Chapter 03

I've always prided myself on being able to think quickly on my feet but, as I ran down the stairs trying to get my glasses on straight, what I saw below me made no sense. All of the lights were on and Shaggy was on his knees in the middle of the entry hall. I could see something lying on the ground behind him that seemed to be twitching.

"What's going on down there?!" Mr. Weatherby's voice boomed out from the top of the stairs, adding to the cacophony and confusion.

Shaggy's voice rose above it all. "Somebody help!"

Fred dropped to his knees next to Shaggy and was doing something with his phone. I made my way around Shaggy and could see what was on the floor. Scooby Doo was convulsing with his eyes wide open and no irises visible. He was making a soft whimpering sound. Then he made one final grand spasm and vomited blood.

Tears were streaming down Shaggy's face. "SCOOB!"

The dog now lay still.

Fred grabbed Shaggy by the shoulders. "Shag. I found a 24-hour emergency vet in Riley. We can have Scooby Doo there in twenty minutes."

Daphne's voice suddenly rang out from the top of the stairs. "Sharon's missing!"

I jerked my head around to see the empty chair where we had left Stuart. "Stuart's gone, too."

Mr. Weatherby had frozen about midway down the stairs. "You have to find my daughter!"

I put aside the thoughts about how he had previously considered us incompetent and looked at Fred. "Yes, we do."

Fred knew what I was saying and looked up to Daphne at the top of the stairs. "Can Shaggy have the keys to your car?"

Daphne apparently processed situations more quickly than I did and reacted immediately by rushing down to our level and putting the keys in Shaggy's hand.

He was wiping the tears from his face. "Aren't you coming with us?"

Fred placed a hand gently on Shaggy's back. "I'll help you get Scooby into the car but we have to stay here and try to find Sharon."

"Just because she's a human."

Daphne spoke up. "Yes, Shaggy. Because she's a human."

Fred started working his hands under Scooby's body. "Help me out here, Shags. Then you can get Scooby to the vet so they can make him all better."

Shaggy lashed out. "Don't patronize me!" But he leaned over and circled his arms around the Great Dane's chest.

They lifted together and headed out to the car. I heard tires spinning in the pea gravel drive and then the sound of the car heading off.

Fred came back. "We had better get ourselves back to that old mansion."

I nodded. "And fast."

As we made our way through the cemetery, Mr. Weatherby updated us on his trip to the Sheriff's department two hours earlier. "They refused to take me seriously! They were attentive enough when I told them that my brother had disappeared. But then, when I told them that we had found him, they asked why I was even there. Then, when I tried to explain that he had turned up covered in that ridiculous stage make-up and claiming to have aged forty years, they treated me like I was the crazy one. I finally gave up and came home. I had just gotten to bed when your friend started yelling."

I checked my phone. "Well, I don't have any bars and it sounds like, even if we could contact the Sheriff's Department, they wouldn't come."

That took up one minute of the ten-minute walk. I spent the other nine minutes racked with guilt. When Fred and Shaggy had carried Scooby Doo to the car, the dog's body hadn't moved or reacted in any way. He appeared completely lifeless. And, as we walked through the dark and foreboding graveyard, I'll admit that I was convinced that he was dead. And I had chosen to stay here and look for a complete stranger rather than go with Shaggy and Scooby to the veterinarian because she was a human and he was a dog.

But was he really just a dog? Couldn't Descartes famous quote I think, therefore I am be just as accurately translated as 'I think, there I am human'? If the ability to form and convey thoughts is the definition of what it means to be human, then isn't Scooby Doo as human as the rest of us? More so than many, if not most?

And yet, here I was, leaving someone I considered a friend to mourn the loss alone of someone else that I considered a friend while I remained in pursuit of the almighty mystery. I considered Shaggy a friend at that time but was sure that the coming of the dawn would be a time when he no longer considered me to be one. As I walked, I followed the path deeper into depression.

As we entered the derelict old mansion, Daphne turned to Mr. Weatherby. "What's the story with this old place? I've heard my parents mention Mr. Kingston from time to time but they always get quiet when I ask about it."

