Ezra's Treasure An original story told from Velma's perspective Part 2

Part Two:

Slowly Freddy wakes up. "Oh! What happened? Daphne, are you ok?" Daphne is holding her head. "I think so, what a headache! Hey! My suitcases are gone! And look, my pockets have been turned inside out!" Freddy looks down. "Mine too!" Getting up, he walks over to the window and looks out. There is a thin layer of fresh snow on the ground, except for one small area. "The Mystery Machine! It's gone!" Daphne stands up. "How long have we been out? Oh no! Velma was downstairs alone!"

"Raggy?" Scooby sniffs at Shaggy as he also wakes up. "Wow! What hit me? Hey! Who opened the door?" "Rie Ron't Row!" "Well, it's open and that's all that matters! Hey look! My sandwich is still here! Uh oh! All my snacks are gone from my pockets! That's odd, why would a ghost steal my candy bars?"

"Give me back my glasses!" Velma screams. The figure, now about six feet in front of her just laughs! "You never had a chance!", it says as it drops her glasses to the floor and crushes them with one step. "My glasses! What have you done!?" shrieks Velma! The figure shakes it's head, and pulls off it's mask, mocking the fact that Velma can't see. As Velma drops to her knees putting he head between her hands, the figure turns and leaves. About two seconds later, Freddy comes running into the library with Daphne in tow. Velma looks up. Freddy walks over to where the broken glasses are and then kneels down next to Velma and whispers, "Did they fall for it?" Velma chuckles. "Hook, line, and sinker! If this works out, those prop glasses will be the best six dollars I ever spent!" Freddy looks into her eyes. "How are you making out with the contacts?" "My eyes are burning like you wouldn't believe! I hate contacts! However, so far I can see just fine." Freddy pretends to help her to the table. "They took the Mystery Machine, and all of our bags. Emptied out our pockets too!" Velma looks down at the table and whispers, "There's a lot of money at stake, whoever it is didn't want us to have any of our toys available, and wanted to make sure I didn't have a spare pair of glasses." Scooby and Shaggy enter the room. "This place has ghosts that like candy bars!" They stop in there tracks, noticing the rest of the gang is huddled at the table. Quietly, they come over and join in the conversation. Velma continues, "I decoded the message in the book. It says - Games in the solarium. Uncle Ezra and I used to play games in the solarium." Daphne, remembering the book asks, "And what was that, counting all the stars in the milky-way?" Velma chuckles. "No Daphne, it was always a game of hide and seek. As he got older, he would hide prizes up there and just call out if I was getting warmer or colder." Freddy ponders for a while, then asks, "So what is our next course of action?" A tired Velma looks over to him and answers, "Sleep! I am beat. I have some good ideas about what is going on now, but I'm just too tired to continue. Besides, now that cousin Glenda thinks I can't see, she'll probably leave us alone for a while." Freddy looks supprised. "Cousin Glenda? How do you know?" Velma smiles. "After she broke my glasses, she took her mask off to mock me! She had no idea I could see her perfectly! I don't think she is working alone tho." Daphne is amused. "You were right about some of those so called family members! We'd better help you upstairs, we need to keep up appearances!" Freddy and Daphne each take one of Velma's arms and help her out to the stairwell and up the stairs. Watching every move are the eyes behind the bookcase. In a low, gravely voice, "Good trick Velma."

As the morning sun rises, Daphne is pacing back and forth in the bedroom. Frustrated, she finally say, "Wake up Velma!" From a comfortable sleep, Velma opens one eye. "Huh? What's wrong? What happened?" Daphne comes over to the side of the bed. "How can you sleep? There's a million dollar mystery to solve! I've been up for hours!" Velma yawns. "The best way to solve it is if I am alert and well rested. Besides, there's something very comfortable about playing this game. It brings back old memories!" Velma reaches to the end table and starts fumbling for something. "What are you looking for?" Daphne quips. "My glasses... oh.. that's right. I have to deal with these stupid contacts! Glad they didn't search me." Velma reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small plastic case, opens it, and puts in the contact lenses. "I can't stand these things! I'll be glad when this is over and I can wear my glasses again. What's that smell?" Daphne laughs, "Scooby and Shaggy have been eating breakfast for hours! There was even some left over for Freddy and I to eat! There's plenty of food down there, lets go. Oh, but remember, I have to lead you." Velma shakes her head, "Don't worry, I didn't forget"

