Velma carried a chocolate shake in one hand and a paper bag containing a cheeseburger and French fries in the other. As she approached the Mystery Machine, Shaggy intercepted her. "Like, you better not go there. Those two are at it again."
Velma frowned and her whole body sagged. "Jinkies. Don't they ever give it a rest?"
Shaggy shook his head. "Man, like, you shouldn't let it bother you so much. C'mon, there's a great park about a block from here. Let's go there. Can we stop by the sandwich shop on the way? Like, I haven't gotten my supper yet."
Velma nodded sullenly and followed as Shaggy led the way. Soon, with four super-long, double-topping submarine sandwiches and a soda, Shaggy settled down at a picnic table, and Velma sat across from him. Velma looked around, unsettled, "Shaggy, where's Scooby?"
"Like, not to worry, Velma." He unwrapped the first sandwich and held it aloft so that the wind would pick up the scent. Within four seconds, a large brown dog was barreling toward them. Shaggy quickly set the sandwich on the table a couple of feet away from him, and sure enough, Scooby bounded up onto the bench and began to devour the sub. Shaggy unwrapped the second sandwich and did likewise. "Like hey, Scoob, don't say thank you or anything."
When Scooby had finished the sandwich, he looked up. "Rank rou, Raggy." In response, Shaggy passed him the third sandwich and began the fourth himself. By the time they'd both finished, Velma had taken no more than three bites from her cheeseburger.
"You want the fries, Shaggy?" she asked without enthusiasm.
Shaggy took the fries and divvied them up between himself and Scooby, then addressed his friend with concern, "Like, Velma, you gotta give it up. It's not worth it."
She nibbled at her burger, then sat looking at it for some time, as if it were some strange, unsolvable puzzle. "Well, I was hungry before. Here, Scooby." She threw the remaining three-quarters of the cheeseburger to the dog, who downed it in one gulp.
"Man, when you fall, you fall hard. Like, it's way too bad that you couldn't fall for someone who could return your feelings. Or, like, at least notice."
Velma smiled halfheartedly at her friend. "Oh, Shaggy, whenever I look at her, I feel all tingly. And then I see them together, and I feel like a gnat. What happened? We all used to be such great friends. Now I can barely stand look at Freddy. And I can't say a thing to Daphne because I can never see her alone without him anymore."
Shaggy reached across the table to rest a comforting hand on her arm. "Like, I know it's really rough on you. You need to snap out of it." He perked up and clapped his hands together. "Like, I know! Let's go out tonight! Like a dance, or some big deal with lots of pretty girls."
Velma cocked an eyebrow and adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses, "Jinkies, Shaggy, you know I don't dance. I'd much rather go to the library or maybe a coffeehouse with poetry readings or a chemistry lab."
"Like, sure, Velma. Whatever you want. As long as there's a snack bar or a candy machine, I'll be happy."
Velma went to the University Library, and Shaggy and Scooby wandered off to the student union in search of small, miscellaneous food items. Velma selected a novel appropriate to her mood and was soon settled into a corner, utterly absorbed into The Well of Loneliness. She didn't notice when young college student with an armload of books by Willa Cather and Virginia Woolf seated herself two tables away. She didn't notice when the girl got up and moved to the next table. She didn't even notice when the girl moved to the opposite end of the same table at which Velma was seated.
Eventually, she looked up and noticed the bright green eyes peering over the top of Orlando. "Uh, did you want something?" Velma asked uncertainly.
Orlando went down, and the girl smiled and nodded to the thick book in Velma's hands. "That's a really good story. So sad, though."
Velma nodded. "I expect as much."
"Why read something sad?"
"I feel sad."
"Why?" The girl with her dark, tousled hair was positively engaging.
Velma closed the book and scooted down the table until she was directly across from the girl. "Jinkies, no reason, I guess."
The girl reached across the table and offered her hand. "I'm Cherry. I'm a medical student." She nodded to her books. "Don't let these fool you. I have an American literature class this semester."
