Goldie Blox and the Haunted Hacks!_A Stepping Stone Book

by Stacy McAnulty

  Ruby grabbed it. She hooked it to her minicomputer and turned it so they could all see the screen.

  The video was green and black because it was shot in the dark. Goldie had to squint to focus.

  “That’s us saying good night,” Li explained. The video showed Li kind of waving at Zeek. Zeek fluffed his pillow and turned over. Butler Phone’s glowing screen dimmed as it settled on the nightstand.

  The Gearheads watched five boring minutes of Li and Zeek sleeping. Then Li jumped up. Zeek’s eyes opened wide, but he didn’t move. Li bolted to the door.

  “That must be when you heard the scream machine,” Ruby said.

  Zeek grabbed Butler Phone and pulled the sleeping bag over his head. They couldn’t see him, but he was wriggling and definitely inside.

  Then the video went to static.

  “What’s happening?” Goldie asked.

  “I don’t know,” Ruby said. “The video cut out.”

  Then, suddenly, it was back on, and the room was deserted. Zeek’s sleeping bag lay empty.

  “A ghost turned off the camera and snatched Zeek!” Val exclaimed.

  “Stop it, Val!” Goldie snapped. “There is an explanation, and we’re going to find it.”

  Val’s shoulders dropped, and she hung her head.

  “I’m sorry,” Goldie mumbled. “Let’s just find Zeek. Okay? That’s what’s important.”

  “I’ll call Butler Phone from my mini-computer,” Ruby suggested. She tapped on the screen. Her eyebrows squished together and she frowned. She tapped again.

  “What’s wrong?” Goldie asked.

  “I can’t get my computer to connect.” Ruby looked up. “It’s like we’ve been cut off from the outside world. Something weird is going on.”

  Goldie bit her lip. She knew internet connections got interrupted. She knew this wasn’t a ghost, but she was still worried.

  “It’s only one a.m.,” Li added. “I wonder if things will get spookier.” From the way he smiled, Goldie knew that he was hoping for more.

  “Let’s find Zeek,” Goldie said. “And let’s stick together.”

  “A little late for that,” Val mumbled.

  They grabbed their flashlights. “We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up.”

  Val led them down to the kitchen. She seemed to be the only one not shaking.

  The kitchen appeared empty. Ruby checked the video and found nothing unusual. Li searched all the cupboards.

  “Still no food. And no Zeek,” he reported.

  “This room is clear. Let’s go to the dining room.” Just as Goldie turned to leave, the oven door opened and then closed with a violent bang.

  Ruby screamed.

  “It’s Chef. I know it is,” Val said.

  Goldie’s heart jumped to her throat. Still, she wanted to check it out. But Ruby grabbed her arm and dragged her to the dining room. Val and Li were right behind them.

  “Relax. There has to be an explanation.” Goldie stared at Ruby, who was pale.

  “Maybe it’s ghosts, Goldie,” Ruby said. “And if that’s true, I don’t want—”

  “It’s not.” Goldie used her flashlight again to look around the dining room. “Check under the tables for Zeek.”

  “Do you really think he’s playing hide-and-seek with us?” Val asked.

  Zeek wasn’t in the dining room either. But the room was different.

  “It’s so cold in here,” Ruby said. Her teeth chattered.

  “I know.” Goldie rubbed her arm.

  “Ghosts like the cold,” Val whispered to Goldie.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Ruby looked around nervously.

  They left the dining room. The foyer was empty. Goldie shined her flashlight up the chimney to double-check. Nothing but cobwebs. The only other room on the main floor was the bathroom.

  “Allow me.” Val grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. Goldie knew Val was hoping to catch the ghost cat.

  No cat. No Zeek. But there was something wrong with the toilet.

  “What’s happening?” Ruby asked, hiding behind Li.

  The water in the toilet bubbled and fizzed. The room filled with fog.

  “Awesome,” Li whispered.

  “Not awesome!” Ruby stepped back.

