Patti led the Mystery Gang into the main living room of the bed and breakfast, where Mr. and Mrs. Hayworth were sitting on a couch, Abigail was reading a book upon a rug on the floor, and a middle-aged woman was dusting a few things on the shelves. The woman had aging dirty blonde hair done in a low bun, blue eyes, and fair skin; she was wearing a pair of glasses, a light turquoise shirt under a sky-blue vest, a blue skirt with navy blue trimming, gray stockings, and black shoes with blue specks.

Patti greeted the people in the room, "I'm here with some new guests, everyone!" Everyone all looked up with small smiles, and then Patti said to the Mystery Gang as she individually pointed out each person, "Mystery Gang, I'd like you to meet my family – my father, Mr. Rodney Hayworth; my mother, Mrs. Yolanda Hayworth; my little sister, Abigail; and our housekeeper, Mrs. Oswald, who is also Abigail's nanny."

Everyone got up and walked over to shake hands and meet Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo.

"New guests?" said Mrs. Oswald as she examined the Mystery Gang and added with a little surprise, "I didn't know anybody would want to stay here at this place now that the monster is back!"

"Like, a monster, you say?" Shaggy asked with fear in his voice.

"Ronster?" Scooby asked before he jumped into Shaggy's arms with fear.

"Cut it out, Scooby!" said Shaggy.

"Mrs. Oswald, please!" said Patti as she crossed her arms, "Daphne is one of my childhood friends before my folks and I moved here several years ago."

"She's right, honey," said Mrs. Hayworth; she turned to the Mystery Gang and sighed to them, "This monster thing is… kind of complicated, really."

"Well, my friends and I have solved all kinds of cases involving monsters and creeps!" said Velma, "Could you give us a few hints?"

Patti's family led the gang into the kitchen, and Mrs. Hayworth showed them an empty cabinet where her best chinaware once was. "You see, about the same time we heard stories of a monster, my chinaware had been mysteriously disappearing!" explained Mrs. Hayworth, "And it was all a gift from my mother!"

"What's the monster like?" asked Fred.

"Like, does it have fangs?" asked Shaggy with trembling knees.

"Yes!" said Abigail, "And long claws, and it has an ugly roar! And I thought that I already outgrew being afraid of monsters in the dark!"

"Abigail is twelve," Patti whispered to Daphne and Velma, "But sometimes she thinks she's already done with being a kid!"

Mr. Hayworth held his hand up, and everyone got his attention. "Well, the Black Hills Behemoth is seemingly a legend here in these hills," explained Patti's father, "But since the start of this week, our bed and breakfast guests have been hearing loud noises in the night, and catching glimpses of the monster's big body and brown fur with black stripes on its back. It has ears and a tail like a wolf, fangs like a saber-tooth cat, long claws on its paws like a grizzly bear, and it's bipedal!"

"That means it can walk on either its hind legs or on all limbs!" chipped in Velma.

"Exactly, Velma," continued Mr. Hayworth, "And its roar is like a mix of other animal roars – a grizzly bear, a mountain lion, a wolf, and a wolverine!"

"Ruh-roh!" said Scooby with a shudder, hiding behind Shaggy.

"And why exactly is it hanging around your place?" asked Daphne, "I thought most animals stay away from people."

"Not the Behemoth," said Mrs. Hayworth with a worried look, "It was said that it mostly ate buffalo, mountain goats, deer, and bighorn sheep. But when settlers and hunters began coming to the Hills, they hunted the animals the Behemoth usually hunted, and the big creature stalked those settlers, scaring most of them away from the woods!"

"And now it comes back to haunt us!" finished Mr. Hayworth.

"But what does a monster have to do with stolen china?" asked Fred.

"I have no clue!" said Mrs. Hayworth, "Either we've been hit by a long string of bad luck, a poltergeist in the form of the monster is haunting us, or we're just going crazy!"

Patti gently put her hand on her mother's shoulder and assured, "It's okay, Mama. My friends, here, can help!"

"She's right," Fred added before he turned to the rest of the Mystery Gang, "Well, gang, looks like our vacation has become an investigation into another mystery!"

"I agree," said Velma with a smile, "But first, I wonder if Patti can give us a little tour of town? Maybe that will give us some clues for our new mystery?"

Mr. Hayworth smiled and said, "Of course. But Yolanda has something special planned for dinner, so be back by six, you hear?"

"Yes, Daddy," Patti smiled to her parents.

