The boys are hanging a sign that says
"Mahoney Renovations".
"Oh, Chief, which one of these
screwdrivers is a Philips?" Sach asked, holding up five of them.
"It's the one that ain't like you: It
don't have a flat head," Slip replied, then turned back to the others.
Sach put the screwdrivers down and stuck
his tongue out at Slip while his back was turned, then handed off a
screwdriver. "Here, Whitey."
"Looks good, guys," Slip commented.
"Slip, you really think people'll ire us
to renovate their houses?" Chuck asked.
"'Course I do," Slip replied.
"Cuz we work for cheap," Sach interrupted,
and received a belting from Slip and his hat. "Oop, not cheap enough, I
guess."
"I oughtta..." Slip said, pulling back to
hit Sach again, when the phone rang.
"I think we got a customer!" Bobby said.
Slip picked up the receiver. "Hello,
Mahoney Renovations. This is Mahoney 'imself. Yes. Hmmmm...? Oh,
right away." He hung up the receiver. "Pack the tools, boys, we got
our foist job!"
"Well, we're here," Bobby announced,
stopping the jalopy.
"Great, but where's here?" Whitey asked.
"Ramsdale House, 134 Hillside Road. Yup,
we're here," Slip said. "Grap the equipment and follow me."
"What else?" Sach said, following suit,
but instead fell out of the jalopy and into Slip.
"Watch it or else *you'll* need
renovatin'," Slip said.
"Sorry, Chief," Sach said, then turned
back to the jalopy and helped Whitey. "Out of the car, Whitey."
"This place is pretty creepy lookin',"
Chuck commented.
"Kinda like it's address?" Bobby added.
"Nah, it just looks that way at night,"
Slip said.
Everyone, except Slip, picked up some of
the tools, and followed him through the yard.
"I don't like the looka this place," Sach
said.
"It prob'ly don't like the look of you
neither, but it's still here, now c'mon and let's go inside," Slip said.
He went up on the porch. "No doorbell, guess I'll knock, then." He
knocked. No answer. He tried again. Still no answer.
"M-maybe the ghosts are hard of hearin',"
Whitey said.
Slip pounded on the door.
Bobby reached around Slip and tried the
doorknob. The door creaked open. "It was open all the time."
"I knew that. I was just testin' ya,"
Slip covered.
The group piled into the dark house and
looked around. The door creaked shut behind them.
"Who did that?" Sach asked.
"Prob'ly just the wind," Slip said,
searching for a light switch. "If I can find a switch, we can shed some
allumination on this subject." He found a swtich, flipped it, and the
lights cam on. "See? Nice an' bright an' cheery. Nutin' to be afraid
of. Now, put that stuff down and get ta woik."
"What're you gonna do?" Sach asked.
"I'm gonna start the tab for this job,"
Slip replied, then took a seat on the couch.
"Lazy," Sach commented, then left to join
the others.
"There's somethin' weird about this
place," Chuck commented.
"Very weird," Whitey agreed.
"Oh you guys're just tryin' to get outta
workin'," Sach said.
"And you wanna work?" Bobby asked.
"'Course not," Sach said, "but Slip over
there ain't gonna let us leave until we do somethin' to improve the
looksa this place."
"Never thought I'd say it, but he's got a
point," Bobby said.
"Sure I do! Now, let's figure out how to
improve this place," Sach said.
"Maybe dust first an' see if it gets rida
some of the creepiness," Chuck said..
"I'm with you," Whitey agreed.
"Will ya quick yackin' over there an' get
to woik?" Slip called out.
"Yappety, yappety, yappety," Sach said,
then pulled a feather duster out of his jacket.
The others grabbed more dusters and began
to dust.
"This ain't dust, it's layers of dirt on
everythin'," Bobby complained.
Whitey began sneezing.
Slip rolled his eyes. "Shoulda brought
some ear plugs."
"Fellas, I gotta get some water, I"ll be
right back," Whitey said, then went towards the kitchen.
