Chapter 7
Later that night, Shaggy and Scooby Doo stood on the same stage that the Hex Girls were to perform on for the ending concert of the Oak Haven Autumn Fest; the cowardly young sleuth/warlock tapped his foot, seemingly waiting for someone, which he of course was, to be exact he was waiting for a certain trio of female musicians to make an appearance; naturally the female musicians were a big part of Velma's plan to trap the witch's ghost once and for all, which on the surface might not make much sense, but to Velma it made perfect sense.
Shaggy Rogers grew impatient as he stood on the stage, waiting for everyone else to show up, in fact he thought for a few moments about using his magic to conjure up someone to talk to, but he decided against it, after all it would be very strange if someone saw Shaggy using magic to talk to someone, especially someone who wasn't there in the first place; the cowardly warlock then walked over to a keyboard set up on stage, and sat down, Shaggy then began trying to do his best impression of a rock and roll star as he began playing the keyboard, while Scooby tried his hand at playing a guitar which was nearby.
"Like this is pretty great, I feel like Mick Jagger, just without the English accent" the cowardly young adult said to himself as he began playing; however his joy was about to be interrupted as a certain red haired young woman walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me" the woman said, causing Shaggy to flinch a bit, although once he saw that it was Dusk, one of the members of the Hex Girls, he smiled and began speaking to her.
"Hi Dusk, what's up?" Shaggy asked.
"Um, well it would be nice if you and your dog didn't touch our instruments" Dusk replied, folding her arms as she spoke.
"Whoops, sorry about that Dusk" Shaggy said as he stood up and brushed the keyboard off, trying to be courteous as well.
"Thank you, I think" Dusk replied; as Scooby and Shaggy jumped down onto the ground, after moving over to the side, Velma and Ben walked up to the front of the stage, while the three musicians were quite curious as to why they were in the park in the first place.
"Okay, we're here, so why are we here? We have to rest for the concert tomorrow you know" Thorn inquired.
"Like that's what I wouldn't mind knowing too Velma, although I wish a certain person didn't have to be here" Shaggy replied, motioning over with his head towards Ben Ravencroft.
"Hey, I didn't want to be here either, I'm just following orders" Ben remarked.
"So Vel, like what kind of a plan are we talking about anyway?" Shaggy asked.
"Well Shaggy, it's simple, I realized that there's a chance that the witch's ghost might make an appearance again, and that if we somehow were able to draw her out into the open, we would be able to catch her" Velma replied.
"Like great idea Velma, so how are we going to catch the ghost Velma?" Shaggy asked.
"Glad you asked Shaggy, you and Scooby will try and lure the ghost out of hiding, while Thorn, Dusk and Luna play their instruments on stage and if I'm right, the ghost might go after the three of them as well" Velma replied.
"I sure hope you know what you're doing Velma" Thorn remarked.
"Don't worry Thorn, like we've been through hundreds of mysteries before and Velma always manages to come up with good plans" Shaggy replied.
"If you say so Shaggy" Thorn remarked.
"Believe me Thorn, I know so" Shaggy replied.
A few minutes after Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo discussed the young woman's plan with the Hex Girls and Ben Ravencroft, the cowardly warlock and the Great Dane headed out onto the streets of the small city in search of the witch's ghost; normally Shaggy and Scooby Doo would have to be bribed with Scooby Snacks to go after a ghost such as Sarah Ravencroft, but in this case they didn't need bribing mostly because of Shaggy's magical powers; with his magical abilities, he was more then confident that he could handle the ghost and was hoping that he would be able to use them against said spirit.
"Like that ghost better not show her face around here again, if she does I'll use my magic to ground her once and for all, right Scoob?" Shaggy asked, looking over at his canine companion.
"Rif rou ray ro Rhaggy" the Great Dane replied.
Shaggy and Scooby Doo then continued to search the city, as they walked down the streets of Oak Haven; usually the pair of cowardly investigators had pretty good luck in flushing out ghosts and monsters for the rest of the gang to capture, and they were hoping that in this case their luck would continue and the ghost would appear soon.
Suddenly as the two of them were walking through the park, Scooby Doo heard a strange noise, which sounded like rustling from the bushes; sensing that this could be the very ghost they had been looking for, Shaggy and Scooby slowly approached the bushes and soon enough, rising out of the foliage was the witch's ghost, in the flesh, or rather in the spirit.
"So you dare come back and face me again, eh?" the ghost asked with a sinister cackle.
"That's right, and we're going to stop you once and for all!" Shaggy replied, his voice raising as he spoke.
