Chapter two - Mystery Inc: Fred (Book 1 of 4)/ The proposal
The next time I got a chance, I went to the library to look for Mystery Inc.
"Oh yes we have a few" Mrs Crank, the librarian chuckled "They were very popular in the late 60s"
I was led through into a small area at the back of the library, where there stood a small bookrack stuffed with aging books.
"We reserve this section for out of date books, books of a time period" Crank said "Hope you find what you're looking for"
I scanned through the hardback books looking for 'Mystery Inc', there weren't any? Oh well. I was turning to go, when one book caught my eye. A paperback. Now that shouldn't be here! Should it? I picked it up and looked at the cover, it was totally blue. It read 'Mystery Inc: Fred (Book 1 of 4)'
Mystery Inc! I couldn't believe my luck! What were the chances of finding that out of the millions of books that were crammed into this small section of the library? It must have been destiny. I went back to Mrs Crank to see if they had anymore in stock.
"Oh you found what you were looking for did you?" she said, rather pleased "It does please me when you find JUST what you're looking for in a book"
I was about to fall asleep if Mrs Crank didn't stop stating the obvious and answer my question!
"But can you find any of the others in the series?" I asked
"Well now that's a different matter altogether!" Crank said and hoved over to her little computer "I'll see what I can find.ah yes, I've got three other books here."
'Excellent!' I thought. There were only three other books in the series.
".Daphne, Velma and Shaggy?" Crank asked, stating the names of the books
"Makes no never mind to me Mrs Crank," I told her "I just want the books"
"I'll order them for you for next Saturday" she replied "In the meantime you can read that book you've got there"
"I will, thanks Mrs Crank!" I called politely, leaving with the book.
"Mystery Inc: Fred" I read aloud, sitting in my bedroom.
" Chapter one - Fred on Fred: The many faces of me
I haven't revealed a lot about my family to any of the gang. I didn't know my parents, so I grew up with my Grandma and Grandpa. I started living on my own at an early age, by the time I was at high school in fact. That's where I first met the gang. Shaggy I met first. He was a hippy with brown 'shaggy' hair and skinny body, who always wore the same green shirt everyday. Second, I met Daphne, the love of my life who is now my wife. Last of all I met Velma, who ironically enough is married to Shaggy now. They had a son and we had a daughter. But that's not important. I'm writing this book to talk about Mystery Inc..."
I stopped reading there. According to Fred, talking about his offspring wasn't important, but to me it was. Who were they? And what on earth was this connection to me that had bought me to borrow the book in the first place?
I started skimming through the pages of the book at a faster pace. This Fred guy was so self-centred that most of the material was trash. This, however, was also a challenge to find the good parts to read.
'Two years after her birth, we had a second child' Fred's book describes. This sounded interesting. If I could just get one of the names of the babies, I could be getting somewhere.
In the next sentence my question was answered.
" 'What should we call her?' I asked.
'What about Lisa?'
I said fine. It wasn't hard for me and Daphne to decide the names for our children.
'I bet she'll make a wonderful sister for Mimi' I said "
I gasped. Mimi and Lisa? This oaf who was rattling on about fame and success was their Dad? The same Dad, who in-fact said "Me and you're father go back a long way"
Hold on! Now it all made sense! Shaggy the hippie was none other than Dad in the 1960s! He was a part of Mystery Inc as well!
"Dad!" I yelled through the house "I've cracked it!"
"Cracked what?" Dad asked
"You were apart of Mystery Inc weren't you?" I cried, "The team consisted of you, mom, and Mimi's parents!"
"Ah, I see you've found that out" Dad chuckled " You were the one who actually broke us up. Let me tell you a bit more about your birth."
Dad started telling a story.
"When you were born, none of Mystery Inc were married but we were in relationships. Because of this, we paid less attention to mysteries. All that snogging and kissing - it wasn't doing the business any good! One-day Mimi's dad, who you now know as Fred, told me some news. It was on one of our lesser successful cases.