"There's not much to tell. Randolph Kingston was born poor and amassed a large amount of wealth through real estate investments. He went all in on MBSs and CDOs which were filled with subprime mortgages. When that bubble burst in 2007, he lost everything. He came to my family for a loan which we refused since we had not been so reckless as to stake our fortune on such dangerous investments. He threatened that he would make all of his money back and get even with us if it took him an eternity.

"We found out later that Stuart, who was young at the time, had believed Randolph's claims about being able to regain his fortune and had signed over his trust fund. Randolph lost every penny, leaving Stuart with nothing. Randolph sent us one last scathing letter and committed suicide in 2009. He left no will, so his mansion was tied up in court for several years before Randolph's son Elias just got clear title on it."

Fred stuck that finger up in the air again. "A suicide and a deathbed curse would make an excellent foundation for a ghost story."

I had to cut this off at the pass. "But there's no such thing as ghosts."

Fred continued holding that finger aloft. "Well, I haven't seen any… yet."

Daphne chimed in before I could take him out at the knees. "And we haven't seen Sharon or her uncle, either."

That was when I saw what looked like Stuart sitting in an armchair in the next room. I went to investigate and found a hokey skeleton dressed in Stuart's clothes. How dumb did this guy think we were?

Fred, for some reason, decided to play along. "Wow! I guess that ghost wasn't kidding!"

If he was playing along, so would I. "That's just about as old as you can get." Seeing this on YouTube, I wasn't the best actress. I definitely over-emoted the line.

That was when I saw movement in the shadows in the rear of the room. As I turned my head toward it, a figure stepped forward out of the gloom. The costume was ludicrous. He wore a Jekyll and Hyde cloak, had a blue face, and a black Barnabus Collins wig. It was something a ten-year-old would create for Halloween.

But, hoping to find out more, we continued with the charade and all cried out. "It's the ghost!"

The ghost clearly thought we were being fooled. "This is the last warning. Either the fortune is here by two days hence, or all of those in the Weatherby house shall grow old. Now go!"

He then turned around and walked out of the room. It wasn't very ghostly. We looked at each other, shrugged, and then followed. This was getting sort of ridiculous.

Mr. Weatherby stayed in the house looking for his daughter as we followed the "ghost" outside and into the cemetery. There was a central large mausoleum which appeared relatively new with the name 'Kingston' on the front above the door. He went in.

Daphne stated the obvious for the camera. "Hey! That was the ghost!"

I followed suit. "Yeah, he went into the mausoleum."

Fred finished the planned dialogue with "Let's follow him and see what he's up to."

Now that our duty to our potential viewers was done, we approached the door and found it locked. Fred looked at Daphne and I. "Has anyone gotten any better at picking locks?"

I had been watching videos on the internet but, so far, had not been able to bring the required talent to the field. I shook my head.

Daphne also shook her head but changed the subject. "We should be with Shaggy and Scooby."

The guilt I was feeling earlier rebounded with vengeance. I had completely put Shaggy and Scooby out of my mind as I focused on the mystery. A selfish, entitled ice queen like Daphne was showing more empathy than I was. What did that make me? I guess, it makes me what everybody says about me. This deep emotional moment took five seconds before I agreed. "She's right, Fred."

Fred nodded. "I know she is. Lets go back and see if Mr. Weatherby will lend us a car."

It took us several minutes back at the Kingston Mansion to find Mr. Weatherby who was searching room-by-room for his daughter.

Fred, as usual, was our spokesperson. "Mr. Weatherby, we were wondering if we could borrow a car to go and make sure that our friend is okay."

"Do you mean the dog?"

"Yes sir. The dog is our friend as is his owner. We have to know they're okay."

"You're going to stop searching for my daughter to check on a dog?!"

I was still recovering from hearing Fred openly describe Shaggy as his friend. But Fred wasn't done. "Yes sir. We owe it to our friends. As soon as we know they're okay, we'll return and find Sharon." As I've said before, this was the side of Fred which made him our leader and which the network never showed.

Mr. Weatherby shrugged and spoke with an edge in his voice. "The key cabinet is in the kitchen storage closet. Key number four is the staff errand vehicle. You can take that. Its next to the garage."

"Thank you, sir. We'll be back as soon as we can."

We left to find out if Scooby Doo was still alive.