Spooky Buddies Junior Novel (2 page)

H
oot the owl had been waiting for his master all these years, just as he'd promised. Now he watched as five puppies burst out of the old manor and raced for the gate. Excited, he flew after them, landing silently on the gate so he could hear what they said. “That was a ghost, dawgs!” B-Dawg exclaimed. “A real off-the-chain ghoul!”

“Maybe we imagined it,” Rosebud said uncertainly. “It was pretty spooky in there.”

“It looked totally real to me, dudette,” Mudbud said. “Was it the Howlloween Hound?”

“I said Howlloween Hound three times into the mirror, dawgs,” B-Dawg reminded the group. “I released the Howlloween Hound! You guys all saw him, too!”

“Whatever it was,” Budderball said with a nervous glance at the house, “we are outta there.”

“Come on, let's catch up to our kids,” Buddha said. With that, the puppies ran off.

* * *

The kids' class trip ended at Fernfield Town Hall. The place was decorated for Halloween with spooky cobwebs, carved pumpkins, fake tombstones, flapping rubber bats, and more.

“All right, kids,” Mrs. Carroll said. “That concludes the field trip. Now, I know you're all excited about trick-or-treating tonight, but let's not forget that your Fernfield history projects are due Monday.”

Most of the students nodded. But Billy's eyes went wide. He'd forgotten all about that project!

“Monday?”
he asked.

Rodney and Skip laughed.

“What a bonehead!” Rodney jeered.

Mrs. Carroll gave the pair a stern look. “Yes, Billy,” she replied. “It's been assigned for two weeks. You'll have all weekend for the finishing touches. What subject did you choose?”

“Uh…” Billy began. Then he said the first thing that came into his head: “The curse of the Howlloween Hound.”

“Certainly a good topic for this time of year,” Mrs. Carroll said. “Class dismissed! I hope to see you all at my house tonight for treats. Happy Halloween!”

As most of the students scurried off, Alice, Bartleby, Pete, and Sam gathered around Billy. He looked anxious.

“Come on,” Alice said, trying to cheer him up. Researching the mystery of the Howlloween Hound would be fun! “If the police were involved, I bet Sheriff Dan knows a thing or two.”

Alice's friends knew she was probably right, so they went to the town hall and found Sheriff Dan. When they explained that they wanted to know about the Howlloween Hound, the sheriff led them down into the basement.

The basement was dim and dusty. Every inch of it was crammed with old boxes and stacks of files. Billy looked around and spotted a box with a label that read:
HALLOWEEN, 1937
.

“Good detective work, Billy,” Sheriff Dan said as he pulled out a thick file and handed it to the boy.

“Thanks, Sheriff,” Billy said. Then he noticed something interesting stuck behind the box. It was a long staff with a jewel on the top. “Whoa…that would be awesome for my presentation. Can I borrow it?”

“I suppose it couldn't hurt. But remember, it's still police evidence, so I'll need it back.” Sheriff Dan chuckled. “And don't go casting any spells. I wouldn't want to end up a toad!”

B
illy rushed into his house with B-Dawg at his heels. The Buddies had caught up to the kids at the town hall. Then all of them had headed home to get ready for trick-or-treating. “Hey, Mom,” Billy said as he burst into the kitchen. Billy's mom looked up from frosting cookies. “Hello, dear. I'm just finishing up my famous jack-o'-lantern cookies for tonight's Spooky Brew-Ha-Ha.”

The Spooky Brew-Ha-Ha was the town's annual Halloween party. Most of the adults in Fernfield were planning to go while the kids went trick-or-treating.

“Did you pick up my costume?” Billy asked.

“Sure did. It's on the table. And I got a matching one for B-Dawg!”

Billy walked over to check out his costume. He gasped in horror. It was a powder blue bunny suit, and there was one for B-Dawg, too!

He couldn't trick-or-treat as a silly bunny! What was he going to do?

He glanced at the staff he was holding. Hmm…

Rushing upstairs, Billy dug into his closet. Finally, he found a dark blue robe in the back.

He pulled on the robe and held up the staff. “What do you think, B-Dawg? Warwick the Warlock at your service!”

