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  PROLOGUE

  Creak! Creak!

  Creak! Creak!

  This old house sure makes a lot of spooky sounds. There’s always something creaking, squeaking, or rattling.

  Welcome to Animal Inn. My name is Whiskers. You might also know me as Super Cat, but that’s another story.

  No, I’m not one of those cats who is always clamoring to get outside. That would be my big sister, Shadow. I am an indoor cat. I love calm, quiet, and relaxing on my comfy sofa.

  I belong to the Tyler family. Our family includes five humans—Mom, Dad, Jake, Ethan, and Cassie—and seven pets:

  • Me

  • Shadow—my big sister

  • Dash—a Tibetan terrier

  • Coco—a chocolate Labrador retriever

  • Leopold—a scarlet macaw

  • and Fuzzy and Furry—a pair of very enterprising gerbils

  We all live together in this creaky old house in the countryside. Animal Inn is one part hotel, one part school, and one part spa. As our brochure says: We promise to love your pet as much as you do.

  Creak! Creak!

  Don’t mind that noise. It’s just the creaky front door. It gets a lot of use with all the coming and going here at the inn.

  We might have a Pekinese arriving for a pedicure. A Siamese showing up for a short stay. Or a llama leaving after a long stay. Once, we even hosted a field trip for Cassie’s entire first-grade class. That day was neither calm nor quiet. But it sure was fun.

  On the first floor of Animal Inn, we have the Welcome Area, the office, the classroom, the grooming room, and the party and play room.

  Our family lives on the second floor.  This includes Fuzzy and Furry snug in their gerbiltorium, unless they’re out on a job. We Tyler pets have used their detective services on a number of occasions.

  The third floor is for our smaller guests. We have a Reptile Room, a Rodent Room, and a Small Mammal Room. The larger guests stay out in the barn and kennels.

  That means at any given moment, you might hear squawks, chirps, bleats, meows, or woofs.

  And just last week we heard a sound that gave all of us quite a scare.

  Promise not to get too frightened?

  Okay. Let me tell you what happened . . . .

  CHAPTER

  1

  It all began the first morning of school vacation week.

  We pets were in the Welcome Area.

  I was curled up on the sofa.

  Leopold was on his perch.

  Dash was sitting nearby.

  And Coco was plopped smack in the middle of the floor.

  As usual, my big sister, Shadow, was hiding behind the sofa, waiting for her first chance to sneak outside.

  Everything was nice and quiet, until Jake and Ethan came charging downstairs.

  “I can’t wait to play Ghost in the Graveyard,” said Ethan.

  “But Mom and Dad said chores come first,” said Jake. He opened the door to the supply closet. “Let’s see. Cat food, cat treats, dog food, dog—hold on. This is strange.” Jake held up an empty bag of Doggie Donuts. “I just opened this yesterday.”

  “Maybe that’s a different bag,” said Ethan. “And the one you opened is still in there.”

  Jake searched the closet again. “No, I’m sure this is the bag,” he said. “But where did all the treats go?”

  “Well, I didn’t eat them,” said Ethan.

  “I didn’t think you did,” said Jake. “But they couldn’t have vanished into thin air.”

  “Let’s just open a new bag,” said Ethan. “The quicker we feed the pets and tidy up, the quicker we can play Ghost in the Graveyard.”

  “You’re right,” said Jake.

  The boys went ahead and filled our bowls.

  But I noticed that Coco kept right on snoring. She must have been really tired because breakfast is usually Coco’s favorite time of day. Along with lunch, snack, and dinner.

  Ethan went back to the closet. “Whoa,” he said. “What happened to this thing?”

  “What happened to what?” asked Jake.

  Ethan held up the feather duster—minus most of its feathers.

  Just then Cassie came skipping down the stairs. She held a bright pink feather in her hand.

  Jake took one look and chuckled. “I think I see what’s going on here,” he said. “Cassie, did you borrow a bunch of feathers from the feather duster?”

  “Are you and Coco doing an art project or something?” asked Ethan.

