Jack ’ s face turned red . “ You do it to me all the time !” “ That ’ s because you never know when to stay quiet !” “ Children , please . It ’ s quite all right .” “ So then what happened , Mister Wishbone ?” Nikki asked .
“ I hid the disguised Wands in three different places until I could find the black pumpkin , free the spirits of the three Wishmothers and see to it that Hobgoblin and Tasmanian Devil are brought to justice ,” he said .
Nikki , always quick on her toes , said , “ But you were captured . They found that piece of silver from your arm . I bet it was Hobgoblin who turned you into a wind chime .”
“ Yes , that ’ s true . By turning myself invisible , I weakened the silver in which my burned body is encased . So a piece broke off . Using magic often has its drawbacks . They tortured me for days , but I didn ’ t tell them where I hid the Wands . In his anger Hobgoblin turned my six foot tall , exoskeleton body into a sixinch wind chime ,” said Wishbone , sadly .
“ I know what an exoskeleton is ,” Jack said proudly . “ That ’ s what protects the bodies of grasshoppers , spiders and cockroaches , and all sorts of bugs and things .”
“ And crabs and lobsters , too ,” Nikki said .
“ I knew you kids were smart the first time I saw you ,” said Wishbone .
“ So how did you end up here , at Grandma ’ s house ?” Jack asked him .
Wishbone explained , “ Every year , for thirteen days up to and including Halloween , the inhabitants of Creepy Hollow can 26