In the kitchen, Shaggy and Scooby are working on their tenth round of bacon and eggs. Freddy is sitting on a stool, marveling at just how much food they can consume. The door opens and Daphne leads Velma in and to the table. "Boy, that smells good!", Velma says. She sits down and begins eating with the others, careful not to look too able. "Uncle Ezra always worked on three areas with me. Math, which I think we covered last night, English, and Deductive reasoning." Freddy ponders for a second. "Where do we start looking in the solarium? There's no one there to tell us if we are getting warmer like your uncle used to do." Velma chuckles. "Oh, I'll know... I think." They finish up their plates and head for the solarium. It is a very large room, many plants and trees are planted in the bed of soil that is on the floor. The room is chilly, and Shaggy quickly locates himself near a heat vent. "Glad the furnace is working, this is the only warm spot in the room!" Freddy and Velma look at each other and smile. Quickly the three of them move over to where Shaggy and Scooby are standing. Slowly, Velma scans the area they are standing in. "There it is!" she says. "Huh??" Freddy says, "What did you find?" Velma is down on her knees looking under a small oak tree at an acorn that is laying in the dirt. "What is it Velma? It's just an acorn under an oak tree... Why is that strange?" Velma has picked up the acorn. "This breed of oak tree does not have acorns!" She squeezes the nut, cracking it open. Inside is a small piece of paper that has one word on it. She reads it. "Paradox.... I don't get it... I'm afraid I'm at a loss... sorry.." "Rare row Rox?" Scooby says. Shaggy shakes his head. "No no.. It's one word Scoob! Not pair of docks!" Velma's eyes light up! "Scooby's right! Ezra really loved word games! Outside there are two boat docks.. A pair of docs!!" A look of astonishment come over the faces of the others! Scooby just laughs!

The thick layer of snow crunches under everyone's feet as they make there way down a steep path leading to the docks. The rock wall above them is a shear drop from the house to the water. Looking over the cliff, a lone figure hovers.. "So the little witch can see!" Glenda Crabley works her way over to the path and follows the gang at a safe distance. Freddy, Scooby and Shaggy walk out on the one dock, Velma and Daphne head out on the other. "Boy, I'm sure glad they didn't steal our coats! It's freezing!" Daphne says. "Well, they were near the library, it looks like they just emptied the pockets." Velma adds as she hangs over the end of the dock, looking at the water. "Here it is!" She exclaims. Daphne screams over to the other dock and Freddy, Scooby, and Shaggy come running. Velma has he hands in the cold water, removing something from a support. Freddy looks surprised. "How'd you know it was this dock?" he asks. "Another play on words." Velma says as she stands up, holding a small box in her hands. "It was the RIGHT dock! Not the left one, get it?" All five huddle closely together as she opens the box. Inside is a key... A safety deposit box key. "This is IT gang, we did it!" As she snaps the box shut, a figure comes running at them across the dock shouting "NOOOOO!" Before any of them can think, Glenda rams into them, knocking them off and into the water! The box flies into the air, and Glenda grabs it, screaming, "It's mine! It's all mine!!"

"I can't swim!" screams Shaggy, flailing about in the water. "It's only three feet deep Shaggy, stop flailing!" quips Velma. The five of them make their way onto the rocks and climb out of the water. Scooby and Freddy take off, running up the path after Glenda. "Be Careful!" Daphne screams. "There's a lot of snow and ice up there!" Daphne heads up the path after them. Shaggy turns to Velma, "What's wrong", he asks. She is clinging to one of the rocks. "I lost the contacts when I hit the freezing water, I really can't see now!" He bends down and helps her up onto the path. The two of them slowly follow the path back up to the top of the cliff.

