Hello,
Sorry that you had to wait so long but, unfortunately, for some time I had no inspiration. I hope you aren't frightened by this chapter's length - and if you are, sorry. Many things happen in here... and, well, there are also two letters. But I promise you that the last TWO chapters (good news to you, ho9) will be shorter. However, I won't be able to publish them sooner than in July because of the exam session starting the next week.
So much for introduction. Enjoy and see you!
VerMa
It was May 8, the day of Velma's eighteenth birthday. On this occasion, her aunt baked a birthday cake for her and helped to prepare the party to which Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby were invited.
"Jinkies, I can't remember a time that I got so many beautiful gifts" said Velma, hugging her friends from whom she'd gotten: earrings, necklace and perfume (Daphne), Audrey Wright's latest book with the author's dedication (Fred) and an orange sweater, which was a smaller copy of her mom's somewhat worn one (Shaggy and Scooby). "What are these keys for, Auntie?" she asked, opening the smallest of her birthday presents.
"They'll allow you to enter your old house" Miss Walton explained.
"The one in which I'd lived with my parents before they...?" the girl wasn't able to say the last word.
"Before they died" her aunt finished for her. "The very same."
"And... can I move to it?"
"Well, after all, you're eighteen" said Jane with a sad half-smile. "It will be empty here without you but you're an adult and I can't tell you what to do or not to do anymore. You'll just have to tidy up the entire house before you move into it. No one went inside since your parents' funeral."
Velma looked straight into her green eyes.
"You are the best Auntie in the world" she said softly, embracing her tightly. "Thank you."
x
The next day in the morning, Velma, armed with a broom, some rags, a window cleaner and other things necessary for, well, cleaning, went to her old house. As you can guess, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby showed up as well. With their help, the third day, the only places left to tidy were the living room and the basement.
"You know, Velma, it will be a really stylish living room" Daphne remarked admiringly. "I wonder if it looks like before."
"I guess so" Velma replied. "Auntie Jane said that except for food and my stuff she'd left everything in the house the way it had been when my parents had been still alive."
"It's a good thing she'd thought about covering the furniture" said Fred. "In fifteen years, the covers collected lots of dust."
"Like, what's that?" Shaggy asked curiously, carefully lifting the cover from a large, not very high object.
"A piano!" Daphne exclaimed. "A few years ago, I saw an identical one in a music store in Paris. It cost a fortune. The seller said there were only three such pianos around the world, including one in his store and another in an Arab sheikh's palace but the third one was lost without a trace" she added.
"Seems that Shaggy has just found it" Fred smiled.
"As long as Daphne's right" said Shaggy.
"I'll check it on the Internet" Velma spoke. "But now, let's go back to cleaning."
May 13, Velma packed her belongings into three large suitcases and five boxes and, with the help of her friends and Auntie Jane, she moved into her old house. The next day, about 3 PM., a very concerned Fred came to Daphne's house, even though they weren't to meet until two hours later.
"Fred, my dear, what's going on?" Daphne asked, letting him inside.
"We have to delay our date" he replied, kissing her cheek. "Fifteen minutes ago, Velma called me. She said that someone had stuck to her door a letter with a demand for her to move out immediately and sell the house with the ground, or else something terrible would happen to her. She was trying to speak calmly but I heard horror in her voice anyway. Daph, I have to help her, you understand? No one threatens my foster little sister and gets away with it."
"I understand, Freddy" Daphne nodded. "I'm going with you."
"You don't have to."
"But I want to. I'm not going to let anyone scare my best friend."
Shaggy and Scooby shared the same opinion. Half an hour later, the four of them knocked on the door of Velma who smiled upon seeing them.
"Jinkies, I didn't think Fred would bring you all here" she stated with admiration.
"Ree ronted roo rome, Relma" said Scooby, nudging her hand with his nose, which meant that he was asking for a scratch behind the ear. (Tr.: We wanted to come, Velma.)
"Like, sure" Shaggy confirmed "because, like, whoever messes with you, messes with us."
"Right" Daphne supported him. "And no one goes away with messing with us."
"Do you have an idea who might want to scare you?" Fred asked.
"No" Velma shook her head. "And, what's worse, when I called the police, I was told that one threatening letter is not a reason to start an investigation yet..."
"Not for us" Fred assured her. "Show us the letter. Maybe we can find some clues on it."
Unfortunately, after five hours, the friends were forced to admit their defeat.
"Like, someone put a lot of effort to, like, make our lives difficult" Shaggy muttered in irritation.
