Punked by the Pumpkin: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 4) Read Online Free

blow up ghost or goblin, and Gertie Price, next door to Dad, called in and she swore up and down that she saw the Headless Horseman with his horse rising up on its haunches and his Jack-o-Lantern head glowing in the dark out on the edge of her back yard.”
    He smiled and shook his head, but I wasn’t so sure it was funny.
    “What?” he asked me, noticing my serious expression.
    “I think Miss Pickles may have seen it too.”
    Eli had to consider it. “Maybe so. She’s right next to Dad’s house, and something sure spooked that mangy old cat.”
    “Ooh. Don’t let Harvey hear you talking like that about your sister that way. Miss Pickles is probably already his primary heir as it is.”
    “Probably so,” Eli agreed with a chuckle. But whatever it takes to ensure that he doesn’t leave me that golf cart with the shark fin on top is a good thing…Unless, of course, you want me to pick you up in ‘Sharkie’ for all of our dates?”
    A shiver ran down my spine. “I’m good. Miss Pickles can have the cart.”
    The pizza arrived, slowing conversation down to a trickle for several minutes, but I wasn’t done squeezing Eli for information.
    “So what else? And what do you think is going on?”
    “Well, there is one more thing. You know that old chapel right inside the cemetery gate?”
    “You mean the one that looks like the Bate’s Motel?”
    “That’s probably the one, since it’s the only one. Well, Trevor says he and some of the other guys have seen dim lights inside going on and off, and when they went close to look in the window, he says they could hear the sound of a baby crying coming from the inside.”
    “This is all getting to be too much for the imagination to handle, Eli. It keeps getting more and more creepy for a while, but at this point it just seems like a joke. I’m sure it’s just the boys trying to freak out the girls. That’s still where most of the high school smooching goes on in this town. The guys must just be having their buddies trying to scare their girlfriends so they’ll get closer to them.”
    “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking at first too. But Trevor says no, and I tend to believe him.”
    “Why?“
    “Well, for starters, all of the cheerleaders are in a volunteer group that does grave maintenance to keep the cemetery neat, and they even pull weeds around the headstones and maintain the flower gardens there, which have been hit hard by the vandals. Any guy who wants a chance to go smooching with one of them isn’t going to destroy the girls’ hard work. Besides, these girls know the cemetery inside and out, and they don’t get spooked there at all. It seems that it’s the boys that are getting nervous, especially since the mysterious lights and the ghost baby have come to the abandoned chapel.”
    It had crossed my mind earlier that maybe after dinner Eli and I could park by the old chapel for a kiss or two. And maybe not.

Chapter Three
     
     
    Tuesday morning came around, and I’d had enough of their silent game. Essie and Hildie, along with a couple dozen other seniors in Sweet Home, still hadn’t spoken a word, and Harvey and Toe weren’t giving us any information about what was going on either…but it must have had something to do with Tuesday Night Bingo at the church.
    I was in early for the morning rush hour coffee sales, and Essie and Hildie walked in at 9 o’clock sharp with freshly baked muffins and other goodies. They had knit winter scarves wrapped around their necks now, and I had half a mind to pull them tight. It was just two days until the Harvest Festival, and we were going to have a strategy meeting today, come heck or high water. As soon as the old girls got inside, I locked the door behind them and turned the sign to Closed.
    I was standing in front of the front door with my arms crossed when they came back to the entrance after setting the muffins on the counter. I shook my head and pointed to our table behind them.
    “Meeting time,