Velma grinned and introduced herself as she shook Cherry's hand. Within minutes, the two were deep into a discussion of organic chemistry. This is how Shaggy and Scooby found them. After introductions were made, Cherry asked how Shaggy had gotten Scooby into the library. Shaggy grinned and held up a pair of sunglasses. "Like, I convinced them I was blind and he was my seeing eye dog."
"Groovy."
Shaggy leaned close, "Like, that librarian with the blue hair is one mean lady."
Cherry nodded, "Yeah, Miss Glumley has her days. But she's a good person, really. She recognizes me and even lets me check out books when I've forgotten my student ID."
For some reason, Velma was much more willing to go to a dance when Cherry asked her than she had been when Shaggy had asked. Miss Glumley scoured them with her shifty little eyes, but checked out Cherry's books, even though Cherry had forgotten her student ID card in her other purse. "Next time, Cherry, you'd better have that card. What if you came when I wasn't here to recognize you? What do you think would happen to you then? You wouldn't get to take your books home, that's what!"
Once they'd escaped the lecturing librarian, the three kids and the dog left campus and followed the sound of groovy, loud music until they found a party. They danced until Cherry announced that she had a test in the morning and needed to get in at least two hours of sleep. Cherry bid Velma an affectionate good night, and Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby turned their footsteps toward Shaggy's Uncle Jones's place, where they'd been graciously offered a place to crash while they were in town.
Uncle Jones was awake and devouring a sandwich when they arrived. "Kinda late, kids. Your friends went to bed hours ago."
"Like, sorry, Uncle Jones. We were dancing, and having a really groovy time. Hey, can I make a sandwich? I've, like, got the munchies."
Uncle Jones smiled. "Help yourself, kids."
Shaggy fixed himself a sandwich thicker than his mouth could open and another one for Scooby. Velma had some cheese and crackers. In the ensuing casual conversation, they mentioned that they'd been at the library.
Uncle Jones leaned close to them, the light casting eerie shadows on his rugged face. "Did you see the ghost?"
Shaggy dropped his sandwich, which Scooby caught before it even hit the floor. "Zoinks! G-g-ghost?"
"Jinkies, no," Velma asserted. "What ghost?"
Uncle Jones looked around as if to insure that they were indeed alone. "The ghost of Larry the Librarian. About twenty years ago, Larry was crushed to death when a shelf collapsed and several volumes of the National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints came down upon him. He's been haunting that library ever since."
Velma's eyes widened. "How horrible for poor Larry! But I don't believe in ghosts."
Shaggy was shaking so hard he tumbled off of his chair. He grabbed Scooby and hugged him close. "Like, I'm not going to be able to sleep at all tonight. Velma, if you go back to the library, like, you can go alone."
"Oh, fiddlesticks, Shaggy," Velma said firmly, crossing her arms. "There's no such thing as ghosts."
"Tell that to Larry the Librarian," Uncle Jones said sinisterly, and he began to cackle uncontrollably.
The next morning, Shaggy and Scooby were sprawled on the floor in the basement, snoring gently. Velma got up from the couch, neatly folded the blanket she'd used, fluffed the pillow, then stepped over her friends and went up the stairs.
No one else seemed to be awake yet, so she treated herself to a big bowl of Malt-O-Meal. After washing her bowl and setting it in the drainer, she went to knock on the guest room door. She stopped her hand in mid-air, however, hearing Daphne's and Fred's muffled voices. Deciding she didn't know or care what they were talking about, she returned to the basement. She wrote a quick note stating that she'd gone to the library, safety-pinned it to Shaggy's shirt, then went on her way.
She started to walk, then she stopped and looked at the van in the driveway. No one but Freddie ever drove the Mystery Machine. Ever. Defiantly, Velma slipped into the driver's seat and folded down the visor. The keys dropped into her hand.