While Billy was busy, B-Dawg had pulled on the bunny costume. He whined with dismay when he looked at himself.

“Sorry, B-Dawg,” Billy said. Then he pulled out the case file the sheriff had given him. He flipped through the papers until he found a couple of pictures. One was a police sketch of Warwick. The other was a very old photo of a boy and a beagle puppy.

“Look, B-Dawg,” Billy said. “This must be what the warlock looked like. And the photo must be the boy from the story—and his pup, Pip.” He noticed a number on the house in the second picture. “‘1114 Pine Lane,'” he read. “I wonder if he still lives there?”

B-Dawg barked.

“Yeah, it was over seventy years ago,” Billy said. “He'd be older than grandma by now! But if I could talk to him, this would be the easiest project ever!”

There was no time to think about that just then. Billy stuck the photo in his pocket and put the rest of the stuff into his backpack.

“Trick-or-treating time,” he told B-Dawg. “We'd better fly!”

* * *

Meanwhile, two of Billy's classmates were thinking more about
tricks
than
treats
. Rodney and Skip stood at the door of the old manor. Rodney tried to pry at the boards on the door with a crowbar.

“Hurry!” Skip whispered.

“There!” Rodney said as one of the boards finally broke.

A loud wail sounded behind them. Skip spun around, his heart pounding. A black cat glared at him.

“Chill, it's just a dumb cat,” Rodney said. “Come on, I bet there's tons of weird stuff in here we can use to scare those dweebs from class.”

He squeezed in past the broken board. Skip followed.

Inside, Pip saw the two boys enter. Floating, he hid behind a chandelier as Skip shone a flashlight around.

“This way,” Rodney said as he started up the staircase.

The sun was setting as the two boys reached the turret room. Rodney wandered around, checking it out. He picked up a dusty old candlestick…and part of the wall slid aside. It was a secret hiding place! “Awesome!” Rodney exclaimed.

Skip stared at the mirror. Was it his imagination, or was it…glowing?

“Rodney,” he said.

Rodney barely heard him. He was looking at the potion bottles in the secret compartment. The labels were hard to read.

“‘Rodent-trans'…something,” Rodney muttered.

Pip was watching from overhead. He noticed the full moon rising outside. Then, a moonbeam drifted into the room and hit the mirror.

“Oh, no…” Pip whispered.

“Rodney!” Skip cried.

Rodney finally turned around—just in time to see Warwick stumble out of the mirror!

“We're free!” Warwick cried. “It was horrendous in there.” Suddenly he noticed the two boys gaping at him. “You there! Are you the ones who released us? Where's my staff? And my book? You've stolen them, haven't you?”

Rodney and Skip were too scared to answer. Behind Warwick, the Hound appeared in the mirror. He stepped out into the room, too.

“Come on, Hound. We must find my things. We have to complete the spell tonight.” He saw the potion bottle in Rodney's hands and grabbed it from him.
“Rodentus transformus!”
he chanted.

Then, without warning, he splashed the potion onto Rodney and Skip. The two boys disappeared—and a moment later, a pair of rats popped out of their clothes!

Warwick smiled. “Now they won't be able to warn the town.”

Just then, Hoot flew in. “Master, it's true!” the owl cried. “You've been called forth!”

“Yes, Hoot,” Warwick said with an evil grin. “I've finally been freed from the mirror. We must complete the spell!”

“Five puppies of the same blood,” the Hound growled, reminding the Warlock what they needed.

“Five puppies from the same blood just released you,” Hoot told his master.

“Where are they now?” Warwick demanded.

“I'm not exactly sure,” Hoot replied, looking around.

Warwick rolled his eyes. “Of course you're not. Still as much of a birdbrain as ever!”

None of them saw Pip, who was still hiding and watching. He realized that Hoot was talking about the Buddies!

Warwick and the Hound hurried outside. Hoot flew down to join them.

“First we must find my staff,” Warwick said. “Nothing can happen without it. Hoot, fly ahead and look. It will be illuminated by the full moon.”

“Yes, Master!” Hoot flew off.

