The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion (9 page)

Just then Officer Marguerite, who had gone to check the van, came back carrying a pile of clothing. “Found these in the van,” she said, holding them up. “Some sort of costumes. The tags say
BIG BEAR CITY COSTUME AND NOVELTY SHOP
.”

Maisie gasped. “That's what the ghosts in the ballroom were wearing!” she cried. “Old-fashioned highway robber outfits!”

“Well, it turned out that Tillie never came snooping,” Arthur continued. “But Maisie did. While we were spying, we heard all about the ghosts. So I sent Charlie to Big Bear City to get costumes. I knew that if any of the servants saw us dressed like that at night they'd be too scared to ever come snooping again.”

“And he was right!” said Maisie to Chief Bruno. Tillie and Greeves nodded in agreement.

“I thought the candle was a nice touch, too,” said Arthur. “We did all our work by candlelight, in fact. Each night we inspected an antique, copied it, and replaced the original with the copy. By last night we were done. We put on our ‘ghost' costumes, gathered the antiques and our equipment near the cellar door, and waited.

“Just before dawn we tied Greeves up. Then I put on his uniform. I made sure that the Bug Bears were let in the front gate again and told them to start loading the antiques and equipment into the van.

“That's when Papa Bear and the cubs arrived. I knew they'd been here the day before, and I was worried that Papa might discover that the rosewood chair was a fake. But I hoped he wouldn't find out in time to catch us.”

“So that's why you turned us away,” said Papa to Greeves. Then he frowned and said, “I didn't mean
you
, Greeves. I meant
Arthur.
”

“Of course,” said Arthur. “You told me someone had stolen one of Lady Grizzly's antiques. I couldn't let you tell the squire that, could I? At that point my helpers had just begun loading the antiques into the van. When I saw Bonnie bring Papa and the cubs into the mansion, I hurried to the west wing and told Chuck and Charlie to empty the van and help me spy on all of you.

“When Papa and Squire Grizzly went looking for us in the west wing, we knew our only chance was to tie them up and force our way out the front gate. We nabbed Lady Grizzly, too, because we were afraid she'd call the police. But before we could load the van, we heard a siren. We left the van and ran for the back fence. End of story.”

“Forgot about us cubs, didn't you?” said Bonnie.

“We didn't
forget
about you,” sniffed Arthur. “We never even thought about you.”

“But that's
not
the end of the story,” said Greeves angrily. “I want to know
why
you did it, Arthur.”

“I wanted to be a millionaire like Squire Grizzly,” said Arthur. “I wanted to have lots of money and live in a mansion. Don't you?”

“I
do
live in a mansion,” said Greeves.

“Only as the butler,” sneered Arthur.

At that, Greeves puffed out his chest. “Better as an honest butler than a crooked millionaire,” he said proudly.

“Right, Greeves,” said Squire Grizzly, giving the butler a pat on the back. “I owe you an apology. I should never have accused you of stealing.”

“It's not your fault, sir,” said Greeves. He pointed a finger at his twin brother. “It's
his
fault. Officer Marguerite, take these crooks away and lock them up!”

“I'll handle this, Greeves,” said Chief Bruno. “Officer Marguerite, take these crooks away and lock them up!”

Three important decisions were made as a result of what came to be known as the Great Antique Robbery.

The first was made by the judge of the Beartown court. He decided that Arthur and his assistants should spend twenty years in Bear Country Prison. They had committed not just one crime but several: they had broken into Grizzly Mansion; they had lived there without permission; they had attacked and tied up residents and visitors; and they had attempted to commit burglary.

That's right: they had
attempted
to commit burglary. One of the strangest facts about the entire story was that no burglary ever really happened. That's because the antiques were never actually removed from the Grizzly property.

The second decision was made by Squire Grizzly. He decided not to go on the diet that Lady Grizzly had been nagging him about. When she asked him why not, he said that if he
had
gone on that diet, the rosewood chair wouldn't have broken when he sat on it. If the chair hadn't broken, it wouldn't have been given to Papa Bear to be fixed. And if it hadn't been given to Papa Bear to be fixed, none of the fake antiques would have been discovered in time to catch the crooks! Lady Grizzly wasn't very pleased with her husband's decision. But after having lost so much sleep, she was too worn out to argue with him.

All Beartown, however, was very pleased with the third decision. Squire and Lady Grizzly decided to celebrate the return of Lady Grizzly's priceless antiques by throwing a big party—a grand ball—in the ballroom of the west wing of Grizzly Mansion. And Papa Bear was to be the official guest of honor. That's because his sharp carpenter's eye had kept Lady Grizzly's antiques from being stolen.

On the evening of the grand ball, the Bear family got into their car and headed for Grizzly Mansion. The butler greeted them at the front door.

Papa frowned. “Greeves?” he said. “Is that you?”

“Of course it's me, sir,” said Greeves. “Who else would it be?”

“For a second,” said Papa with a grin, “you looked just like Arthur.”

Everyone laughed at Papa's joke. Then Greeves invited the Bears in. But Sister held back.

“What's wrong, Sis?” asked Brother.

Sister was standing straight and stiff on the welcome mat. Her eyes looked frightened. In her mind, she saw a gloomy ballroom filled with long shadows, floating candles, and walking suits of armor.

Greeves knelt beside Sister. “Still worried about ghosts in the ballroom?” he asked gently.

“I don't believe in ghosts,” said Sister. She paused. She seemed to be holding something back. Then she took a deep breath and added, “But the ghosts I don't believe in still scare me sometimes when I think about them.”

“I don't believe in ghosts anymore, either,” said Greeves. “Not after what happened here at Grizzly Mansion.”

“Then you think the ballroom is safe?” asked Sister.

“Very safe,” said Greeves. “Because the ghosts I don't believe in would never haunt a ballroom filled with bears and music and bright lights. They'd wait until the dark of night when the ballroom was empty— empty, that is, except maybe for one lonely, frightened bear.”

Sister shivered. But at the same time she smiled. “You're right, Greeves,” she said firmly. “I feel better already.”

“Excellent,” said the butler. “Now I suggest you all go into the ballroom and have a wonderful time.”

And that's exactly what they did. Even Sister.