Chapter 4: Unwelcomed Tourists
Fred stared at Shaggy in the silence after he told his adventure with Scooby in the basement.
"So, Soos is hiding a secret lab?" Fred asked.
"I guess so," Shaggy answered.
"Wait a minute, that waitress at the diner told us the name of the original owner of this shack."
"Yeah, like, it was Mr.—uh Pies?" Shaggy tried.
"Mr. Pines," Fred corrected. "We should learn more about him."
"Well Soos talks about him a lot. He really admires him. He won't let anyone sit in his chair." Shaggy said remembering Soos' reaction earlier.
"Okay. Why don't you talk with Soos more, Shaggy," Fred suggested.
"Just me?" he asked.
"Well yeah, I mean, you two have a lot in common, you like to cook and eat and watch mindless TV."
Shaggy put a finger to his chin in thought. "Oh, I guess we do. So, you don't want to take a look in the basement?" Shaggy asked.
"Do you know the combination to the vending machine?"
"No. Like I said, I just kept pressing buttons."
"Well, maybe we can trick Soos into giving it to us."
"Like how?"
Fred rolled his eyes. "I don't think Soos is the brightest guy. Just start talking about food or something and then bring up the vending machine."
"Well, it's kind of late—" Shaggy began.
"I know. We'll wait until tomorrow."
Fred and Shaggy settled on the two twin beds with Scooby on the floor between them. Despite what Shaggy and Scooby just experienced, they still had no problem falling asleep.
Morning came and the inhabitants of the shack began to stir. Fred, Shaggy and Scooby met Velma and Daphne down in their room. They stood in the small bedroom as Shaggy retold his adventure the previous night.
"I'm sorry, but I have to see this place before I believe anything you say Shaggy," Velma said.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me Velma, but this time, we have proof!" Shaggy spoke confidently as he held up his tape recorder. He hit the play button. Everyone listened to the audio; Velma took the tape recorder and held it to her ear.
"I can't make out what is being said. Did you see anyone down there with you?" she asked.
"No, that's why it was so creepy," Shaggy answered.
"We can figure it out later. Right now, we need to talk to Soos," Fred said.
The gang found Soos in the gift shop, racing around and arranging items neatly on the shelves and dusting everywhere. Every time he passed the statue of Stan, he polished it.
"Is everything clean enough?" He looked over Stan's statue. "Is it shiny enough?" He polished the face again.
"Soos! Seriously! It's fine! It's hurting my eyes to look at that thing!" Wendy said from behind the counter.
"They're going to be here any minute!" Soos went on.
"Who's going to be here?" Daphne asked.
Soos turned to the gang. "Oh, hey Dudes! I-uh forgot you were still here. It's a good thing though, you are going to meet the original Mr. Mystery!"
"Really?" Fred asked as he raised his eyebrows.
"You said, 'they?'" Velma questioned.
Suddenly, door leading outside swung open. All eyes went to two men in their late sixties. Their hair may have been grey and with deep lines on faces from age, but anyone looking at these two knew they were strong enough to take on any challenge.
"Hello! We're back!" One of them yelled in a gruff voice as he threw his duffle bag in the corner. The Mystery Inc. gang recognized he matched the statue perfectly. He was Stan Pines, the original owner. Next to him was a man who was almost his identical twin except thinner and less white in his hair.
"Mr. Pines!" Soos yelled as he hugged him. Then he turned to the other guy, "And—Mr. Pines," he hugged the other one.
"Hey Stan and Ford," Wendy waved.
"What are you doing back here?" Stan asked Wendy. "I thought you were done with this place," Stan said quizzically.
"Come on, where else am I going to get a job. You and Soos are the only ones in this town who will hire me."
"That's true," he admitted. It was then that the two brothers noticed the members of Mystery Inc.
"Hey, we got some early shoppers here!" Stan said loudly.
"Actually, they're renting some rooms for a few days," Soos said.