Velma backed the Mystery Machine into the street. As she paused to take it out of reverse, she looked at Shaggy's Uncle Jones's house and saw Fred's and Daphne's faces plastered against the window, ghastly pale as they watched the Mystery Machine leaving without them. Velma smiled to herself as she drove away.
Velma parked near the library and walked up to the door only to discover that the building was not yet open. She returned to the Mystery Machine and shut herself in the back. As long as she had time to kill, she might as well be productive. Pulling her chemistry set out from underneath the seat, she set it up and got to work.
A couple of hours later, she poured the fruits of her labor into a cardboard box innocently labeled "Scooby Snacks." The she put the chemistry set back in its proper location and returned to the library door. Five more minutes.
Velma sat on a bench by the door and waited. When Miss Glumley unlocked the door, Velma and a small handful of dedicated, well-scrubbed college students filtered in. Velma pulled the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics off the reference shelf and idly thumbed through it, watching the door to see if a particular medical student with bright green eyes and dark, tousled hair would come to study today.
But as Velma sat there in the quiet, she felt a prickling on the back of her neck. Slowly, she turned around and saw a book lift off a table and float to a shelf. It hung suspended in the air for a moment, then pushed its way between two other books until it's spine was perfectly even with theirs. Velma ran to the site and looked at the book. It had been filed in perfect call number order.
Velma searched for wires and found none. Then she considered that the book might have always been on the shelf, and she began to search for hidden projectors. Again, she found none.
Then she paused to wonder if she'd been smelling the Scooby Snacks for too long.
With a shrug, she returned to her table and her vigilant watch for the attractive young medical student.
After some time, Velma saw Shaggy and Scooby enter the library, Shaggy wearing dark glasses and holding Scooby on a short leash. Scooby led Shaggy directly to her, and the three of them retreated to a more secluded area of the library so Shaggy could put away his shades and let Scooby off the leash.
"Like, Velma, Freddy's really mad," Shaggy warned, "Like, you shouldn't have taken the Mystery Machine. When he catches up to you, like, you'd better run and hide." He giggled nervously.
"Jinkies! He took Daphne away from me, and now he's going to come after me for borrowing the Mystery Machine? We all helped pay for it. Just because he always drives when we're all together doesn't mean it's his van only."
Shaggy shook his head. "Like, how many things were wrong with what you just said? Daphne was never yours to begin with. Like, you've got to let it go."
Velma frowned and adjusted her thick glasses. Scooby Doo nosed her limp, dangling hand out of sympathy. "Rit's rokay, Relma. Re rove rou." She smiled wanly and patted him on the head.
Shaggy stepped closer and reminded Velma, "Like, I thought you got over that last night. Like, what about Cherry? She was like, really cute, and she like, really liked you."
Velma suddenly felt warm and tingly inside. "Jinkies, but she's not here."
A pair of bright green eyes peeked at them between the shelves of books. "Oh, there you are!" A moment later, Cherry rounded the corner and joined them. She stooped and scritched Scooby between the ears. "I thought I saw you coming into the library. Not many dogs do." Then she stood up and looked down into the short, bespectacled woman's eyes. "Gosh, I'm so glad to see you again."
"Jinkies! Me too!" Velma grinned happily, resisting the urge to pounce on her right then and there.
"Why don't we go for lunch?" Cherry asked.
"Like, did you say lunch?" Shaggy exclaimed. The sound of several dozen people in the stacks hissing "Shhhhhh!" rose and fell like a tidal wave. Chagrined, Shaggy whispered, "Like, let's blow out of here and get some grub!"
"Ri'm rith rou, Raggy," Scooby added.
Cherry looked at Velma expectantly. Velma nodded willingly and eagerly, "Sure, let's go!"
"You're not going anywhere," a voice announced. Again, the chorus of shushes rolled over them. They turned to see Fred blocking the exit from the aisle of books, his arms folded across his chest. Daphne stood behind him, hands petulantly on her hips. Fred dropped his voice to a whisper and demanded, "Velma, I can't believe you took the Mystery Machine. What's gotten into you?"
