Dunc and the Haunted Castle Read Online Free Page A

any food.”
    “Oh, yeah.”
    “She’s probably an international spy,” T.J. whispered. “And he gave her a coded message.”
    Amos put his elbow on the table. “You’vebeen watching too many old James Bond movies.”
    T.J. looked offended. “I’ve learned a lot from James Bond.” He took a pen out of the inside pocket of his trench coat. “Take this, for example.”
    Amos reached for it. “What does it do? Write in disappearing ink?”
    “Among other things.” T.J. jerked it out of his reach. “Watch this.” He touched a button, and a tiny pair of scissors slid up out of the handle.
    “That’s handy,” Amos said, “if you want to cut out paper dolls or something.”
    T.J. stuck his bottom lip out. “Okay, you asked for it.” He pointed the pen at Amos and pushed another button. Nothing happened. “It must be stuck. It’s supposed to squirt ink in your face. I guess I’ll have to work on it.”
    He banged it on the table just as Rosie brought their food. A big ink blob splattered her apron.
    T.J. jumped up, dipped his napkin in his glass of water, and tried to wipe it off, but he only succeeded in smearing it. “I’m terribly sorry, Mrs. Macdonald. I was just showing my friends how my pen worked, and—”
    “Sit down quickly, boy. You’re drawing attention to us.” She set the food on the table. Then she laid the ticket upside down beside Dunc. “Be sure you check that ticket carefully, boy. You never know. It might surprise you.”
    Dunc waited until she was on her way back to the counter, then picked up the ticket. Only it wasn’t a ticket. It was a piece of paper with a message on it.
    Keep your noses where they belong. There’s trouble in the offing.
    P.S. Stay in your rooms at night.
    Amos frowned. “It doesn’t make sense. What language is it written in?”
    Dunc stuffed the paper into his pocket. “That’s the way these guys talk over here. I think Mr. Smith’s trying to warn us about something. Hurry and finish eating. We need to go someplace where we can talk.”

Dunc stopped on the old bridge in front of the castle and took out his notebook. “Let’s see. So far we have: a weird noise we can’t explain, a bottle of whisky, a suspicious conversation involving the housekeeper and Mr. Macbeth, and a strange message from Mr. Smith. Have I left out anything?”
    “Yeah,” Amos said. “The monster.”
    Dunc shook his head. “We haven’t determined that there is a monster.”
    Amos sighed. “The problem is, we haven’t determined there isn’t. It’s all in how you look at it.”
    Dunc flipped the notebook shut. “This isone of the most puzzling cases I’ve ever had. Nothing fits.”
    Amos leaned over the side of the bridge and threw a rock into the stream. “I vote we forget it and go fishing.”
    T.J. opened his trench coat. “Your wish is my command.” He reached deep into a side pocket and produced a short pole and a miniature tackle box.
    “I take back what I said earlier. You’re amazing, T.J.” Amos took the pole and headed for the water.
    “Not really. My dad told me there was trout fishing up here, so I came prepared.”
    Amos followed a trail that led underneath the old bridge. He put the pole together and baited his hook. “Come on down here, you guys. Watch the master fisherman at work.”
    Dunc and T.J. worked their way down the steep trail. Dunc sat down in the shade of the bridge. “The last time I watched the master fisherman, he got his line caught in someone else’s lunch basket. He wound up catching the biggest bologna sandwich on the dock.”
    “That was back when I was an amateur. I’m better now. I’ve been practicing.”
    “I didn’t know you’d been down to thedock,” Dunc said. “You didn’t say anything about it.”
    “I don’t tell you everything. Besides, I wasn’t practicing at the dock.”
    “If it wasn’t at the dock, then where—”
    Amos cast out into the stream. “There’s this new program on channel nine. It