Boo Crew

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE: READY, SET, SHOW!

  CHAPTER TWO: TROUBLE BREWING

  CHAPTER THREE: BOO CREW

  CHAPTER FOUR: SNARE AT THE FAIR

  CHAPTER FIVE: STALK THIS WAY

  CHAPTER SIX: PRANKS A LOT!

  CHAPTER SEVEN: HAUNTED HOUSE CALL

  CHAPTER EIGHT: LUCY EXCUSE-Y

  CHAPTER NINE: MONSTER BASH

  CHAPTER TEN: SWEET SURRENDER

  Nancy Drew Clue Book #11: ‘The Tortoise and the Scare’ Excerpt

  READY, SET, SHOW!

  “Double, double, toil and trouble!” George Fayne declared. Then she wrinkled her nose and said, “Did witches really talk like that?”

  “They spoke that way in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth,” eight-year-old Nancy Drew said. “I’m glad my dad told me about the old play so we can audition as the three witch sisters!”

  Nancy’s best friend George rolled the big black cauldron up the street. Her other best friend, Bess Marvin, helped Nancy carry a duffel bag filled with witch costumes and awesome brew ingredients.

  George blew dark curly bangs out of her eyes. “ ‘Bubble, bubble’ sounds better than ‘double, double,’ ” she said. “Why don’t we say that instead?”

  “We will have a bubbly cauldron of brew,” Bess said happily, “thanks to my bottle of strawberry bubble bath!”

  “Then ‘bubble, bubble’ it is!” Nancy said.

  If the girls’ hands weren’t so full, they would have high-fived. The hit show Twinkling Little Stars was coming to River Heights to audition kids for their TV talent contest.

  “I’m glad the auditions are for their special Halloween show,” Nancy said. “We get to dress up two weeks before Halloween!”

  “I hope the judges like our brew ingredients,” George said, nodding at the cauldron, “toenail of toad, scale of dragon, tooth of giant—hairball of cat!”

  “Ewww,” Bess cried. “I’m glad all that stuff is fake—it’s totally gross.”

  “Speaking of gross,” George said excitedly, “I’m going with my mom later to see the movie Zombie Slime Monsters!”

  “Zombie Slime Monsters,” Nancy repeated. “Is it true the movie theater will serve slime-green popcorn?”

  “Only for the special five o’clock show,” George said. “Can’t wait!”

  Bess stuck her tongue out and made gagging sounds. “Slime-green popcorn? I’ll stick to crunchy caramel!”

  Nancy giggled and said, “Are you sure you’re cousins?” You’re as different as—”

  “Slime-green and caramel popcorn?” George joked.

  Bess used both hands to grab the handle of the bag.

  “This bag is getting heavy,” she said. “Why do we have to drop off our costumes and props today? It’s only Friday, and the auditions are Saturday and Sunday.”

  “Everyone auditioning has to, Bess,” Nancy said. “It’s the contest rules.”

  The girls were glad to reach the theater where the auditions would be held. The Heights Theater was old-timey but looked brand new with a fresh coat of paint and a shiny gold front door.

  “I wonder if we’ll meet the judges today,” Nancy said as they filed inside.

  “I can’t believe Lucy O’Toole is one of the judges,” George said. “I think she’s the funniest comedian, and she grew up right here in River Heights.”

  “And I can’t believe the other judge is the actress Cookie Sugarman!” Nancy said. “Can you believe she’s only nine years old and is supposed to be the sweetest star in Hollywood!”

  “Even Cookie’s movies are sweet,” Bess said. “I saw The Princess and the Unicorn three times!”

  “The Princess and the Unicorn,” George scoffed. “That movie was so sweet I had to brush my teeth three times!”

  Bess rolled her eyes at George. “Who’s the third judge, Nancy?” she asked.

  “It’s the owner of this theater,” Nancy replied. “I think his name is Nathan.”

  “Who wouldn’t want to own this place?” George asked as they looked around the lobby. “It’s awesome!”

  Plush red velvet chairs and sofas stood on golden-colored carpeting. Covering the walls were posters from long-ago shows.

  “It looks like a fairy-tale castle,” Bess said, pointing upward. “Even the ceiling is painted blue with white clouds!”

