Whooooo Done It? Read online

  “No worries,” said Cousin Jane. “I sleep like a rock.”

  “Well, let’s show you to your room,” said Mom.

  She and Cousin Jane started up the stairs. The kids followed.

  “Aren’t you coming, Precious?” asked Cousin Jane.

  But Precious had a different plan.

  She hopped up onto the sofa and stretched her paws over the edge. Then she crossed them elegantly.

  “Suit yourself,” said Cousin Jane. “I’ll be right back.”

  Now I know it’s not my sofa, but Precious sure took up a lot of it.

  This day was quickly going from bad to worse. On top of the missing treasures and the spooky voice and the mysterious mess in the office, I now had to share the sofa?

  Precious sniffed at the air and made a sour face.

  “I’m bored,” she said.

  CHAPTER

  6

  At Animal Inn we do promise to love your pet as much as you do. But I was starting to wonder if this fancy show dog was going to put our motto to the test.

  Precious let out a long sigh. “What kind of accommodations do you have here, anyway?”

  “For which guests?” Leopold asked from his perch. “The third floor is for smaller animals. We have a Reptile Room, a Rodent Room, and a—”

  “Reptiles and rodents!” exclaimed Precious. “I will not stay near any reptiles or rodents.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” I assured her. “Dog guests stay out in the kennels.”

  “The kennels?” Precious said in disbelief. “I don’t stay in kennels. I am competing in a very important show tomorrow. Jane probably booked me into the luxury suite.”

  “The what?” I asked.

  “It’s a special room,” explained Leopold.

  “Oh,” I said. “Like the giant lizard habitat in the basement?”

  “Lizard? Basement?” Precious snorted. “I don’t think so.”

  “Our last guest to stay there, Miss KD, found it quite delightful,” said Leopold.

  “Let’s change the subject,” said Precious. “What about the menu? Who cooks for you?”

  “What did you just say?” I asked.

  “Who cooks for you?” Precious repeated. “Who’s your chef ?”

  “Uh, Mom and Dad,” I said.

  “And what kinds of treats do you offer?” asked Precious.

  “Kitty Krisps,” I said. “I mean, those are for the cats. We have Doggie Donuts for the dogs.”

  “Doggie Donuts are so blah,” scoffed Precious. “Luckily, I travel with a supply of my favorite treats, Poochie Puffs.” She sprang off the sofa and strutted over to one of Cousin Jane’s bags. She grabbed the bottom of the bag in her mouth and flipped it upside down.

  Everything spilled out. What a mess! There were dog toys and dog booties, a dog jacket and a dog brush, an extra dog collar. But no dog treats.

  “I know we packed them,” Precious said, pawing through the items on the floor. “They couldn’t have just vanished into thin air.”

  Oh no. Had something else mysteriously disappeared?

  “Not a problem,” said Precious. “I know how to get what I want.”

  She started to whine . . . softly at first. Then louder. And LOUDER. What a noise!

  Cousin Jane came rushing down the stairs. She stopped short when she saw the overturned bag and all the supplies strewn about.

  I was sure Precious was about to get scolded, but I was wrong.

  “Precious, sweetie,” said Cousin Jane, “you mustn’t get yourself too worked up. Would you like a Poochie Puff ?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag of treats. And just like that, Precious stopped whining.

  Cousin Jane gave a few treats to Precious, who immediately turned around and jumped back onto the sofa. Then Cousin Jane cleaned up the mess on the floor.

  “Let’s try to stay calm and quiet,” Cousin Jane cooed. “Just like your little cat friend here.”

  She patted Precious on the top of her head. Then Cousin Jane headed back upstairs, taking the bag of doggie supplies with her.

  “That was an impressive display,” Leopold said to Precious.

  “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet,” she replied. “I am a dog of many talents.”

  CHAPTER

  7

  Precious began telling Leopold and me all about her shows and travels.

  “Once, Jane and I stayed in a real castle,” she said. “I even met a princess.”