Fred: O.k. guys, let's split up to find more clues to crack this case!
Daphne: O.k. Freddy (Winks)
Naturally Daphne thought that she would pair of with her lover-boy Fred. But he had different ideas.
Fred: Daphne I want you to go with Velma for once.
Daphne: Why? (Pouts)
Fred took her aside.
Fred: (In a hushed tone) Daphne, we can't pair off with each other anymore. While we're away kissing, less time is being spent on solving the mystery. I know you can solve a mystery as fast as Velma when you put you're mind to it. So go with her o.k?
Daphne: All right. But take me out later.
Fred: Yeah all right. (Gives her a peck on the cheek)
They returned to the group.
Fred: O.k. everyone! Let's get searching for those clues! (To me) I want to go with me Shag.
"Me? Sure, that's o.k. Fred" I replied. We went off in a separate direction.
Fred: Shaggy can I talk to you?
"Like, I'm right here Fred" I said "Why not?"
Fred: (whispering) I think Daphne's pregnant.
"Well if she is, I can't see it yet!" I noted "What did you do, find her pregnancy test or somethin'?"
Fred: Something like that. Scooby found it this morning.
"Like, I remember" I joked, "We both thought it was the paper thermometer from the refrigerator!"
Fred: I tried to think that too, but the more I thought about it, the more it looked like the test!
"Well in that case she probably is pregnant" I said "But is that a problemo?"
Fred: It's something to worry about. He father is a very rich man and IF, no wait, WHEN he finds out he'll want to know who the father is. I'll say me, and then I don't know what mess I'll get into.
"Mess?" I asked "What mess? Propose to her for crying out loud! We both agreed we were gonna propose to the girls in the near future didn't we?"
Fred: True, but what if I'm not the father? Then the whole relationship will be on the rocks! The baby won't know whether it's coming or going OR who it's parents are! It'll end up being flown over to Gran and Gramps in Northern Kentucky being told its parents were killed in a flaming car crash!!!
"Calm down" I said, "It's not going to happen like that. We've been out in the desert for weeks travelling from haunted farm to haunted farm. Who's she going to have an affair with? And don't say the farmers cause they're all in their seventies!"
Fred: You're right I should have faith in Daphne. So to make her an honest woman, I'll have to propose.
"Nonononono!" I cried "Not yet! We had an agreement we'd propose at the same time remember? A double-will-you-marry-me! If you propose then that means I have to propose and I'm not ready yet!"
Fred: Sorry Shag, but I feel like it's today. I've got to do it.
"Oh dear" I mumbled.
Meanwhile, Velma and Daphne had been hot on the trail of a ghost when we came along.
Fred: Daphne? Can I talk to you?
Daphne: Unless it's about the mystery, no. You know what you said about talking. We'll never get the mystery solved. Tell you what; tell me at that dinner tonight.
Fred: Hey that's even better, I mean, a good idea.
"Hey, maybe me and Velma should come too!" I said, winking. Dinner tonight would be a perfect time to propose. It would give me a limited amount of time to think of what to say.
That wasn't long, the time soon flied by and before I knew it we were at a restaurant, minutes away from Fred's proposal.
Fred: (Showed me the ring) Isn't it beautiful? No voodoo curses on it or anything!
We laughed and patted each other one the back.
"Good luck!" I whispered
Fred: You too. Here goes.
He got down on one knee and showed her the ring.
Fred: Daphne.
Daphne: What? (Sees the ring) Oh my!
Fred: Daphne Blake would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me to be Mrs Daphne Jones?
Daphne: Freddy, I thought you'd never ask! Yes! Of course I will.
Velma: And I'll become Mrs Velma Rodgers!
She had seen the ring, so I didn't get chance to propose!
"I didn't get a chance to propose!" I laughed, embracing Velma.
"You didn't have to!" Velma said, "I knew you were planning something like this! I also knew you'd got along with Fred and do it at the same time!"
"You know an awful lot!" I said "That's why I love you.