The others continued dusting. Several
minutes passed, but Whitey didn't come back.
"What's takin' him so long to get some
water?" Chuck asked.
Slip stood up from his spot on the couch.
"I'll go receive 'im an' find out if there's food in this place."
"Oh, good, cuz I'm gettin' hungry," Sach
said.
"You're always hungry," Slip said, then
went towards the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway. "Whitey?" He
turned back to the others. "Ya sure he came in here?"
"Yeah, he was gonna get some water," Bobby
said.
"Well, he ain't in there now. Prob'ly
escaped out a window," Slip said.
"Ooh, that Whitey! Wait'll I get my hands
on 'im...!" Sach said.
"No, wait'll *I* get my hands on 'im.
Then I'll get my hands on you... sooner if ya don't shuddup!" Slip said,
then went back to his perch on the couch.
"Com'on, Sach, better give us a hand an'
let Slip cool down," Bobby said.
"I wonder if Whitey really snuck outta
here," Chuck said.
"Sure he did," Sach said, then added,
"that boy gets scared by his own shadow!"
Bobby and Chuck exchanged looks, then
shook their heads, going back to work.
"Well, he does," Sach said, poutted, then
went back to dusting.
"Now, doesn't that look betta," Slip said.
"See what a little dustin' can do."
"We can see it," Chuck said, brushing
himself off.
"Go outside an' do that! You're makin'
the dirt spread in 'ere again," Slip said.
Chuck went outside. A few minutes passed,
but he didn't come back in.
"It couldn't take that long to clean off,
could it?" Bobby said, unsure.
"I don't know, we'll go check on 'im ta
make ya feel betta," Slip said.
The three went to the front door and
looked out.
"No, Chuck. There ain't even any dirt on
the porch," Sach said.
"This is startin' to get irrigatin'," Slip
said. "Foist, Whitey leaves, now Chuck."
"I'm startin' to wonder if they're not
disppearin' cuz they want to," Bobby said.
"You two are suspicious! Just because
this place is prob'ly haunted..." Sach said, then realized what he said.
"Haunted!?"
"Haunted, he says!" Slip said, then
laughed. "That's a good one!"
"He might be right, though, Chief," Bobby
said, uneasily.
"Oh, not you, too," Slip said. "C'mon,
Bobby, keep a parallel head about the situation."
"I'm tryin', Slip, but this place could
really be haunted," Bobby said.
"See? He agrees with me, Chief. So
there!" Sach said, then put his arm around Bobby's shoulders. Bobby
removed his arm.
"Fine, fine. You two go ahead an' be
scared. Ya know, we still have a job ta do, inspite of havin' two walk
out on us. Guess, now I'll have ta do it all myself..." Slip said.
"Uh, yeah, maybe if we work, we can keep
ours minds off this creep show house," Bobby said.
"I left my mind at Louie's for safe
keepin', so I'll stay scared," Sach said.
"Well, then brainless, go stand in a
corner or som'en an' stay outta our way so we can woik," Slip said.
Sach poutted, then walked over to a corner
of the room and stayed there. He leaned against the wall and folded his
arms. The wall spun around and he disappeared.
"Hey, Slip, how can you be so sure this
place ain't haunted? I mean, it could be, it ain't impossible," Bobby
said.
"I'm just tryin' to keep moraley up for
the idiot's sake. I am gettin' the necklace of an idea that you could
be right, thought," Slip said.
"I guess we just have to stick together,
then," Bobby said. He glanced over to where Sach had been standing.
"Slip!"
"Now, what're ya gettin' excited about?"
Slip asked. "I'm tryin' to keep ya calm 'ere..."
"But, Slip, look!" Bobby said, pointing
ehind him. "Sach is gone!"
"Awe, now, you're havin' hallukinations.
Sach wouldn't leave us 'ere..." Slip said, then turned. "I don't
believe it."
"*Now* is this place haunted?" Bobby
asked.
"Now... oh, boy," Slip said. "This ain't
good."