Velma looked at her little red shoes, silent.
"Why won't you answer me?" Fred demanded.
Shaggy shuffled forward defensively. "Fred, like you be nice to her, or, like, I'll tell Daphne about what you and I used to do after school when we were little boys."
Fred drew back, his face drained of color. "You wouldn't."
"What?" Daphne asked.
Fred turned around and held up his hands. "Nothing! Really!"
"What?" Daphne asked again, her lower lip protruding.
Before anyone could say another word, a soft voice like brittle autumn leaves warned, "Be silent. Respect the needs of your fellow students for a quiet study area."
As one, they all turned to see a diminutive man at the end of the aisle, wearing thick-rimmed glasses and a horridly outdated tie. More remarkably, he was faintly luminescent and hovering about six inches above the carpet.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy screamed. Scooby Doo leapt into his arms, and Shaggy's spindly legs nearly buckled from the weight.
"Re rost rof Rarry re Ribrarian!" Scooby yelped.
Larry narrowed his eyes at them. "Wait, you're not students." Blue flames erupted from his back like wings and energy crackled about his fingertips. His hair abruptly turned white and began to blow about in a nonexistent wind. "Infidels! How dare you invade my depository! Prepare to die!"
Shaggy and Scooby were already gone. Velma, Daphne, and Fred took off after them. Cherry held up her hands defensively. "But I am a student here!"
Larry stopped short. "Do you have your student ID?"
"Golly, no! I left it in my dorm room."
His eyes sparked with lightning. "No books for you!" He lunged at her.
Velma darted back, grabbed Cherry by the arm, and pulled the lovely medical student out of harm's way. Together, they ran from the building and away from the terrifying specter of the aggravated librarian.
Safe outside, the kids regrouped. "Man, I may never read again!" Shaggy declared.
"You can read?" Daphne asked incredulously.
"Like, why is everybody always picking on me?" Shaggy complained to the world at large. Still shaking, he scratched Scooby between the ears for comfort. "Haunted libraries are too much for me. Like, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a cranky librarian ghost."
Velma furrowed her brow. "Jinkies, Shaggy, there's no such thing as ghosts."
"Like, he looked plenty real enough to me!" Shaggy declared.
"Re roo!" Scooby affirmed.
"I want to get to the bottom of this mystery," Velma asserted.
"Like, oh no," Shaggy said fearfully, "You're, like, getting that look in your eyes. Please, Velma, can't we just leave well enough alone?"
"But I want to investigate!" Velma protested.
"You do that," Fred said, "But first, give me back the keys to the Mystery Machine."
Grudgingly, Velma relented. The keys were in her pocket, and when she moved her hand to retrieve them, she realized she was still holding Cherry's arm. Instantly, she let go. She got out the keys and returned them to Fred.
Fred and Daphne turned to go. "Thank you. We'll see you later. Have fun." His voice dripped with venom.
Velma frowned. "What happened? We used to be such a great team! Fred and Daphne were always eager to solve a mystery." She looked pleadingly at Shaggy and Scooby. "You'll help me, won't you?"
Shaggy gulped and laughed nervously. "Like, I don't want to go back in there!"
"Re reither!" Scooby seconded.
Velma produced The Box. "Not even for a Scooby Snack?"
Scooby's and Shaggy's eyes widened, and the two of them jumped forward eagerly. Velma threw one Snack into the air, and Scooby caught it. He swallowed without chewing. Velma threw a second in the air, toward Shaggy. Scooby intercepted it.
Velma looked at Shaggy's pathetic expression and threw a third Snack. Shaggy did get this one. After he swallowed, he hinted blatantly, "Like, Scooby got two."
Velma obliged. Shaggy greedily gulped the second morsel.
"Now will you help me?" Velma asked.
Scooby nodded vigorously. "Reah, reah, reah!"
"Like, can I have another one?" Shaggy begged.
"You can't handle another Scooby Snack," Velma warned.
