Nowhere Island An original story told from Velma's perspective Part 2

Part Two: Freddy paused for a second. "I don't hear those voices anymore, so there's no point in hunting around this second." He stood in the middle of the dark and dusty room. Shaggy looked around at all the walls covered with books. "Freddy, I know I'm going to regret asking this, but do you know anymore about this place? You know, the story?" "Well Shaggy, it was in the sixty's when the murder was found. J.P. and his wife were both over 90 years old. The son was about sixty five. A Coast Guard ship would drop in on them every six months or so. Sometimes he would greet them, sometimes he'd shoot at them and call them names, like he was protecting something. Then one time, they came and couldn't find anyone. When they entered the house, they found the bodies. The son, however, was missing. The government had given them a rather large sum of money for the rental back in the forties, adding to the fortune they already had, but they had no bank accounts! Everyone figured the son had killed them and taken off with the money. But if that was him downstairs, then I guess the money is missing! In any case, there were always stories that the island was haunted by the ghost of J.P. and his wife - and that to this day, he's protecting his island kingdom! I'll tell you, most of the people I heard if from thought it was just a story, and that the island wasn't even for real!" Shaggy stood quiet for a second or two... "Haunted? I think you left that part out earlier! Can we go now? I mean, I don't want J.P. getting all upset or something!" "Shaggy, we have to find the girls! And Scooby Doo too! It's getting dark and there's a storm coming, so I think the house is the safest place to be anyhow."

"Well this is strange... I thought there was a doorway here.." I had climbed out of the trap door, only to find myself trapped in the stairwell. Well, at least I was pretty sure whatever was downstairs hadn't followed me. Still, I wanted to find Freddy and Shaggy to tell them what I had found. Ok, I also wanted to find them because I was really frightened and wanted two big guys around me! Well - one big guy, and one quivering ball of nerves! I felt my way around what had been a doorway and was now a wall. There seemed to be wheels at the bottom... and a latch! That's more like it! With the click of the latch, the wall started to roll away, just in time for me to see Shaggy jump no less than five feet in the air and land in Freddy's arms! "Jinkies! It's great to see you two!" "Velma!" they both said. "Guys, I found a really big clue, but I think we're in danger here. Did you find Daphne and Scooby?" "No." Freddy answered. "We heard voices.. Or sounds like voices, but then they stopped. They were not Daphne and Scooby, that's for sure! The wind is starting to pick up. I can hear it! We're going to get hit by another storm, so we have to find them." There was a sudden creaking noise, and all of us ran and hid behind a large sofa that was in the corner. The shadow of a large lumbering beast flashed across the wall, heading right for us! I just knew we were about to die! "Freddy?? Shaggy?? Velma??" It was Daphne's voice! And the large lumbering shadow.. Scooby Doo! We all stood up. "Yeeek!" Daphne shrieked, but in a second, she knew it was us and felt a little foolish. Scooby didn't need the introduction.. He had smelled the Scooby Snack I had in my pocket and knew it was us! For a second, we all felt safe, but you know how that goes! "AAAWWWKKK!!" We all leaped behind the sofa! The room started shaking, but we figured out that was just Shaggy and Scooby! As for the horrible shriek... We had all forgotten about Polly, who at that moment decided to fly back down from the bookcase to the sofa! We all had a good laugh!

"Freddy, tell them about J.P.'s ghost." Shaggy said. Freddy related the tale he had been telling about the history of the island. "I don't know" Daphne said, "I don't think ghosts eat roasted chicken! Scooby found a box full out front. Freshly cooked too!" Shaggy came to life, "Oh boy! I could go for some of that chicken right now!" Daphne just stared at Scooby.... Shaggy's heart sunk! "Wro-ry" Scooby said.

"Something's going on here" I said, "And I don't think it has to do with ghosts! You're not going to believe what I found when I fell through that trap door!" Daphne looked sad. "Well, I hope it's about two hundred thousand dollars, so I can buy my uncle a new boat." I was just about to tell her when a loud howl filled the room! No parrot this time! What little light had been coming through the door went dark, and a ghastly luminescent figure swept over the top of us! "It's J.P.'s ghost!" Shaggy screamed! I have to admit, I was pretty shaken up and screamed as well. Freddy charged across the room, throwing his body against the door. The old wooden frame broke, and the door flew off of its hinges! The front door of the house, which had been closed, was open as well. Although the storm clouds were thick outside, the sun was very low in the sky and was shining under the clouds, through the doors, and in our faces. Whatever it was, was gone now.

