Meanwhile, back over to the ranch, the others went to the barn where Kyle, Jacob, and Larry were at...
"We're here for the shoeing." Fred told the guys.
"We'll get to that in a bit, city boy," Kyle smirked as he rode on his horse. "First it's time for that opening and riding ya paid good money for."
"We didn't pay anything." Shaggy replied.
"Great, well, then we don't have to be nice to you." Kyle laughed.
"Saddle up." Jacob said as he brought out saddles.
"Come on, it ain't hard, I do this all the time." Larry smiled to the others as he saddled up his own horse.
"I don't know if I can do this," Shaggy nervously told Fred. "I haven't been around horses much."
"Just watch what the ranch hands do," Fred told him. "I'm sure we'll pick it up quick enough."
Kyle then got onto his horse and the others looked to each other and just shrugged. Fred tried to get on one horse only to fall on the other side and missing the saddle. Shaggy and Scooby didn't have trouble as they rode on a horse and passed Fred and his horse. Mike got on her horse easily just like Lil, Trent, and Katrina.
"Oh, my gosh," Lil smiled. "This is so cool."
"I got this... I got this..." Katrina smiled as she rode the horse with ease.
Scott got it in a couple of tries, so did Lightning and Chicken, but Fred, not so much, as he was upside down and keep hitting his head as the horse was walking.
It was then time to do some roping. Kyle twirled his lasso and tossed it onto a bull model. Fred tried it, but he tied himself up. Mike tried it and managed to get three. Finally, Shaggy tied Scooby up like a cow.
"Impressive." Scott said.
"Whoa, those two are a couple of naturals." Jacob added.
Millie, Tawny, Jacob, and Larry put out the fire while the others was going to calm down the horses.
"Sit! Sit!" Fred told the charging horse like it was a dog.
The horse runs to the teen and Fred ran away and tripped over a bucket of paint.
"Man, Fred's just having all sorts of bad luck on this trip." Cindy commented.
The horse soon ran to her.
"Ooh, nice horsey!" Cindy ran out of the way. "MOMMY!"
The horse then bucked her in the air.
"SOMEONE HELP ME!" Cindy yelped and then fell right back on the horse's back and he began to run around with her.
Scooby soon ran by the side and jumped onto the horse's back and whispered into its ear.
"I think I'm going to be sick..." Cindy moaned.
The horse soon stopped after Scooby had whispered to it.
Cindy moaned and slid off the horse and landed on the Great Dane's back. "So, Scooby, you can talk to horses?" she asked as she rubbed her head.
"Ri ruess." Scooby smiled innocently.
"That's pretty awesome." Cindy said.
"Well, I'll be!" Tawny was impressed. "I-I ain't seen nuthin' like that!" she then picked up Cindy and hugged her. "You're a born horseman, little lady!"
"Uh, thanks..." Cindy blushed from the hug.
"Cindy, are you okay?" Velma rushed over with Lisa, Daphne, and Ellody.
"Yeah, we're fine." Cindy said.
Lisa hugged Cindy who blushed as Fred limped over to the others.
"I think I sprained my ankle... If anyone cares..." Fred told the others.
They went back to the bunk house and Daphne bandaged Fred's ankle.
"Well, what have we got?" Trent asked. "Anything?"
"Not much in the way of suspects." Ellody replied.
"Yeah, Tawny and Raft both stand about losing their ranch, so they seem pretty unlikely." Brianna added.
"But that Kimberly girl seemed pretty uneasy to me." Lil commented.
"Possibly..." Velma replied.
"Maybe it's one of those jokey sisters playing a prank." Cindy suggested.
"This seems a little too elaborate for them." Jade replied.
"What about that Jess Harper guy?" Fred suggested. "He seems a little shady, and he's even been on wanted posters before."
"Hey!" Mike glared at Fred. "What're you saying about my uncle?!"
"I'm just saying, he seems a little shady to me." Fred said as he put his hands up in defense.
"Well, he's not a bad guy!" Mike glared.
"Who could be our suspect?" Cindy pondered once Lil got Mike to calm down around Fred's accusation.
"What about that Gunderson girl?" Brianna suggested. "She seems pretty unhappy to be here; maybe she's trying to scare her parents so that they can all go back home."
"Hmm... Maybe." Velma replied.
"Does anyone have any clues?" Ellody asked.
"Just some florid acid that Tawny told us about," Fred took out something. "You think it's connected to the ghost?"
"Absolutely," Velma replied as she brought out a brown case and got something out of it. "Let me show you something."
"What about that Black Rattler Management Company?" Jade asked. "They're buying an awful lot in local real estate."
"So?" Lightning replied.
"So, Jade doesn't know if anyone else noticed, but about 80-90% of the ghosts we run into wind up having something to do with real estate." Daphne told him.
"Huh... I never noticed that." Katrina commented.
"Me neither." Brianna had to admit.
"Check this out," Velma said as she poured a cup into the acid before stirring and lighting a lighter onto it. "Florid acid burns green, maybe the ghost is using it for the green flames he shoots out of his guns."
"Dude, that's awesome!" Shaggy said before laughing with Scooby.
"Like, we can blow up some other stuff?!" Lightning asked hopefully until everybody looked at him. "So, no... Then, it's a no?"
"You're right about that Black Rattler Management company though, Jade," Ellody said to the cowgirl. "I'm gonna have to do a little internet research on them."
"Me too." Velma added.
"I'll help!" Cindy offered.
"What about Dave and David?" Fred asked. "What're they up to?"
"The producers?" Daphne asked. "Maybe they're here to-"
"No, what're they up to right now?" Fred pointed out the window.