  Nancy couldn’t believe her eyes either. The old Heights Theater had just reopened after being rebuilt. The Twinkling Little Stars auditions would be the first event there in more than seventy years!

  “Do you believe this building used to be old and creepy?” Nancy said. “We even thought it was haunted!”

  More kids walked by holding costumes and props. One was Quincy Taylor from the girls’ third-grade class. Quincy held a mummy costume as he stopped to face the girls.

  “Who says this theater isn’t still haunted?” Quincy asked them.

  “What do you mean, Quincy?” Nancy asked.

  “You heard about the curse, didn’t you?” Quincy asked. “About a hundred years ago an actress named Nora Westcott starred in a play here. Nora was mad when the director replaced her with a bigger star.”

  Quincy lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “The director didn’t know that Nora was also a witch!”

  “We’re witches too,” Bess said with a smile. “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble—”

  “Nora was a real witch,” Quincy cut in, “and there was trouble all right.”

  “Trouble?” Bess asked.

  “The Heights Theater has been haunted ever since Nora’s curse,” Quincy answered. “By ghosts and monsters!”

  “Not true!” a deep voice said.

  The kids turned to see a tall man with dark hair standing behind them.

  “I am Nathan Alonso, the owner of this theater,” the man said. “The only thing that ever went bump in the night was when a clumsy stagehand dropped a set piece.”

  “So there are no ghosts or monsters?” George asked.

  “Zero, zip,” Nathan insisted. “Zilch.”

  Quincy smiled. “You’ve got to be right, Mr. Alonso,” he said. “No ghosts or monsters here. Whew, what a relief!”

  Nathan walked away. The girls turned to Quincy with surprise.

  “What made you change your mind so fast, Quincy?” George asked. “Because he’s the owner of the theater?”

  “Because he’s one of the judges and I want to win!” Quincy said. “Hey, I may be a mummy, but I’m no dummy!”

  As Quincy walked away, Bess turned to Nancy and George, her blue eyes wide.

  “What if Quincy’s right?” Bess asked. “What if this theater is filled with monsters and ghosts?”

  “Quincy is always talking about ghosts,” George scoffed. “He’s a member of that goofy Ghost Grabbers Club.”

  Bess nodded. “Yes, remember when they tried to help us solve the mystery of Murray the Monster Mutt?” she sighed. “They weren’t much help.”

  “Who cares about grabbing ghosts?” Nancy asked with a smile. “I like our own club, the Clue Crew!”

  As the Clue Crew, Nancy, Bess, and George solved mysteries all over River Heights. Nancy even owned a clue book where she wrote down all of their suspects and clues.

  “Quincy can look for ghosts if he wants to,” George said as she rolled the cauldron. “I want to find the prop room so I can park this pot!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George followed the others down a hall to a large room. Inside, kids were busy hanging up costumes and placing props on shelves.

  “There’s Shelby!” George said, pointing to their friend Shelby Metcalf from school. “She’s juggling monster eyeballs!”

  A few feet away was another kid wearing a hairy werewolf mask. Nancy recognized Kevin Garcia’s voice as he
told monster jokes. . . .

  “What’s a werewolf’s favorite bedtime story?” Kevin asked. “A hairy-tale!”

  Kevin threw back his head and howled, “Ah-woooo!”

  Nancy wasn’t surprised to see their friend Nadine auditioning for Twinkling Little Stars too. She was the best dancer and actress in Ms. Ramirez’s third-grade class.

  “Is that a spider costume you’re hanging up, Nadine?” Nancy asked.

  “Not just any spider,” Nadine said. She turned to three other kids hanging up the same costumes. “We’re Cirque du Crawl-ay, and we’re dancing with a giant spiderweb!”

  “Break a leg, Nadine,” George said. “All eight of them!”

  Across the room a small crowd was watching Antonio Elefano, dressed as a vampire. The girls traded smirks. If Nadine was the class actress—Antonio was the class pest!

  “Tell me, Mr. Fang,” Antonio asked a bat puppet on his hand, “what is a vampire’s favorite snack?”

  Antonio used his other hand to lift a glass of grape juice to his lips. While he gulped it down the puppet said, “Scream of tomato, Count Joke-ula. Yum!”

