The Halloween Hoax Read Online Free PDF Page B

the man’s feet crunching through leaves as he walked past them.
    â€œWhat if he goes farther than our five-block rule?” Bess whispered.
    â€œThen we’re out of luck,” replied Nancy.
    The Clue Crew followed quietly. But when one of George’s tin cansclanged against a fence, the man whirled around. Nancy, Bess, and George froze in their tracks.
    â€œUm . . . trick-or-treat!” George blurted.
    The man smiled. He reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and tossed it at the girls. George reached out her hand and caught it.
    â€œHave a groovy Halloween, kids!” the man said. He gave a little wave and kept on walking.
    â€œWhat is it?” Nancy asked George.
    George opened her hand and gulped.
    It was a pack of Baxter’s Licorice Gum!
    â€œHe is Dr. Funk-n-Stine!” Bess gasped.
    â€œCome on,” Nancy said. “Let’s not lose him.”
    George dropped the pack of gum in her bag. Then the girls trailed after Dr. Funk-n-Stine.
    â€œHe’s heading toward River Street,” Bess said. “Maybe he’s going to haunt the TV station again.”
    Dr. Funk-n-Stine stopped suddenly. The girls stopped too. They watched quietly as he opened a gate and walked into a front yard.
    Nancy, Bess, and George took a few stepsforward for a closer look. The yard was overgrown with weeds and dotted with tombstones. Nancy saw a sign post but couldn’t make out the words because they were covered with vines. Behind the sign was a house that looked even creepier than Dr. Funk-n-Stine’s. Its windows were dirty and broken. A notice on the door read ENTER IF YOU DARE!
    The door of the house opened. A green-faced ghoul wearing a black cape and hood stepped out. He smiled at Dr. Funk-n-Stine as he walked up the path.
    â€œHappy Halloween, Artie,” said the ghoul.
    â€œThanks, Elliot,” Dr. Funk-n-Stine said back. He gave the ghoul a little wave as he entered the house.
    Nancy was puzzled. Whose house was this?
    â€œLook!” Bess said. She pointed to their classmate Kevin walking toward the house. Kevin was dressed as a pirate and held his mother’s hand. “Kevin and his mom are going inside. What kind of a house could it be?”
    The ghoul turned toward the sidewalk. He grinned at the girls with rotten teeth and said, “Come in. We’ve been dying to meet you!”
    â€œUm, no thanks,” Bess squeaked. “We’ve got enough candy for tonight.”
    The girls were about to run when they heard a scream.
    A flurry of goose bumps raced up Nancy’s arms and legs. She’d know that scream anywhere.
    â€œNadine Nardo! She’s in that house and she’s in trouble!”
    â€œWe have to help her,” George said.
    â€œWhat about our rules?” Bess asked. “We don’t know anyone in that creepy house.”
    â€œWe know Kevin and his mom,” Nancy reminded her.
    Another scream.
    â€œWe know Nadine, too,” George said. “Let’s go!”
    The girls ran past the ghoul into the house.
    â€œI knew you’d change your mind,” the ghoul said. “Have a frightfully good time.”
    The girls followed the scream down a long dark hallway. As they swatted cobwebs aside, they didn’t see Nadine or Kevin and his mom. But they did see skeletons and bats bouncing up and down from the ceiling, and portraits of people in old-fashioned clothes hanging on the wall.
    Nancy glanced at a portrait of a man wearing a top hat. Suddenly the man reached up, tipped his hat, and said, “Happy Halloween!”
    A grandfather clock gonged as they raced past it. A vampire popped out from behind the clock. He bared his fangs and growled, “Must be time for a snack!”
    The hall led straight into a big room. The room was dark, but Nancy could see a suit of armor in the middle and a door in each of the walls.
    â€œNadine might be in one of those rooms,” Nancy said, her heart