As Freddy returned, rubbing his shoulder, all had become quiet again. It was then I noticed Daphne staring at my glasses. "Velma, what happened to your glasses?" I started to feel sad. This pair had been with me through almost all of our adventures. I had gone back into haunted castles to get them.... Fished them from the bottom of more than one lake... Ok, I admit it, I was feeling sentimental! "Daphne, I think the old specs have finally bit it. The right lens is shattered." She reached over and lifted them from my face. Grabbing a handkerchief from her pocket, she started to clean them and laugh! I felt a little angry at her. It wasn't funny! "Velma, you're about the smartest person I know, but your vision is worse than I thought! There's a spider's web stuck to the lens!" It started as a giggle, worked it's way up to a chortle, but in a few seconds I found myself laughing outloud for the first time since this all began. I guess the stress on everyone made the laughter contagious, because in a second flat, all of us were rolling on the floor!

The three of us began taking the library apart book by book. I say the three of us, because Scooby and Shaggy had gone outside to see if there were any other roast chicken related clues on the front lawn. "That had to have been a projection." Freddy said. "But wouldn't a projector need to be plugged into some outlet? I don't think there's any electricity in this place." Daphne added. "Ah, but there is! When I fell down that chute, the room I ended up in had an electric lightbulb in it, and it was lit! Oh.. And I also forgot to tell you about the clue I found. There's a large wooden crate down there full of gold coins!" Daphne's eyes lit up, "Enough for a new boat?" Freddy brought us back to reality. "With no will, any money we found would go to the state!" Daphne was starting to look blue again. Then I thought of it! "Jinkies! This isn't part of any state. I don't even know if it's legally part of a country! If that's true, the rules of salvage apply!" Freddy pondered for a second. "That would give someone a lot of motive to want to scare people away from the island while they rounded up the treasure. This is all starting to make sense now! Velma, where was the trap door?" "It was at the top of that stairway we climbed up, right over...." I realized then that all the bookcases looked the same. There was no way to figure out which one we came through. "I guess we could loop around the path and come back in the tunnel" I added. Freddy shook his head. "No, they know we know. I don't think there's any time to do that. That front door was wide open. Whoever it was set up our little fright show and shot out the door!" Still, they may not have time to get off the island before the storm hits..... I've got a plan!"

Oh boy, here we go with another one of Freddy's plans. They seem to work only about 25% of the time. But I stayed quiet and listened anyway. "We know there's only one beach on the island - the one we came up on. If they have a boat, it's got to be hidden down there. My bet is that they doubled back up the tunnel and are going to take the gold out that way. Velma, from what you said, it's a real heavy crate. It's going to take them some time to get it together and move it. While they're doing that, we head straight down to the beach and find their boat! Lets get to it!" We all headed out the front door and down the path. Scooby and Shaggy were looking a little sad because they hadn't found anymore of those "clues" on the front lawn, and Shaggy hadn't eaten in a record four hours! It didn't take long before we arrived back at the old hanger. "Ok gang" Freddy said, "We're looking for a speed boat that can carry some weight and travel some distance, so it's not going to be small. Velma, you, Shaggy and Scooby, start at that end. Daphne and I will start over here." The classic split, I thought to myself. Now that we knew what we were looking for, it didn't take long to find it. They had it covered under a tarp at the edge of the woods. A few tree branches finished the disguise. Shaggy spoke first, "Ok Freddy, now that we found it, what do we do? We can't head out into that storm!" I ducked under the tarp and lifted the case on the engine, returning with my answer to the problem. "They can't go far without this!" I had popped off the distributor cap. Without it, the boat would not start.

We could hear noises coming from the woods and made a running dash for the hanger. We locked ourselves in the office where we had stashed our supplies. From our vantage point, we could see them. There were two of them. One was really huge, maybe six foot ten! That must have been the guy in the basement. They loaded a generator they had been using onto the boat, and then the crate! They had been using what looked like an electric golf cart to move the stuff. The boat itself was on a very large dolly. I could see that the whole thing was on a slope. Once loaded, they would cut the rope, and the dolly would roll down the beach and into the water. The small guy was folding the tarp up, and the big one was trying to start the boat! It had started to rain, and the wind was kicking up. We all watched as the two of them began to shout and fight when the boat would not start! As they wound the last ounces of power out of their battery, the storm went into high gear! With lightning cracking and the two of them drenched, they finally gave up and jumped back into the golf cart and headed back to the old house. For the next three hours, the storm was very intense. We all huddled in the old office hoping the roof would not blow off. Around midnight, the storm let up. "Freddy, I have an idea!", I said. "There was a radio on that boat. I'm going over and radio for help!" Daphne looked puzzled. "But Velma, the battery is dead." "Ah Daphne, a funny thing about batteries, after they sit for awhile, they get a little charge back! That radio doesn't take much power. There should be enough!" Freddy thought for a second.. "Ok Velma, I'll go with you and serve as lookout on the path. Daphne, you stay here with..." He didn't need to complete the thought. Scooby and Shaggy had gotten into the supplies and eaten all the remaining food and were now fast asleep!