Shaggy dropped to his knees and clasped his hands. "Please, mistress, I will do anything you command for just one more Scooby Snack!"
Cherry's eyes widened, and she cast a startled look upon Velma. "Golly!"
Velma, blushing brightly, whispered, "Don't say things like that, Shaggy. This is supposed to be a family show." Nonetheless, she did provide him with the requested Scooby Snack.
Shaggy gobbled it down, then fell back onto his rump. He looked around with glazed eyes. "Like, wow! Look at all the groovy colors!"
Velma adjusted her glasses, muttering, "I knew you couldn't handle one more." She looked at Scooby. "We'll go back inside once he can stand up again." Scooby nodded patiently.
Velma then turned to Cherry. "I'm sorry about that."
"Golly, about what?"
"Jinkies, all of it."
Cherry smiled coyly, "You don't have anything to be sorry about." She stepped a little closer and whispered, "And by the way, you didn't have to let go of my arm. I didn't mind."
Velma blushed and gulped. "J-jinkies."
When they tried to go back into the library, Miss Glumley stopped them. "You caused such a ruckus, you're not allowed back in the library today. Now please leave before I call Campus Security."
Thoroughly abashed, the kids did as Miss Glumley said. Outside, Cherry whispered to Velma, "Let's sneak in the back way. Follow me."
Cherry led the way, followed very closely by Velma. Shaggy and Scooby lagged behind slightly. They snuck around to the service entrance, which was conveniently unlocked. Cherry pushed the door open, and the foursome crept inside. They found themselves in the cataloging department. Half a dozen catalogers were silently intent upon their work and did not notice the entrance of the three teens and their dog. The foursome picked their way through the maze of desks and carts piled high with books. The only sounds were their soft footfalls on the carpet and the quiet rustle of paper and, of course, the grating whine of several dot matrix printers. None of the catalogers ever looked up. Unchallenged, the foursome headed for the door to the public area.
Once they were safely in the stacks, Shaggy giggled and whispered to Velma, "Like, that was even more creepy than the ghost!"
Velma shuddered. "Jinkies, I'm going to have nightmares." Scooby looked up at the books on the shelves, scanning the titles printed in gilded letters on the enormous green tomes. "Rook! Rational Runion Ratarogs!"
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed, "Like, aren't those the books that fell on Larry the Librarian?"
Velma reached up and pulled one of the books off the shelf. The weight of it almost bore her to the floor. "Jinkies! I can see how getting caught in an avalanche of these could kill a person!"
"Hey! What's that?" Cherry asked, pointing at a crumpled piece of paper jammed behind some of the National Union Catalogs.
Velma dropped the volume she held onto a study table then reached back to extract the paper. It was an envelope, yellow with age. Velma opened it and unfolded the letter. The ink was faded, but the handwriting was still legible. "Jinkies, guys, listen to this!" Velma exclaimed, "The letter's addressed to LL, and it says, 'I know what you're looking for. You'd better quit right now, or else you'd better be watching your back!' It's signed MG."
"Like, you suppose LL stands for Larry the Librarian?" Shaggy asked.
Velma nodded, "I bet you're right about that."
Cherry's eyes widened. "Golly, it sounds like Larry the Librarian's untimely encounter with the falling National Union Catalogs was no accident!"
Velma nodded. "Right. I bet MG, whoever that is, wanted to get Larry out of the way and rigged the shelves in this area."
Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Cherry all looked up at the vast expanses of the heavy green books, and in unison they took three steps back.
"But, like, who is MG?" Shaggy asked. "And, like, why? Like, what was Larry looking for?"
"You'll never find out!" With a crackle of static electricity, the ghost of Larry the Librarian leapt into view. Scooby jumped up into Shaggy's arms. Cherry jumped up into Velma's arms. Velma and Shaggy took off running into the stacks. Larry pursued them. They split up, and Larry chased after Shaggy and Scooby.