"You two? You really think you can defeat me, the spirit of a witch?" the ghost asked with another cackle.
"Like that's right; and for your information, you just happen to be dealing with a real life warlock, and I don't play favorites and I don't take it easy, not on ghosts and not on someone like you" Shaggy replied, speaking with a confident tone in his voice.
"Hmm… so you're really a warlock eh?" the ghost asked.
"Right, I don't suppose you want a taste of my power, just to show you I mean business?" Shaggy asked.
"Power? There's no way you would have enough power to stop the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft" the ghost replied with another trademark cackle.
"Well I'm sure going to try, now: what kind of spell would you like to see?" Shaggy asked.
"There's no spell in the world that can save you and that dog of yours" the ghost replied.
"We'll see about that, now if you'll just come down we can talk, witch to warlock, what do you say huh?" Shaggy inquired.
"Never, in fact why don't I give you a taste of my power: take this!" the ghost declared as she shot a fireball or two towards Shaggy and Scooby; the cowardly warlock was able to think fast on his feet in this situation and quickly surrounded the Great Dane and himself in a protective green glow, which resulted in the fireballs not coming even close to hitting either one of them.
"Grr! Meddling fools! You may be more powerful then me, but you'll never catch me!" the ghost said as she floated across the park.
"Come on Scooby, after her!" Shaggy urged as he and his canine companion followed the spectral sorceress back into the park; the cowardly young warlock then waited until it was safe and then whistled, which was the signal for the gang to spring their trap to capture the ghost; suddenly a large branch of one the park's trees flew towards the witch, knocking her into a soccer goal, sans net, in short she was confined.
"Good work Shaggy and Scooby, you did it!" Velma said as she walked over to her cowardly boyfriend/warlock and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Like thanks Velma, Scoob and I were more then happy to help" Shaggy replied.
"Reah" Scooby added.
"Now I think it's time to see who this so called ghost really is" Fred said as he and Daphne joined Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and Ben Ravencroft; the blond young adult reached for the ghost's green mask and pulled it off, however he received one heck of a surprise when he saw who was wearing the ghost costume.
"It's Mr. McKnight!" Daphne declared.
"The pharmacy owner and T-shirt seller?" Shaggy asked.
"The very same Shaggy" Velma replied; at that moment, Thorn, Dusk and Luna walked over to where the gang and Ben were standing, however as Thorn surveyed the scene she gasped and walked over to Mr. McKnight; although the gang didn't know it yet, they were about to receive the first of many shocking surprises that they would encounter before they left Oak Haven.
"Daddy?" Thorn asked, looking over at Mr. McKnight with a surprised look on her face.
"Daddy?" Fred wondered.
"Hello Sally" Mr. McKnight said, albeit a bit sheepishly as he stood up in the witch's ghost outfit.
"Your dad is the ghost? Heavy" Dusk remarked.
"Your name is Sally?" Fred inquired.
"I guess I have a lot of explaining to do; Sally's my given name, I just use the name Thorn on stage, it's a rock star thing" Thorn chuckled.
"Go figure" Daphne commented.
"Wait, like one thing still doesn't add up; if you aren't the witch's ghost Thorn, then why did you act like a witch when Scooby and I saw you?" Shaggy asked.
"Oh, you mean that ritual that I was doing and that the three of us were talking about right Shaggy?" Thorn inquired.
"Right, like what was that anyway?" Shaggy asked.
"Well, it was basically just peppermint and cloves, like we mentioned before; what you saw was me preparing a special herbal remedy, to sooth my vocal cords" Thorn replied.
"Ah, like that's pretty cool" Shaggy remarked.
"It sure is Shaggy, in fact all three of us use it, it's awesome; heck, with the stuff that we sing on a regular basis, if we didn't have Thorn's herbal remedies we would be lost" Dusk replied.
"I'll say" Luna added.
"Like man do I feel silly; when Scoob and I were following you Thorn, and when we looked in that shed, we really thought you were a witch, and that the three of you were witches" Shaggy replied.
"That's understandable Shaggy, I mean when people see us they think we are witches; but in reality we aren't, we're just musicians, we only play act that stuff for the band" Thorn explained.
"So, what about those fangs that Scooby and I saw?" Shaggy asked.
"Simple, they're phony; my dad's a dentist, he outfitted the band" Dusk commented as she removed the false fangs from her mouth.
"Like now that's impressive," Shaggy remarked.
"Sure is, by the way Thorn, judging by what Shaggy and Scooby have said, you seem to be really good at making herbal medicines and remedies, how come?" Velma inquired.