  “Ghosts in the toilet,” whispered Val.

  “Not ghosts,” Goldie said. “I think we need—”

  She didn’t finish her sentence because she was rudely interrupted by mad laughing that echoed throughout the house. It made the walls vibrate.

  The Gearheads huddled together.

  “I want to go home,” Ruby whispered.

  Goldie did, too. But she couldn’t say that out loud.

  “You don’t need to be afraid of ghosts,” Val said calmly. She squeezed Ruby’s hand.

  “Take a deep breath, Gearheads. We still have the other floors to check. And I’m sure there is a logical explanation for all this.” Goldie looked at Val, who seemed to understand. Because Val gave a slight nod. All the ghost talk was scaring Ruby.

  They walked up the stairs in a tight group. On the second floor, Goldie and Li took turns opening the guest room doors and checking for Zeek. They carefully stepped over the trip wires. Val held Ruby’s hand as they hung back in the hallway. The Gearheads never took their eyes off each other.

  “It’s all clear,” Goldie said. “No Zeek.”

  “We didn’t check the dumbwaiter,” Val said. She pointed to the wooden door at the end of the hall.

  Goldie turned to face the dumbwaiter. As she did, something banged inside.

  “What was that?” Ruby shrieked.

  “Hopefully Zeek,” Goldie said as she and Val marched down the hall to check it out. Li hung back with a nervous Ruby and a terrified Nacho.

  Val and Goldie put their hands on the handle at the same time. Goldie knew they were both hoping for different results.

  “On the count of three?” Goldie asked.

  Val nodded.

  “One. Two. Three!”

  A glowing figure shot out of the dumbwaiter.

  “Ghost!” Ruby yelled.

  Val and Goldie ran toward their friends. They hit every trip wire they’d set up earlier. Ghost puppets dropped from the ceiling. Goldie heard screaming. She wasn’t sure if it was coming from her or Val or both.

  The Gearheads and Nacho bolted up the stairs. They huddled at the end of the third-floor hallway. Li kept a flashlight pointed at the staircase. The thing had not followed them.

  “What was that?” Goldie was the one asking this time. Ten seconds ago she hadn’t believed in ghosts. But now she wasn’t sure.

  “It was a ghost!” Ruby said.

  “Yes,” Val agreed.

  “Whatever it was, it was awesome,” Li said.

  “What do you think it was?” Val asked Goldie.

  “I don’t know.” Her heart raced in her chest. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

  Val smiled wide. Goldie tried to smile back, but she didn’t have the energy.

  “We need to relax and finish our search,” she said. “Ghosts or no ghosts, Zeek is still missing.”

  They checked the rooms on the third floor. No sign of their classmate.

  Ruby yawned. She had dark circles under her eyes.

  “Let’s get some sleep,” Goldie said. “We’ll have better luck in the daylight.”

  They gathered their sleeping bags and dragged them to the foyer. They put Ruby in the middle. Nacho curled up on Goldie’s face. She gently moved him to her feet.

  “Good night, Gearheads,” Goldie said. They left one flashlight on. No one wanted to be in the dark.

  The old inn groaned in the night. Wind whistled through the hall
s. The darkness played tricks on Goldie’s eyes. Something would flicker to the side, but when she turned her head, nothing was there.

  Or it was gone.

  She somehow fell asleep for a little bit. But when she woke, it wasn’t morning yet. She looked over at her friends.

  Ruby’s eyes were shut tight. Goldie knew she wasn’t sleeping because her face wasn’t relaxed. It was all scrunched up.

  “Ruby, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Goldie whispered. “It’s just—”

  Before she finished her thought, Nacho jumped to his paws. His ears stood up.

  “What is it, boy?” Goldie asked.

  He stared into the hallway. He growled. He barked.

  Then something small and white shot through the room.

  “Meooooow!”

  Nacho chased it up the stairs.

  “Come back, Nacho!” Goldie yelled.

  “Come back, ghost cat!” Val yelled.