Freddy stood in the path, looking for any sign of our "friends." I climbed under the tarp. The radio was still dry.When I turned it on, the power light lit up! I found the emergency frequency and started to try to make contact. Bingo! The mainland marine police! I related our plight. They indicated that they had received our first distress call but had called off the search when the second storm approached. I tried to give them as much information as I could before the power light went dim, and the battery died off. Freddy and I made a mad dash back to the hanger office. Our timing was good because just as we got there, the golf cart came back out from the woods. We watched as they got back on the boat, and tried to start it again. Not an ounce of juice was left! This time, the little one opened up the engine case and saw the part missing! Once again the screaming started. With the storm gone, we could now hear what they were saying. They had figured out that we must have been the ones who stole the part, and they went into a very descriptive discussion about what they would do to us if they found us! Daphne whispered, "How long will it take before the police get here?" "I hate to say this, but because of the location of the storm, they won't make it here before daybreak, about 4:30 am." I said. Freddy thought for a second, then whispered "We don't know if those two are violent. In fact, they might have a better claim on that treasure then we do. They did find it first." I hated to break the news to him but now seemed as good a time as any. "Freddy, when I was talking to the police, they told me about two escaped convicts that had been seen around town, cashing in gold pieces. They said they were very dangerous! So, on the bright side, they are exempt from receiving any of the money, but on the down side, if they find us, they'll probably kill us." Now Daphne spoke, "Don't you just love the matter-of-fact way she says these things?" Looking out the window, I could see them getting back in the cart and heading off to the house. "They must think we're back at the house. What time is it?" Freddy looked at his watch, "Two thirty. We have two more hours of hiding. Once they find we're not back at the house, they're going to come back and search the hanger." "I know, and they'll probably find us.... I have an idea! Freddy, did you bring a tool kit in your duffel bag?" "Yes Velma, why?" "I think I have a little boat work to do while they're searching the house! If they think the boat is fixed, they may be more interested in leaving with the gold than hunting us down." Daphne looked horrified! "And let them get away with all that gold?" "No, I said, if they THINK it's fixed." Freddy looked a little puzzled. "Ok, Velma, it looks like you've got something up your sleeve. I'll come with you back to the boat."

Back at the boat, I reinstalled the distributor cap and then set to work on my plan. The boat had a wooden hull. Using a screwdriver and hammer from the inside, I was able to pop loose two of the boards on the bottom near the back. Freddy used a crowbar to pull the boards loose the full length of the boat from underneath. I knew the noise would probably attract the two convicts back, so we had to work fast. I attached the low voltage output of the generator to the boat battery and started it up, closing the engine case to hide the missing boards. Sure enough, we saw the golf cart heading towards us from the path! Freddy and I ran for it! The big guy leaped off of the cart and started chasing after us! The little one went right for the boat. Leaping on board, he tried to start it. The engine turned over with a roar! Meanwhile, Mr. Big was catching up with me! I felt his huge hands grab around my shoulder and he tackled me. I went down and could feel that the wind was knocked out of me. Freddy turned around and tried to pull him off, but he was just too big! Right then, the little guy yelled over, "Forget them! The boat's working! Let's get out of here!" I felt the weight of the world lifting off of me as the big guy got up and ran for the boat! "Velma! Are you ok?" Freddy asked. "I think so, I just have to breathe a bit. Thank heaven, they're falling for my plan!" By now they were both in the boat, and had cut the rope. The boat rolled down to the water and as they hit it, they gunned the engine. Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne had come out of hiding to watch the show. About five hundred feet out they realized they were in trouble. The engine died and we all watched as the boat sank, with the two of them screaming at each other! Right about then, we could hear the Coast Guard helicopter approaching! "Perfect timing if I say so myself!"

Captain Gregory congratulated us on helping with the capture. Unfortunately, the gold was considered property of the state. But, all was not lost! When counted, the total came to two million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars! Wow! And guess what.. We got a finder's fee of 10% !! That was enough to pay back Daphne's uncle, and still leave enough for a lifetime supply of Scooby snacks, and some much-needed funding for the future adventures of Mystery Inc! As for me, I decided to buy a much-needed spare pair of specs!

The End !

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