The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion (7 page)

But none of the other cubs noticed that Sister was gone. They were too busy staring into the hole in the wall where the bookshelf had been.

“What's in there?” said Fred.

“It's a stairway,” said Brother, peering in.

“And it goes down. Maybe Papa and Squire Grizzly went down it. Let's go see!”

The three cubs climbed through the wall and started down the dark stairway.

“I hear pounding,” said Bonnie.

“Maybe it's them!” said Brother.

But as they made their way down the stairs, the pounding seemed to get farther away.

That's because it was Sister Bear who was doing the pounding.

Sister pounded the wall with her fists. “Hey! Let me out of here!” she yelled.

But no one came to help.

They're gone
, she thought.
Now what'll I do? I'm trapped!

Everything was pitch-black. Sister felt around her. Walls. A low ceiling. She must be in one of Farnsworth Grizzly's secret rooms! Was there a way out?

Suddenly her hand touched something on the floor. It felt like a handle! She yanked at it. A door opened.

Peering down through the opening, Sister saw a dimly lit stairway.
A secret entrance to the old cellar
, she thought. The cellar must have some windows near the ceiling, she figured, or it would be pitch-black down there, too.

Should she go down? Her heart thumped against her ribs. She could almost hear ghosts creeping up those stairs . . .

Somehow Sister made her mind go blank. Slowly she stepped down the stairs. They went round and round in a spiral. Sister could barely breathe as she went. But at least there was enough light to see by.

At last she reached the bottom of the stairs. A long, dark tunnel stretched off before her. She walked down it, running her hand along the cool wall. Her heart fluttered as a mouse scurried past.

Finally, Sister came to a spot where the tunnel made a sharp turn to the left. What was that sound around the corner? More mice? Or was it . . .
ghosts?

Sister raised her riding crop just as three spooky figures jumped out from around the corner and began hitting her over the head. She screamed and struck back wildly. She had been right! The place
was
haunted! The ghosts screamed, too, as they swung at her with riding crops . . .

“Stop!” yelled Brother. “It's just Sister!”

The four cubs lowered their weapons and stood panting.

“Whew!” said Brother. “We thought you were a burglar, Sis.”

“I thought
you
were burglars!” said Sister. She was too embarrassed to say what she had really thought.

“There's light coming from that direction,” said Fred. He was pointing back down the tunnel. “Let's go check it out.”

This time the cubs held hands to keep together. They made their way down the dimly lit tunnel as quickly as they could. The light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be coming from above. It fell on a clutter of large, dark objects.

“Furniture!” cried Brother.

“Auntie's stolen antiques!” said Bonnie. “The burglars must have stored them here.”

Fred pointed to a wooden ladder that led up to a square of light near the ceiling. “The light's coming from that open cellar door,” he said. “They must have got out that way.”

Just then a thumping sound came from somewhere nearby.

“Or
in
,” whispered Sister.

Another thump. And another.

Brother put a finger to his lips and pointed to a door just down the tunnel. With their crops raised, the cubs tiptoed toward it. Their hearts pounded.

Sister's knees shook so much, she could hardly walk. She kept telling herself that she didn't believe in ghosts. But deep down, she was still terrified that the burglars would turn out to be the ghosts of Bad Bart and his band of thieves.

As the cubs neared the door, they heard a new sound.

“Shhh!” said Brother.

“Voices,” whispered Fred.

“Voices
moaning and groaning,
” whispered Bonnie.

“That's it,” said Sister. “I'm outta here!”

Sister turned to run, but Brother grabbed her by the arm. “You know I don't believe in ghosts, Sis,” he said. “But the ghosts I don't believe in don't moan and groan like that.”

“They d-d-don't?” said Sister.

“No,” said Brother. “Real live bears who are bound and gagged moan and groan like that! Let's go!”

Sure enough, inside the old storage room were three bears all tied up. Pieces of cloth were fastened tightly around their mouths. The bears were Lady Grizzly, Squire Grizzly, and Papa Bear.

The cubs untied them by the light from a little square window near the ceiling.

“Greeves!” bellowed Squire Grizzly the moment the gag was out of his mouth. “He and his phony exterminators! They tied us up!”

“See?” said Bonnie. “I
told
you the butler did it.”

“That traitor!” growled the squire. “When I get my hands on him—”

A loud thump interrupted the squire. “What was that?” he said.

“It's coming from that wall,” said Papa. “There must be a hidden room behind it.”

And indeed there was. On one wall of the old storage room Brother found a button. He pressed it, and a hidden door slid open.

The light from the storage room fell across another figure that was bound and gagged. He lay on the rough cellar floor, dressed only in pajamas.

Squire Grizzly let out a gasp. “Greeves!”

“I don't understand,” said Lady Grizzly, peering in at the butler. “Why would Greeves tie
himself
up?”

“For heaven's sake, dear!” said Squire Grizzly. “He didn't tie himself up!”

“Then who did?” said Lady Grizzly.

“Isn't it obvious?” said the squire. “He and his partners must have had an argument—probably about who would get the biggest share of the money when they sold the stolen antiques. So they tied him up and left him behind.”

By now the cubs had untied Greeves.

“That's not what happened!” cried the butler. “I had nothing to do with the burglary!”

“Then why did you and your partners tie us up!” said Squire Grizzly.

“We didn't!” said Greeves. “I mean,
I
didn't! I mean, they're not my partners! I don't even know
who
tied you up!”

“You
did!” roared the squire. “I looked you right in the eye while you did it!”

“But I've been down here since before dawn!” said Greeves. “The ghosts attacked me while I was still in bed! They tied me up and dragged me down here! I was terrified!”

“Did you say
ghosts?
” said Lady Grizzly.

“Yes!” said Greeves. “The same ones Maisie saw in the ballroom last week!”

Just then a police siren wailed aboveground.

“I won't allow you to hide behind this ghost nonsense!” Squire Grizzly said to the butler. “Get up! We're turning you over to Chief Bruno!”