And that how we engaged.
The next time I got a chance, I went to the library to look for Mystery Inc.
"Oh yes we have a few" Mrs Crank, the librarian chuckled "They were very popular in the late 60s"
I was led through into a small area at the back of the library, where there stood a small bookrack stuffed with aging books.
"We reserve this section for out of date books, books of a time period" Crank said "Hope you find what you're looking for"
I scanned through the hardback books looking for 'Mystery Inc', there weren't any? Oh well. I was turning to go, when one book caught my eye. A paperback. Now that shouldn't be here! Should it? I picked it up and looked at the cover, it was totally blue. It read 'Mystery Inc: Fred (Book 1 of 4)'
Mystery Inc! I couldn't believe my luck! What were the chances of finding that out of the millions of books that were crammed into this small section of the library? It must have been destiny. I went back to Mrs Crank to see if they had anymore in stock.
"Oh you found what you were looking for did you?" she said, rather pleased "It does please me when you find JUST what you're looking for in a book"
I was about to fall asleep if Mrs Crank didn't stop stating the obvious and answer my question!
"But can you find any of the others in the series?" I asked
"Well now that's a different matter altogether!" Crank said and hoved over to her little computer "I'll see what I can find.ah yes, I've got three other books here."
'Excellent!' I thought. There were only three other books in the series.
".Daphne, Velma and Shaggy?" Crank asked, stating the names of the books
"Makes no never mind to me Mrs Crank," I told her "I just want the books"
"I'll order them for you for next Saturday" she replied "In the meantime you can read that book you've got there"
"I will, thanks Mrs Crank!" I called politely, leaving with the book.
"Mystery Inc: Fred" I read aloud, sitting in my bedroom.
" Chapter one - Fred on Fred: The many faces of me
I haven't revealed a lot about my family to any of the gang. I didn't know my parents, so I grew up with my Grandma and Grandpa. I started living on my own at an early age, by the time I was at high school in fact. That's where I first met the gang. Shaggy I met first. He was a hippy with brown 'shaggy' hair and skinny body, who always wore the same green shirt everyday. Second, I met Daphne, the love of my life who is now my wife. Last of all I met Velma, who ironically enough is married to Shaggy now. They had a son and we had a daughter. But that's not important. I'm writing this book to talk about Mystery Inc..."
I stopped reading there. According to Fred, talking about his offspring wasn't important, but to me it was. Who were they? And what on earth was this connection to me that had bought me to borrow the book in the first place?
I started skimming through the pages of the book at a faster pace. This Fred guy was so self-centred that most of the material was trash. This, however, was also a challenge to find the good parts to read.
'Two years after her birth, we had a second child' Fred's book describes. This sounded interesting. If I could just get one of the names of the babies, I could be getting somewhere.
In the next sentence my question was answered.
" 'What should we call her?' I asked.
'What about Lisa?'
I said fine. It wasn't hard for me and Daphne to decide the names for our children.
'I bet she'll make a wonderful sister for Mimi' I said "
I gasped. Mimi and Lisa? This oaf who was rattling on about fame and success was their Dad? The same Dad, who in-fact said "Me and you're father go back a long way"
Hold on! Now it all made sense! Shaggy the hippie was none other than Dad in the 1960s! He was a part of Mystery Inc as well!
"Dad!" I yelled through the house "I've cracked it!"
"Cracked what?" Dad asked
"You were apart of Mystery Inc weren't you?" I cried, "The team consisted of you, mom, and Mimi's parents!"
"Ah, I see you've found that out" Dad chuckled " You were the one who actually broke us up. Let me tell you a bit more about your birth."
Dad started telling a story.
"When you were born, none of Mystery Inc were married but we were in relationships. Because of this, we paid less attention to mysteries. All that snogging and kissing - it wasn't doing the business any good! One-day Mimi's dad, who you now know as Fred, told me some news. It was on one of our lesser successful cases.
