Here Comes the Shaggedy Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Welcome. You are Most Wanted.

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  Preview: Goosebumps® Most Wanted #1: Planet of the Lawn Gnomes

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Come right in. I’m R.L. Stine. Welcome to the Goosebumps office.

  You’re just in time for lunch. Let me wipe the hair off that spoon so you can share my soup with me. Sorry. I was using the spoon to feed my chimpanzee.

  Do you like black bean soup? I like it a lot, but there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why are the beans moving around in the bowl? It’s hard to eat things that keep moving — don’t you agree? (I’ve never seen beans with legs before!)

  I see you are admiring the WANTED posters on the wall. Those posters show the creepiest, crawliest, grossest Goosebumps characters of all time. They are the MOST WANTED characters from the MOST WANTED books.

  That poster you are studying is of a mythical swamp creature called the Shaggedy. He’s just a legend. He’s not real. The only problem is, no one explained that to the Shaggedy.

  Here are Kelli and Shawn Andersen. When they moved to the Florida swamps, it didn’t take them long to find out if the Shaggedy was real or not.

  Go ahead. Read their story. It isn’t pretty. You will soon understand why the Shaggedy is MOST WANTED.

  The swamp at night makes trickling sounds, gurgling, popping. The river water is alive, and the sand shifts and moves as if it’s restless. The chitter and whistle of insects never stops. Birds flap in the bending tree limbs, and red-eyed bats flutter low, dipping into the water for a fast drink, then soaring to meet the darkness.

  The eerie sounds made Becka Munroe’s skin tingle. She sat alert in the slender rowboat, every muscle in her body tensed and tight. She kept her eyes on the dark shoreline. Her hands on the oars felt cold and wet.

  “Donny, you’re crazy,” she said, her voice muffled in the steamy night air. “I don’t like this. We shouldn’t be here.”

  “They won’t miss their stupid rowboat,” her boyfriend, Donny Albert, said. His oars splashed water, then hit sand. The river was shallow enough here for their boat to get stuck. “We’ll leave it for them up on the shore.”

  “I’m not talking about stealing this boat,” Becka said, fighting the shivers that rolled down her back despite the heat of the night. “Why are we here? Why are we on the river at night in this frightening swamp? I … I can’t see a thing. There isn’t even a moon.”

  Donny snickered. “For thrills,” he said. “Life is so boring, Becka. Tenth grade is so boring. Go to school. Do your homework. Sleep and go to school again. We have to do something crazy. Something exciting.”

  Becka sighed. “I can’t believe I agreed to come out here at night. Why did I do it?”

  She could see his grin even in the dim light. “Because you’re crazy about me?”

  “Just plain crazy,” she muttered.

  Something splashed up from the water and thumped the side of the boat. “Did you hear that?” Becka cried. “What was it? A frog?”

  “Snake, maybe,” Donny said. “The river is crawling with them. Some are a mile long.”

  “Shut up!” Becka snapped. She had a sudden urge to take an oar and swing it at Donny’s head. “You’re not funny. It’s scary enough out here without you trying to scare me more.”

  He laughed. “You’re too easy to scare. It’s not much of a challenge. I don’t think —”

  He didn’t finish his sentence. His mouth remained open and his dark eyes bulged. He was staring past Becka. His chin began to quiver and a low moan escaped his throat. He raised a finger and pointed.

  Becka heard the splash of water behind her. And the heavy slap of footsteps on wet sand. “Donny — what?” she uttered. Then she turned and saw the huge creature.

  It took her eyes a few seconds to focus. At first, she thought she was staring at a tall swamp bush, some kind of piney shrub looming up from the sandy bottom.

  But as soon as she realized it was moving in the water, taking long, wet, splashing strides … she knew it was alive. Knew it was a terrifying creature.

  “Row! Hurry! Row!” Donny’s scream came out high and shrill. He bent over the oars and began to pull frantically. She could hear his wheezing breaths. But they were quickly drowned out by the grunts of the swamp monster that staggered toward them and its thudding, wet footsteps.