"Well, to tell you guys the truth, I'm part wiccan on my mother's side; it's rather unusual, but people tend to accept it" Thorn replied.
"Like we sure accept it, that's for sure" Shaggy remarked; however, the gang's conversation with the Hex Girls was about to be interrupted as a familiar looking brown haired man began walking up towards the gang, not to mention he looked quite unhappy as he approached the team of sleuths.
"What's going on here? What is all this?" Mayor Corey asked, however when he spotted Mr. McKnight, he really looked upset as he looked over at the town pharmacist/T-Shirt salesman.
"McKnight? Is that you?" the mayor inquired.
"Sorry about that mayor" Mr. McKnight replied.
"Like there's something about this that just doesn't add up, how come Mr. McKnight is dressed up as a witch? What reason would he have to do so?" Shaggy asked.
"Well Shaggy, for starters, Mr. McKnight isn't the only person involved here, isn't that right Jack?" Velma said, projecting her voice towards the trees; suddenly, the friendly owner of the diner Shaggy and Scooby ate at stepped out of the shadows, with Velma's flashlight trained on him all the while.
"Like I knew it, I figured there was a reason why he left the diner for a few minutes; running errands my foot" Shaggy replied.
"Exactly Shaggy; and if I had to guess, he was the one who was operating that Cherry Picker Truck, when Ben and I investigated the barn, we found that the truck's engine was still warm, which meant that someone had been using the truck recently, in this case Jack" Velma commented.
"Like I get it; and he's a pretty heavy guy which means he was strong enough to lift Mr. McKnight through the air, which made it seem like he was flying through the skies of Oak Haven" Shaggy remarked.
"Right Shaggy, Jack used wires to propel Mr. McKnight's flight, and I have to admit it was very convincing; but Jack and Mr. McKnight weren't the only two people involved here, this hoax needed more people to make it work and make it convincing, which means that everyone was involved" Velma said, projecting her voice into the trees again, only this time a large number of the citizens of Oak Haven came out of the shadows, which surprised the gang's author friend to no end.
"Everyone?" Ben asked.
"Sure, for a hoax like this, the whole town had to be in on it; how else would Oak Haven be able to attract so many tourists" Velma replied.
"Well, I for one am shocked at this development" Mayor Corey remarked, clearly upset about what was occurring.
"You can drop the charade now mayor, because you're the one who made me suspicious in the first place" Velma replied, sounding quite serious as she spoke.
"Why, whatever do you mean my dear?" Mayor Corey asked.
"Yes I'm quite interested to hear this as well" Ben replied as he folded his arms, looking quite unhappy with the citizens of Oak Haven.
"Well Ben, you see it never meant to turn into this; I remembered you once saying to me that the supernatural always attracted tourists, and I thought…" Mayor Corey commented.
"You thought you would use Sarah's ghost? Well I for one am disgusted by this, I am shocked, stunned and saddened that you all would use the name of Sarah Ravencroft, one of my ancestors to line your pockets; you should all be ashamed for dragging her name through the mud and using my family's history to make money for the town" Ben replied, looking quite unhappy with the citizens and the mayor.
It was going to take a while for Ben Ravencroft to forgive the populace of the New England town for what they had done and for using Sarah Ravencroft to make money for the town of Oak Haven; a little while later, back at Ben Ravencroft's house, Scooby Doo and the gang, the famous author and the Hex Girls were speaking about the current mystery, or rather the solution of it, in addition they were discussing the famous author's relative and what he would say to her about her life.
"So that's Sarah Mr. Ravencroft?" Thorn asked, admiring a large portrait hanging above the fireplace inside the author's home.
"Correct, and she was indeed a real wiccan" Ben replied.
"Wow, very cool" Thorn remarked.
"Thank you Thorn, it's nice of you to say that about her; I'm always happy to hear younger people practicing the Wiccan arts" Ben replied.
"You're welcome Mr. Ravencroft" Thorn said with a smile; it was at that moment that the author's door opened and in walked Mayor Corey and Mr. McKnight, who had rather sorrowful looks on their faces, which Ben noticed.
"Oh hello Mayor Corey, Mr. McKnight, what's up?" Ben asked.
"Well Ben, we're awfully sorry about using Sarah to make money; but we had a very good reason to" Mr. McKnight said.
"Yes, you see we used Sarah Ravencroft's ghost haunting the town to attract tourists, nothing more nothing less; our town was on the verge of dying out because of lack of tourists, so we had to do something to attract people here" Mayor Corey replied.
"Right, and it was only natural for us to use Sarah's ghost because, well… we found her grave marker" Mr. McKnight added.
