Shaggy and Scooby’s mouths watered, and they held their forks and knives at the ready while Ihaan cooked the fish over an open flame on the island’s hook.
“Now, this is more like it, Scoob,” Shaggy giggled when Ihaan offered him one half of the fish, Scooby the other. “Free real food.”
“Reah!” Scooby said. He dropped his entire fish half into his mouth and used a leaf as a napkin. “Yum!”
Ihaan leaned back and rested his hand on Ro’s wing. “They always hungry?” he asked the gang.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Daphne answered. “We always need to have Scooby Snacks on hand for them.” She drew her phone and snapped a picture of Ro and Ihaan sitting together.
“Don’t tell me you’ll upload that on Myspace, Daph.” Velma shot her a stern look.
“Oh, but why not?” she said. “It’s not every day a group of teenagers meets a boy in a provincial park.”
“What that?” Ihaan pointed at Daphne’s phone.
She jiggled her arms and exclaimed, “Only the greatest invention ever next to fashion! A Nokia cell phone that takes pictures!”
“For the love of—!” Velma stated. “He doesn’t know what a Nokia is, Daphne.”
“Human technology?” Ihaan inquired, reaching for the phone. Daphne handed it to him, and Ihaan checked every inch of it. He occasionally turned the phone upside-down and shook it.
“Don’t break it!” Daphne said, taking it from him. “I just got it.”
“Sorry,” Ihaan apologized, jumping slightly.
Noticing his rising anxiety, Freddie gestured at Daphne. “Chill, Daphne. We’re here to solve a mystery, remember?” They could probably pull it off if the gang didn’t get excited around Ihaan. “So, Ihaan,” Fred questioned, “what do you know about the Ghost of Ontario and the demon bear?”
“I already told you that Ghost of Ontario doesn’t exist.” Ihaan shook his head and rose to his feet. Freddie saw that he bent his right knee to relieve pressure from his foot. “Great Spirit said that you guys would believe and help me.”
Fred wished he had a phrasebook. After all, he was an expert when it came to those. “What’s the Great Spirit, and what do you need help with?”
Ihaan headed for his canoe and picked up his paddle. “Can’t tell you yet. Not until I see you can be trusted. Well, what are we waiting for?”
He faced the gang, who asked, “Hm?” simultaneously.
“Let me show you around the lake.” Ihaan twirled his paddle. “We can go from there. I’ll get you back to your campsite in time for sleep. But I need to know the truth, and you, too.”
He kept becoming even more mysterious. Fred knew he smelled a good mystery when he read about the Ghost of Ontario, and it looked like the gang was finally into it, even Velma, who had been so caught up in research and college lately. Now, if only Fred could prove that the ghost existed.
Shaggy and Scooby licked their fingers and hopped up, patting their bellies. “Like, just tell us we’re not returning to the demon bear’s lair,” Shaggy nearly begged.
“Demon bear won’t show as long as we stay away,” Ihaan encouraged. “Now, come.” He pushed his canoe into the lake, stepped in, and waited for the gang.
Fred gestured at his foot. “But what about your foot?”
“It doesn’t hurt now,” Ihaan declared. “I’ll be fine.” He seemed to give the gang the puppy dog eyes.
They eventually shrugged and climbed into their canoes, pushing off the hook and following Ihaan.
He grinned and led the way, Ro flying with him. Ihaan cut through an opening in the trees to another river and parked his canoe. He showed Shaggy and Scooby how to catch a fish with bare hands.
Shaggy and Scooby attempted to imitate him, but they splashed into the river, and a few fish flopped on and off their noses.
Ihaan chuckled and escorted the gang through the forest and up a hill. Velma observed him from a distance, but the others remained close to him.
The group stood atop a cliff with a slide-like face that hooked at the end and overlooked the lake.
Ro circled them overhead, and Ihaan pointed down the cliff. He plopped onto his front and boosted himself forward. He laughed while sliding and flew off the cliff’s edge, diving into the lake.
The gang grinned and mimicked him one at a time. Daphne went first, then Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby.
Scooby’s splash knocked the gang back, but he swam to the surface and squirted water out of his mouth, barking, “Scooby-Dooby Doo!”
Ihaan next showed the gang how to handle a bow and arrow. He took them to an opening in the forest, where a few targets were set up around a grassy meadow. He hit every target right in the center, but the gang’s arrows smashed the grass or dirt. Ihaan lowered Velma’s arm and released the arrow with her.
