The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion (4 page)

“What about Lady Grizzly?” asked Papa.

“Oh, she's sound asleep, sir,” said Greeves. “I couldn't possibly wake her. She's been under such a strain lately, you know. We all have.”

“You're right, Greeves,” said Papa. “We'll come back later.” He turned to leave, but he stopped and looked at Greeves.

“Yes, sir?” said the butler.

“Oh, nothing,” said Papa. “It's just that you look much more rested. The bags under your eyes are gone. You must have finally gotten some sleep.”

“Oh . . . er, yes,” said Greeves. “I did much better last night, sir.”

“That's good,” said Papa. “Well, we'll see you after lunch.”

“Good-bye, sir.”

As Papa and the cubs walked back to the car, they heard Bonnie calling them. “Hey, guys! Over here!” She was jumping rope on the lawn by the east wing.

“Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, a
hundred.
” Bonnie stopped jumping just as they reached her. “Sorry I didn't come over,” she said. “I wanted to get to a hundred. Why are you leaving so soon? Didn't you just get here?”

Papa explained that Greeves had told them the squire was away.

“No, he's not,” said Bonnie, frowning. “He's in the dining room finishing his breakfast. Boy, that Greeves has been acting strange lately. All the servants have. I guess it's because of that silly ghost business.”

“We thought you didn't know about that,” said Brother.

“It's impossible to live in this mansion without knowing,” said Bonnie. “Auntie and the servants are always talking about it. Come on, I'll take you to Uncle Squire. We'll use the side door. It's quicker.”

Squire Grizzly was sitting at the dining table in the east wing of the mansion, sipping a cup of coffee. Spread around the table were serving dishes half filled with pancakes, sausages, and potatoes.

“Good morning, sweetie,” he said when he saw Bonnie. “Oh, it's Papa and the cubs. Would you join me for breakfast? I'll ring Greeves for more juice and coffee.”

“You ought to have a talk with Greeves, Uncle,” said Bonnie. “He just sent Papa and the cubs away. Said you'd gone to a meeting in town.”

The squire frowned. “He did? That's odd.” With his foot he pressed a button connected to a cord that ran under the table. A bell rang in the front hall, and soon Greeves appeared.

“Oh, you're still here, sir,” said the butler with surprise.

“Of course I'm ‘still' here,” said Squire Grizzly. “Why did you tell Papa I'd left?”

“Well,” said Greeves, “I knew you had that meeting this morning, sir, and I saw the chauffeur leave.”

“That meeting is
tomorrow
morning, Greeves!” said the squire.

“Oh, I'm terribly sorry, sir,” said the butler. “I'm getting so forgetful. My head's been spinning from all those sleepless nights lately.”

“But you look well rested today,” said the squire.

“Only on the outside, sir,” said Greeves. “On the inside, I'm a wreck.”

“Oh, all right,” said Squire Grizzly. “You can go now, Greeves.”

“Thank you, sir.”

When the butler had gone, Squire Grizzly turned to Papa and said, “Well, what about that chair, Papa? Don't tell me it's already fixed!”

“I won't,” said Papa. “Because it isn't.”

“But can you fix it?”

“I'm not sure how to break this to you, Squire,” said Papa. “There's good news and bad news.”

“What's the good news?” asked the squire.

“The good news is that the chair will be easy to fix,” said Papa.

“Fine,” said the squire. “Then fix it. What's the bad news?”

“The bad news,” said Papa, “is that the chair's a fake.”

“It's a
what?
” said the squire.

“A fake,” Papa repeated. “A cleverly made copy. Brand-new.”

“That means we've been
robbed!
” cried the squire, pounding the table. “But when? How? And by
whom?
”

“I'll bet the ghosts did it!” said Sister. “The ones Maisie saw!”

“What have they done?” said a voice from the entranceway to the dining room. “And who was robbed?”

It was Lady Grizzly. She was wearing a nightgown with a robe over it. She looked exhausted.

“I thought you were asleep, dear,” said Squire Grizzly.

“I was finally dozing off,” said Lady Grizzly, “when I heard someone shout the word
robbed
and bang the dining room table.”

“Oh . . . er . . . that was me, dear,” said the squire sheepishly.

“Never mind that,” said Lady Grizzly. “Who was robbed?”

The squire gave Papa a glance and said, “I'm not sure how to break this to you, dear. There's good news and bad news.”

“Tell me the bad news first,” said Lady Grizzly.

“The bad news is that I sat in your favorite rosewood chair and broke it.”

“Oh, dear!” cried Lady Grizzly. “Didn't I tell you to go on a diet? But what's the good news?”

“The good news,” said the squire, “is that the chair I broke isn't really your favorite rosewood chair after all.”

“I don't understand,” said Lady Grizzly. “What is it, then?”

“It's . . . er . . . a fake,” said the squire.

“A
fake?
” cried Lady Grizzly. “That's not good news. That's
terrible
news! We've been robbed!” She fell back into a chair. “Check all the furniture in the west wing immediately! Oh, my beautiful antiques!”

Papa and the squire hurried off. They were gone several minutes. When they returned, they had gloomy expressions on their faces.

“Bad news,” moaned Lady Grizzly. “I can tell.”

Papa nodded. “It's not just the rosewood chair,” he said. “A dozen of the oldest and most valuable antiques in the west wing have been replaced with fakes.”

Lady Grizzly could hardly speak. Her breathing came in short bursts. Finally, she cried, “My collection is
ruined!
”

Squire Grizzly hurried to her side. He took her hand in his and patted it. “Don't worry, dear,” he said. “We'll catch these burglars and get your antiques back!”

“No, we won't,” moaned Lady Grizzly.

“But why not, dear?” said the squire.

“Because we can't catch
ghosts!
” wailed Lady Grizzly.

“Oh, Auntie,” said Bonnie. “It wasn't ghosts who stole your antiques.”

“That's easy for you to say, dear,” said Lady Grizzly, drying her eyes with a handkerchief. “You probably don't even believe in ghosts.”

“You're right,” said Bonnie. “I
don't
believe in ghosts. But the ghosts I don't believe in would never bother to replace stolen antiques with fakes. They'd just take them. You yourself just said that we can't catch ghosts. But whoever switched the antiques with fakes did it so no one would know the antiques were missing. And why? Because they were
afraid of being caught.
”