The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion (3 page)

“Uh-oh,” said Papa. “I hope you're not too scared to go back to the mansion with us tomorrow.”

“Oh, no,” said Sister. “I'll be okay . . . I think.”

But that night something happened that almost convinced Sister not to return to Grizzly Mansion. She had a nightmare about it.

In dreams, even good ones, things often look strange and events happen in odd ways. Sister's dream was no exception. She found herself on the lawn of Grizzly Mansion's west wing, watching Bonnie jump rope. “Ten thousand and two, ten thousand and three . . . ,” Bonnie was calling out.

It was strange that after so many jumps Bonnie didn't look the least bit tired. And it was also strange that it was the middle of the night. But strange as it all was, it seemed perfectly natural to Sister, the way things so often seem in dreams.

The mansion grounds were lit only by a full moon. But it wasn't very dark, because the moon was at least twice its normal size. So was the lawn. It stretched for what seemed like a mile off toward Grizzly Mansion. The mansion looked tiny in the distance.

All of a sudden Sister felt something tug at her. She began to glide across the lawn toward the mansion. She heard Bonnie's voice getting farther and farther away: “. . . fifteen thousand and eight, fifteen thousand and nine . . .”

The mansion grew larger and larger, until at last Sister found herself standing at the side door to the west wing. The door was open. Inside was a long dark hallway. Sister felt her heart beat faster. She didn't want to go in. But she couldn't seem to help herself. Something made her feet move.

She walked into the mansion and down the hallway. The hallway was lined with huge portraits of Grizzly forebears. Even in the dark Sister could see their eyes following her as she walked.

She was headed toward a room at the end of the hallway. From the room came a dim glow.
What was in that room?
Sister didn't know, and she didn't want to find out. But just the same, her feet carried her down the hallway and toward the room.

It seemed to take forever to get all the way down the hall. Sister had plenty of time to tell herself over and over, “I should turn back . . .” Her mind heard her mouth say it, but her feet didn't seem to hear. They just kept walking down the hallway.

Finally, she stood in the doorway of the room. She recognized it now. It was the great ballroom in the west wing. At the far end of the room stood a row of suits of armor that held swords, spears, and maces. One suit right in the middle of the row also held a lit candle.

Suddenly, the candle began to move toward Sister. She heard the clanking of metal as the suit of armor walked.

I have to get away!
she thought. But when she turned to run, she found she couldn't move. Her legs were as heavy as logs, and her feet felt as if they were nailed to the floor.

The candle got closer and closer. But now the clanking had stopped. For it was no longer a suit of armor that held the candle. It was a tall figure in a black wide-brimmed hat and a black waistcoat with big gold buttons . . . and a
mask
. It was the Maniac of Mountain Highway!

Now the other suits of armor had changed into highway robbers, too! Here they came, all in a row behind Bad Bart!

Sister let out a scream just as Bad Bart reached out and
grabbed her shoulder
. . .

“Wake up, Sis!” said Brother. He was shaking her shoulder.

Sister opened her eyes and looked around. She was glad to see her own bedroom again.

“You screamed in your sleep,” said Brother. “Must have been dreaming.”

Sister told Brother about her nightmare. “Now I'm
definitely
not going with you and Papa to Grizzly Mansion tomorrow,” she said.

“But it was just a bad dream, Sis,” said Brother. “Nothing scary is going to happen at the mansion tomorrow. It'll be broad daylight. I don't believe in ghosts, you know, but the ghosts I don't believe in only come out at night.”

“Hmm,” said Sister. “You might be right about that.”

“Of course I am,” said Brother. “Now go back to sleep.”

But Sister couldn't sleep at first. It was too quiet. Every little creak of the tree house made her imagine highway robbers climbing along the branches toward the windows.

Then Brother started snoring loudly. Sister imagined that Brother's snoring was the sound of saws cutting through the branches. That made the highway robbers fall to the ground and run away.

And so, finally, Sister drifted off to sleep.

Sister still wasn't sure about going to Grizzly Mansion when Brother asked her the next morning after breakfast.

“Well, you don't have to decide right this minute,” said Brother. “I'm sure Papa isn't finished fixing the chair yet. Let's go out to the workshop and see how he's doing.”

The cubs found Papa kneeling on the floor with chair parts spread around him. He was frowning at something in his hand.

“What's wrong, Papa?” asked Brother. “Can't you fix it?”

“Oh, I can fix it—that'll be easy,” said Papa. “The problem is, this chair is definitely
not
an antique.”

“How can you tell?” asked Sister.

Papa held up a shiny screw. “This screw is brand-new,” he said. “Made with modern machine tools.”

“Maybe someone replaced the screws,” Brother suggested.

Papa shook his head. “I remember working on this very chair a few years back when Lady Grizzly bought it,” he said. “I took it apart, cleaned it, and refinished it. It had original hand-made screws. They were still good, so I used them again when I put the chair back together. I know for a fact that no one has worked on the chair since. Now, let's see . . .”

Papa picked up one of the legs and examined it. “Ah, you see?” he said. “It's a fake! Now that I look at it more closely, I can see that it was made with modern tools. It's hand-made, and it's a very nice piece of work. It looks just like the original. But it's definitely a copy. You see these screw holes? They were obviously made with an electric drill!”

“Wait a minute,” said Sister with a frown. “How can an antique change into a fake?”

Brother laughed. “It didn't
change
, Sis,” he said. “Someone must have stolen it and left a fake in its place!”

For a moment Sister kept frowning. Then her frown vanished, her mouth came open, and her eyes grew wide. “That means Maisie was right!” she cried. “She really did see the ghosts of Bad Bart and his bandits stealing furniture!”

“Now, Sis,” said Papa. “That can't be true. I agree with Squire Grizzly. Maisie imagined the whole thing.”

“You mean it's just a coincidence that an antique has been stolen?” said Sister.

“Er . . . uh . . . well, I . . . ,” said Papa. “Brother, explain it to your sister.”

“Me?” said Brother. “Well, I . . . er . . . uh . . .”

“Never mind,” said Papa. “The important thing is that we have to get right over to Grizzly Mansion and tell the squire!”

Sister took a step backward toward the workshop door. “That's okay,” she said. “You guys can go without me.”

“Come on, Sis!” said Brother. “You've got to go! Cousin Fred, too!”

“Oh, yeah?” said Sister. “Why?”

“Isn't it obvious?” said Brother. “This is a job for the
Bear Detectives!
”

Papa and the cubs hurried over to Grizzly Mansion, stopping on the way to pick up Cousin Fred.

“Well, well, if it isn't Papa Bear,” said the security guard at the front gate. “I wasn't expecting you until after lunch.”

“Urgent business,” said Papa.

When Greeves answered the front door, his eyebrows went up. “Oh, it's you, sir,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“We need to see Squire Grizzly right away,” said Papa. “Someone has stolen one of Lady Grizzly's priceless antiques!”

The butler's eyebrows raised even higher. “Oh, dear,” he said. “That's awful. But I'm afraid the squire is not at home. He went to an early business meeting in town. He won't be back until after lunch.”