"That's it!" Daphne exclaimed, springing up from her seat.
"What did I say?" Shaggy was amazed.
"Like, someone put a lot of effort" Fred quoted. "You've just made us realize, man, that the one who did it, hadn't chosen Velma all that randomly."
"Oh, wonderful, I feel honored by that" Velma remarked sarcastically. "Now, explain to us what can this person want from me. After all, as far as I know, I'm not fabulously rich, and there's no treasure in the ground."
"So maybe they want the house itself?" Daphne suggested. "It's old and very classy, so it certainly is worth a lot."
"Or maybe..." Velma said thoughtfully "maybe they aren't after the house but the land?"
"We'll check it" Fred promised, placing his hand on her shoulder "but first, I suggest to get a little sleep, for example, in the living room. Do you have some spare blankets?"
x
In the morning, Scooby found another anonymous letter, addressed to Velma. This time, the paper was wrapped around a stone, which someone had used to break one of the windows, as was indicated by fragments of glass lying on the floor.
"What does it say, Vel?" Shaggy asked.
"You IgnoRed The WARNING so now, You Will suffer The ConSequences" Velma read. "Okay, this is going too far! Not only does someone want to take over my house which I inherited from my parents but they also broke my window! Just let me get them!" she burst out. (A/N: the letter, which Velma read, is written in a way intended to imitate the letters and fragments of words cut out from newspapers.)
"Velma, calm down" Fred grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. "We'll catch this villain, that's without doubt, but we can't act so hastily."
"So what do you suggest?" Daphne asked.
"Let's split up. You, Velma and I will search the house, and Shaggy and Scooby can check the garden."
"It suits me" Shaggy spoke. "At least Scooby and I can work in the warm sunshine and..."
Suddenly, the whole room was filled with a strange mist and after a while, all the five of the friends saw ghosts of a dark-haired woman with glasses and a blond-haired man.
"Sell the house, Velma, sell it!" the phantoms howled and disappeared.
"Okay, now we know what's, like, going on in here" Shaggy said, shaking with fear. "Like, the ghosts of Velma's parents want her to, like, get rid of the house. Like, let's close the case and, like, get out of here."
"Reah! Rout rof reer!" Scooby whimpered. (Tr.: Yeah! Out of here!)
"No" Velma said, grabbing Shaggy's wrist. "These weren't my parents."
"Are you sure?" Daphne asked.
"Absolutely. In their will, they made me their only heiress. Why would they want me to get rid of my property now?"
"Good question" said Daphne "but what will are you talking about? After all, your parents were young when they died."
"True, but Auntie Jane said my dad liked to be prepared for any circumstance."
"You know, gang, I think we have a mystery to solve" Fred announced. "We must search the house. Shaggy, you and Scooby look up the ground floor and the basement..."
"Zoinks! Like, what? No way, man! We won't go to the basement!" Shaggy protested.
"Ro ray!" Scooby agreed. (Tr.: No way!)
"Oh, come on, you cowards" said the annoyed Daphne. "It was only four days ago that you'd gone down there voluntarily and you even had helped us to tidy it up."
"But, like, back then, we hadn't known this house is, like, haunted!" Shaggy yelled, trying to run away.
"Raunted!" Scooby whined.
"Come back here, you chickens" Velma caught Shaggy and Scooby and pulled them to herself. "First, these certainly weren't real ghosts. Second, I'll go with you, if you're so terrified. Fred, I hope you don't mind."
"No, it's okay. Take care of yourselves."
A few hours later, the gang reunited in the living room.
"You see, Shaggy? Velma was right. These were no ghosts" said Fred, showing a small projector. "We found it on the upper floor, next to the stairs. And I can bet we'll find something like this in this room as well."
"It even would make sense" said Velma "because we found this" she added, handing him a small device resembling a cubic die with a trumpet, attached to one of the faces.
"What is it, anyway?" Daphne asked.
"A machine used to make the artificial smoke" Fred replied, having pressed a button.
"You know what, I'm tired of this whole spiritual hassle" said Shaggy. "Anybody has an idea how we can catch this joker of sorrows?"
"I think you meant these jokers" Velma corrected him, trying to speak calmly but bubbling over with rage inside. "There must be at least two people involved in this."
"I think I have a plan" said Fred and beckoned to his friends. "Come on here and listen. We will do this..."
x
"You know, Shaggy" Velma spoke, placing two mugs of coffee on the table "I don't care whether the house is haunted or not."
"Like, really?"
"Really. I'll never move out of here, no matter what."
