The Haunted Cave by Christopher Pike

Author:Christopher Pike
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

10

Spooksville’s largest grocery store was called Fred’s Foods. Fred himself was a bagger at the store—he had been for thirty years. He owned the place but couldn’t figure out how to work the cash registers or do anything else useful. So he bagged groceries and helped people out to their cars. It was lucky for Fred that he had hired an assistant manager with half a brain, or else the place would have closed down ages ago.

Watch and Bum found Ms. Ann Templeton in the produce department, knocking lightly on watermelons. She wore an expensive white pantsuit, shiny black shoes, and exquisite diamond earrings. Her long black hair was curly; it reached almost to her waist. Her face, as she glanced over at them and smiled, was as beautiful as always, and as pale. She was either an angel from heaven, or a ghost from a much lower place. Her dark eyes shone with wicked amusement. She couldn’t have been more than thirty years old.

“Watch and Bum,” she said in her soft yet powerful voice. “Have you come to help carry my groceries to my car? I could use some help this fine evening. I think poor old Fred has already left for the day.”

Bum bowed slightly. “I wouldn’t mind helping you with your food, ma’am, if you could spare me a loaf of bread or two.”

“I will give you a can of tuna,” Ms. Templeton said. She studied him and frowned at his appearance. “I think you could use some fish. Your skin looks terrible.”

“It’s the sleeping outdoors every night that does it,” Bum said.

“There are worse places to sleep, I suppose.” She returned to knocking on watermelons. “Looking for your friends, Watch?”

Watch almost jumped out of his socks. “Yeah. How did you know they were missing?”

“Nothing happens in Spooksville that I don’t know about. Isn’t that true, Bum?”

“Yeah, ma’am. No one puts anything past you.”

Ms. Templeton continued. “Your friends somehow managed to sneak into my basement, Watch. I should say it was one of my lower basements, not the best way to enter my castle, if you’re a human being. I am sorry to say that they were not given the most hospitable welcome.”

“What happened?” Watch asked, worried.

“A couple of my boys tried to have them for dinner.” Ms. Templeton smiled. “It is so hard to find good help these days. I don’t know what the world’s coming to.”

Watch gulped. “Are they dead?”

Ms. Templeton chuckled. “Heavens no. Thanks to Adam, they escaped. I’m sure they’re still wandering around down there somewhere, unless the bats or Hyeets have eaten them.”

Watch took a step forward. “Can you help me rescue them?” He added, “I’ll help carry your groceries out to your car for the next two months.”

Ms. Templeton threw her head back and laughed. “If I help you that will spoil all the fun. Watch, you wouldn’t want that. It wouldn’t be fair to them.”

“But you said it yourself, they might die.”

Ms. Templeton shrugged. “Lots of people die in this town.

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