Stan raised a skeptical eyebrow. "What do you mean, renting some rooms?"
"Well, I offered them a place to stay since the local Inn is doing some renovations.
"You mean, the whole building?" Ford asked. "That's crazy! Why would a business make it so they wouldn't have any customers?"
"We thought that was strange too, Sir," Fred answered. He walked over to the two brothers and held out his hand. "I'm Fred Jones, by the way." He shook their hands. "These are my friends, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo."
"Whoa! Is your dog staying here too?" Stan asked.
"Oh don't worry, Scooby won't cause any problems," Shaggy assured him.
"Mr. Pines, we really haven't had a lot of tourists come through here. I was trying to get some extra money to make up for lost sales."
"What do you mean, lost sales?" Stan spoke louder than he should have. He walked over to the cash register in front of Wendy and opened it. He quickly counted the money.
"You know, we get more people in the summer," Wendy quickly added. Stan stared at the register half confused and half annoyed.
"You probably need new anomalies," Stan said.
"Uh, Stan, maybe you can talk business with Soos another time when you don't have visitors," Ford suggested.
"Hey! This is important!" he yelled. "Keep your nose to your books and out of my business!"
Ford narrowed his eyes at Stan. "Sure, whatever you say," he said crossly. "I'll be unpacking." Ford said as he walked towards the door into the house. He turned to the kids and Scooby. "It was nice meeting you." He said before he left.
"Uh, wait a minute, where is he going? I have your old room, Mr. Pines and my grandma has his old room," Soos said.
"We already planned out where we're sleeping," Stan said. He leaned closely to Soos, "But we can't say it with them in the room," he looked at the gang then his eyes went to the vending machine. "Although I'm curious, where are those kids staying?"
"Oh, I made the old parlor into a bedroom. It's great!"
"Really? I gotta see this!" Stan said as he walked into the house. Soos followed along with the gang.
Stan looked inside the room that once was his parlor. His eyes gazed from the two twin beds and then to the dresser in the corner. He just stood and laughed.
"What's so funny?" Daphne asked.
"Oh, I just love where you put the beds, Soos." He turned to the kids. "Are all of you staying in here?"
"No, just the two girls," Soos said.
Stan turned to Velma and Daphne. "You realize you two are sleeping right where the coffin used to go? I mean, there was a dead guy laying right where you two are sleeping."
Daphne shuddered. "Ew! Why did you have to tell us that?"
Stan ignored her question and kept chuckling. "Okay, where are the guys staying?" he asked Soos.
"Up in the attic," Soos said. "They get a great view of the trees."
"You put them in Mabel and Dipper's room?" Stan questioned.
"Yeah. There's nowhere else for them to go."
"You realize my niece and nephew are going to be here in like, three hours?"
Soos froze with his mouth half open. "Oh, I thought they weren't coming till summer vacation.
"Hey, guess what? Today is the first day of Summer Vacation," Stan informed him.
"What?" Soos yelled as he ran into the kitchen where he looked at the calendar. Right on today's date was a big red circle and inside the circle were the words, 'Summer Vacation Begins.' "Oh man!" He hopped from one foot to the other in a panic. "What do I do?" The others joined him in the kitchen. He looked at the kids and Scooby. "I'm sorry Dudes. I forgot that—"
"We heard," said Fred. "It's fine."
"But where are you guys going to sleep?" Daphne asked.
"If we have to, well just set up the foam mattress in the back of the Mystery Machine," he answered.
"Mystery Machine?" Stan asked. "You mean that Hippie van out there? It belongs to you kids?"
"It's mine actually," Fred said proudly. "I bought it from this old guy who had a band back in the 60's. It's been a very faithful vehicle, and I keep that baby running like its brand new."
"Wow! I bet it's worth a lot of money. Hey can I use it for an attraction?"
"What?" Fred asked, astonished by the offer.