Shaggy tripped over a studying student and dropped Scooby. The two scrambled to their feet and charged onward. The ghost flew over the student's head without slowing. The student looked up, glanced around, shrugged, and buried his nose back in his book.
Shaggy and Scooby ran in time with the beat of the insipid little rock song which had suddenly begun to play in the background. The ghost chased them around card catalogs, through study rooms, upstairs, downstairs, into the janitor's closet, out of the janitor's closet, and toward the cataloging department.
Velma skidded to a stop inside the cataloging department. None of the catalogers looked up. "Jinkies, I think we lost him," Velma said, panting for breath.
Cherry grinned. "That was great!" After a pause, she asked, "Are you going to put me down?"
Velma pouted. "Do I have to?"
Shaggy and Scooby rounded the bend and crashed right into Velma and Cherry. The four of them tumbled to the floor in a heap. Larry the Librarian was nowhere to be seen, but all of the catalogers looked up as one. The glare of incandescent light flashed menacingly from their glasses.
"Zoinks!"
"Jinkies!"
"Golly!"
"Ruh-roh!"
The three kids and the dog bolted for the service door, bursting through to the outside and not slowing until they reached the parking lot. They noticed immediately that the Mystery Machine was still exactly where Velma had parked it.
Shaggy shook his head. "Like, Fred and Daphne must be going at it again."
Velma stalked angrily toward the van and flung open the back doors.
A very startled Fred and Daphne looked up and gasped with embarrassment. Fred sputtered with anger, "How dare you interrupt . . ."
Velma stepped inside the van and overturned the table, scattering the Scrabble tiles all over the floor. "Jinkies and double jinkies! Would you two get over yourselves? We have a real mystery to solve!"
Chagrined, Fred and Daphne meekly followed Velma out of the van, by which time Shaggy, Scooby, and Cherry had caught up.
Velma showed Fred and Daphne the letter from MG and told them everything they knew about Larry the Librarian. Daphne and Fred agreed that they had to solve the mystery and find out what Larry had been looking for that MG had been willing to go to such dire lengths to protect.
First, they would go to lunch. Then they would try to get back into the library to look for clues.
Not wanting to go back in through the cataloging department, they tried the front entrance again. Miss Glumley stopped them. "I told you, you're barred from the library until you learn to behave properly and be quiet."
Velma looked apologetically into the librarian's eyes. "We're sorry, Miss Glumley. But can we ask you something before we go?"
"What is it?"
"Well, what can you tell us about Larry the Librarian?"
"The ghost?" Miss Glumley looked pale. "Goodness, it was very sad when poor Larry was caught under those National Union Catalogs. The whole library was in shock. But," she leaned forward conspiratorially, "Some people, and I won't name names because I'm not a gossip, but some people were glad to see him go."
"Jinkies, why was that?" Velma asked, aghast.
"Well, you see, he had an overdue book. He claimed he had returned it on time, but he lied. He never returned the book, and we sent him a substantial bill for the fine and replacement cost. He refused to pay the fine. And him, on the staff here! I tell you, he was the disgrace of this library."
"Golly, what book was this?" Cherry asked, her mouth agape.
Miss Glumley frowned. "You know, I can't even remember." Then she looked sternly at the kids. "You'd better get out of the library now. I'll call Campus Security."
The kids obligingly left.
They went back to Shaggy's uncle's house. "Like, wow, Uncle Jones," Shaggy said, "You were sure right about the ghost."
"Oh, you saw him?" Uncle Jones grinned.
Velma nodded. "We sure did. We even got Miss Glumley to tell us something about him, too."
Uncle Jones sneered, "Miss Glumley? Bah."
"Say, Uncle Jones," Shaggy asked, "You wouldn't, like, happen to know what book it was that Larry had checked out?"
Uncle Jones nodded. "Giovanni's Room, by James Baldwin. Why?"
Velma's eyes widened. "Jinkies, how did you know that?"
Uncle Jones stammered, "Everyone knows that. I was a student worker in the library back when Larry had his accident."