  They scrambled out of their sleeping bags and ran after the animals. Goldie took the stairs two at a time, but Val was faster. Still, four legs beat two legs. Nacho and the ghost cat raced to the third floor and out of sight.

  “Where did they go?” Val asked. She opened and closed doors to the empty rooms.

  “Nacho! Come back, boy! Nacho!”

  Li and Ruby joined them on the third floor.

  “Was that really the ghost cat?” Li asked.

  “Yes!” Val said.

  “No,” Goldie said.

  “We all saw it.” Val crossed her arms.

  “Did you notice the blue glow of the ghost cat?” Goldie asked.

  “I did,” Ruby said. “It was so creepy.”

  Li nodded.

  “It didn’t have a creepy glow because it was a ghost,” Goldie said. “It was the glow from a device. An LED screen.”

  “What device flies and has a glowing screen?” Val asked. She paused. Then the answer hit her. “Butler Phone,” she mumbled.

  “Huh? Why would Butler Phone pretend to be a ghost?” Li asked.

  Goldie shrugged. “Zeek must be trying to scare us. He wants us to think the place is haunted.”

  “But we’re trying to do the same thing,” Ruby said. “Why would he be behind all this?”

  “I don’t know. But we’re going to find out. And we’re going to find Nacho.” Goldie led the gang back to the kitchen. She pulled open the oven door. Inside she found a small motorized door opener.

  She yanked it out. “Our ghost Chef is just an automatic door opener on a timer.”

  Li moved in for a closer look. “Like what stores use to open and shut their glass doors.”

  “Yep. Looks like he adjusted it to slam.” Goldie put it on the counter. This little mech-anism wasn’t cheap. “And I bet the cold dining room is just a small air conditioner.”

  They went to check it out, and Goldie was right. They found the unit under a few broken boards in the dance floor.

  “What about the bubbly toilet?” Val asked. Goldie could hear the hope in her voice.

  “Probably dry ice,” Goldie said. “Drop a hunk of dry ice in warm water, and you get fog. Lots of it. It’s really kind of cool, but not good for pipes.” They went to check it out. But the toilet water had calmed down. The dry ice had melted.

  “And the ghost on the second floor that flew out of the dumbwaiter?” Val asked.

  “Probably just a hologram,” Li said. “The expensive kind. It was an impressive ghost. Don’t ya think?”

  “So Zeek’s behind all this. But why? And where did he go?” Ruby asked.

  “Let’s head back to the scene of the crime,” Goldie said. “Not that there’s been a crime. Except for dognapping Nacho.”

  In the comedian’s room, everything was how they’d left it. Goldie took her flashlight and crawled into Zeek’s sleeping bag headfirst.

  “What are you doing?” Ruby asked Goldie’s feet. They were the only part of her sticking out.

  “Looking for clues,” Goldie shouted. A moment later, she popped out with a remote in her hand.

  “That’s how he controlled the camera,” Ruby said.

  “But where did he go?” Val asked.

  “We know he didn’t go out the door, because Ruby and I were waiting in the hall,” Goldie said.

  “He didn’t go out the window. I checked. It’s stuck,” Li reminded them.

  “And he wasn’t evaporated by ghosts,” Val mumbled, sounding disappointed.

  “So how else can someone get out of this room?” Ruby asked.

  “Maybe he didn’t get out,” Goldie suggested.

  “Do you think he’s still here?” Ruby whispered.

  “Not exactly. He hid somewhere until we left. Then he snuck out.” Goldie waved for her friends to follow her into the hallway.

  “So we’re back to the start. He could be anywhere,” Val said.

  “No. There may be another clue. Wait here.” Goldie ran to the dining room and grabbed her black-light lantern.

  “Watch this.” She turned on the light. The vampire slime Val had created lit up half the hallway. And beyond that, there were footprints. Zeek’s footprints.

  “He stepped in the goo,” Goldie explained. They followed the footprints to the janitor’s closet and then to the laundry chute.

