“What are you doing here?” Daphne’s eyes narrowed, seeing that Heather was the figure Fred saw from the Mystery Machine. There was no sign of Stan… again.
A clipboard in hand, Heather faced the gang. “Uh, excuse me!” she called over a chainsaw. “I work here. We need to finish this foundation.” Wind gusted through hers and the gang’s hair. “Why are you back? Wait, let me guess, you’re looking for Stan again?”
Freddie cracked a small smile. “How did you know?”
That earned a facepalm from Velma.
“Well, too bad for you.” Heather placed her hand on her hip and popped a bubble with the gum she chewed. “Stan’s not here.”
“What, again?” Fred’s smile vanished, but Daphne stepped before him before he lost his temper.
“All right, lady, what are you pulling?” she pushed. “This is two days in a row. He said he would meet us here.”
Velma removed her hand and said, “We’ll keep trying until we catch him, Heather. We have a mystery to solve.”
“Hey”—Heather shrugged—“it’s not my fault he has ‘important’ business to tend to.”
Daphne poked her chest and leaned in close. “I bet you two are working together to scare people away from this park. You might as well come clean now.”
“We have nothing to do with the ghost and demon bear,” Heather said.
“You lie!” Daphne snapped.
“Daphne, Daphne.” Fred pulled her away, but even Scooby growled at the egocentric lady. “All right, Heather.” Fred’s smile returned. “You play your game, and we’ll play ours. We brought that mysterious boy we told you about yesterday, and he’ll help us pry you.”
“Ooh, I’m intrigued,” Heather snarled. “Where is this ‘mysterious’ boy?”
“He’s right…” But then Fred saw that Ihaan wasn’t with them. “Huh? Ihaan? Guys, where’s Ihaan?”
After a moment of silence, Daphne gasped and touched her lips. “Jeepers! We must’ve accidentally left him at the van!”
Embarrassment flashed across the gang’s faces, but they attempted to hide it.
Heather checked her nails. “Well, I’m waiting.”
“Um…” Freddie turned on his heel and gestured across the site at the parking lot. “We’ll be right back.”
On their way out, Daphne pointed at Heather again. “This isn’t over, lady. We’re going to figure you and Stan out.”
Heather smirked. “Ooh, I can’t wait.”
Shaggy stayed behind for a bit and rubbed his hands together, asking Heather, “Um, like, you don’t happen to have another all-you-can-eat buffet here today, right?”
“Raggy!” Scooby said. He grabbed Shaggy and tugged him away from Heather. They joined the others and returned to the Mystery Machine.
“My van! My beautiful van!” Freddie stumbled to where one of the side mirrors used to be. “What happened to my brand-new side mirror?”
“Not only that, but”—Daphne patted the dent in the hood—“it looks like Ihaan got in a fistfight.”
Shaggy soon poked his head out from the Mystery Machine’s back. “Like, he’s not here, gang.”
That was when Velma noticed the mirror lying on the ground. “Hm,” she said, kneeling and picking it up, including Ihaan’s arrow. Her face whitened, too. “Oh, no.” Velma turned to the others. “Guys, I think I have this mystery pretty much wrapped up. However, we must find Ihaan so I can confirm it.”
“Oh, ho, ho, ho,” Shaggy whined. “That means we’re going to split up.”
“That’s our cue.” Fred smacked his palm. “Okay, Shaggy and Scooby, you two—”
“Wait,” Velma interrupted, taking the mirror from Fred and glancing at each of her friends. “I think this is one of the few times we shouldn’t split up.”
“Wait, what?” Freddie groaned. “But we always split up.”
Velma nodded. “Yes, but we don’t have service out here, and I don’t think Ihaan’s head is in the right place now. Just this once, guys, let’s not split up. We can do that with the next mystery.”
“What do you mean Ihaan’s head isn’t in the right place?” Daphne inquired before examining the dent in the car again. “Well, I mean, he did punch the car and take out one of the mirrors.”
“I’ll explain when we find him.” When did Velma become serious? Nevertheless, Fred noticed guilt on her face while she switched the mirror and arrow out with a few flashlights.
Fred felt guilt, too. After all, it was he who thought of the insane idea of Ihaan meeting Stan. That guilt only evolved once the gang entered the forest and began searching for him under the deteriorating weather conditions: whistling winds, branches breaking, and the pitter-patter of a few raindrops.
The gang shone their flashlights in every direction, calling, “Ihaan! Ihaan!”
“You got anything, Scoob?” Fred glanced at Scooby, who sniffed the forest floor.
He jumped up at once and straightened his nose and tail, pointing at a cluster of overgrown trees and ferns. “Rerson, rerson!”
Excitement returning, Fred said, “He’s got something!”