Fred: O.k. guys, let's split up to find more clues to crack this case!
Daphne: O.k. Freddy (Winks)
Naturally Daphne thought that she would pair of with her lover-boy Fred. But he had different ideas.
Fred: Daphne I want you to go with Velma for once.
Daphne: Why? (Pouts)
Fred took her aside.
Fred: (In a hushed tone) Daphne, we can't pair off with each other anymore. While we're away kissing, less time is being spent on solving the mystery. I know you can solve a mystery as fast as Velma when you put you're mind to it. So go with her o.k?
Daphne: All right. But take me out later.
Fred: Yeah all right. (Gives her a peck on the cheek)
They returned to the group.
Fred: O.k. everyone! Let's get searching for those clues! (To me) I want to go with me Shag.
"Me? Sure, that's o.k. Fred" I replied. We went off in a separate direction.
Fred: Shaggy can I talk to you?
"Like, I'm right here Fred" I said "Why not?"
Fred: (whispering) I think Daphne's pregnant.
"Well if she is, I can't see it yet!" I noted "What did you do, find her pregnancy test or somethin'?"
Fred: Something like that. Scooby found it this morning.
"Like, I remember" I joked, "We both thought it was the paper thermometer from the refrigerator!"
Fred: I tried to think that too, but the more I thought about it, the more it looked like the test!
"Well in that case she probably is pregnant" I said "But is that a problemo?"
Fred: It's something to worry about. He father is a very rich man and IF, no wait, WHEN he finds out he'll want to know who the father is. I'll say me, and then I don't know what mess I'll get into.
"Mess?" I asked "What mess? Propose to her for crying out loud! We both agreed we were gonna propose to the girls in the near future didn't we?"
Fred: True, but what if I'm not the father? Then the whole relationship will be on the rocks! The baby won't know whether it's coming or going OR who it's parents are! It'll end up being flown over to Gran and Gramps in Northern Kentucky being told its parents were killed in a flaming car crash!!!
"Calm down" I said, "It's not going to happen like that. We've been out in the desert for weeks travelling from haunted farm to haunted farm. Who's she going to have an affair with? And don't say the farmers cause they're all in their seventies!"
Fred: You're right I should have faith in Daphne. So to make her an honest woman, I'll have to propose.
"Nonononono!" I cried "Not yet! We had an agreement we'd propose at the same time remember? A double-will-you-marry-me! If you propose then that means I have to propose and I'm not ready yet!"
Fred: Sorry Shag, but I feel like it's today. I've got to do it.
"Oh dear" I mumbled.
Meanwhile, Velma and Daphne had been hot on the trail of a ghost when we came along.
Fred: Daphne? Can I talk to you?
Daphne: Unless it's about the mystery, no. You know what you said about talking. We'll never get the mystery solved. Tell you what; tell me at that dinner tonight.
Fred: Hey that's even better, I mean, a good idea.
"Hey, maybe me and Velma should come too!" I said, winking. Dinner tonight would be a perfect time to propose. It would give me a limited amount of time to think of what to say.
That wasn't long, the time soon flied by and before I knew it we were at a restaurant, minutes away from Fred's proposal.
Fred: (Showed me the ring) Isn't it beautiful? No voodoo curses on it or anything!
We laughed and patted each other one the back.
"Good luck!" I whispered
Fred: You too. Here goes.
He got down on one knee and showed her the ring.
Fred: Daphne.
Daphne: What? (Sees the ring) Oh my!
Fred: Daphne Blake would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me to be Mrs Daphne Jones?
Daphne: Freddy, I thought you'd never ask! Yes! Of course I will.
Velma: And I'll become Mrs Velma Rodgers!
She had seen the ring, so I didn't get chance to propose!
"I didn't get a chance to propose!" I laughed, embracing Velma.
"You didn't have to!" Velma said, "I knew you were planning something like this! I also knew you'd got along with Fred and do it at the same time!"
"You know an awful lot!" I said "That's why I love you.
And that how we engaged.