  “He’s in the basement,” Goldie said.

  Li pulled open the chute door. “Anyone care to go for a ride?”

  Goldie jumped into the laundry chute first. She slid on her bottom all the way to the basement. She tumbled into a basket of dusty rags. Then Ruby landed on her. They got out of the way before Li and Val could crash on top of them.

  The laundry room was small and bare. Still no Zeek or Nacho. But a faint light glowed under the door that led to the rest of the basement. Goldie quietly pushed it open.

  Zeek sat at a laptop with Butler Phone hovering right behind him. Nacho slept in the corner in a laundry basket. An empty box of maple-flavored dog biscuits lay next to him. But what surprised Goldie was that Zeek, Butler Phone, and Nacho were not alone. Someone was standing next to Zeek.

  “Mayor Zander, what are you doing here?” she asked in her loudest voice.

  Mayor Zander and Zeek both jumped.

  “I’m just…I wanted to make sure…um, there was no funny business.” The mayor straightened his bow tie.

  “Funny business?” Li asked. “You mean all the tricks that Zeek has been up to?”

  “I didn’t do anything!” Zeek yelled.

  “The oven? The sounds? The toilet? We know it’s you,” Val said. “Goldie figured it all out.”

  Zeek pointed a finger at Goldie. “And you were behind the slime and the screechy noises.”

  “We needed to convince you the inn was haunted,” Goldie said.

  “And we needed to convince you that the inn was haunted,” Zeek shot back.

  “But why?” Val asked.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” Ruby added. “It’s like we’re on the same team.”

  Mayor Zander adjusted his bow tie again and then cleaned his glasses. He seemed to be stalling.

  Goldie stared at the bow tie. She knew she was missing something.

  “You’ve all made a mess of things,” the mayor said, still pulling on his bow tie.

  “I got it!” Goldie yelled. “I know why you want us to think the inn is haunted. You don’t want this place destroyed either. It means something to you. That boy in the picture with his lemonade stand was you. You were wearing that big bow tie!”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbled.

  Li, Val, and Ruby squinted hard at the mayor.

  “It’s him,” Li agreed. “You’re right, G.”

  “No…I…It’s not…,” the mayor sta
mmered.

  “Give up, Dad,” Zeek said. “It’s over.”

  “Fine,” Mayor Zander admitted. “I made my first buck selling lemonade on the front porch. That was my first business. Zander’s Lemonade. By the end of that summer, I had three locations and six kids working for me. So yes, this place means something to me.”

  “It’s also where he met my mother,” Zeek added.

  “That, too.” The mayor shrugged.

  “Why didn’t you just tell the town board that they can’t destroy the inn?” Ruby asked. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”

  “I don’t want them thinking I’m emotional and caring. I’m a businessman and the mayor.” He puffed out his chest. “And no one is going to tell them otherwise.”

  “So what do we do now?” Ruby asked. “Do we all lie and say we’ve seen the ghosts of the inn?”

  “I have a better idea,” Goldie said.

  “What?” asked Zeek.

  Goldie smiled. “Think of it as a business opportunity.” She explained her plan to the Zanders and the Gearheads. They all liked it and agreed to share it with the town board on Monday.

  Li yawned. Then everyone else did, too. The sun peeked through the cloudy windows of the basement.

  “We stayed up all night,” Ruby said.

  “Yep. Except Nacho.” Goldie nudged her dog awake. “Time to go home and take a nap.”

  Zeek and Mayor Zander went up the stairs first. Li and Ruby followed. Only Val, Goldie, and Nacho were left.

  “I’m sorry we didn’t see any ghosts,” Goldie said to her friend. “I don’t believe in them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in you. If you ever want to go ghost hunting again, I’ll be there with you. Haunted mansions. Haunted caves. Haunted factories. Haunted playgrounds. Anywhere. I’ll go.”

  “I know, Goldie.” Val smiled. “That’s what makes you an awesome friend. You’re always willing to look for trouble.”

  They laughed.