  I looked over at Coco; she was still sound asleep.

  “I’m not doing an art project,” said Cassie. “I thought we were playing Ghost in the Graveyard this morning.”

  “Then what’s with the feather?” asked Jake.

  “I found it in the hallway upstairs,” said Cassie. “It’s so soft.”

  “How did a feather from the Welcome Area feather duster get upstairs?” asked Ethan. “And where are the rest of them?”

  “And where are the missing Doggie Donuts?” added Jake.

  “I don’t know,” said Cassie. “Are we going to play Ghost in the Graveyard or not?”

  “Maybe a ghost took the feathers and treats,” Ethan said with a sly grin.

  “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” said Cassie. “They’re just in games and stories and stuff.”

  “Except . . . ,” said Jake.

  “Except what?” asked Cassie.

  “Haven’t you heard about the ghost of Animal Inn?” Jake said. “On dark and windy nights, it scritches and scratches at windows and doors.”

  “And whatever you do,” Ethan continued in a spooky voice, “don’t let the ghost inside. Or Animal Inn will be haunted . . . forever!”

  CHAPTER

  2

  “Mom! Dad!” Cassie called, running up the stairs. “Jake and Ethan are trying to scare me.”

  The boys followed her, giggling and making spooky sounds.

  “Boo-o-o-o! Boo-o-o-o!”

  I looked over at Dash and Leopold. “The ghost of Animal Inn?” I asked worriedly.

  “The boys are just being silly,” said Dash.

  “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” said Leopold.

  “Never mind about the ghosts, you guys,” said Shadow, stepping out from behind the sofa. “I’ve got real problems.”

  “What kind of problems?” I asked.

  “Someone’s been taking my stuff,” she said. “My favorite piece of yarn and my stash of Kitty Krisps are both missing.”

  “More missing items?” said Dash.

  “Interesting,” said Leopold.

  “And,” Shadow started, “when I find out who’s been stealing my—”

  “Could you please hold down the chatter?” moaned Coco. She drowsily lifted her head. “I’m trying to sleep.”

  “Sleep?” scoffed Shadow. “We just woke up.”

  “And you haven’t even touched your breakfast,” I said.

  “I’m too tired to eat,” groaned Coco. “That voice outside kept me up all night.”

  “A voice?” I asked.

  “Outside?” said Dash.

  “At night?” asked Leopold.

  “Yep,” said Coco. “It kept asking, ‘Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you?’ over and over. It made me so hungry, I had to get a snack.”

  “So you’re the one who took the Doggie Donuts from the supply closet,” said Dash.

  At least that was one mystery solved.

  “No, silly,” said Coco. “I can’t open the door to the supply closet.”

  “Then you’re the one who took my stash of Kitty Krisps,” said Shadow.

  “Nope,” said Coco. “That wasn’t me either.”

>   “You didn’t eat a bunch of pink feathers, did you?” I asked.

  “Why would I eat feathers?” said Coco. “I had some crackers. Cassie always keeps a few crackers next to her bed.”

  “Did the voice wake Cassie up too?” asked Leopold.

  “No,” said Coco. “It was the kind of voice that’s easier for a dog to hear than a human. It was low and echoey and . . .”

  “Spooky?” I said with a shiver.

  “How’d you know?” said Coco. “That’s a great word for it. Spooky.”

  CHAPTER

  3

  Rumble! Rumble!

  Rumble! Rumble!

  “Now what’s that noise?” I asked.

  “It’s probably Coco’s tummy,” said Shadow.

  “No, silly,” said Coco. “That noise is coming from upstairs. My tummy is right here. But my tummy is feeling a little empty.”

  She stood up and lumbered over to her food bowl.

  “Shadow does have a point,” said Dash. “Coco, maybe the voice you heard last night was just your tummy talking.”

  “That is a logical explanation,” said Leopold. “Coco went to bed hungry, and then she dreamed about a voice asking, ‘Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you?’”

