Twenty-Seven:
Spot, Brian, Mimbleshaw, and the coupon fairies took the egg to the mill.
"Oooooo... OoooOOOooo..." said the ghost. "Who dares to trespass this haunted mill? Oooooo... Oooooo..."
"...yoo-hoo," said Lulu-Belle. "It's us again."
"...how-dee," said Ellie.
"Oh, it's you," said the ghost. "What do you want this time?"
"Now, what makes you think we only came here to ask you for something?" said Lulu-Belle.
"We're, um... visiting," said Ellie.
"No you aren't," said the ghost. "I've been dead over three hundred fifty years. The only time you fairies ever visit is when you want something from me."
"The ghost is right," said Lulu-Belle. "We are lying. If we don't need anything from him, he'll never see us again."
"He knows we're lying?" said Ellie. "That isn't fair."
"May we change the discussion to why we're here?" said Mimbleshaw. "We wonder if you could please change this baby you turned into an egg back into a baby again."
"Change it back?" said the ghost. "I only changed it in the first place because no one had visited me in so long. People don't have the sense nowadays to go to a haunted mill so I can scare them away. I decided to be generous and change the baby into an egg like they asked. Now you're here because you want me to change the baby back? You think you can show up out of the blue, give orders, and lie to me whenever you feel like it? Well I refuse. Being dead doesn't mean I have to tolerate being treated like a ghost. You can take your egg and return from where you came."
"—no, don't hate us, Mr. Ghost," said Lulu-Belle. "We'll be good from now on. We'll visit you everyday..."
"No you won't," said the ghost. "You're lying again."
"He knows we're still lying?" said Ellie.
"Ghosts must know how to read minds or something," said Lulu-Belle.
"...oh, for goodness' sakes," said Brian.
"I don't want to hear complaints from you, living-boy," said the ghost.
"This ghost has to be the most pathetic and needy monster we've encountered so far," said Brian.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," said the ghost. "If you ever want that egg turned back into a baby, you'd better cut it out because I hate that."
"Oh, hush," said Lulu-Belle. "It's not like we even need you to change that egg back. We only need to borrow your magic cloak you keep in the mill."
"Is that all?" Brian approached the mill.
"I don't think wearing the cloak is a good idea, Human," said Mimbleshaw.
"You should have listened to your friend, living-boy," said the ghost. "That cloak of transformation makes whoever wears it vulnerable to possession."
"What do you mean 'possession?'" said Brian. "Get out my head..."
"I haven't had a human body in three hundred fifty years," said the ghost. "Three hundred fifty years is a long time to not get a haircut." Hair and beard gushed from Brian's pores. "It's also a long time to not take a bath." Grease soaked into Brian's face and eyes. The egg started floating on Brian's hair and grease out to sea.
"Monsieur le Brian," said Spot. "Do not abandon zee baby now."
"Aw, man," said Brian. Brian crawled long and heavy to resist possession, stay afloat, reach the egg, and transform it back into a baby. Brian removed the cloak. His hair stopped growing and he stopped sweating grease by the bucket-load. The ghost was helpless again.
"...phew," said Spot. "And three hundred fifty years without zee bath makes a strong odor... even for zee little boys, no?"