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switchedandbewitched · 7 months ago

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Switched and Bewitched Chapter 6: #25 Menace at Mummy Manor? Got it.

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Velma’s head whipped to the left and suddenly she shouted, “Fred! There! Pull over!”

“Pulling over!” Fred responded. The Mystery Machine seemed to dive into the nearest on street parking spot, jolting abruptly as it tapped the curb.

"Like, what is it, Velma?" Shaggy asked. Instead of responding, she unclipped her seatbelt, hopped onto the sidewalk, and began making a beeline for a store across the street. Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Scooby looked at one another and shrugged, following suit. The Gang found themselves standing in front of an old brick building. Across the storefront window it said "Dinkley's Mystery Book Shoppe" in spooky lettering.

"I want to go in," Velma stated. Her tone alone made it clear there would be no changing her mind, and her face only reinforced the point.

"If we're smart about it..." Fred started.

"And really careful," Daphne added.

"Have I ever been known not to be smart or careful?"

"That is, like, a good point."

They all shrugged at each other again and opened the shop door, which made a pleasant chime. The shop was small and crammed with shelves anywhere they could fit. Handmade signs hung over each section, indicating the location of genres such as noir, gumshoe, and graphic novel. At 3:00pm on Wednesday, the shop was far from crowded, but a few older folks milled about or sat in overstuffed chairs near the front window.

Velma surveyed the story until her eye caught the clerk behind the register. "Jinkies!" She exclaimed. Behind the register was a young woman, not much older than Velma, who bore a striking resemblance to Velma's younger sister.

"I know that feeling, man," Shaggy said. He still hadn't recovered from meeting Tim.

Velma slowly approached the counter and cleared her throat. "Um, h-hello. I kn-know this is a mystery shop, however I'm looking for books on local history?"

"Hi! Yes, of course. We have a small selection of other genres if you go through the door in the back." The clerk pointed to a black door. "Are there any titles in particular I can help you find? We can always order something."

"N-no. Thank you." Velma scurried towards the back, waving at The Gang to follow her back. Much like the main room, the back of the store was crammed with books. Genres included romance, sci-fi, horror, occult, history, and old textbooks from the local universities. Velma began pulling dusty books from the shelves they had no doubt sat on for years and piled them on a table in the middle of the room. She opened one up and sat down.

Daphne peered over her shoulder, "What are you looking for?"

Shaggy, Fred, and Scooby joined them, also leaning over Velma's shoulder. "History of Magical Items in North America," Fred read aloud. "Damn, this is a great find, Velma."

"Maybe it will help identify that object in the crime scene photo," Daphne said.

"I'm counting on it. But in case it doesn't, I think we should get these, too." Velma stacked nearly a dozen books into a neat pile and hauled herself to her feat. The stack contained riveting titles such as "Coolsville 4: Alien Abduction?", "Unsolved California: The Missing Coolsville 4", and "Dark Arts for Dummies."

"And this one. Just for fun," Fred said. He held up a book titled "Hair-Raisers #25 Menace at Mummy Manor" and scooped half the books from Velma's arms. "Ready, Gang?"

“Find everything you were looking for?” the clerk asked with a big customer service smile.

“Yes, thank you,” Velma responded. Velma studied the clerk more closely as she scanned each book. ��Can I ask you a question?” The clerk nodded and continued scanning the books. “Is this Dinkley’s Mystery Book Shoppe, as in Velma Dinkley, the missing teenager?”

The clerk’s customer service persona wavered slightly. She was clearly sick of answering this question. “Yes, ma’am! Same family.”

“How are you related to Velma Dinkley, if you don’t mind my asking?” Fred asked.

“Velma was my great-aunt. I never met her of course, so I can’t tell you anymore than these books can.”

“This store is really lovely. Do you own it?” Daphne asked.

The clerk laughed. “No, I just work here part-time while I’m in college. The store belongs to my parents,” she said, putting the books into a cloth bag. “Here, free bag on the house. It’s been a while since anyone bought this many books. Will that be cash or card?”

Velma pulled out her shiny new debit card, belonging to her alter ego Nicole Jaffe, and fumbled with the chip and keypad for a minute.

“Thank you so much! Have a great day!”

Velma scooped up her books and hurried out the door, throwing herself into the Mystery Machine.