"Miss Glumley sure didn't know it," Daphne commented.
Uncle Jones shook his head. "She knows it. She was just being cagey."
"Why do you say that?" Fred asked.
Uncle Jones frowned. "Well, Larry claimed he returned that book. Claimed he gave it right to Miss Glumley, and that he watched her check it in. She denied it. So there was a big search for the book, but it was never found. Since she was right in the middle of all that mess, I'm sure she wouldn't have forgotten what book it was."
Velma looked at everyone. "Well, gang, sounds like we need to go back to the library and watch Miss Glumley a little more closely."
"Like, tomorrow, okay?" Shaggy pressed. "Like, it's almost supper time."
"Reah!" Scooby seconded.
"Oh, alright you two. But we're going first thing in the morning, alright?"
They nodded eagerly.
While the rest of the gang was arguing over what to have for supper, Cherry pulled Velma aside. "You look like you need to relax. Why don't you come to my place for a little while. We could play Scrabble."
"Jinkies, I'm not very good at Scrabble," Velma protested weakly.
Cherry grinned and leaned closer to whisper in Velma's ear. "Golly, as smart as you are, I'm just sure you could come up with all the biggest words."
Velma smiled in return. "It's not the size of the word, it's whether or not you can land something like zymurgy on a triple word score."
Cherry held out her arm. "Well gee, come on then."
"Okay!" Velma linked arms with her and let her lead the way.
A moment later, Daphne looked up. "Hey, where'd Velma and that medical student go?"
Shaggy dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about them. We need to decide on what to eat!"
The next morning, when Shaggy, Scooby, and the gang arrived at the library, they found Velma and Cherry waiting for them. The two girls were leaning on each other for support. "Like, wow, but don't you two look tired!" Shaggy teased.
Velma smiled. "We played Scrabble all night."
Cherry smiled too. "She won. She got zymurgy on a triple word score."
"Mmm." Velma sighed with satisfaction. "I think I need a Scooby Snack."
Fred and Daphne looked appropriately scandalized.
Scooby barked, "Ray roo ro, Relma."
Fred puffed up, trying to look more masculine. "We'd better go inside and question Miss Glumley again."
Miss Glumley was nowhere to be seen, though. The librarian at the desk said she'd gone into the stacks to look for a book. Velma frowned, "Jinkies, I bet she's looking for Giovanni's Room."
The kids and the dog went into the stacks to search for Miss Glumley. They crept silently through the aisles of books. After wandering aimlessly for several minutes, Velma mused, "Jinkies, this might be easier if we knew the call number, so we'd have a place to start looking."
A voice behind them hissed, "PS3552.A45 G4 1956."
The startled gang turned around to find themselves face-to-face with Miss Glumley!
"Zoinks!" The gang scattered. Fred and Daphne disappeared into a closet. Velma and Cherry headed for the periodicals. Shaggy and Scooby charged ever deeper into the stacks, Miss Glumly hard on their heels.
Miss Glumley closed the distance between herself and Shaggy and whispered, "Shh! This is a library! Stop running this instant!"
Shaggy and Scooby stopped, and Miss Glumley collided with them. The three tumbled to the floor. The first to her feet, Miss Glumley grabbed both Shaggy and Scooby by their collars. "You two . . . are going to help me find that book!"
"I think not!" Larry the Librarian appeared at the end of the aisle, hovering a few inches above the ground, blue flames rising from his shoulders.
"Rykes!" Scooby and Shaggy bolted, dragging Miss Glumley along with them.
"Hey! Stop!" pleaded Miss Glumley. She looked over her shoulder to see Larry the Librarian in hot pursuit, coasting along a little above the floor. "Oh, fuss."
They zipped back and forth through the stacks and soon became separated. Larry chased Shaggy and Scooby. Miss Glumley chased Larry. Larry chased Miss Glumley. Shaggy and Scooby accidentally found themselves chasing Larry and quickly did an about face. Larry again chased Scooby and Shaggy.