Scooby sprinted but slipped and fell, quickly getting up.
The gang followed him through the rain into the cluster of ferns and trees. They froze on the other side and shone their flashlights around the area.
Nestled in the trees was a small longhouse with a leafy roof. A clothesline stretched from one tree to the other, and a smaller canoe rested upside down beside what looked like a cooking area. Before the longhouse was a fire pit. Ihaan sat behind it, bow and arrow in hand, back turned to the gang.
He sniffed and hugged his bow to his cheek. Ro wasn’t with him.
“I knew it,” Velma whispered, her light landing on Ihaan.
“What?” The others looked at her. “What is it, Velma?” They shivered and allowed Velma to lead the way closer to Ihaan. They closed their eyes when a wind gust smacked their faces.
Velma removed the piece of fur from her skirt pocket and inhaled. “Ihaan, it’s Daphne, Freddie, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby.”
He cringed and didn’t turn his head. Instead, he scrunched his face.
Shaggy and Scooby’s knees shook, and they tried silencing them.
“We’re sorry,” Velma continued. “We should have never betrayed you like that. We understand you’re scared, injured, and hurt, but scaring people isn’t the best way to express grief.”
Shaggy gulped. “Like-Like, grief?” His teeth chattered. He pushed Scooby toward Ihaan, but he whined and ducked behind him.
“It all adds up,” Velma explained. “Stan said that the ghost didn’t become aggressive until a few weeks ago when the construction began, right?”
Daphne flipped her palm so that it faced up. “But what does that have to do with Ihaan?”
Velma showed her friends the piece of fur. “If you look closely at this fur, you’ll see stitches in it, meaning that our demon bear is someone in a mask.”
“Of course it is,” Daphne stated. “I say it’s Stan or Heather.”
Velma shook her head. “No, Daphne. They’re innocent. Think about it. The demon bear only attacks the construction site. This is Ihaan’s home, guys.”
Tears dripped down Ihaan’s cheeks, and he tightened his grip on his bow.
“And-And that song he played on the leaflute…” Now, Velma gulped. “I can’t believe it took me this long to realize it, but that was ‘Lucilla’, the ‘Song of the Forest’.”
Hands shaking, Ihaan nocked an arrow and rose to his knees.
“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Shaggy hugged Scooby and Freddie, Daphne. “Like, Velma, are you saying… We-We’ve been with the Ghost of Ontario and the demon bear this entire time?”
She nodded and faced Ihaan. “Yes.” Her voice faltered, and she swallowed a lump. “They’re Ihaan.”
Ihaan stood and readied his arrow. Shadows covered his face.
The gang dropped their flashlights and backed away. “Guys… run,” Freddie ordered.
Silence followed, and then…
“YAHH!” Ihaan whirled around and shot an arrow toward Shaggy.
“Zoinks!” he yelled, ducking under it.
“Go! Go!” Freddie shouted. He pushed the gang’s backs, and they sprinted, Ihaan close behind.
Scooby leaped into Shaggy’s arms when another arrow flew under him. Arrows pierced the trees and the forest bed, and the cold wind picked up, gusting from seventeen knots to thirty-four.
Tripping, Daphne yelped and crashed onto her front.
Freddie turned and grabbed her, helping her up.
Ihaan chucked a spear, which stabbed the area where Daphne had fallen. “Get off my land!” he threatened over the howling wind, launching two more arrows toward the Mystery Gang. Tears glistened in his eyes, and he used a log as a trampoline, shooting an arrow in midair.
The gang rushed through the forest and soon stumbled upon the dark waters of Lake Anima Nipissing.
“The lake!” Fred shouted, pointing at it. “He won’t be able to swim with his foot!” He and his friends dove into the rough waters of Anima and ducked under. Arrows skewered the surface and sank, creating bubble jets around them.
The gang kicked to the surface and coughed, trying to catch their breaths.
Daphne screamed and embraced Freddie.
Ihaan, standing on the lakefront, prepared another arrow, but a dark shadow entered the stormy atmosphere from behind.
“Ro!” Freddie said.
The eagle soared to Ihaan and held out her claws, snatching the bow from his grip.
Ihaan flinched and twirled in a circle with the force. He growled and picked up rocks, hurling them toward the Mystery Gang, his face redder by the second.
Ro soared across the lake to the gang and dropped the bow into the water.
Waves and whitecaps knocked them aside, in circles, etc.
Ro led them toward a hidden island. Even though the current pushed them, the gang fought with everything they had.
Where Ihaan stood, he reached for his ankle and dropped to his knees, grabbing his head with both hands. The storm raged, but Ihaan remained sitting, crying the hardest he had ever had.
“I’ve failed you, Great Spirit.” Ihaan clenched his fist and punched the ground.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