As soon as Velma said these words, the kitchen was filled with the artificial smoke and a second later, the girl and the boy saw two phantoms, male and female.
"This is your last chance, Velma" the spirit of the man said in a gloomy voice.
"Sell the house and run away, or something bad will happen to you" the female ghost added grimly.
"WHO DARES THREATEN OUR DAUGHTER?" another masculine voice boomed suddenly.
"YOU'LL NOT AVOID OUR REVENGE!" a high-pitched feminine voice rang out.
Two other figures appeared in the room; they looked a lot more ghastly than the alleged phantoms who exchanged frightened glances and started to run towards the door, yelling:
"GHOSTS! HELP!"
"They're coming" Daphne whispered to Scooby, who waited at the door with her. "So far, everything is going just like planned."
After a while, the first pair of 'ghosts', chased by the other one (and by Velma and Shaggy), came to the door and stood on the net, lying on the floor. Daphne and Scooby immediately pulled the rope with all their might, which caused the net to lift up into the air, trapping the people responsible for all the trouble.
"We did it! We got them!" Fred exclaimed happily, taking off his mask.
"Yes, Fred, you'd planned it well" Velma's aunt admitted. "It's amazing what you can do with the right clothes, a mask made of white cardboard, the family resemblance and a bit of characterization."
"And now it's time to find out who pretended to be the ghosts of my parents" Velma said, taking the culprits' masks off and revealing the faces of a blond-haired young woman and a graying man.
"Like, who are they?" Shaggy asked.
"This man's name is John Smith. He owns a restaurant on the northern end of Coolsville. This girl works there as a waitress" Miss Walton explained. "A few days ago, Smith tried to persuade me to sell him the lot but I said it was my niece's property."
"So, with the waitress' help, he planned to scare Velma off and buy the land from her dirt cheap" said Fred.
"He probably thought that since she's an orphan, she'd be alone and run away screaming but he was very wrong" Daphne put her hand on her friend's shoulder.
"There is still one more question" said Velma. "Why did you do this all?"
"I won't tell you" Smith snapped.
"That's not necessary" Jane said coldly. "I KNOW what you were looking for, Smith. If you got rid of Velma, you'd have gotten Nathalie's jewelry and the unfinished projects of Thomas' inventions. The jewelry would be the payment for your accomplice, and you'd make a fortune on patenting the stolen ideas of my late brother-in-law."
"And no one would have guessed it, if those meddling kids hadn't thwarted my plans!" Smith burst out.
"I think it's time to hand the two of them over to the police" said Daphne. "Shaggy, can you call your dad?"
x
All the five of the friends spent that night on the floor in Velma's living room as well (Auntie Jane had gone home). This time, Velma had a really beautiful dream, which didn't happen to her very often. Namely, she saw herself as a little girl, sitting on the back of her dad who, accompanied by her joyful squeaky cries, paced the carpet on all fours, pretending to be a brave steed...
* THE DREAM *
"And when the princess arrived to the cave on the edge of the forest, she saw a large, brown lioness" said her mom, kneeling down on the carpet and then getting on all fours.
"And see wasn't afwaid at all!" the little Velma squealed, bouncing up and down on her dad's back. Her favorite part of the tale was closer and closer. (Toddler talk translation: And she wasn't afraid at all!)
"You're right, dear" the man said. "She wasn't afraid because her enchanted horse didn't run away like he always had done when they had met other dangerous animals. And the princess knew that the lioness was actually her..."
"Mommy!" the girl cried happily.
"Yes" her mom confirmed. "And then, the princess climbed down of her horse, hugged both him and the lioness, and said..."
"I luff you, Mommy, I luff you, Daddy" the little Velma finished, jumping off of her dad's back and hugging both of her parents. (Toddler talk translation: I love you, Mommy, I love you, Daddy.)
"Exactly" Thomas sat on the carpet and embraced his wife and their daughter. "And then, the spell was broken, and the king and the queen became humans again."
"And then, the princess and her parents returned to their castle and lived happily ever after. The end" Nathalie added, getting up from the floor with the tiny Velma in her arms and sat down at the piano. A moment later, her husband sat down beside her and began playing a gentle melody, which usually was like a lullaby for their only daughter...
* THE DREAM ENDS *
Having woken up, Velma found to her surprise that she still heard the melody from her dream. When she opened her eyes, she saw two bright figures, male and female, playing the piano. The girl got up quietly and carefully snuck up to them. The phantoms looked at her and smiled.
