The Shady
Mansion Mystery
By John
Chapter 3: Nick's Evil Plot Revealed
Nick paused momentarily. "Bob Pataki," he said. The kids gasped in surprise. Helga's face froze in terror. Her heart sank. The kids listened intently to the gang.
"Ever since what he did to me at the parade a few months ago, I havn't had a customer since. He told all his customers what a jerk that Nick Vermicelli is and how they should never trust him. That Big Bob ruined me, and now I'll get my revenge. Did you all recieve the message I sent?" saked Nick to the gang.
They all nodded.
"Good," Nick said. "Here's the plan..." Nick began. Nick was interupted by Harold's stomach rumbling.
"What was that?" one of the members questioned.
"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out!" Nick said. he walked towards the door to the room. The kids gasped. They started to try to sneak away, but it was no use. They were at the top of the staircase when Nick had walked out of the room and spotted them.
"Hey, what're you brats doin' here?!?" Nick yelled.
"RUN!!!" Sid yelled, going hysterical.
The kids ran as fast as they could, down the stairs. They coulds here the steps splintering and breaking behid them.
"Come back here you little twerps!" Nick yelled. The kids could hear him breathing behind them.
The kids ran with all the energy they had in them. Even Harold was keeping up. Suddenly, Eugene tripped. He fell into everyone and they crashed in a pile at the bottom of the stairs, which were now mostly broken. They tried to get up as fast as they could. Nick was at the top of the staircase.
He laughed coldly as he approached them. The kids didn't know what to do. Thinking quickly, Phoebe picked up a large piece of wood that had broken off of the staircase. She threw it as hard as she could, aiming right at Nick's shins. It hit hard, and Nick started to fall.
"WHOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Nick yelled, as he fell and hit the ground with a thud. This gave the kids the time they needed. Arnold, in front, pushed the doors open and everyone ran out as fast as they could. They just kept running, down the side walk. After they had been running for at least ten minutes, Arnold ran into a side alley. The kids followed. They breathed heavily, trying to catch their breath. Arnold poked his head around the corner.
"I think we lost 'em." Arnold said. The kids sighed in relief.
"These guys are bad news," Gerald said.
"We gotta get to the bottom of this," Arnold said. "Helga's father's life is at stake."
"I suggest we file a report with the police," Phoebe said.
"Good idea," Arnold said. "Helga and I will check out the place tomorrow."
Helga was surprised that Arnold had suggested it. But she was to concerned over her father to be mean. She simply nodded.
"The rest us will go with Phoebe to the police station. While we're there, we'll dig up some information about Nick and the rest of his gang." Gerald said.
"Alright," Arnold agreed. "Until tomorrow, lets go home and get some sleep."
The kids agreed, and they went their separate ways home.
Late that night, Helga sat in bed thinking about her eventful day. She was worried about her father. Though she had often been ignored and overlooked by him, she knew she loved him. And she had to do something.
The next day, Helga met Arnold at the mansion in the afternoon. Arnold had a backpack on his back.
"I can't believe I'm about to go into to this broken old house stuck with a dumb football head!" Helga griped.
"We gotta get to the bottom of this, Helga. C'mon!" Arnold said confidently.
Arnold walked up to the house. Helga followed closely. Arnold pushed open the doors. He took the flashlight out of his backpack and flicked it on. It looked like the same gloomy scene as before, except for the stairs, which were in a broken mess. Only a few steps remained.
"Let's try to get up the stairs, maybe they left a few clues up there," Arnold said.
"And how do you suggest we do that, football head?" Helga asked loudly.
Arnold pulled a rope out of his backpack.
"Ohhh no." Helga protested. "There's no way I'm getting up those stairs tied to a football head!"
"C'mon. I'll just hook it on to something up there." Arnold said. I'll tie it to me in the middle and you at the end. That way we can get up the stairs."
"And how are you gonna hook it on to anything?" Helga questioned.
Arnold tied the end into a lasso and tried to throw it around a banister at the top. It came up short and fell to his feet.
"Lemme try!" Helga said, as she picked up the rope. She threw it as high as she could. It landed perfectly around the top banister. Arnold smiled. Helga smiled back, before she realized what she was doing.
"C'mon, football head, we don't have all day!" Helga yelled. So Arnold tightened the rope and tied it around them. Arnold and Helga pulled on the rope to make progress up the stairs. They rested on any step that would still hold. When they finally got to the top, they stopped to rest for a minute before Arnold suggested they check out the room they had seen the gang in last night. As they stepped in, Helga spotted a small piece of paper in the middle of the floor.
She ran over to it, picked it up, and and examined it. It had obviously been torn from a larger sheet. She noticed a strange message that looked like it has been typed by a typewriter. It read:
Npoebz 1 bn
Bu Bmmfz cz Dpsofs pg Cmbdl/Cblfs
What the heck?" Helga retorted, puzzled by the mess of oddly mismatched letters.
"Maybe its written in some sort of code." Arnold suggested. "Let's take this to Phoebe.
When they caught up with Phoebe later that day at her house, they showed her the note.
"That is odd," she commented. "I have a book on deciphering hidden messages, maybe I can figure it out. Helga agreed to leave the note with Phoebe.
"What about the gang?" Arnold asked. "Did you find out anything?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," Phoebe started.
What did Phoebe find out? What is Nick's history? And what does the message mean? Answers to all these questions, and more, in the next chapter of The Shady Mansion Mystery, The Hidden Message. In the meanwhile, if you think you can crack the code in the message and explain to me how you did so, give me an E-mail! The winner will earn the eternal privilage and recognition of having their name posted on my site, as well as an award they can put on their own site. Good luck!
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