“Rare rou rokay, Relma?” Scooby asked.

“Like, yeah, Velma. You seem upset, what’s wrong?” Shaggy added.

Velma drew her knees to her chest and sank into the bench seat. Tears streamed down her face. “They just moved on! Our families moved on! They got married and had kids and opened businesses and moved away. It’s like we never even existed, except for these true crime books and shows. I wanted to be the one opening Dinkley’s Mystery Book Shoppe and I wanted to see Madelyn grow up and have children and meet her grandchildren. That woman in the store should know who I am.”

Daphne gathered Velma into a hug. “I know this is hard, Velma. This is really, really hard. I’m looking at it like this: it’s better that our families moved on and lived fulfilling lives. I wouldn’t have wanted my parents or sisters to sit around mourning me forever, especially when I’m not even dead! We’re right here and we’re going to get back home. This won’t matter eventually.”

“There’s even some good things,” Fred said. “Think about all the scientific advances you’re getting a sneak peek into. Look how far surveillance and trapping technology has come! Mystery-solving in 2022 has to be at least ten times as fun.”

Velma wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater and sniffled. “Thank you. You’re both right.”

Shaggy joined what had now turned into a group hug. “Like, let’s go get some weird, overpriced food and then head back to the estate.”

Back at the Shaggleford Manor, The Gang snuck into one of the basement conference rooms and spread out their books. Daphne found notebooks, pens, and post-its in a supply closet and began handing them out. The Gang wasn’t avoiding Tim exactly, but he had more than gotten on all of their nerves over the last week with his constant scheduling and hand-wringing. And so, they delved into research, highlighting, sticky noting, and murmuring “hmm” for nearly an hour before Tim made his way to the conference room.

“There you are! I was expecting you t-to report b-back when you arrived home,” He said, miffed.

The Gang let out a collective sigh and looked at him, “Not now!”

Taken aback, he turned on his heel and made a “tut-tut” noise as he left the room.

Their noses went back into their books for a few more hours, until Fred finally said, “Alright, Gang, what d’you have?”

“Like, not a whole lot, Freddie. This book has a lot of information, but, like, most of it isn’t useful information,” Shaggy replied, waving around Dark Arts for Dummies. “There’s a section on sending an object to another place using a magic globe, ya know, geographically-speaking. It, like, doesn’t mention any trippy time-travel.”

Velma pinned the photo of the unidentified gold object to the corkboard. “I found three possibilities in this book, but I am not convinced, yet. First we have this pocket watch, supposedly created by a British watchmaker turned warlock. The book indicates it is used to slow down or speed up time in the immediate area.” Velma ripped the page from History and Origins of Mystical Items in the West and then set the book on the table. She picked up another and ripped out another page. “True Crime Coolsville describes an unsolved missing person’s case where the man claims to have found some kind of statue in the woods and subsequently disappeared for 3 years. No memory of those three years, no clues.”

“We didn’t go missing from Coolsville, Velma. Do we really think that talisman is an option?” Daphne asked.

“Daphne has a point. We were in Gatorsburg when everything happened,” Fred said.

“I am willing to put all possibilities on the board, even remote ones. Do you disagree?”

“No, that’s fair,” Fred responded. “We don’t have anything to lose by exploring all the options.”

Velma tacked the final option to the board. “This is a bronze medallion said to be used to invoke the powers of Roman god Janus, god of time, beginnings, and related concepts. I’m the least convinced this is a possibility. Time travel... fine. Gods? No, I think that is too much.”

“We have to go back to Gatorsburg,” Fred asserted. “And we should go back to the forest we landed in.”

The Gang nodded.

“A logical course of action,” Velma said.

"Tomorrow morning, let's split up and look for clues. Daphne and I will go back to the forest. Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma -- you head to Gatorsburg."

"Like, go back to the creepy forest where a witch sent us into the future? Uh uh. No way, no how. Count us out."

Daphne smirked. "Would you do it for a Scooby snack?"

"Raphne, rey don't rake real Rooby racks in 2022." Scooby was right. He had discovered that even the ‘Scooby-Snack’ dispensing machine in the new Mystery Machine was filled with knock-off dog biscuits.

Daphne reached into her pocket and pulled out two biscuits.