  The creature stood at least ten feet tall. It was shaped like a human but covered in dark fur like a bear. Chunks of wet sand fell off its fur as it staggered forward. It raised its curled claws and uttered an angry howl of attack.

  “Oh, help. Oh, help.” One oar slipped out of Becka’s hand. She grabbed at it and caught it before it dropped into the water. Then she leaned forward and began to row as hard as she could.

  “Row faster!” Donny cried. “Faster! We can get away. It’s slow. We can get —”

  A hard jolt shook them both. Their bodies snapped forward, then back. The oars flew from Donny’s hands.

  Becka knew at once what had happened. The boat had hit a sandbar.

  The swamp creature uttered another animal cry, like a bleating elephant. Water splashed high as it leaned forward and brought its clawed paws down, preparing to grab them.

  His oars in the water, Donny rocked the boat from side to side. Becka desperately dug her oars into the sand, pulling … pulling.

  With its prow stuck deep in the sloping sand hill, the boat didn’t move. The two teenagers sat helpless as the grunting, howling creature advanced.

  And as it loomed over them, spreading its arms, gnashing its pointed teeth, their final screams echoed off the bent trees, sending bats fluttering to the sky.

  “What are you doing? Turn that off!”

  Kelli Andersen jumped at the sound of her father’s voice.

  She watched him stride across the den, grab the remote, and click off the TV. He turned and squinted through his black-framed eyeglasses at Kelli and her brother, Shawn. They sat on the edges of the long black leather couch, a bowl of nacho chips between them.

  Kelli crossed her arms in front of her and glared at him. “Why did you turn it off at the good part?” she demanded.

  “Why were you watching that movie?” he asked. “Swamp Beast III?”

  Shawn had his hands clasped tightly in his lap. His dark eyes were wide, his expression frightened. “Kelli wanted to show me where you’re making us move to,” he whispered.

  Their dad shook his head. “By watching a horror movie?” He took off his glasses and rubbed the top of his nose. He did that a lot. It either meant he was thinking hard or he was trying to control his temper.

  “Kelli, you’re twelve,” he said. “You’re the older sister. You should know better.”

  “But, Dad —” Kelli started.

  He raised a hand. “Silence. You know your brother is afraid of scary movies. You know Shawn has nightmares. How could you be so thoughtless?”

  Kelli shrugged. “I … didn’t think it would be that scary.”

  Of course that was a lame reply, but it was the best
she could do. Kelli knew the truth. She really did want to scare Shawn. If he was seriously scared, maybe their dad wouldn’t drag them away from New York City to a Florida swamp.

  Shawn did that thing with his shoulders that he always did when he was feeling tense or scared. He kind of rolled them so that it looked like he was shivering. “Dad … ?” he started in a tiny voice. “Are there really swamp monsters where we are moving?”

  Kelli groaned.

  Their dad’s cheeks reddened. He was totally bald, and when he got angry, the top of his head turned red, too. Kelli always thought he looked like a light bulb lighting up. A light bulb with glasses.

  “Of course there aren’t any swamp monsters,” he told Shawn. He turned to Kelli. “Look how you scared Shawn. You should apologize to him.”

  “Sorry, Shawn,” she finally muttered. “Sorry you got scared by a dumb movie.”

  “That’s not much of an apology,” her dad said. “You get scared sometimes, don’t you, Kelli?”

  “No,” she answered. “I don’t. Never.”

  Shawn suddenly shot his head forward and screamed, “BOO!” practically in Kelli’s ear. He laughed. “Made you jump.”

  “Did not,” Kelli said. “You can’t scare me, wimpo.”

  “Hey, what have we said about calling names?” their dad demanded. He didn’t wait for an answer. “Listen, you two. Living next to Deep Hole Swamp is going to be the most exciting year of your lives.”

