a gift!”
    Dipper just shook his head. “Remember when I said you didn’t have any more brains than a pair of potatoes? Well, I take it back. I don’t think you have
one
potato’s brain between you.”
    Jack and Annie laughed.
    “Well, come on, then,” said Dipper.
    Jack and Annie hurried with Dipper down to the loading dock on the riverfront. At least fifty workers were hauling huge loads of bananas out of the cargo hold of a ship.
    “Wait here,” Dipper told them.
    Dipper walked over to a man checking people in to work. He pointed to Jack and Annie. The man shrugged, then nodded. Dipper waved for them to come join him.
    Jack and Annie ran down to join Dipper and the other workers in the cargo hold. Dipper picked up a giant bunch of bananas. The bunch was almost as big as Annie! He hauled it onto his shoulder and then picked up another one.
    “Grab a bunch of bananas and follow me!” Dipper said. He headed to the counter, where men in white suits were inspecting the banana bunches.
    “No way either of us can pick up one of those bunches,” Jack said to Annie.
    “Let’s try it together,” said Annie.
    Annie hid their trumpet behind a large wooden box. Jack put his bag there, too. Jack and Annieloaded a bunch of bananas into their arms. They walked closely together, taking short, clumsy steps, following Dipper. They delivered the bunch to the inspectors and then hurried back to get another.
    As the sun sank toward the river, Jack, Annie, and Dipper hauled bananas back and forth between the cargo hold and the inspectors. They hauled bananas until it was almost dark. Jack was so tired he could hardly see straight. He was afraid Dipper would never call it quits.
    “Last one,” Dipper said finally.
    Yes!
thought Jack. They grabbed their last loads.
    Suddenly a large rat jumped out of the cargo hold! Dipper let out a scream. He dropped his bananas and took off running. Annie and Jack dropped their bananas, too.