  “Nope,” said Coco, her mouth full of kibble. “I usually dream about mac-and-cheese and cheese pizza and grilled cheese. I never dream about who’s doing the cooking.”

  “And yet the phrase ‘Who cooks for you?’ does sound familiar,” said Leopold.

  All of a sudden Jake, Ethan, and Cassie came racing down the stairs, screeching.

  “Run! Run!” squealed Cassie.

  “It’s going to get us!” cried Ethan.

  “Ghost in the graveyard!” shouted Jake.

  Rumble! Rumble!

  Rumble! Rumble!

  There it was again.

  Could there really be a ghost upstairs? I buried my head under a sofa cushion.

  I heard footsteps.

  “That new bread machine sure can make a racket,” said Dad, coming down the stairs.

  “It sounds like it’s about to launch into space,” said Mom.

  What a relief! The rumbling was only one of Dad’s new gadgets.

  I pulled my head out from under the cushion and resettled myself on my cozy spot.

  “It says here,” said Dad, reading from a booklet, “the rumbling noise is just the machine mixing up the dough.”

  “Well,” said Mom, “it will be wonderful to have fresh bread when Cousin Jane finally gets here.”

  “I can’t wait to see her,” said Dad.

  “And I can’t wait to meet her new show dog, Precious,” said Mom.

  Mom opened the door to the office. “Whoa!” She gasped. “What happened in here? There’s shredded paper all over the floor.”

  Dad hurried over. “It looks like someone raided the recycling bin,” he said. “Was it the pets?”

  “But the door was closed,” said Mom. “And the pets can’t open doors.”

  “And it’s not like they can pass through walls,” said Dad.

  But I knew something that could.

  And it started with the letter G!

  CHAPTER

  4

  “A ghost?” I whispered.

  “As I said earlier,” replied Leopold, “there’s no such thing as ghosts.”

  “But what about the paper on the floor?” I asked. “And the missing treats? And the disappearing feathers?”

  “And let’s not forget about my stolen treasures,” huffed Shadow.

  “Did you say ‘treasures’?” asked Dash. He chuckled. “I think I know what’s going on here.”

  “You do?” I asked.

  Dash nodded. “Who collects all sorts of treasures and keeps them in a treasure chest?”

  “Pirates?” suggested Coco.

  “A treasure chest in our attic,” said Dash.

  It suddenly all made sense to me. “I know!” I said excitedly. “Follow me to the gerbiltorium!”

  We rushed upstairs to Jake and Ethan’s room.

  But Fuzzy and Furry were not in their gerbiltorium.

  “Don’t tell me the gerbils are missing too!” I exclaimed.

  “Let’s try the attic,” said Dash.

  He led us up to the third floor, past the Small Mammal Room, past the Reptile Room, and past the Rodent Room. Finally, we came to a set of rickety stairs. We carefully tiptoed up.

  I’d never been in the attic before. And no wonder. It was dusty and cobwebby. The whole place gave me the shivers.

  The gerbils were frantically pawing through their treasure chest.

  “No time to talk,” said Fuzzy.

  “Please excuse the mess,” added Furry.

  They tossed things this way and that. A half-eaten Kitty Krisp landed in front of us.

  “Aha!” said Shadow. “Where are the rest of them?”

  “The rest of what?” asked Fuzzy.

  “My Kitty Krisps,” said Shadow. “The ones you stole from me.”

  “We did not steal anything from you,” said Fuzzy.

  “In fact, someone has been stealing from us,” added Furry.

  “Missing item number one,” said Fuzzy. “A small silver bell.”

  “Originally from a fancy cat collar,” added Furry.

  “That was my bell,” said Shadow.

  “You hated that bell,” I reminded her.

  “Missing item number two,” continued Fuzzy. “One large cashew.”

  “Partially eaten by me,” added Furry.

  “And missing item number three,” said Fuzzy. “One tiny homemade stuffed animal.”

  “In the shape of a mouse,” added Furry.

  “Mousey-Mouse?” Coco asked with concern. “That’s Cassie’s! She thought she lost it on the school bus.”