"Mom...? Dad...?" Velma whispered, feeling her heart pounding like mad out of joy.
"Yes, baby" her mother replied, smiling tenderly.
"Do you want to play the piano with me?" her father asked her.
"I'd love to, but I don't know how..."
"Don't worry, honey. I'll help you" her mother told her. "Sit down here and give me your hands."
"I've always thought that a ghost's touch is cold like ice" the amazed Velma remarked. "How can it be that you're warm, Mom?"
"It's easy. You are my child and you feel my love. Now, attention... Tom, my dear, let's start."
x
A gentle melody, mixed with awkward strumming and someone's chuckle, reached Shaggy's ears. Having lifted his eyelids, the boy saw that Fred, Daphne and Scooby had crept out from under the blankets and were watching Velma, sitting at the piano and trying to play the melody in the four-hand way with a transparent man. Right behind her stood a ghostly woman who led her hands and laughed quietly every time Velma pressed the wrong key.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy cried, crawled up to Scooby and embraced his neck. "Th-the gh-gh-gh-ghosts!"
"Rhosts!" the terrified dog whimpered.
Daphne and Fred instinctively clung to each other.
"Guys, don't be afraid" Velma said, getting up from at the instrument. "My parents won't hurt you."
"Your parents?" Daphne repeated.
"Yes. Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Thomas, and this is my wife, Nathalie" said Mr. Dinkley's spirit. "We didn't want to scare you but thank you for stopping this greedy man from robbing Velma."
"And for taking care of her for so many years" Mrs. Dinkley's ghost added.
"But I often let her down because I was the whole school's pushover" Fred looked down.
"And I bullied her at the beginning" Daphne went red.
"And Scooby and I are, like, cowards" Shaggy confessed.
"It doesn't matter" Mr. Dinkley told them. "You all have risked something for her without expecting anything in return. And, what's more, Fred and Daphne are for her like siblings whom she never had."
"Like, wait, what about me?" Shaggy asked.
Both phantoms looked at him with a smile.
"The answer you are looking for, in your heart is placed. Listen well to its tone and this riddle will make sense" they said.
"It's time for us to go, my love" Thomas looked at his wife and she nodded.
"Wait! Don't go!" Velma cried out.
"We can't stay, darling" her mother explained. "We are no longer of this world."
"Then take me with you... I don't want to be alone in here..."
"But you're not alone, baby" her father replied. "You have your Auntie Jane and your friends. Besides, we're watching over you all the time."
"Really?"
"Really. We always had and always will" Nathalie smiled gently. "But now, kids, it's time to go to sleep" she added, making a small gesture with her hand. The five of the friends found themselves at their previous places, wrapped up with blankets. The ghosts kissed their foreheads, took each other's hand and disappeared.
x
Scooby and the gang woke up about 10 AM.
"Oh, jeepers, I had such a strange dream" Daphne yawned.
"I don't think it was stranger than mine" Fred stretched out so much that a few of his bones made cracking sounds.
"Like, but mine was totally crazy" Shaggy rubbed his eyes and scratched the back of his head.
"Mine, too" Velma murmured sleepily "but it was so beautiful..."
"Rot rere rou reaming rabout, Relma?" Scooby asked curiously. (Tr.: What were you dreaming about, Velma?)
"My parents... they were talking with me and teaching me how to play the piano, and they said they'd always be watching over me..."
"Wait a minute" Daphne became completely awake suddenly "I had the same dream."
"Me, too" said Fred and Shaggy simultaneously.
Velma jumped to her feet and ran to the piano.
"There are some notes in here" she said. "I wonder if it's the same melody."
"We'll check it" Shaggy leaned over the keyboard and played a few bars.
"Relma ras raying ris rith rer rad ris right" Scooby remarked. (Tr.: Velma was playing this with her dad this night.)
"So it wasn't a dream" Fred said quietly.
"Hey, there's also something else" Velma reached for the two pieces of paper, one thicker and one thinner, which lay on the piano. "Oh... jinkies..." she whispered.
"Are you okay, Velma? What's that?" Daphne asked while she, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby were trying to look over their friend's shoulder.
Velma without saying a word handed her a photo of a little, at most a-couple-of-months-old, dark-haired girl sitting on the lap of a blond-haired young man, while a dark-haired young woman was leaning towards her, holding a teddy bear, which the baby was trying to grab; judging by their faces, both of the adults must have been very amused with this.
"There's also a letter" Velma said after a while in a cracking voice.
"Can you read it for us?" Shaggy asked.
"No... I am not able to... You do it..."
