Night of the Living Dummy Read Online Free PDF

grinned at them from the doorway. He appeared to be standing, his skinny legs bent at an awkward angle.
    He was wearing Kris’ dress-up clothes, the Betsey Johnson skirt and the silk blouse.
    Her mouth wide open in surprise, Kris made her way quickly to the doorway. She immediately saw that the dummy wasn’t really standing on his own. He had been propped up, the doorknob shoved into the opening in his back.
    She grabbed the dummy by the waist and pulled him away from the door. “My blouse. It’s all wrinkled,” she cried, holding it so Lindy could see. She narrowed her eyes angrily at her sister. “This was so obnoxious of you, Lindy.”
    “Me?” Lindy shrieked. “I swear, Kris, I didn’t do it. I slept like a rock last night. I didn’t move. I didn’t get up till you woke me. I didn’t do it. Really!”
    Kris stared hard at her sister, then lowered her eyes to the dummy.
    In her blouse and skirt, Mr. Wood grinned up at her, as if enjoying her bewilderment.
    “Well, Mr. Wood,” Kris said aloud, “I guess you put on my clothes and walked to the door all by yourself!”
    Lindy started to say something. But their mother’s voice from downstairs interrupted. “Are you girls going to school today? Where are you? You’re late!”
    “Coming!” Kris called down, casting an angry glance at Lindy. She carefully set Mr. Wood down on his back on her bed and pulled her skirt and blouse off him. She looked up to see Lindy making a mad dash across the hall to be first in the bathroom.
    Sighing, Kris stared down at Mr. Wood. The dummy grinned up at her, a mischievous grin.
    “Well? What’s going on?” she asked the dummy. “I didn’t dress you up and move you. And Lindy swears she didn’t do it.”
    But if we didn’t do it, she thought, who did?

 
    8

    “Tilt his head forward,” Lindy instructed. “That’s it. If you bounce him up and down a little, it’ll make it look like he’s laughing.”
    Kris obediently bounced Mr. Wood on her lap, making him laugh.
    “Don’t move his mouth so much,” Lindy told her.
    “I think you’re both crazy,” Lindy’s friend Alice said.
    “So what else is new?” Cody joked.
    All four of them were sitting in a small patch of shade under the bent old maple tree in the Powells’ back yard. It was a hot Saturday afternoon, the sun high in a pale blue sky, streaks of yellow light filtering down through the shifting leaves above their heads.
    Barky sniffed busily around the yard, his little tail wagging nonstop.
    Kris sat on a folding chair, which leaned back against the gnarled tree trunk. She had Mr. Wood on her lap.
    Lindy and Alice stood at the edge of the shade, their hands crossed over their chests, watching Kris’ performance with frowns of concentration on their faces.
    Alice was a tall, skinny girl, with straight black hair down to her shoulders, a snub nose, and a pretty, heart-shaped mouth. She was wearing white shorts and a bright blue midriff top.
    Cody was sprawled on his back in the grass, his hands behind his head, a long blade of grass between his teeth.
    Kris was trying to show off her ventriloquist skills. But Lindy kept interrupting with “helpful” suggestions. When she wasn’t making suggestions, Lindy was nervously glancing at her watch. She didn’t want to be late for her job at Amy’s birthday party at two o’clock.
    “I think you’re way weird,” Alice told Lindy.
    “Hey, no way,” Lindy replied. “Slappy is a lot of fun. And I’m going to make a lot of money with him. And maybe I’ll be a comedy star or something when I’m older.” She glanced at her watch again.
    “Well, everyone at school thinks that both of you are weird,” Alice said, swatting a fly off her bare arm.
    “Who cares?” Lindy replied sharply. “They’re all weird, too.”
    “And so are you,” Kris made Mr. Wood say.
    “I could see your lips move,” Lindy told Kris.
    Kris rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. You’ve been giving me a hard time all