  “She did not lose it on the school bus,” said Fuzzy.

  “But it is lost now,” added Furry.

  “Hold your horses, gerbils,” said Shadow. “Things don’t just vanish into thin air. If you two aren’t taking the stuff, then who is?”

  I felt the fur on the back of my neck rise.

  “Could it be the ghost of Animal Inn?” I asked.

  “A ghost?” said Fuzzy. “Leave it to us, then!”

  “We are expert ghost hunters,” added Furry.

  They quickly piled everything back into their treasure chest and disappeared into the heating vent.

  CHAPTER

  5

  With Fuzzy and Furry on the case, the rest of us headed back downstairs to the Welcome Area.

  I curled up on the sofa. Shadow hid behind it. Leopold flew to his perch. Dash sat nearby. And Coco plopped down smack in the middle of the floor.

  Everything was calm and quiet.

  Ding-dong!

  “At last,” said Shadow, “a chance to sneak outside.”

  “Please don’t go outside today,” I pleaded. “There might be a ghost out there.”

  “I’ll be fine, Little Brother,” she said.

  Ding-dong!

  Mom and Dad hurried out of the office to answer the front door.

  “Jane!” said Mom. “So great to see you!”

  Cousin Jane gave Mom and Dad a big hug.

  “Sorry I’m a little late,” said Cousin Jane. “It always takes longer to get out of the house than I think it will.”

  “Jake! Ethan! Cassie!” Dad called. “Cousin Jane is here!”

  The kids rushed in from the party and play room.

  “And this must be Precious,” said Mom. She gestured to the strangest-looking creature I had ever set eyes on. It was big and white and . . . How should I say this?

  Moppy.

  “What kind of dog is she?” Ethan asked.

  Wait. This thing was a dog?

  “She’s a commander dog,” said Cassie.

  “Close,” Mom said with a smile, “she’s a komondor.”

  “Komondors are working dogs,” added Cousin Jane. “Well, not Precious. Precious
is a show dog. But her ancestors were prized guard dogs.”

  “She’s really cool-looking,” said Jake.

  “Supercool,” said Ethan.

  “Her coat naturally forms these thick cords,” explained Cousin Jane. “They help to protect the dog and also let her blend in with a flock of sheep.”

  “I think she’s magical,” said Cassie. “She can play princesses with me and Coco.”

  Coco excitedly bounded over to say hello.

  Grrrr! Precious growled.

  “Now, Precious . . . ,” said Cousin Jane.

  “It’s okay,” said Mom. “Coco can come on a little strong.”

  Dash calmly wagged his tail and approached our new guest.

  Grrrr! Precious growled again.

  “Precious,” said Cousin Jane, “you mustn’t get yourself too worked up.”

  “Why don’t I take Coco and Dash with me out to the barn and kennels?” said Dad. “I have to check on the guests anyway. We’ll let Precious get settled in.”

  Wait. Shouldn’t Precious be the one heading out to the kennels?

  Dad took down the leashes. Then he led Dash and Coco carefully around Precious and out the front door.

  “Can Precious play with us?” asked Cassie.

  “What are you playing?” asked Cousin Jane.

  “Ghost in the Graveyard,” said Ethan.

  “Sounds scary,” said Cousin Jane.

  “Not really,” said Jake. “It’s like hide-and-seek.”

  “Well, Precious doesn’t play a lot of games,” said Cousin Jane. “She’s usually busy training for a show. Practice make perfect, you know.”

  “Maybe you can all play a little later,” said Mom. “First you boys have a habitat to tidy up.”

  “Which habitat?” asked Jake. “We already did our chores.”

  “Your habitat,” Mom said with a smile. “Cousin Jane will be staying in Cassie’s room, which means Cassie will be in your room in her sleeping bag.”

  “Yay! Camping!” cheered Cassie.

  “Now, I don’t want you kids making a lot of noise all night,” said Mom. “Cousin Jane has a big day tomorrow.”