~Chapter 3: Alligators?~
The next morning, with rain still pounding away, the gang was surrounding Aunt Jemima's kitchen table. Shaggy and Scooby were eating eggs with chocolate syrup and hot sauce, and the rest of the gang was eating pancakes.
Aunt Jemima was nowhere to be found, so the group had gone ahead and made the breakfast themselves.
"Who's up for taking a trip to meet Bo Hanson?" Freddie asked the others.
"Reah! Reah," Scooby agreed, everyone knew how he had grown up by a bayou when he was a young pup. He loved being by the swampy waters, and had a knack for fishing.
"Like, groovy!" Shaggy agreed. He often agreed with Scooby, as Scooby often agreed with Shaggy. They were like two peas in a pod, and when Scooby made up his mind not to do something, Shaggy would reciprocate with an "Uh, uh. Like no way!" The only way to get them out of these rebellious phases (which happened quite often, in fact) was to toss one of them a Scooby Snack or two, which the other usually intercepted.
Freddie ordered, "Okay, gang. Let's finish up and get out of here. Velma, do you want to check the cellar for life jackets? We should use those for safety, because you never know what could happen out here in the bayou!"
"Sure Freddie!"
After everyone had gone to their rooms to get their jackets and were gathered back in the kitchen, Velma shouted from down the hall, "It's locked Freddie; I guess it's a no-go for the lifejackets. We'll just have to fend for ourselves."
She came into the kitchen, and started looking in every drawer for a key. After several minutes of silence, except for the pounding of rain that could be heard on the metal roof, Velma had not found the key. Suddenly, Velma exclaimed, "Hey! What's this?"
She held up what appeared to be a pamphlet of some sort. "It says Coffee Bean South America, what could that mean?"
"Huh. What would your aunt have anything to do with coffee beans Shag? Has she ever mentioned anything before?"
"Like, not that I can remember," Shaggy said.
"Huh, it's probably just something she got in the mail." Fred then took the opportunity to peer out of the window through the rain that was coming down in sheets. "But there's no mail box. Something fishy is going on here, and I'd like to find out what it is. There Aunt Jemima comes now," he said in a rushed voice.
Velma quickly hid the pamphlet under her orange turtleneck.
The front door opened with a creak, and Aunt Jemima stepped inside with a smile. "Hello kids! Why up so early? I was just doing some shopping for Mr. Hankson." She seemed on-edge, and almost as if she had been caught in the act of doing something wrong.
"We're going to go—" Shaggy started.
"—canoeing for fun, so we thought we should get an early start," Fred finished for Shaggy. Velma took this as an opportunity to run upstairs to fetch her raincoat, and when she got back, Freddie motioned to everyone to come outside, while giving Aunt Jemima one last smile.
When the group got outside, the rain had slowed to a drizzle, or at least enough that the canoeing wouldn't be too miserable. Daphne took this as an opportunity to say, "My HAIRRR," and shaggy walked over to Freddie with an angry look on his face. "Why don't you want Aunt Jemima knowing we're going to visit Bo Hankson? Like, do you think my Aunt is involved in some way?" Shaggy asked, confused.
"No," Freddie replied, "but if we're ever going to solve this mystery, we can't give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Why would your aunt have a pamphlet on coffee beans in South America? She doesn't even have a mailbox. She could be tied into something wit Bo Hankson, and it may be a gut instinct, but I have a feeling it has something to do with this mystery."
Shaggy huffed and walked away.
When they got to the banks of the bayou, Freddie, as per usual, said, "Velma, you go with Shag and Scooby, and Daphne will come with me."
They all got in; Fred started paddling one boat and Shaggy the other.
Halfway to the old shack, Fred yelled to Shaggy that he had forgotten something in his room, and he needed to go back.
"Groovy," said Shaggy, obviously still annoyed.
There was a weeping willow up ahead, that Freddie paddled for. He had indeed not forgotten anything in his room, but simply wanted to spend a few minutes alone with Daphne. As they got to the weeping willow, Freddie stopped paddling to push aside the branches of the weeping willow, and continued to paddle inside the dome of the weeping willow branches. The tree branches hung all the way to just above the water, and some raindrops were sneaking in through the gorgeous canopy of light green that filtered the greyish light of the sky. The leaves looked like they were touched with dew.
Fred breaks the dreamy silence with, "I had a fun time last night."
"Me too," Daphne said with a smile. She leaned in too kiss him, and after a brief kiss, moved over to rest her head on his shoulder. She squeezed him tight, and looked up at the canopy of the weeping willow. She tilted her head back, and caught raindrops on her tongue, extremely happy. Daphne leaned back and stared over the side of the canoe, dragging her hand in the water and smiling. She thought she saw something stirring the muddiness of the water around, and gestured to Fred to look, too. They suddenly saw the tip of an alligators tale flick up out of the water, and at the same time, both of them leaning over the edge of the canoe caused it to tip them over, into the water with the alligator!