She hit the target’s outer circle and cheered, hopping up and down.
The gang clapped in the background.
While Shaggy and Scooby rested with another snack, Ro and Ihaan built a pair of stilts.
Ihaan grinned and tried them out, giving each gang member a turn on them.
“Like, zoinks!” Shaggy shouted. He tripped over one stilt and ended up beside a bird nest in a tree.
The bird squawked and clenched her wings, threatening Shaggy.
For the last activity, Ihaan escorted the gang to a mini waterfall. He sat in the river and pushed off a rock, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. The river’s current caught him, and he rode the waterfall, landing in the pool at its base. Ihaan stood and waved at the gang.
Shaggy and Scooby flew over the waterfall’s tip into the sky and hugged each other, splashing beside Ihaan.
He hooted but checked the sky. The evening sun’s rays passed through the forest’s treetops and scanned the lake’s surface. “That our cue,” Ihaan told the gang. “Time to get you guys to campsite.”
“Well,” Freddie playfully argued, “I mean—we still have a mystery to solve.” He nudged the others. “Right, gang? And, well…” Fred slipped his hands into his pockets and faced Ihaan. “We can probably gather more evidence if… you know…”
Velma rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, Fred. Is asking Ihaan if we can spend the night really that hard?”
Fred blushed. “No, of course not!” His eyes moved to Ihaan. “I mean—may we, Ihaan? Do you trust us enough now?”
Ihaan hesitated and studied the sky, closing his eyes. A gust of wind passed through his hair and whipped through the forest.
Goosebumps prickled under Freddie’s shirt.
Eventually, Ihaan opened his eyes and focused back on the gang. “Great Spirit says that’s fine. Who knows—maybe we’ll see Ghost of Ontario.”
“Yes!” Freddie clenched his fist but quickly became serious. “I mean, thank you for helping us, Ihaan. Now, let us help you.”
Shaggy and Scooby gulped, but Daphne taunted them with Scooby Snacks.
Night fell in the forest. Ihaan fixed dinner over another open fire, the gang tossing a few of their meal products in it, too.
“Like, Scooby, look. I invented a new sandwich—the Leaf-Fish Sandwich!” Shaggy waved his fish sandwich, cooked leaves serving as the buns, before Scooby.
Scooby cringed. “Rad name.”
“It is rad, isn’t it?” Shaggy tittered.
Scooby huffed. “Oh, boy.”
On the fire’s other side, Daphne, Freddie, and Velma spoke with Ihaan, who yawned.
“So, you don’t remember anything before ten years ago?” Velma tapped her chin. “Hm.”
“Remember?” Ihaan said. “What is there to remember? I was born ten winters ago.”
“Ihaan, you are likely fifteen,” Velma included. “Which means that something happened when you were five, and you’ve lived in the park ever since.”
Fred leaned into Ihaan and whispered, “She’s really smart. She’ll pry your brain for hours.” He patted Ihaan’s back and sat back.
“How did you hurt your foot?” was Velma’s next question.
Ihaan rubbed his foot. “It’s been like this for years. Why I canoe more than walk. But lately…” His voice trailed.
“Yes?” Velma said, growing excited.
“I said too much.” Ihaan stood and stumbled toward his canoe. “Great Spirit says to wait a little longer. However”—he held up one finger—“there is one thing.”
Ihaan stopped at his canoe and reached inside, removing a scuffed-up, yellow dry bag. He dragged out a deep green leaf that was a perfect oval.
Ihaan returned to the fire and sat. Ro slid to him, and he pulled her close, showing the gang the leaf.
“That’s a leaf,” Daphne sarcastically spoke.
“Important leaf,” Ihaan explained. “I feel someone taught me this a long time ago.”
Daphne filed her nails and checked them.
She looked up when Velma asked, “Taught you what?”
“The ‘Song of the Forest’,” Ihaan elucidated. “My friends and I believe it opens the door to the Spirit Realm and gives more Spirits homes.” His face drooped. “I wish someone would hear our plea. Anyway…” Ihaan inhaled and brought the leaf to his lips.
With the gang watching, the leaf buzzed, and a melodic sound washed across Lake Anima Nipissing… the “Song of the Forest”.
ns 15.158.61.4da2