  “Cassie would have loved that,” I said.

  “Another time,” Precious continued, “we sailed on a cruise ship to a dog show on a tropical island.”

  “That sounds delightful,” said Leopold.

  “It was okay,” said Precious. “But I wasn’t allowed to play in the ocean. And I was really hot!”

  Thump! Thump!

  Precious sat up and growled. “What’s that noise?” she asked.

  “It’s probably just Dad’s bread machine again,” I said. “It makes a racket.”

  “But that noise isn’t coming from upstairs,” Leopold pointed out.

  He was right. This noise was coming from . . . the window?

  Thump! Thump! THUMP! THUMP!

  It was Shadow! My big sister was perched outside the window, frantically thumping on the glass with her paws. Her fur was all puffed up in alarm.

  “That kitty looks a fright,” said Precious. “She could use a good grooming.”

  “This is a first,” said Leopold. “Shadow seems to be trying to get inside instead of out.”

  I leaped off the sofa. “We need to let her in!” I cried. I frantically pawed at the front door. But it was shut tight. “We have to open this door,” I pleaded.

  “Relax, my little cat friend,” said Precious. “As I told you, I am a dog of many talents.”

  Precious got down off the sofa and stretched her legs. Then she strode over to the door. She placed her front paws on the knob and, balancing on her back legs, nimbly turned it. The front door sprang open.

  Shadow zoomed inside. “Shut it, quick!” she cried. She was trembling.

  Precious nudged the door closed with her nose.

  “What happened to you?” I asked Shadow. Usually, it was me doing the trembling.

  “I . . . I . . . I . . . ,” Shadow started. She could barely catch her breath.

  “My goodness,” said Leopold. “You look like you’ve seen a—”

  “Ghost?” I gulped.

  Shadow nodded and darted behind the sofa.

  CHAPTER

  8

  I looked over to Leopold. “I thought you said there was no such thing as ghosts.”

  “There must be a logical explanation,” said Leopold. “I can’t believe Shadow saw a real ghost.”

  “I saw what I saw,” said Shadow, peeking out from behind the sofa. “It was a phantom, silently swooping through the sky.”

  “I’m finding this all very exciting,” said Precious. “I’m certainly not bored anymore. Is this like a show? Did you put it together just for me?”

  “Who is this?” asked Shadow.

  “This is Precious,” I said. “Cousin Jane’s dog.”

  “She’s the one who opened the door for you,” added Leopold.

  “No kidding,” said Shadow. “You need to teach me how to do that sometime.”

  “It would be my pleasure,” said Precious. “It always works.”

  To prove her point, Precious walked over to the basement door. Once again, she balanced on her back legs, placed her front paws on the knob, and turned it. The door popped open.

  “Very cool,” said Shadow.

  Just then Fuzzy and Furry tumbled out of the heating vent, one after the other.

  “Oh, goodie!” cheered Precious. “Acrobats!”

  “There’s a ghost outside!” cried Fuzzy.

  “Swooping through the sky!” added Furry.

  “As usual,” said Shadow, “you clowns are a little late.”

  “Oh, they’re c
lowns?” said Precious. “Even better.”

  “Batten down the hatches!” cried Fuzzy.

  “Lock the doors!” added Furry.

  “Yay!” cheered Precious. “A show with audience participation!”

  She dashed back over to the front door and pressed the button on the knob to lock it.

  “I’m having so much fun,” she said, scampering to the sofa. “Jane never lets me play with other pets.”

  Scritch! Scratch!

  Rattle! Rattle!

  We all froze. This noise was not coming from upstairs.

  Scritch! Scratch!

  Rattle! Rattle!

  And it was not coming from the window.

  Something was at the front door.

  “Don’t let it get inside!” screeched Fuzzy.

  “Or Animal Inn will be haunted forever!” cried Furry.

  I buried my head under a sofa cushion.

  Leopold shielded himself with one wing.

  Fuzzy and Furry disappeared back into the heating vent.