  “Pretty neat,” Bess admitted. “How did he do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Nancy admitted, “Since when is Antonio such a good ventriloquist?”

  Suddenly George pointed to the floor underneath Antonio’s long cape. “Hey!” she said. “Since when do vampires—have four feet?”

  TROUBLE BREWING

  “Four feet?” Nancy repeated.

  She, Bess, and the others looked down to see where George was pointing. Peeking out from beneath Antonio’s long cape were not one—but two pairs of sneakered feet!

  “Busted,” Peter Patino groaned as he stumbled out. Peter was Antonio’s friend. But probably not for long.

  “You and your big feet, Peter,” Antonio muttered.

  “So Peter was making Mr. Fang talk,” Kendra Jackson called out, “Not Count Joke-ula!”

  “Antonio Elefano, you cheated!” Shelby complained.

  A woman dressed in a white blouse and black pants walked over. “I’m Sherry Hemmings, the producer of Twinkling Little Stars,” she said. “I just saw what happened.”

  “So?” Antonio asked with a shrug.

  “So having your friend talk for you wouldn’t be fair,” Sherry said. “Why don’t you try throwing your voice by yourself, like ventriloquists do?”

  “But we’re a team,” Antonio argued. “Partners!”

  “Partners in crime,” George mumbled.

  “Heard that, Georgia Fayne!” Antonio snapped.

  Nancy could hear George suck in her breath. She hated her real name, Georgia, more than sweet movies about unicorns!

  “What have you decided to do, Antonio?” Sherry asked.

  Antonio gulped down the rest of his juice, wiped his mouth with his bat puppet, and said, “Thanks, Ms. Hemmings, but we’ll take our amazing act—elsewhere!”

  As the boys pushed past them, Nancy heard Peter say, “Let’s go for pizza.”

  “Go without me,” Antonio said glumly. “I’ve got a messy job to do.”

  Nancy wondered what that messy job could be. But her thoughts were interrupted when Mayor Strong walked into the room. Everyone gasped when they saw who the mayor was with.

  “I’m sure the judges need no introductions, kids,” Mayor Strong said. “Meet Lucy O’Toole and Cookie Sugarman!”

  “Omigosh!” Nancy gasped. “It’s them!”

  In a flash the kids crowded around Lucy and Cookie.

  “I am so thrilled to be back in River Heights!” Lucy exclaimed. “I want to do everything I did when I was a kid . . . except clean my room.”

  Nancy giggled along with the others. Lucy was her favorite comedian too.

  “And I can’t wait to judge your auditions this weekend,” Cookie said with a smile. “Oh, I wish I could vote for each one of you right now!”

  “Isn’t she sweet, kids?” Mayor Strong asked, then quickly added, “and our third judge is Nathan Alonso, the owner of this theater.”

  Nathan opened his mouth to speak, until Sherry stepped forward and spoke first. . . .

  “Auditions for third-graders will be held here tomorrow morning,” Sherry announced. “Fourth-graders will audition Saturday afternoon and fifth-graders on Sunday morning.”

  Before anyone could get selfies with Lucy and Cookie, the stars were whisked out of the room. After making sure their costumes and props were put away, the girls left too.

  “Meeting Lucy and Cookie was awesome,” Nancy said.

  “Tomorrow will be even awesomer,” George said. “I’m so happy we’re in the third grade—because that means we get to audition first!”

  Bess stopped walking to look up at the cloud-painted ceiling. “Wait,” she said, “do you hear that? It’s coming from upstairs.

  All Nancy heard were kids leaving the theater. “Hear what, Bess?” she asked.

  “Someone just laughed,” Bess said.

  “Laughs are good,” George said.

  “Not this laugh,” Bess said. “Instead of ha, ha, ha, it was more like mwah, ha, ha! Like a mean monster laugh.”

  “Monster?” George shook her head. “Bess, do you still think this theater is cursed by a witch?”

  Bess flicked her long blond hair and said, “Maybe.”

  “You heard what Nathan told us, Bess,” Nancy said gently. “There are no monsters or witches in this theater.”

  George flashed a smile. “Except three super-cool witches auditioning for the show tomorrow,” she said. “Us!”

  Bess smiled too as the girls chanted, “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble! We’ll win this contest on the double!”