As Glenda gets to the top, Scooby and Freddy are hot on her trail. She runs along the top of the cliff toward where she has hidden her car. As she turns to look behind her, she slips and slides over the edge, catching herself on a branch that is about three feet down. Holding on with one hand, she starts screaming "HELP!" In her other hand, she is clutching the box. Freddy and Scooby stop short of the edge, and stand there, unsure of what the next move should be. In a few moments, the rest of the gang catch up. "She's going to fall and die!" Velma says. "We have to do something." Velma drops to the ground and crawls to the edge. "Guys, hold my legs, I'm going to try to grab her." Freddy, Daphne, and Shaggy work their way over to Velma and grab her legs. "I can't see you, but reach up and grab my hand!" Velma yells down... "No! I'm not going to let go of the box!" Glenda yells back up. "Then give it to me!" Velma yells back. "In your dreams Velma! You would just let me fall after you got it!", shouts Glenda. "No, I would not!" She yells back. Velma pauses for a painful second, then says, "Drop the box into the ocean Glenda, You'll get the money anyway!" Glenda lets the box drop and reaches up and grabs Velma's hand. The box hits the rocks on the way down, breaking open, and falls into the rough surf below. Slowly they pull Glenda to safety. She makes her way up on to her feet. "You fool! I was the last living relative! You should of let me die! You probably would have got the money with me gone! You're a looser Velma!" And with that, Glenda stomps off to her car and drives away. Freddy speaks up first. "Well, THAT wasn't the thanks I was expecting to get! Oh well, lets get inside, at least it's warm in the old house!"

All five huddle around the big fireplace in the library. Freddy has made a roaring fire. Daphne turns to Velma, who is sitting in a somber manner. "We were real close. I'm sorry things turned out this way. At least we found our stuff and the Mystery Machine hidden in the garage." Velma speaks in the voice of someone who's spirit has been broken. "I've got you guys, so to me, all is not lost." The room falls quiet for a second, then the quiet is broken by a low gravely voice. "Your right Velma, all is not lost" Slowly, the gang turns to hear where it is coming from. Part of the bookcase is opened exposing a small room, filled with video monitors. A hunched over man is clutching the handles of a wheelchair, in it another barely alive man sits. "Uncle Ezra?" Velma says with a question in her voice. "Yes, my dear, I am not quite dead yet, but they don't give me more then a month." The second man pushes the wheelchair into the room. The rest of the gang recognize him as, Mr Glum. Velma runs to her uncle using his voice to guide her. "I wanted to play one last game with my favorite grandniece before my passing", he continues. "But it wasn't about finding the key, it was about finding compassion for other people, even when they've wronged you!" Velma reaches out and grabs his frail hand. "You have won my dear! You have won... Mr Glum, let it be known that the final will you drafted this morning, that I signed, IS my last will and testament." Pausing a second, Ezra grabs his breath, "And the remainder of my cash estate, one and one half million dollars, goes to my grandniece, Velma Dinkley!"

It is a cold winter's day at a graveyard north of Philadelphia. All five stand at the grave side. "I didn't know my feelings were that deep", Velma says, as a tear runs down her face. She rubs her mittens on her hopelessly frosted over glasses. "But I guess they were..." Absent from the funeral was Glenda Crabley, who had just learned that she was no longer in the will.

A fresh fluffy blanket of snow covered the ground at the Blake estate. Once again, the five members of Mystery Inc sit in the study, talking over recent times. Daphne looks over to Velma, who was looking like her old self and asks, "Well Velma, you never did tell us what you were going to do with all that cash!" Velma chuckles, "Let's see, How much is Mystery Inc stock going for these days?" The gang laughs. "Truth be known, I do intend to put some of it back into my favorite company... you guys! The rest goes into long term savings, I guess. Hey! This makes me the second richest member of the gang!" Another round of laughter goes through the room. Daphne looks over at Freddy just in time to see him wink to her. All are watching as Scooby devours a well deserved box of Scooby Snacks. "I'd buy him a lifetime supply, But I don't think I'm that rich!" "SCOOBY- DOOBY DOO!"

The End

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