  Shadow darted behind the sofa.

  But Precious remained happily where she was. “This is an amazing show,” she said. “Such suspense.”

  CHAPTER

  9

  Just then Mom and Cousin Jane came down the stairs.

  “I told you Precious would be fine,” said Mom.

  “You were right,” said Cousin Jane. “Everything here seems calm and quiet.”

  Calm and quiet? Scared stiff was more like it.

  Scritch! Scratch!

  Rattle! Rattle!

  There it was again.

  “It sounds like someone’s at the door,” said Cousin Jane.

  “That’s funny,” said Mom. “I didn’t hear the bell.”

  I couldn’t look. I squeezed my eyes tight. I could hear Mom’s footsteps crossing the Welcome Area.

  Then I heard the front door swing open.

  “Who locked the door?” asked a familiar voice.

  Dad?

  “I guess it got locked by mistake,” said Mom.

  I peeked out from behind my sofa cushion. Dad stood in the doorway with Dash and Coco still on their leashes.

  “Can the dogs stay out just a little longer?” asked Mom. “Martha should be here any minute. Then Precious will be in the grooming room for quite a while.”

  “A while?” asked Dad.

  “It takes an hour to wash her and several hours for her to dry,” explained Cousin Jane. “Then we have to put on her special grooming jacket to keep her clean until showtime.”

  “Got it,” said Dad. “See you in a bit.” He turned to lead Dash and Coco back outside.

  Precious inched closer to me. “I don’t want to miss any of the fun, little cat friend,” she whispered. “Watch this.”

  Precious started to whine just like before . . . softly at first. Then louder. And LOUDER.

  What a noise!

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

  Cousin Jane reached into her pocket and pulled out the small bag of treats. “Do you want more Poochie Puffs?” She placed some on the sofa in front of Precious.

  But Precious just turned her head and kept right on fussing.

  “Or do you want Squishy Squirrelly?” Cousin Jane asked hopefully. She rifled through the bag on her shoulder. “Now, that’s strange.”

  “What is it?” asked Mom.

  “I know I packed her little rubber squirrel,” said Cousin Jane. “Maybe I left it upstairs.”

  Or maybe this was one more thing that had vanished into thin air.

  Ding-dong!

  “That should be Martha,” said Mom.

  Luckily, it was.

  “Hi, all!” said Martha, stepping inside.

  Mom introduced Martha to Cousin Jane.

  “And this must be Precious,” gushed Martha. “Wow, you’re beautiful!”

  Precious paused her whining long enough to listen to Martha’s compliments.

  “I see you’ve got some Poochie Puffs there,” Martha said. She picked a treat up and held it out to Precious. “Why don’t we enjoy this in the grooming room?”

  Precious stretched and stepped down off the sofa.

  “That’s a good girl,” said Martha.

  She led Precious back to the grooming room. Mom and Cousin Jane followed close behind.

  CHAPTER

  10

  Dash, Coco, and Dad soon returned. Dad unclipped the leashes and hung them by the door.

  Then he pulled the instruction booklet out of his back pocket. “I should go check on my bread,” he said, heading upstairs. “It says here, the bread should be almost done.”

  “Are you two okay?” I asked Dash and Coco fretfully.

  “Now that you mention it,” said Coco, “I am a little hungry. Hey, are those Poochie Puffs?” She gobbled up the treats that Precious had left behind.

  “Never mind about your fancy dog snacks,” snapped Shadow, popping out from behind the sofa. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

  “No, thank you,” said Coco. “I’m not in the mood for fish.”

  “I don’t mean real fish,” said Shadow. “I mean, what’s our plan for dealing with the ghost out there?”

  “I thought we agreed earlier that there’s no such thing as ghosts,” said Dash.

  “Well . . . ,” said Leopold. “There have been some developments.”

  “I saw it with my own eyes,” insisted Shadow. “A phantom, swooping through the sky.”

  “And we saw it too!” said Fuzzy and Furry, tumbling out of the heating vent.

