CHAPTER FIVE

CORNERED

Scooby-Doo and Shaggy hugged each other as the monster mutts moved closer. Both beasts growled louder as they crept closer to Scooby and Shaggy.

Grrrr! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

“Like, this is the end of a beautiful friendship, huh pal?” asked Shaggy.

“Reah,” replied Scooby-Doo. “Roodbye, Raggy.”

“Goodbye, Scoob,” said Shaggy.

The two friends hugged each other tight. They shut their eyes.

Scooby-Doo’s ear popped up. He heard the strange whistle again.

He opened one eye and saw that the monster mutts heard it too. They stopped growling and looked around. The mutts sped off down the hallway.

Shaggy still hugged Scooby tight. “I’m going to miss all of our good times, Scoob.”

“Raggy!” Scooby gave Shaggy a shake. “Rhey’re gone.”

One of Shaggy’s eyes popped open. He looked around. “Oh, yeah. They’re gone!”

Scooby spotted a small white piece of fuzz slowly falling to the ground left behind by the mutts.

Scooby pointed to it. “They reft a rue!”

Shaggy picked up the small ball of fluff. “I don’t think that’s a clue, pal. That’s just stuffing from the dog toys. Man, this stuff gets everywhere.” He dropped the fuzz ball. “Like, let’s find Fred and Velma and tell them what happened.”

“Ro-kay,” agreed Scooby.

The two ran through the door leading to the vendor area.

“Like, we just had another run-in with those monster mutts,” reported Shaggy.

“Reah,” agreed Scooby. “Rig and rary!”

“We heard a spooky howl,” said Fred. “But we still haven’t seen the monsters.”

Velma pointed to the Spunky Snacks booth. “I wonder if Mr. Vittman is behind it all.”

“Like, why’s that?” asked Shaggy.

“Because he’s selling a dog treat that is supposed to make dogs braver,” replied Velma. “What better way to sell your product than to make everyone scared.”

“I don’t know how he’s doing it,” said Fred. “Mr. Vittman has been here the entire time. And he’s been selling a lot of Spunky Snacks.”

“Boy, I could sure go for some of those right now,” said Shaggy. “Those monster mutts were real scary.”

Fred handed Shaggy a box. “Don’t worry. I got you some.”

“Boy, oh boy!” shouted Shaggy. He shook out two snacks from the box and tossed them into the air. Both he and Scooby gobbled one down.

“Mmm-mmm!” said Scooby-Doo, licking his lips.

Just then, Daphne ran up to Shaggy and Scooby. “Where have you two been?” she asked.

“Like, we were just being cornered by two monster mutts,” replied Shaggy. He felt braver already. “No big deal, really.”

Daphne grabbed each of them by the arm. “Well, you’re going to miss the agility part of the show. Come on!” She dragged them back to the main arena.

Velma turned to Fred. “I say we try to spot these monster mutts for ourselves.”

“Good idea,” agreed Fred.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOWLLLLL!

Just then another ghostly howl filled the air.

Everyone in the vendor area looked around in fear. A few dog owners grabbed their dogs and hurried for the exit.

“We better get to the bottom of this,” said Fred. “Before there are no dogs left in this show.”