Chapter Seven

Scooby tackled Ranger Knudsen to the ground. "I got him!" he exclaimed triumphantly, sitting up on Ranger Knudsen's chest and wagging his tail proudly.

I laughed. "Good boy," I praised, patting his head.

He beamed in triumph.

"Get this dog off of me!" Ranger Knudsen begged between heavy breaths.

"I can't believe Deacon was really 'BabyFaced Boretti'," Daphne said incredulously.

"After BabyFace broke out of prison," Velma started, adjusting her glasses on her nose, "he teamed up with Ranger Knudsen to find LaRue's treasure. Knudsen wore the 'Fishman' costume as cover, to search the lake for the lost town using the stolen sonar equipment. He used the Woodsman costume to scare everyone away from the camp."

"But with the solstice approaching and us showing up, they had to step up their game," I remarked, all of the pieces coming together.

"Exactly!" Velma nodded. "Boretti posed as a camper named 'Deacon'-" she mimicked quotation marks with her fingers- "acting as an inside man. That's why 'Deacon' kept trying to get us to leave. He wasn't afraid of the Woodsman. He needed us gone so he could blow the dam. But when we found that RV, they realized we were getting close.

"So Knudsen brought the Specter to life to try and scare us off for good."

"Like, I've got one question," Shaggy spoke up, raising his hand in the air. "How did Knudsen make the Specter fly?"

"Zip line," Velma stated simply, with some self-satisfaction.

"We would have gotten away with it, too," Knudsen muttered from underneath Scooby, "if it weren't for you meddling kids."

"Wow, real original." I rolled my eyes. "Never heard that one before. Scooby, I think you better get off him before you crush the man."

Scooby grinned sheepishly, jumping off of Knudsen's chest and walking over to Shaggy before plopping down on the ground next to the said man, his tail thumping wildly.

As Knudsen was taken away in handcuffs in a police car, I breathed a sigh of relief.

The mystery was finally solved.

We could finally have some fun.

"Geronimo!" I yelled before jumping off the dock and doing a belly flop into the lake, then swimming to the surface. The lake had started to clear up and was starting to look more like a lake instead of, well, a lagoon, so we took the opportunity to swim.

I swam over to Fred and splashed him in the face.

"You just asked for it!" He tackled me under water and began tickling me.

"Freddie, stop!" I pleaded through uncontrollable laughter. "Seriously, I'm gonna pee!"

"Hey, you guys," Velma said, sitting on the bank of the lake. She was wearing a faded orange one-piece bathing suit. Unlike Daphne, Velma never felt the need to wear glamorous clothing and shiny jewelry. Why Daphne bothered to wear bright and fancy clothing in the woods and to the lake never registered with me.

"Hi," I said, as I managed to pry Freddie's hands away from my sides. I regretted ever telling him my sensitive spot.

"Shaggy and Scooby are on their way with lunch," Velma told us, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "I hope you're hungry."

"I am." I realized I'd gone all day without eating. You kind of lose track of time when you're on vacation. All the weeks seem to morph together into one big, long day.

"Room service," a familiar voice announced, and I looked up to see Shaggy carrying a platter of cheese, crackers, and fruit, with Scooby by his side, as usual.

Freddie and I scrambled to shore as Shaggy and Scooby sat down, passing out snacks.

We nibbled on the snacks in silence for a few minutes before Fred asked, "Hey, where's Daph?"

"I think," Velma said, tossing a few cracker crumbs at a small flock of finches hovering nearby, "she was at Big Moose Lake last time I heard from her. She and Jessica are hanging out today."

I rolled my eyes. "Typical," I muttered under my breath, helping myself to more cheese and crackers. Figures she'd ditch us for Big Moose Lake, with their hot boys and motorboats, not exactly in that order. I felt like I was in high school again.

Fred glanced over at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." My voice sounded sharper, more defensive, than I intended. "It's just hot out here," I added, sneezing when the sunlight hit my eyes. Not exactly the truth, but not a complete lie, either. I watched the finches battle over the crumbs, chirping and flapping their little wings. Scooby stared down at the birds, and I knew he was resisting the urge to give into his canine instinct and chase them, but stayed put by Shaggy's side.

"So, what does everyone want to do today?" I finally broke the silence.

Luke and Trudy had opted to go to Big Moose Lake, too (but not for the reasons I suspected Daphne of), so the adults had Camp Little Moose to ourselves. It was kind of nice to not have plans for once- to take it easy and relax without frantically rushing through one activity to the other. Camp activities were fun, but it was nice to have a day off.

"Like, anything, as long as there's no more ghost stories," Shaggy said, eyes widened. "I can't handle anymore ghost stories, man."

I had to agree with him. I'd had my fair share of ghosts and ax-wielding

maniacs myself. Shoot me in the leg if I ever told another campfire story again in my life.

"All right, everyone," Fred announced, always the man with the plan, "all in favor of zip-lining, raise your hand. All in favor of swimming, raise your hand."

Both Velma's and my hand shot up almost immediately, as soon as he said "zip-lining."

Fred looked at Shaggy. "Shag and Scoob? What's your vote?"

"How about a nap?" Shaggy yawned, rubbing his eyes.

I laughed. "Fair enough," I said, getting to my feet and brushing crumbs off of my palms. "We'll split up and meet back here in an hour." It was almost 4 o'clock P.M., which meant dinner and quiet time in two hours.

We all went our separate ways, Shaggy and Scooby staying behind.

It was time for the fun to officially begin.