As daytime turned into evening, Patti took the Mystery Gang on a little tour of Hidden Keys. They looked at the various shops on the streets, and Patti assured Daphne and Velma that they would be able to go shopping during their visit. During the whole tour, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were both hungry for stopping at one of the restaurants in town, but Patti asked them in a teasing manner, "And miss out on my mama's cooking? She's cooking up a spaghetti dinner with garlic bread, Caesar salad, and chocolate cake for dessert!"

"Mmmmm!" said Scooby with a hungry grin.

"Like, I wonder if your folks have any pastrami at home," Shaggy said to Patti, "Because later tonight, I might get hungry, and I might want a pastrami sandwich with picked beets and caramel sauce!"

"Ugh!" Patti muttered with disgust as she led the gang to the Mystery Machine, "Pastrami with caramel? That has to be the most disgusting thing…"

Her sentence was cut off when she accidentally bumped into a couple of men walking towards her and the Mystery Gang. One man was older, and he had gray hair with a five o'clock shadow, greenish-blue eyes, and light skin; he was dressed in a light brown long-sleeved shirt, a light red tie, an unbuttoned dark red vest, dark brown pants, a gray belt, white socks, and black shoes.

The other man was younger, and he had light skin, light brown hair, and brown eyes; he was wearing a light teal shirt, green pants, a brown cloth around his waist, gray socks, and black shoes.

"Oh, Horace and Dennis!" Patti exclaimed as she backed away from the men a bit, "Excuse me!"

"That's quite alright, Miss Hayworth," said Horace, the older man, "It looks like you have some new friends with you!"

"Oh, yes!" Patti giggled before she cleared her throat and turned to her friends, "Mystery Gang, these two men are Mr. Horace Hendricks and his son, Dennis. Horace, Dennis, these four friends of mine and my dog are here to investigate the Black Hills Behemoth!"

Horace and Dennis introduced themselves to the Mystery Gang. But when Dennis met Velma, the two of them looked at each other in an odd way. Dennis shook his head and said nervously, "Excuse me, Miss uh…"

"Dinkey," said Velma, "Velma Dinkey. We're having a tour of town to see if we can get any clues about the monster."

Horace looked up at the sun setting in the sky and said, "Not to sound nit-picky, Patti, but if I were you, I'd take my friends here – and your dog – and I'd go back home. The monster comes out at night, he has a craving for human flesh!"

"Reah!" shuddered Scooby-Doo as he bit the tips of his paws like someone biting their fingernails.

"My father and I should head home, too," said Dennis, "We were out getting some supplies for our projects tomorrow – my dad is the handyman of town – and we've got our concerns about the Behemoth, too. It was nice meeting your friends!" He whispered to himself with a loving grin, "Especially Velma."

"Good night, you two!" Patti said as she walked on with the Mystery Gang following her.

After the Mystery Gang and Patti arrived back at the Bed and Breakfast, they enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner, and Shaggy complimented when the meal was almost over, "Mrs. Hayworth, like, this is some of the best spaghetti I've ever eaten! Next time we come here, you should make this again!"

Scooby-Doo, who was resting on the floor, saw a dangling noodle from Shaggy's plate, licked his lips, and snuck over to the table. He took his tongue and placed it on the noodle. While Shaggy was talking to his friends, he failed to notice that the rest of his spaghetti was disappearing from his plate, leaving behind only a little bit of sauce and a meatball!

When Shaggy looked down at his plate, he gasped and said with annoyance, "Hey! Like, what happened to my spaghetti?"

Scooby-Doo just poked his head up and gave a big burp! "Rexcuse me!" he said sheepishly as he put his front paw over his muzzle.

"Oh, Shaggy, would you like some more noodles?" asked Mrs. Hayworth.

"And how about some more garlic bread?" suggested Abigail.

"Like, no thanks," Shaggy said, "I'll probably make a sandwich later for a midnight snack!"

"Either way," said Velma as she finished eating some salad, "We'll need a good night sleep tonight in order to solve this Behemoth of a mystery tomorrow!"

"But surely you all have some room for a little homemade chocolate cake?" Mrs. Hayworth asked with a sly grin.

"Like, absolutely, Mrs. H.!" grinned Shaggy.

"Oh, nobody can make better chocolate cake in the Black Hills like my Mama!" Patti said with a grin and a wink.

While the gang and their friends enjoyed their dessert, something was lurking outside. Deep in the trees, about a mile away from the bed and breakfast lodge, we are given a view of a large creature. The animal had brown fur with black markings on its back, spike-like features on the back, pointed ears, long fangs and claws, and yellow and red eyes – it was the Behemoth! The Behemoth gave a low growl as it crept about on all fours. It then stood on top of a large boulder on its hind legs before letting out its terrifying roar!