  “Maybe too exciting,” Kelli said. She tossed back her black hair. She knew she was about to cause trouble. About to frighten Shawn and annoy her father even more. But she didn’t really care. Whatever works, she thought. Whatever it takes to keep me in New York City with my friends.

  Her dad took the bait. “What do you mean by that, Kelli?”

  “I went online,” she said. “I read stuff about Deep Hole Swamp. A lot of people say there are monsters living in the swamp. Just like in Swamp Beast III.”

  “Really?” Shawn asked in a tiny voice. He did his shoulder thing again.

  “No. Not really,” their father said, frowning at Kelli. “You know there’s a lot of bad information online. You don’t trust everything you read — do you?”

  Kelli’s dark eyes challenged her father. “Some things are true.”

  “Well, monster stories aren’t true,” he said. “I’m a scientist, remember?”

  Kelli rolled her eyes. “We know. We know, Dr. Andersen. You’re a marine biologist. You remind us every day.”

  Her dad gritted his teeth. Kelli knew she was making him angry. But she didn’t care. She really didn’t want to move to a swamp in Florida for a year.

  After their parents divorced, their mom moved to Seattle. Kelli didn’t want to live there, either. She only wanted to live in New York. Now she was going to have to split her time between TWO places she hated.

  She saw Shawn, skinny, pale Shawn, sitting on the edge of the couch, trembling. She felt bad that she had to scare him. But what choice did she have?

  “Shawn, what are you thinking?” their father asked. “I can see your brain spinning.”

  “Well …” Shawn hesitated. “If we get down to Florida … and we do see a swamp monster, Dad … can we come back home right away?”

  Their father scowled at Kelli. “I’m warning you. Don’t scare your brother again.”

  Kelli stuck out her chin. “You didn’t answer Shawn’s question, Dad.”

  He rubbed his bald head. “Tell you what. If we see a swamp monster, we’ll invite it over for dinner.”

  On their first day of school in Florida, Kelli and Shawn stepped out of their house a little before eight o’clock. The sun was already high over the trees, and the air felt steamy and hot.

  Their new house was a simple, square cottage at the end of a narrow road called Mangrove Street. There were four or five other similar cottages along the road. Mangrove Street led to the small town. But to walk to their school, they had to follow a twisting dirt path through the trees.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to a school that isn’t even on a street,” Shawn complained. He kept adjusting the backpack on his back. He’d felt totally tense since waking up. In fact, he hadn’t been able to sleep for most of the night.

  He couldn’t shut out the drone of the tree frogs and insects outside his bedroom window. But that wasn’t what kept him awake. It was thinking about starting a new school in such a strange place that made him toss and turn all night.

  “Swan Middle School,” he muttered, hurrying to stay up with Kelli, who always walked fast. “Stupid name. They should call it Swamp Middle School.”

  “Stop muttering to yourself,” Kelli said, swinging her arms as she walked. She’d seen power walkers do that on TV, and she’d swung her arms, taking long strides, ever since. “Why are you such a wreck, Shawn? You changed your clothes three times.”

  He didn’t answer. “It’s so hot,” he said. “I’m sweating already. My armpits are all sticky.”

  “Thanks for sharing,” Kelli said.

  She stopped. The path cut through thick shrubs and rows of pale, smooth-barked trees. Large patches of the path were overrun by creeping grass and dried brown vines.

  “Shawn — stop.” She pointed. The vine tendril a few feet up ahead seemed to be moving.

  “S-snake,” Shawn stammered.

  In a slender beam of sunlight, the snake appeared to glow. Silvery and long. It coiled and uncoiled itself as it slid silently across the path.

  “Dad bought us that book about identifying snakes,” Kelli said. “But I forgot to look at it.”

  Shawn glanced all around. “Probably thousands of snakes here. And a lot of them are poisonous.”

  “You mean venomous.”

  Shawn shuddered. “Remember that movie about the anaconda you made me watch last month?”

  “Shut up,” Kelli said. “I didn’t make you watch it. You wanted to watch it.”