  “How was Zombie Slime Monsters yesterday?” Nancy asked George.

  It was Saturday morning and the day of the Twinkling Little Stars audition. All three girls sat buckled up in the backseat of Mr. Drew’s car, too excited to sit still.

  “The movie was great,” George said. “But the snacks—not so great.”

  “Why?” Bess asked.

  “The slime-green popcorn machine broke down,” George sighed. “I had to eat gummy bats instead.”

  Nancy saw her dad smile in the rearview mirror as he drove to the theater. “Are you sure parents can’t watch the auditions?” he asked.

  “Totally sure, Daddy,” Nancy said. “Only kids are allowed.”

  “But you can wish us luck, Mr. Drew,” Bess said with a smile. “That always helps!”

  Mr. Drew wished Nancy, Bess, and George the best of luck as he stopped in front of the Heights Theater. The girls climbed out of the car, rushed into the theater, and hurried straight to the prop room.

  “Look!” George said. “That door wasn’t open yesterday.”

  Nancy looked through the door. It led directly backstage. Cool!

  “Don’t forget to put everything you’ll need for your auditions backstage, kids,” Sherry told everyone.

  After pulling on their witch costumes, the girls carried and rolled their own props backstage. They found three empty seats in the theater and sat down.

  “This looks different than a movie theater,” Nancy whispered as they looked around.

  “Smells different too,” George whispered back. “No popcorn or nacho chips.”

  Lucy, Nathan, and Cookie were sitting behind a long table in front of the stage. Each wore a round white badge with the word JUDGE in red letters.

  Mayor Strong walked to the middle of the stage to a microphone. Nancy felt Bess squeeze her hand. This was it!

  “Welcome, talented kids of River Heights,” Mayor Strong announced. He pointed to the audience and said, “I’m talking about you!”

  As everyone cheered, Cookie turned to give a thumbs-up. Nancy smiled. She really was sweet!

  “Without further skid-doo—let’s bring out an act that even Miss Muffet would love,” Mayor Strong said. “Please welcome—Cirque du Crawl-ay!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George clapped for Nadine
and her friends. The spider-dancers sprinted onstage holding a big ropey spiderweb over their heads.

  Music played as Cirque du Crawl-ay danced. But the faster they danced, the faster things began dropping down on them—squiggly black things!

  “Ewwww!” one dancer shrieked. “There are spiders all over this web!”

  More dancers shrieked, letting go of the web. The spidery net dropped over them in a big tangled mess!

  “Get us out of here!” Nadine cried.

  Mayor Strong and Nathan helped free the dancers from the web. The mayor picked up a spider and held it up for all to see.

  “Don’t worry, kids,” Mayor Strong chuckled. “These spiders are rubber.”

  “We didn’t put them there!” Nadine cried. “Somebody did it to ruin our audition!”

  Nancy watched Cirque du Crawl-ay drag themselves and their web from the stage. Did someone really put the spiders in their web? And why?

  “All right then,” a frowning Mayor Strong said into the microphone. “Our next act will make you howl with laughter. Please give it up for Kevin Garcia.”

  Kevin ran onstage, his werewolf mask covering his head. His voice sounded a bit muffled as he told his first joke: “When do werewolves go trick-or-treating?”

  Kevin waited a few seconds then said, “Give up? They go trick-or-treating—on Howl-a-Ween!”

  As some laughed, Kevin began to howl, “Ah-wooo! Ah-wooo!”

  But then he threw back his head and began to sneeze, “Ah-choo! Ah-choo!”

  “Is that part of his act?” George whispered.

  “I don’t think so,” Nancy whispered back.

  Sniffing loudly into the mike, Kevin told his next joke: “Why can’t mummies have fun? Because they’re too wrapped up in their work! Ah-wooooo!”

  Once again, the ah-woos turned back into ah-choos. A lot of ah-choos!

  “Arrgh!” Kevin cried pulling off his hairy mask. “Something inside this thing is making me sneeze!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George traded worried looks. First Nadine’s act flopped and now Kevin’s? What was up?

  “Nancy, Bess, George,” Sherry called to them from the aisle. “Your audition is next, so get ready.”

  As the girls made their way backstage, Bess said, “What if something goes wrong with our audition too?”