Brring! The first bell rang, but nobody moved.
Everyone around Ben was laughing hysterically at the poster.
Ben couldn't help laughing too.
Mr. Freaky looked ridiculous with big bushy whiskers under his noses.
The Doppel Gang stood near the poster with Mog.
Larry held a thick black marker.
Ben had little doubt about who had drawn the mustache.
Pixel snapped a few photos of the poster.
Then he took some shots of the laughing students.
"Fun scenes from Art Week," he said, floating toward Ben.
"We can put these photos on the school website."
"Um . . . I'm not sure Mr. Freaky will like that," Ben said.
"But we'll find out in a second because here he comes!"
"Students!" Mr. Freaky was racing toward the group, his arms flapping like mad.
"Students! What is going on? The bell rang!
Why aren't you in your classrooms?" His noses wiggled wildly.
"What is Mr. Freaky wearing?" somebody said.
Ben had been wondering the same thing.
The school principal wore a suit, as usual, but over it was a strange-looking apron.
And atop his head was a stranger-looking mask.
"Is that a welder's mask?" Ben thought.
The principal screeched to a halt as his eyes landed on the poster.
A few monsters began tiptoeing away.
For a second the hallway was completely silent.
Then Mr. Freaky spoke in a low tone. "Who . . . did . . . this?"
Ms. Van Ghoul pushed through the crowd.
"What's going on, Mr. Freaky?"
The principal pointed. Ms. Van Ghoul stepped closer to the poster.
Mr. Freaky took out a handkerchief and blew his noses.
For a second, Ben thought Ms. Van Ghoul might start laughing.
Instead she tilted her head to view the poster from another angle.
"Why, Mr. Freaky.
You look very handsome with a mustache.
Have you ever considered growing one?"
"Did you just say . . . "
A smile crept across his face. " I look handsome?"
"Yes! That's exactly what I said.
A mustache would show off those three beautiful noses!
And don't worry about this prank.
I think it's a good sign.
It shows that our artistic juices are flowing for Art Week."
"So . . ." Mr. Freaky was still smiling.
"Does that mean . . . Are you saying that everything is under control?"
"Yes." The art teacher nodded. "Everything is just fine."
"Phew!" Mr. Freaky blew out a breath and put away his handkerchief.
"Good! I can return to the industrial arts classroom then." He laughed shyly.
"I'm actually in the middle of creating an art project myself."
"Really?" Ms. Van Ghoul sounded surprised.
"I used to sculpt while I was in college.
I think you'll find my latest work very, very special.
I plan to unveil it on Wednesday."
Abruptly he spun around.
"Okay, that's enough.
Everyone, get to class.
And no more drawing on posters!"
Monsters began heading off to class.
Ben hurried over to Mog.
"Hey, Mog, did the Doppel Gang draw that mustache?"
Mog nodded. "I thought it was funny," he said.
"And artistic. It even gave me an idea for an art project."
"The prank was funny, but I wouldn't call it artistic," Ben said.
"And maybe you'd better keep away from the Doppel Gang for a while.
I have a feeling they're going to be very, er, creative this week."
The next afternoon, after classes were over for the day, Ben met Waldo along with Winnie and some other witches near the gym.
The witches were all carrying supplies for their flying painting—brooms, paintbrushes, and drop cloths.
Waldo had promised to help with the painting.
Ben was planning to take more notes for his newspaper story.
"We sketched the painting last weekend.
Now we're ready to start adding color," Winnie explained.
"If everybody works really hard today, I think we can finish up by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.
Then it will be ready by Friday night, when Mr. da Creepy comes."
"Cool, but . . ." Ben looked at the witches' supplies.
"Don't you need paints?"
"We need magic paints," Winnie said.
"Remember? It's a magic painting."
"I mixed the paints yesterday and left them in the gym this morning," Waldo said with a grin.
"Everything should be ready to go."
"Thank you so much, Waldo."
Winnie beamed at the wizard and pushed open the gym doors.
"That sounds . . . Oh no!" She let out a gasp.
Ben and the others gasped too.
Inside the gym it looked like a colorful tornado had struck.
Cans of paint were spilled all over the floor.
Blobs of paint were splattered on the walls and floating through the air.
A tiny witch named Greta burst into tears. "What a mess!"