Just as they passed by the shelf which should have held the call number PS3552.A45 G4 1956, Velma and Cherry dropped from the transverse bracing and slapped some self-sticking date due slips over Larry's eyes. Blinded, the ghastly librarian stumbled and fell against the shelves. An avalanche of American literature buried the specter.
Shaggy and Scooby skidded to a halt. Fred and Daphne came in one end of the aisle, and Miss Glumley came in the other. The group gathered around as Velma squatted in front of the fallen Larry the Librarian. "Now let's see who you really are." She grasped Larry's hair and pulled off the mask to reveal . . .
"Miss Glumley!" The kids all exclaimed in unison. The sound of several dozen people in the stacks hissing "Shhhhhh!" rolled through the air.
"Riss Rumrey?" Scooby questioned, looking from the unmasked Miss Glumley to the other Miss Glumley who stood with the group, then back again. "I ron't ret rit."
"Hmm . . ." Velma walked over to the other Miss Glumley and pulled off her mask.
"Uncle Jones!" Shaggy cried.
Uncle Jones sighed and smoothed the ruffled lace of his collar. "I'm sorry, Shaggy. I was just trying to find that book so I could restore Larry's honor."
Cherry looked at the real Miss Glumley. "And you?"
"I'm not saying a word."
Velma reached down into the books which imprisoned Miss Glumley and randomly picked one out of the pile. "Jinkies! Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin!" She opened the cover. "Jinkies, there's a return date stamped on the date due slip. It wasn't overdue at all! And the return stamp was initialed by the librarian! MG!"
"Like, MG must stand for Miss Glumley!"
"Right you are, Shaggy," said Uncle Jones as he smoothed the wrinkles out of his dress. "Larry returned that book on time, and Miss Glumley didn't follow the check-in procedures correctly. So Larry got a fine he didn't deserve. Miss Glumley bumped him off because if that book were ever found, and she would be the disgrace of the library."
"Where has the book been all this time?" Cherry asked.
"Right on the shelf in correct call number order, where no one would think to look for it," Uncle Jones responded.
"How did the ghost hover above the floor like that?" Daphne asked.
"Easy, silly," Velma admonished, pointing to Miss Glumley's feet, which were sticking out of the bottom of the mound of books. "Transparent roller skates."
"And what about the blue flames?" Fred asked.
Velma dug Miss Glumley halfway out to expose the secret. "Bunsen burners stuck to the back of her jacket with duct tape."
"May I have the book so I can show it to the head librarian and clear Larry's name?"
"Sure!" Velma promptly complied.
"You are going down, Miss Glumley!" Uncle Jones cried, hoisting the book triumphantly above his head.
Miss Glumley grumbled, "I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling kids."
"Velma? Are you coming back with us?" Daphne asked.
Velma looked at Cherry, who batted her eyelids and smiled invitingly. Velma turned back to Daphne. "Not just yet. I'll meet you back at Uncle Jones' place later."
"Like, okay. We'll see you whenever," Shaggy said as he crawled into the back of the Mystery Machine. "We won't wait up."
Scooby got up on his hind legs and gave Velma and Cherry a hug. "Rye-rye."
Velma and Cherry waved goodbye to the rest of the gang, then turned to walk away. Velma leaned close to Cherry. "Shall we play Scrabble again tonight?"
Cherry looped her arm through Velma's. "Gosh, I thought mabye we could try something different. How about Go Fish?"
Velma blushed. "Jinkies!"
Fred turned on the Mystery Machine and began to back up.
From outside the van, the gang heard, "Hey, Uncle Scooby! Wait up! Ta da da-da ta-da! Puppy Pow--" *WHUMP*
Daphne glanced at Fred. "Did we just hit something?"
"Like, you're imagining things," Shaggy assured them. "Just drive."
"But I felt a bump," Fred protested.
"Just drive!" Shaggy commanded, an intensely wild look in his eyes.
Fred shrugged and took them out on the road.