Then Warwick ordered the Hound to go look for the puppies.

Pip watched from the window. He wasn't sure what to do. Then he thought of something. “If they can leave, maybe I can, too!” he whispered.

He floated one ghostly paw toward the door, waiting for that invisible shield to stop him as it had before. But nothing happened! “I'm not trapped anymore!” he cried as he flew outside. “Woo-hoo!” he said excitedly. Then he got down to business. “Okay, I'd better find those puppies….”

T
he Buddies and their kids met outside Billy's house. All of them were in costume. Alice was dressed as a witch, and her puppy, Rosebud, as a princess. Sam was an alien, and his puppy, Buddha, was a genie. Pete was a mummy, and his puppy, Mudbud, was a pirate. Bartleby was a cowboy, and his puppy, Budderball, was a superhero. Then, there were Billy and B-Dawg.

“Nice costume, matey.” Mudbud giggled. “Does the
B
stand for bunny?”

B-Dawg tried to play it cool. “This ain't no ordinary rabbit costume, dawgs,” he said. “It's a
killer
rabbit. Those things are da' bomb!”

Billy held up his staff, pretending to be Warwick. “With the Howlloween Hound, I'll control the world! Ha-ha-ha!” he cried, doing his best evil laugh.

“Hey, that was really good,” Bartleby said. “Now let's go score some sugar!”

The friends and their pups set out into the streets of Fernfield. Lots of other kids were trick-or-treating, too. Most of the houses were draped with spooky decorations. The full moon shone brightly in the dark night sky.

Alice glanced at Billy's staff. “Is that thing glowing?” she asked.

Billy looked at it curiously. Strangely enough, it
was
glowing. Weird.

“Uh, maybe it has batteries or something?” Billy said. He shrugged, and he and his friends continued on.

With the Buddies in tow, they walked toward their teacher's house. It had more decorations than any other house in town. There were tombstones on the lawn and cobwebs in the trees. A mechanical ghost flew in circles above them.

The kids knocked on the door. Mrs. Carroll's husband answered. He was dressed as a surfer version of Frankenstein's monster.

“Trick-or-treat!” the kids sang out.

“Dude, sweet costume!” Pete added.

“That's
Frankendude
to you!” Mr. Carroll replied.

Mrs. Carroll rushed up behind her husband. She was dressed as the Bride of Frankendude.

“Hello, children! Welcome to our spooooooky house!” she said. Then she and her husband handed out candy to the kids and dog biscuits to the Buddies.

“Oh, sweet mama!” Budderball exclaimed. “Why can't it be Halloween every night?”

In another part of town, Pip was searching for the Buddies. He had to warn them about Warwick!

As he floated along, he was amazed by what he saw. “I'm not alone!” he exclaimed. “There are ghosts and goblins everywhere!”

But then he took a closer look and noticed some of the ghosts and goblins adjusting their masks and costumes. “They're not real,” he realized.

He didn't want to scare anyone. He found a sheet someone had dropped from their ghost costume, and draped it over himself as a disguise. Then he floated down the street.

Soon he spotted five familiar forms—the Buddies! He sped toward them, still covered by the sheet.

“Thank goodness I found you!” he cried. “I'm here to warn you about the Howlloween Hound.”

“How did you know about that?” Rosebud asked.

Pip pulled off the sheet, revealing his true form. B-Dawg screamed.

“
Aaaah!
It's the Howlloween Hound! He's following us!” he yelled.

“Aaaah!”
the other Buddies screamed. And they all raced away.

“Not again!” Pip exclaimed. “Please, wait! I'm just trying to warn you!”

He flew after them.

“This ghost dawg just doesn't give up!” B-Dawg cried. “What do we do?”

“I know a place,” Buddha suggested. “If there's anyone who can help us with a paranormal problem, it's Zelda.”

The Buddies were all so distracted they didn't notice that they'd rushed right past the real Howlloween Hound. But the Howlloween Hound noticed the Buddies. He'd been sniffing all around town for those five puppies.

His spooky eyes narrowed as he watched the Buddies hurry off. “That must be them,” he growled.