The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion (6 page)

Lady Grizzly continued reading the list of items. She had no idea that someone had slipped into the room through the grandfather's clock and was tiptoeing toward her.

“I want to thank you for your patience, Mr. Bevel,” Lady Grizzly said. “There's just one more item on the list. It's a—”

She never finished her sentence. A gloved hand had clapped itself over her mouth.

Struggling with all her might, Lady Grizzly was dragged across the room and into the grandfather's clock. Then the glass door of the clock was pulled shut from within.

Once again the great clock ticked peacefully away in the empty room.

On the desk lay the phone, talking to no one. “Hello? Hello?” it said. “Lady Grizzly, are you still there . . . ?”

Riding crop held high, Squire Grizzly crept into the old library of the west wing. He had heard a noise there. Could it be the burglars?

“Squire!” came Papa Bear's voice from the direction of the ballroom. “Squire! Where are you?”

But the squire didn't answer. He was staring at a shelf filled with books. Hadn't he just heard a
clunk
behind it?

Squire Grizzly tiptoed to the bookshelf. He listened. Another clunk. He leaned toward the shelf until his ear was almost touching the books . . .

All of a sudden the bookshelf folded inward and disappeared into the wall! Two arms shot out of the black space, grabbed Squire Grizzly around the neck, and pulled him in!

Back into place swung the bookshelf.

In the ballroom, Papa was getting worried. “Squire Grizzly?” he called again. “Are you all right?”

The only room in the west wing that Papa hadn't checked yet was the old library. So he went in and looked around. There was no one there. Nothing but rows and rows of dusty old books.

“Hmm,” Papa said to himself. “Maybe the squire didn't come in here.”

Papa suddenly felt very tired. After all, he had looked all over the west wing. He decided to rest for a few seconds before going on with his search.

He noticed a comfortable-looking chair against one of the library walls.
Better not
, he thought. He remembered what Squire Grizzly had done to one chair already. But his feet ached.
I'll be extra careful
, he thought.

The moment Papa sat down, the wall opened up behind him and swallowed the chair with him still in it. Seconds later the chair slid back out, and the wall closed again.

But the chair was empty!

In the east-wing dining room, the cubs strained to hear.

“Papa's not calling anymore,” said Brother.

“He must have found Uncle Squire,” said Bonnie.

“Either that,” said Sister, “or something bad happened to him.”

“Like what?” said Cousin Fred.

“Like maybe he was caught by the burglars,” said Sister. She looked as if she might cry.

“You've got it backwards,” said Fred. “Papa and the squire are trying to catch the burglars, not the other way around. And if I were a burglar and someone were trying to catch me, I'd run away.”

“You're not a burglar,” said Sister.

“No, and I'm not a
ghost
, either,” said Fred.

“Knock off the arguing, guys,” said Brother. “I think what we should do is call the police.”

Brother dashed to the phone and called the police station. Deputy Hoskins answered and said that Chief Bruno and Officer Marguerite had taken the squad car to the other side of town. He would radio them right away, but it might take a while for them to get to Grizzly Mansion.

“I don't know if we can wait for them,” said Sister. “I'm worried about Papa. Let's go look for him and the squire!”

“But Papa told us to stay here,” said Brother.

“That's because he wants us to stay out of trouble,” said Sister. “But what if
he's
in trouble?”

Brother looked from Sister to Fred to Bonnie. “Sister's right,” he said. “We've got to do something. Bonnie, I'm making you a Bear Detective for the day.”

Brother went to the wall and took down several riding crops. He passed them out to the cubs. “Defend yourselves if you have to,” he said. “Let's go!”

“Papa? Squire Grizzly?” the cubs called out as they stepped into the west wing of the mansion. But except for their own voices, there wasn't a sound.

“Now I
know
something's happened to them,” said Sister.

“Come on. Let's check out the ballroom,” said Brother. He and Bonnie and Cousin Fred made their way down the hall toward the ballroom.

Sister was left standing in the hall. Her feet just wouldn't move. She was scared to be left alone. But she was even more scared to go into that ballroom—the room where she had seen the ghosts of Bad Bart and his thieves.

Sister's heart pounded. Thoughts raced through her mind. First, she remembered that she hadn't
really
seen ghosts in the ballroom. That had just been a nightmare.

But then she remembered that Maisie
had
seen the ghosts. At least Maisie had thought so. But hadn't Bonnie explained that? And hadn't Squire Grizzly said her explanation was so good that it deserved to be true?

But Sister still wasn't convinced.

What finally did get Sister moving was her pride in being a Bear Detective.
The Bear Detectives never quit
, she reminded herself.
The Bear Detectives keep going until the case is solved
.

Sister tiptoed down the hall and into the ballroom. No one was there. She began to get scared again. Just then a cloud passed across the sun. Shadows crept through the great ballroom.

Sister stared at the row of suits of armor. She imagined one of them holding a candle. Then she imagined that the candle was
moving toward her
. . .

All of a sudden something brushed against Sister's shoulder. Instantly she turned, swinging her riding crop this way and that as hard as she could.

“Hey! Stop, Sis! It's me!”

Brother had his arms over his head, trying to shield it from Sister's attack.

“Don't sneak up on me like that!” snapped Sister.

“Sorry,” said Brother. “We were in the old library when we realized you weren't with us. I came back to look for you.”

“Well, you found me,” said Sister. “Whew! I've got to sit down for a second. I feel a little dizzy.”

“Come on with me,” said Brother. “You can rest in the library.”

Brother and Sister found Bonnie and Cousin Fred inspecting the bookcases.

“There's something weird about this,” said Fred, pointing to one of the shelves. “All the books in this room are covered with dust—
except
for the ones on this shelf.” He tried to pick one up. “It's stuck,” he said. He tried some others. “They all are.” He hit one to jar it loose. It made a funny sound. “They're hollow!” Fred said. “And they're attached to the shelf!”

Suddenly, the bookshelf folded into the wall, leaving a gaping black hole. At the very same moment, Sister disappeared into the opposite wall—along with the chair she'd just sat on!