Free Swamp of the Hideous Zombies by Geoffrey Hayes Page B

you doing here?” gasped Otto.
    “I thought if the newspaper published photos of these old buildings, people might want to fix them up.”
    “But what are you doing
here?”
Otto insisted.
    “Oh. After I left you, I met an old lady who gave me this card. It says she’s telling fortunes free,” said Olivia.
    “Are you crazy?” Otto cried. “That’s the old lady with the zombie! She’s probably handing those out to everybody.”
    “So? What’s the big—?”
    Otto shushed her. The door of 1313 was opening!
    Otto and Olivia ducked behind a garbage can.
    Ducky Doodle walked out. There was a blank look in his eyes. The old lady followed. She was saying something to him.
    Doodle nodded, then walked stiffly down the street. The old lady glanced around before going back inside.
    “I knew it!” whispered Otto. “She’s turned him into a zombie!”
    “I don’t know,” Olivia whispered back. “Doodle always looks blank.”
    “We’ve got to follow him,” said Otto.
    “You
follow him,” Olivia said. “I want to get pictures of that shop. I can see the headlines now: FAKE FORTUNE - TELLER EXPOSED !”
    “We don’t know she’s a fake. She could be hypnotizing people,” said Otto. “Anyway, this is
my
investigation.”
    “Oh, do you
own
it? Look! Ducky Doodle’s getting away!”
    Otto sighed. There was Olivia, trying to run things again. But he was curious about Doodle. So he just said, “Be careful,” and ran off.
    Otto was afraid he’d lost Doodle. Then he saw him crossing the old trolley line. “Doodle,” he said. “Are you all right?”
    Ducky Doodle did not look at Otto. He kept marching along, staring straight ahead. “Must find treasure,” he said.
    “What treasure?” asked Otto.
    “Must find treasure.”
    “Did that old lady put you up to this?”
    “Must find treasure.”
    Otto knew he wasn’t going to get any clear answers from Doodle. He would just have to follow him closely and see where he ended up.

Meanwhile, Olivia was sneaking up on 1313 Triangular Square. The window shade was drawn. But she found a little space at the bottom to peek through.
    It was dark inside. Where had the old lady gone?
    Suddenly, a voice behind her said, “And just what do you think you’re doing?”
    Olivia spun around and came face to face with Madame Webster!
    “Y-you gave me this card,” she said. She held it up.
    Madame Webster’s sour look changed to a sly smile.
    “So I did. Is that a camera around your neck?” she asked, drawing closer. “I don’t like cameras. They make nosy people even nosier. You aren’t planning on taking any pictures around here, are you?”
    Madame Webster pressed Olivia against the door of the shop.
    “Just one!” cried Olivia. She flashed her camera in Madame Webster’s face.
    Madame Webster blinked her eyes and screamed: “Clegg! Clegg! Come here! I need you!”
    The shop door opened. Standing there was a large, hulking figure with wild, matted hair. Clegg was a zombie, too!
    “Get the brat’s camera!” ordered Madame Webster.
    Clegg lunged for Olivia, but she squirmed out of the way. She gave Clegg a swift kick on the shins before tearing off across the square.
    Once she was at a safe distance, Olivia stopped and snapped a picture of the zombie.
    “The
Boogle Bay Bugle
will buy this picture for sure!”
    Otto followed Ducky Doodle to the shops along the docks.
    “I hope he isn’t going to march off a pier into the water,” thought Otto.
    Just then, Uncle Tooth came by. “Otto! You found Doodle!”
    “I can’t stop him,” Otto said. “He’s been zombified.”
    Suddenly, Doodle stopped by himself. He stood in front of Jack Whiskers’ Nautical Supplies and Hardware Store.
    “Must get treasure,” he muttered, going inside. Otto and Tooth went in after him.
    Doodle went straight to the shovels, grabbed one, and set it on his shoulder.
    When he started to leave the shop, Jack Whiskers called, “Hey!”
    Otto and Uncle Tooth grabbed Ducky Doodle.