Dave put something in the trunk and David was standing guard.
"Totally suspicious." Scott said to the others.
"Should we follow them?" Lisa asked.
"I say yes." Fred nodded to her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Shaggy said. "It's gonna be dark soon and there's a ghost around!"
Scooby shivered.
"Uh-huh." Cindy added.
"Fine, we'll go, and you can stay here all alone in the place where the ghost appeared last night." Trent replied.
The trio looked at each other and then agreed.
"All righty, let's find out what they're up to." Shaggy spoke for all o them.
Cindy's cell phone soon rang as she then answered it. "Yeah?" she answered.
"Hey, Cindy, what're you up to?" Penn asked as he was raiding the fridge. "Your parents went to a meeting and abandoned me."
"I'd love to talk, but I'm busy." Cindy told her 'uncle'.
"But, Cindy-" Penn tried only for Cindy to hang up on him.
"Uh, Mike, I want to apologize for thinking that your uncle is a suspect." Fred said to the tomboy.
"Just don't let it happen again," Mike warned Fred. "You dis my family, you dis me."
"I didn't even know that he was your uncle." Fred replied.
"I clearly said it when you met him." Mike rolled her eyes.
"Guess he was too busy checking out Daphne." Lil smirked.
"Oh, ha ha ha, very funny." Fred deadpanned.
"I thought it was." Lil replied.
"Come on, they're getting in their car, let's get in the Mystery Machine." Cindy suggested.
"I sure hope that Uncle Jess is okay," Mike said. "He's been gone for a real long time."
"I'm sure he's fine, Mike, we'll go look for him when we get back unless you wanna find him now." Lil told her girlfriend.
"We can find him when we get back." Mike decided.
The others went inside the Mystery Machine while Mike and Lil went on their motorcycle to follow Dave and David.
Dave and David soon got out of their car with their bag.
"What the heck could they be doing here?" Velma wondered.
"What's that case he's carrying?" Chicken wondered.
The gang then hid behind the rocks so they could see what the producers are up to.
"Is that a gun?" Jade asked.
"I think it is." Trent replied.
"I can't see..." Cindy pouted as she was too short.
"Come on, man, move!" Shaggy added.
"We can't see!" Scooby pouted.
"Scooch over... Can I just...?" Cindy added as she tried to lean over only to fell down the hill and then panic as she landed in front of Dave and David. "Don't shoot!"
"Shoot?" David asked her.
"No, don't shoot, I'm too young to die, just put down the-" Cindy panicked until David set down the object which wasn't a gun after all. "Tripod? Oh, wow, we thought that was a-" she then yelled out as the ledge below her feet broke and she then began to fall.
"Cindy!" Everyone panicked for the girl.
Cindy got onto a rock in the ledge. "Aw, man, I need some help... Is someone out there?" she then reached into her pocket and took out the button that Penn gave her and pushed it with her free hand since this was an emergency.
The group came over to the little girl.
"Are you okay?" Chicken asked.
"Oh, I'm fine, just a nice little evening out and about, and-PULL ME UP TO SAFETY, WILL YOU?!" Cindy yelled out.
"Don't worry," Mike reassured. "We'll save you."
Ellody narrowed her eyes and Cindy was floating up back to safety thanks to the genius girl's telekinesis.
"Oh, man," Cindy said. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ellody."
"You're welcome," Ellody replied. "Are you okay now?"
"I think so." Cindy said before stretching.
The gang then met up with the producers.
"So, you thought that we had something to do with the ghost?" Dave asked.
"Sorry, it was just-" Fred started.
Daphne giggled nervously. "You were coming out here to this isolated place... And... Uh... Heh..."
"We were just taking some pictures," David smiled. "Scouting some locations for our movie."
"Ooh, a movie?" Shaggy asked.
"About the nefarious Dapper Jack and the heroic Sheriff Carmichael." Dave replied.
"Guess I won't be starring in that one." Cindy commented.
"Man, if you make a movie on that, everyone's gonna know about my jerk ancestor." Shaggy groaned.
"We feel like it's time for a big Blockbuster Western." Dave defended.
"All the science-fiction, superhero, and zombie movies really run its course." David added.
"And in that case, we're gonna make Dapper Jack an alien zombie superhero robot from the future." Dave added.
"Also, Sheriff Carmichael might have a rapping monkey that grants wishes," David smiled as he then looked down to Cindy as he showed a picture on his phone. "Sound like fun, kiddo?"
"I prefer sophisticated comedy with jokes from books like Charlotte Bronte." Cindy replied as she adjusted her glasses.
"Uncle Jess, please be okay." Mike prayed.
"Wanna go look for him?" Lil suggested.
"He promised he'd be back..." Mike said.
"Come on, Mike, let's go find him." Lil comforted.
"He should be fine... I hope." Mike sighed.
"You know, if you want to find out about Dapper Jack, you're in the wrong place." David told the others.
"Yeah, you should really check out his grave," Dave added. "It's right down the road."
"Did you say grave...?" Cindy gulped. "I don't like graves..."
"Just trying to help, kid." Dave shrugged.
"Um, you guys can go on right ahead," Mike told the others. "I want to find my Uncle Jess."
"Okay, Mike, take your time..." Cindy said, trying to hide her nerves about going to a graveyard.
"Don't worry, Mike, I'm sure that your uncle is okay." Lil soothed.
"I hope he is..." Mike sighed. "He really made a difference in my life... He was like another father to me."
"Don't worry, we'll find him," Lil coaxed. "It's going to be okay."
Mike only sighed as she went with Lil to find her Uncle Jess.