"What a great place for a vacation!" Daphne sighed as the Mystery Machine pulled into a petrol station. "The new amusement and rollercoaster park, Devil's Wheels!"

Next to her, Velma smiled. "I guess… I'm more looking forward to the Science Museum part. I mean, you can actually see what a tachyon accelerator does, I can't wait…"

Daphne gave up on her and turned to Fred.

"You'll be going on the proper rides, right, Freddy? I might get scared otherwise!"

Fred smiled.

"Scared? You? Since when?"

Daphne pinched him lightly and turned round.

"Shaggy, Scooby? Well, I guess, maybe not Scooby so much… Velma, did you check whether they allow dogs on rides?"

Scooby turned round.

"Rog? Rere?"

Daphne laughed and turned to face the front again. Within a few minutes, the van was outside the arch which proclaimed the entrance to the Devil's Wheels Amusement Park.

Fred wound down his window as the van approached an admission kiosk with a bored-looking teenage boy in it.

"Hi?"

The boy grinned as he saw the paint job.

"Nice van," he said, ducking down to retrieve some tickets from under the window.

"There're four of you?"

"Um, do dogs need tickets?"

The boy craned his neck to get a better look inside the van, and saw Scooby, who gave him a big grin. The boy grinned back and nodded.

"Yeah, they need dog tickets."

"Rog rickets?"

"Yeah, like, you heard him, Scoob."

"And are dogs allowed on rides?" Fred asked as he took the tickets and handed over the gang's credit card, which was the one they used for their finances, rather than singling one member of the gang out to be responsible for it.

"Not really," the boy replied, swiping the card and handing it back. "Oh, and which hotel are you staying in?"

"The Alohomora," Fred replied, checking the booking papers in the glove box. "Why?"

The boy gulped.

"There've been some strange things happening over at the Alohomora," he replied, looking nervously at the gang. "People have been saying it's haunted, that their things keep disappearing, their rooms ransacked and no trace of anyone, the doors still locked from the inside!"

Shaggy gulped from the back, sounding like the boy.

"Like, it's h-h-h-haunted?"

"Of course, it's only what I hear from the guests and the other staff members, but maybe you might want to think about swapping and staying in another hotel…"

The boy pressed a button under the window and the barrier in front of the Mystery Machine lifted, allowing the van through. Fred drove through in silence, but Daphne was talking loudly.

"Another case! Well, maybe… Still, we haven't had one in a while; this might be the break we're looking for! Maybe we could pay off that restaurant the guys ate at yesterday…"

Shaggy and Scooby had the grace to look guilty.

"Well, erm, like, that wasn't quite our fault… OK, like, it was…"

Daphne giggled and looked back at the driver.

"Freddy, you want to get this case, right?"

Fred sighed.

"I guess it would be good, if we had a case now, but I sort of wanted a peaceful, spook-free vacation for once."

"Well, it would be good for our finances," Velma said, thinking it over, "like Daphne said. After this, I don't think we could afford many more excursions for a while if we didn't somehow get money."

Daphne smiled. "You know, my dad is always willing to chip in and give us some money, guys."

Fred nodded, trying to make up for his seeming lack of enthusiasm. "Yeah, I guess, but this is a proper business now, plus only one member of this gang is actually a part of the Blake family."

Daphne shook her head. "To be honest, I think he thinks of us all as his kids in a way. We grew up together and everything, and he always wanted more than one kid, but Mom said no, so he couldn't. We always met up at my place, and our office is in the basement; somehow, I don't think Dad thinks that way, Freddy. Plus, he has a stake in the company."

"Steak?" Shaggy asked, looking in from the back.

"Sorry, Shaggy, it's just a figure of speech!"

"Aw, man…"

Shaggy sighed. Behind him, Scooby gave a little whine and mimed being completely famished, despite the fact that on the five-hour trip to Devil's Wheels, he and Shaggy had cleaned out the steamer trunk holding the gang's food for the journey.

"You guys can get some food at the hotel, there's a cafeteria," Fred said, looking back in the rear-view mirror. Shaggy looked over with sudden hope in his eyes.

"Like, a cafeteria?"

"Yes, a cafeteria."

Shaggy and Scooby looked over at each other, both seeing the delight of the word "cafeteria" etched in the other's eyes. Daphne and Velma glanced over at each other and stifled giggles; Fred rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, back to the conversation," Velma said, once the giggles had subsided. "A new case now would do wonders for our finances, and we can't really afford to turn it down if there is a case. I say we find out about it, and go from there."

Fred and Daphne nodded agreement.

"Shaggy? Scooby?"

"Like, a new case?"

Scooby lay down on the floor of the van, and started whimpering. Shaggy did the same.

"Like, bye-bye peaceful vacation, hello new mystery…"