  “Did not. Think there are anacondas down here?”

  “Probably,” Kelli said.

  Shawn stepped over a clump of grass and started to walk along the center of the path, eyes on the ground. Kelli rushed up behind him and pinched his arm really hard. “Snakebite!”

  He screamed.

  She laughed. “You really are a wimp.”

  “And you’re mean,” he muttered.

  A few minutes later, the trees ended. Their school came into view past a grassy clearing.

  “Is that the whole school?” Shawn cried. “It … it looks like two log cabins shoved together.”

  Kelli had her phone out. She was trying to get a signal. “I have to send a picture to Marci back home. She won’t believe this place. It’s like pioneer days or something.”

  She clicked a photo. Then she lowered her phone. “Hey, look. What are all those people doing?”

  Kelli and Shawn trotted over the grass toward the back of the school. Kelli’s new sneakers squeaked on the damp grass as she ran.

  As they got closer, the crowd came into focus. Kids in shorts and T-shirts. Adults — probably teachers — huddled together beside the kids. They all seemed to be staring down at the ground.

  “This is way weird,” Shawn muttered.

  Then they both saw the black-and-white patrol car with its light flashing red on its roof. And two officers in black — black shirts and shorts — at the front of the line of kids and teachers. The cops were bent over, staring down, studying something on the ground.

  “Probably someone lost a contact lens,” Kelli joked.

  “And the police came to help look for it?” Shawn said. “I don’t think so.”

  They stepped up to the edge of the crowd. No one looked up to greet them. No one spoke. The two cops muttered to each other. The only other sound was the chirp of crickets from the trees.

  Kelli uttered a startled cry when she saw what everyone was staring at. Were they really footprints? Yes. Enormous footprints dug deep in the muddy ground.

  Kelli ste
pped up beside a teacher. Her eyes followed the line of footprints. They led to the side of the school. The deep ruts in the ground were round, as big as pies. Like elephant footprints, Kelli thought. But bigger.

  One policeman, down on his knees, smoothed a hand over one of the prints.

  Shawn bumped up beside Kelli. “What kind of animal made those footprints?” He tried to whisper, but his voice carried in the silence. A few kids turned to stare at him.

  Kelli shrugged. “Beats me.”

  A boy turned and strode up to Kelli and Shawn. He had a pale, round baby face topped by wavy white-blond hair. His blue eyes were round and bright. He had freckles on his cheeks.

  “Want to know why everyone is scared?” he asked in a whisper. “The Shaggedy was here.”

  “Excuse me?” Kelli squinted at the kid. She studied him. With that perfect light blond hair and freckled, round face, he didn’t look real. He reminded her of a doll she once had.

  He wore baggy brown cargo shorts and a white T-shirt with an upside-down smiley face on the front. He was kind of chubby. His bare arms were pale and flabby. His hands were curled into tight fists.

  “The Shaggedy,” he repeated.

  Kelli frowned at him. “Are we supposed to know what that is?” she said.

  She realized he was studying her. “You’re the new kids from New York?” he asked. There was something unpleasant in the way he said it, Kelli thought. The boy made a face like he had just smelled something bad.

  Shawn’s eyes were wide. “What’s the Shaggedy?” he asked the boy.

  “It lives in the swamp,” the boy whispered. He glanced around quickly, as if he was telling a secret, as if he shouldn’t be explaining this to them. “Under the water.”

  Shawn’s mouth dropped open. Kelli put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “He’s making this up,” she whispered in his ear.

  “No, I’m not,” the boy insisted. He ran a chubby hand through his light blond hair. His blue eyes flashed excitedly. “The Shaggedy was here. Sometimes it gets restless. It climbs out of the swamp and it walks … It walks and it —”

  A young woman interrupted, stepping between Kelli and Shawn and the boy. She had brown hair tied in a ponytail, dark eyes, and a nice smile. She had a small rhinestone in the side of her nose. She wore a pale blue T-shirt over a short black skirt.