Shaggy cautiously took the paper in his hand and started reading:
"Vellie, our little sweetheart,
We're aware that you probably aren't sure yourself whether what happened this night was a strange dream or even stranger reality. That's why we decided to give you one of a few photos in which there are all the three of us. We thought you'd like it.
The melody, which you'd tried to play, was "Der Liebestraum" by Franz Liszt. We'd noticed that you have a great potential but, of course, you lack the proper education and practice. But don't let that discourage you – of course, on condition that you want to learn playing.
Do you remember how many times Fred came to help you as soon as Kate and her friends had begun laughing at you? And how Daphne stood by your side one day, even though at the beginning, she'd bullied you as well? And how Shaggy and Scooby saved you from dying from the hands of a serial killer? These were no coincidences but our care for you. Remember that it will never change because we love you very much.
Love,
Mom and Dad."
"Oh, this is so cute" said Daphne and blew her nose.
x
Right after breakfast, Velma literally ran to the house of her aunt.
"Auntie... Auntie, do you know this photo?" she panted as soon as the door was opened.
"Yes, I do" Miss Walton replied, leading her niece to the living room and seating her on a couch. "It was taken by your mom's and my younger brother when you were six-months-old."
"You mean Uncle Dave, don't you?"
"Yes. Not long after that, he was sent to guard the Canadian border. He came every two months, as long as your mom was alive. After her funeral, he never appeared in Coolsville again. Where have you gotten this photo from, anyway?"
"I found it this morning on the piano, along with this" the girl handed her aunt the short letter from her parents.
"It's incredible" the woman said quietly. Then, she went to a chest of drawers, rummaged in the top drawer for a while and took out an old postcard. "Look. Your parents sent me this card when they were on their honeymoon. Compare it to this letter."
"They are written in the same two handwritings..." Velma commented. "It means, Auntie, that this wasn't a lousy joke of my friends! Mom and Dad really had come to me...!" she cried in delight, hugged her aunt and ran outside.
Jane couldn't help but laugh. After a moment, she remembered she had to write an important letter, so she went to a small room, which Velma had called 'the office' and sat down at her desk. The words then flowed down on the paper by themselves...
"Dear Davey,
Thank you for your last letter. It brought me much joy but it wasn't the same as having you here. However, I understand all too well why you don't want to come or invite us to your place. I know you and Nattie liked each other very much – and Velma is almost a copy of her, except for the eyes and freckles, which she'd gotten after Tom. And believe me that it often hurts my heart, too, when I see her.
Despite this, you don't even know how much you lose by spending all your time guarding the border. Do you remember Velma's new friends whom I once had written you about? Thanks to them, she's become brave, confident and more ingenious, plus, she now laughs much more often than before. The latter is mainly thanks to Shaggy. It seems to me that Velma is very close to him – even closer than to Fred who takes care of her like an older brother would do – and, although she keeps denying it, I think she has some feelings for Shaggy as well. I guess it will be revealed soon. And in the meantime, maybe you could take a chance and invite her to your place? I'm sure she won't refuse. After all, the last time you two saw each other was when she was seven.
Just like you asked, I'm sending you another picture of Velma – with her friends because now, it's impossible to find one in which she would be alone. Speaking of photos – do you remember the one you took when she was six-months-old? That day, she had sat on Tom's lap and reached out for the teddy bear which Nattie had been holding. Now, imagine that Velma has found it today on the piano in her old house. If it had been lying there for the last fifteen years, it should be dirty and worn – and yet, it looks like it was new. Later, Velma called me and said that earlier that night, she and her friends had seen her parents and even had talked with them. I probably wouldn't have believed her if she hadn't showed me a note which she'd found along with the photo. It was signed by Nattie and Tom. I knew it wasn't a fake, because I recognized their handwritings, and besides, I compared it with the postcard they'd sent me from their honeymoon. I don't know what to think about this. True, I have evidence, namely the note and words of Velma who has never lied to me in her life, but on the other hand, this whole story is so unlikely that I simply am not able to believe it.
I have to end the letter now, Davey. Take care and come to Coolsville this summer – and if you don't, then at least call me. I miss the sound of your voice.
Love,
Your elder sister,
Jane."
And...? Did you like it? Can you let me know in reviews?
Ciao!
VerMa
PS - If you're wondering what's the 'riddle' mentioned in the title, try to recall (or simply check) what the ghosts of Velma's parents told Shaggy when he asked them who he is for Velma. I promise he'll figure it out in the next chapter.
VM