"It'll be great! You already got the right name for it. Mystery Machine and the Mystery Shack? Huh? Huh?" he tried to win favor with Fred.
"I don't know," he said.
"Okay, we'll split the profit equally, sixty—forty."
"How is that equal?" Velma asked.
"Okay, sounds like you kids are good at math. "Seventy-thirty."
"I don't think so," Fred answered.
"Fine, then I'm going to have to charge you for keeping the van on my property," Stan said finally.
Fred narrowed his eyes, "Are you serious?" He turned to his friends. "I guess we're not staying here then."
"Wait! Don't leave!" Soos cried out. He turned to Stan. "Mr. Pines, can we just charge the girls and leave it at that? There isn't another place to stay for miles. We really need more customers."
"Don't worry Soos, it's summer. Business will pick back up."
"Come on gang, I think we're done with the Mystery Shack," Fred said as he headed for the door.
Later, the gang sat in the Mystery Machine.
"So, this just got more complicated," Daphne said.
"Yeah Fred, if we don't stay here, how are we going to check out the basement?" Velma wondered.
"I know. You're right. But that old man just got me mad!" Fred admitted. "Using the Mystery Machine as an attraction? And what do we get out of it?"
"Like, he said we'd get some of the profits," Shaggy said.
"And we'd have a place to stay," Daphne added.
"Yeah, but Shaggy, Scooby and I would have to stay in the Mystery Machine," Fred returned.
Velma put her head in her hand, thinking out the problem. "Hmmm—well, I guess we'll just have to make it work. I'm rather curious why the only place to stay in this town is unavailable."
"That is really strange." Fred sat back, staring straight ahead as he tried to come up with the next plan.
"Ri'm rungry!" Scooby said.
"Yeah, let's get some food while we're thinking," Shaggy suggested.
"Yeah, let's go back to that diner. Maybe we can talk to that waitress again," Fred said.
"Like, why her?" Shaggy asked.
"I agree with Fred," Velma added. "I can't explain it, but I feel like she knows a lot more than what she says."
"Okay, so we're off to the diner." Fred put the van in gear and they took off down the road.
The gang walked into Greasy's Diner to find the restaurant was in the middle of a mad breakfast rush. Every booth was full and so were most of the tables.
"Let me guess, this is the only restaurant in town?" Velma asked sarcastically.
"It's going to be hard to get that waitress' attention, but for the sake of this mystery, we need to talk to her," Fred noted.
The gang waited a moment to see if anyone was leaving. It didn't seem like anyone was going to leave any time soon.
"Hey, look gang, she's over there," Daphne said pointing at Lazy Susan who stood by the motionless display case where there were numerous pies. She banged on the top of the contraption, "Why won't you pies just spin!" she yelled.
"Excuse me," Fred began as the gang walked over.
"Oh hi there," she greeted. "I'm trying to make the pies spin so people will eat them."
"Like I'll eat the pies even if they're standing still," Shaggy said. "Besides, they're easier to catch if they aren't moving."
"Hmmm, I never thought of that," she replied. "Okay, I'll leave it alone then."
"So, we wondered if we could ask you some questions," Velma began. "Are you aware that the original guy who owns the Mystery Shack is back in town?"
A big smile formed on Susan's mouth. "Stan is back?" she almost screamed. She swung her arm, making contact with the display case, sending it around several times. "Did he mention me? I've been leaving so many voice messages, but I don't know if he got them 'cause he never called back." The gang exchanged bewildered glances.
"Well, no, he didn't mention you," Fred began. "But you mentioned him the last time we were here. How long have you known him?"
"Oh, for years and years. I went on his first tour of the Mystery Shack. He showed us all this electronic thingy and it zapped my eye," she pointed to the lazy eye. "It's never been the same since."
"Oh my gosh! Shouldn't you sue him?" Daphne asked.
She waved her hand. "Oh, it wasn't his fault."
"Yeah, it actually is," Fred told her. "You were on his tour when it happened and he's liable for anything that happens to his customers."