  “It was just like Shadow described,” said Fuzzy.

  “A spooky, swooping phantom!” added Furry.

  “There must be a logical explanation,” said Dash. “Maybe it was a crow.”

  “It was not a crow,” said Fuzzy. “We were with the crows!”

  “In the crow’s nest,” added Furry.

  “Maybe it was a kite,” suggested Coco.

  “Nobody’s flying a kite today,” huffed Shadow. “The kids are playing . . . What are they playing, again?”

  “Uh, Ghost in the Graveyard,” I muttered.

  “Not helpful,” said Shadow.

  “Maybe it was an airplane,” said Dash. “Or a helicopter.”

  “But it made no noise,” said Fuzzy.

  “It was as silent as the wind,” added Furry.

  Dash thought for a moment. “Maybe it was a—”

  “Ghost!” shouted Cassie.

  “Ghost in the graveyard!” Ethan shrieked with laughter.

  Cassie and Ethan came racing down the stairs.

  Jake chased after them. “And it’s going to get you!”

  CHAPTER

  11

  That night, I snuggled close to Shadow on the big rocking chair in Mom and Dad’s room. It’s my favorite place upstairs, especially when Mom leaves a cuddly blanket on the seat for us to curl up in.

  The rest of the day had been uneventful. Precious had gotten used to Dash and Coco. There had been no more strange noises. There had been no more mysterious disappearances of treats, toys, or feathers.

  Animal Inn was calm and quiet.

  I could finally get some sleep.

  Ah-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh!

  My eyes shot open.

  What was that?

  The sound was like a spooky howl. Was it coming from inside the house?

  Ah-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh!

  Shadow stood bolt upright.

  “Did you hear that, Little Brother?” she whispered.

  “Y-y-yes,” I said, trembling.

  Ah-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh!

  This time the sound woke up Mom.

  “Did you hear that?” she whispered to Dad.

  “Hear what?” he asked sleepily.

  Ah-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh!

  “There it is again,” said Mom.

  “It sounds like it’s coming from the Welcome Area,” said Dad.

  The Welcome Area? It reall
y was inside the house!

  Mom and Dad climbed out of bed. Shadow and I cautiously followed them down the stairs.

  In the Welcome Area, an eerie apparition hovered near the window. It was tall and billowing and a ghostly shade of white.

  Ah-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh!

  I darted behind my big sister.

  Dad turned on the light.

  “Precious?” said Mom sleepily.

  Precious had her front paws up on the windowsill.

  She was still wearing her special white grooming jacket.

  “What are you doing down here, sweetie?” asked Mom. “You should be in Cassie’s room with Cousin Jane.”

  “She probably heard something go bump in the night,” said Dad. “This old house does make a lot of strange noises.”

  “Come up to bed, Precious,” said Mom. “You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

  But Precious jumped up onto the sofa and stretched out.

  “Okay, you can stay down here,” said Mom. “As long as you get some sleep.”

  Dad turned off the light. Then Mom and Dad headed back up the stairs. Shadow and I did too.

  “Pssst,” Precious whispered. “Little cat friends. Wait.”

  We stopped and turned around.

  “Your dad was right,” she whispered. “I did hear something. But it wasn’t a bump in the night. It was a voice.”

  “A voice?” I asked.

  “Yes,” said Precious. “It was low and echoey and . . .”

  “Spooky?” I offered.

  “Exactly,” said Precious.

  “What did this voice say?” asked Shadow.

  “It kept saying, ‘Loose hooks and glue. Loose hooks and glue.’ Over and over again,” said Precious.

  “‘Loose hooks and glue’?” said Shadow. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Well, maybe it wasn’t that,” said Precious. “Maybe it was, ‘Goose books in stew. Goose books in stew.’”

  Shadow rolled her eyes. “That makes even less sense.”

  “Or ‘Two boots a shoe? Two boots a shoe?’” tried Precious.

  “Hold on,” I said. “Any chance the voice was saying, ‘Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you?’”