"Her grave marker? When? How?" Ben asked, his eyes opening wide and sounding quite curious as to what the two of them meant.
"When we were excavating the area for construction of the Puritan village, we wasn't sure what it was at first, but as soon as we recognized the shape of it and the name on the marker, we knew it was Sarah's grave" Mr. McKnight replied.
"Did you find anything else other then her grave?" Ben asked.
"Like what?" Mr. McKnight inquired.
"Like a book perhaps?" Ben inquired.
"Sorry Ben, we didn't find a book, or anything else besides her grave marker" Mayor Corey replied.
"Are you sure?" Ben asked.
"We're sure Ben, trust us; her grave could be anywhere in town, we just don't know where it is or where it might be" Mr. McKnight replied.
"Hmm…" Velma said to herself, looking over at the painting that hung above Ben Ravencroft's fireplace, until she examined the artwork more carefully; the young woman then noticed that Sarah was carrying a book of some kind in the portrait, knowing Velma and the look that she had on her face, which Shaggy noticed, he figured she had some kind of plan in mind for figuring out the final pieces to the mystery, which she then shared with her boyfriend and his cowardly canine companion.
"Shaggy, I think I have an idea that might end this mystery, but I need you and Scooby's help again" Velma explained.
"Like sure Velma, do you need to tap my area of expertise perhaps?" Shaggy asked, in a bit of a whispered tone, so Ben couldn't her him, while he looked over at her.
"I know what you mean Shaggy, and I don't believe I need to this time around, maybe later" Velma replied as Ben looked and both of them with a somewhat confused expression on his face.
"OK Velma, like what's your plan to solve this mystery?" Shaggy inquired.
"Well, first off do you still have that buckle that you and Scooby found earlier?" Velma asked.
"Like I think so" Shaggy replied, while rummaging through his pants pockets until finding the small square metal object that he had found earlier in the evening, with the help of his magic of course.
"Here Velma, but like I don't understand what you need with a shoe buckle" Shaggy said as he handed the buckle over to Velma who meticulously inspected it, as she usually did when she found a clue.
"Hmm… you know Shaggy, I don't think this is a shoe buckle that you and Scooby found" the young woman responded.
"Like it's not?" Shaggy asked.
"Nope, but I do think if we went back to the park and investigated some more, we might find Ben's ancestor's diary and the solution to this mystery" Velma replied.
"Terrific, what are we waiting for? Let's get going" Ben responded, rather eagerly; with that the gang, along with the Hex Girls, Mayor Corey and Ben headed back towards the park, once they reached the park, they began looking around for any sign of a clue as to where the diary might be.
"Okay Velma, like now that we're here what are we looking for?" Shaggy asked.
"Simple, I noticed in the painting that Ben has, that Sarah is standing in front of a large Oak tree; I also noticed that she was holding the diary in her hands, and that the buckle that you and Scooby found looked to be the same buckle that's on the diary" Velma replied.
"Like I get it, we just have to look in the same place that we found the buckle and we might find the diary" Shaggy responded.
"Right" Velma remarked, looking over at Shaggy.
"But wait a minute, how do you know that tree is still in the park? that painting was done more than 250 years ago, so it's highly doubtful that the tree is still standing, much less in the same place it was then" Mayor Corey replied with a question of his own.
"True, but we still have to look anyway; now Scooby, you're without a doubt the best digger of the group, so all you have to do is dig in the place nearest to where the tree was and there's a good chance we'll find the diary, okay?" Velma asked, looking over at the Great Dane.
"Right Relma" Scooby replied; with that the Great Dane ran over to the exact spot that he had found the buckle earlier in the evening and began digging like he had never dug before; soon, he found that he had hit something while he dug with one of his paws and alerted his friends to this development while his head was still inside the hole.
"Ri round a rox" the canine sleuth remarked.
"You found rocks?" Ben asked curiously.
Scooby didn't reply to that statement, instead he retrieved a large and ancient looking wooden box from the hole he dug in the ground; once the canine detective had pulled the box out of the hole, he dragged it towards the gang, he let the gang take a look at it, which included Ben Ravencroft, who knew exactly what box was and what was inside it.
"I can't believe it, I finally found the chest, thanks to all of you; I can't wait to open it" the author commented, speaking like he was a child on Christmas morning; the author then bent down towards the ground and opened the chest, but what he found wasn't the diary of Sarah Ravencroft, well actually what he found did belong to Sarah, but it wasn't quite what the group of detectives was expecting, in fact it was much more sinister.