Lazy Susan stared blankly at him for a moment. "Can you tell Stan I said 'hi?'"
"I guess so," Fred responded. "So, you've been in the Mystery Shack, how much did he show during the tour?"
"Oh, I don't really remember much after that zap. I really don't remember much these days," she laughed.
"How about a strange vending machine?" Shaggy asked. "Did he show you the vending machine?"
"Vending machine? I don't remember anything like that."
"Well, thanks anyway," Velma said. Lazy Susan left to tend to some people who just entered the diner.
"So, that went nowhere," Fred said feeling defeated.
"Hey, look over at that booth," Daphne said pointing to a plump man in a sheriff uniform across from a tall, lanky deputy.
"Like you want to talk to the Sheriff?" Shaggy asked. "Why would he help us?"
"It's a great idea, actually," Velma stated. "He should know more about this town than anyone else." They walked over to the two guys who were busy chowing down on some pancakes.
"Excuse me, sir?" Fred began. The two stopped eating and looked up. They both raised an eyebrow to the stranger standing in front of them.
"You need something, son?" The sheriff asked.
Fred stared at the two men. He suddenly lost his voice. He had to quickly remind himself that he's talked to law enforcement officers before.
"Yeah, my name is Fred Jones and my friends and I are from out of town and—"
"Visitors huh?" the sheriff asked. "Well, I'm Sheriff Blubs and this is Deputy Durland," he said kindly. "We haven't gotten many visitors this year."
"Why's that, sir?" Fred asked. "I mean, its' a shame. This is a tourist town. It must be bad for business."
"We do just fine," Sheriff Blubs assured him. "But, there's nothing to see in this quiet town."
"It's a quiet, quiet town. Nothing to see here," Durland quickly added.
"Well, advertising pamphlets says otherwise," Velma, said.
"Where are you all from?" Sheriff Blubs asked.
"We're from Coolsville, California," Fred answered.
"Oh, more Californians I see. You don't think your towns over there are interesting enough so you come here, huh?" he said rather rudely.
"What's the big deal?" Daphne asked. "This place is just a tourist trap right? You don't want people to visit your town anymore?"
"Well, first of all, we've had some shady people come from out of town and second, there's no place to stay since our only Inn is being repaired."
"We were told it was being renovated," Velma said.
"That too. Look, you seem like nice kids, but it's probably best if you just move along to another town."
"Yeah, we don't need more visitors causin' problems," Deputy Durland backed up his partner.
"I see. Well, I guess we'll just go then," Fred said as he turned away. "Come on gang, let's get going."
"But what about breakfast?" Shaggy asked.
"Yeah, Fred, let's at least eat here. More tables are clearing up," Daphne said.
Fred looked around the diner. There were a few booths open now.
"Well, okay."
The gang sat down and waited for Lazy Susan to come over. Many of the older customers already headed out. Only people still around were a few families with kids over by some of the games, one of them being a 'manly strength tester.'
"There's something really strange going on," Velma admitted. "The only hotel is unavailable, there's supposedly some creepy stuff in the basement of the Mystery Shack—"
"What do you mean, supposedly?" Shaggy asked offensively.
"—And now, the sheriff and deputy basically told us to get out of their town," Fred said.
"I think we should go back to the Mystery Shack," Velma said. "We have a lead. Shaggy and Scooby found their way into that basement and now we have to do the same. Questioning the townsfolk isn't going to get us anywhere. It just confirms that visitors from other towns aren't welcome."
"Yeah, I guess." Fred said. "I don't want to pay for keeping the mystery Machine parked on the lot, but I guess I'm going to have to."
"What about Soos? You still want me to talk to him?" Shaggy asked.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Fred responded. "We need that combination and also, he can tell you about why everyone is acting so weird."
"Why is Shaggy the one questioning Soos?" Daphne wondered.
"Trust me Daph, I think the two have a lot in common," Fred retorted.