The Haunted Hayride Read online

  To Grady and Connor, two little tricksters who love treats!

  Happy Halloween!

  Love, A.K.

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER 1: The Bet

  CHAPTER 2: Monsters, Zombies, and Mummies

  CHAPTER 3: Two Things

  CHAPTER 4: Beanbag Toss

  CHAPTER 5: Gone Fishin’

  CHAPTER 6: Hot Dog Vampires

  CHAPTER 7: Cake Walk

  CHAPTER 8: The Haunted Hayride

  FREDDY’S FUN PAGES

  HALLOWEEN WORD SEARCH

  HIDDEN WORDS

  MONSTER SLIME

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  OTHER STORIES BY ABBY KLEIN

  ALSO AVAILABLE

  COPYRIGHT

  I have a problem. A really, really big problem. The Halloween carnival is tonight, and everyone is going to go on the Haunted Hayride. I’m too afraid to go, but if I don’t, then Max will call me a baby.

  Let me tell you about it.

  “I can’t wait until tonight,” I said to my best friend, Robbie, as I took a big bite of my turkey sandwich.

  “Me either,” he said.

  Some mayonnaise dripped on my shirt, and I licked it off.

  “The Halloween carnival does sound really awesome,” said Josh. He was the new kid who had just moved here from California.

  Josh took a grape, tossed it into the air, opened his mouth, and the grape dropped right in. “Bull’s-eye!” he yelled, pumping his fist in the air.

  “That was so cool,” I said. “Where did you learn to do that?”

  “My dad taught me.”

  “Whatever,” said Max. “Anyone can do that. It’s not that big a deal.”

  “Oh really?” said Jessie. “Then let’s see you try it.”

  “Even a baby can do it,” said Max.

  “Are you afraid to try it because you know you can’t do it?” asked Josh.

  “Who said I was afraid?” Max growled. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

  “Sure, sure,” said Josh. “Blah, blah, blah. All you ever do is talk.”

  “I don’t have any grapes, or else I’d show you right now,” said Max.

  “Here you go!” said Josh, throwing him one of his grapes. “Show us how easy it is.”

  “It should be really easy for someone with such a big mouth,” I whispered to Robbie.

  “Good one,” Robbie said, laughing.

  Max slowly turned his head in my direction and glared at me.

  I gulped.

  “What did you say?”

  “I, uh … I, uh … ,” I stammered.

  “He said you have a really big mouth,” Josh answered.

  Oh no! “Why did you just tell him what I said?” I whispered to Josh. “Now I’m really going to get it.”

  Max jumped up out of his seat, reached across the table, and grabbed me by my T-shirt.

  “Let go of him,” said Josh.

  “Says who?”

  “Says me.”

  I gulped again.

  Max twisted my shirt tighter.

  “I said let go!” Josh yelled in Max’s face.

  Josh was so brave. Even though he was the new kid, he wasn’t afraid to stand up to Max. He had a lot of guts. Max was the biggest bully in the whole first grade, and now he was the biggest bully in the whole second grade. Everyone was afraid of him. Everyone except Jessie and Josh.

  “You heard him,” Jessie yelled in Max’s other ear. “Let Freddy go!”

  Max looked from Josh to Jessie and back to Josh. Then he slowly let go of my shirt.

  I stood there frozen for a minute. Then I carefully sat back down. “Thanks, guys,” I whispered.

  “No problem,” said Josh. “You’ve got to stop being so afraid of him. He couldn’t hurt a fly.”

  Jessie laughed. “You can say that again.”

  “So are you going to toss that grape into your mouth or not?” Josh asked Max.

  Max grabbed the grape, threw it up in the air, and opened his big, fat mouth, but the grape hit him in the eye and bounced onto the floor.

  “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” Josh practically fell down on the floor, laughing.

  “With aim like that, you won’t win any games at the carnival tonight,” said Jessie, giggling.

  “A lot harder than it looks, huh, Max?” said Josh, getting back in his seat.

  “I’ll beat you at something tonight,” Max mumbled. “Just you wait.”

  “Jessie, what’s your favorite thing at the carnival?” asked Josh.

  “The Haunted Hayride.”

  “The what?” asked Josh.

  “The Haunted Hayride,” Jessie repeated.

  “What’s that? It sounds spooky.”

  “It is!” said Jessie. “You go on a hayride in the woods behind school and monsters jump out and scare the pants off you!”

  “Cool! I can’t wait to go! Maybe we’ll do that first.”

  “No,” said Jessie. “You have to wait until it gets dark, really dark. That’s when it’s super fun.”

  “Awesome!” said Josh. “Freddy, we have to make sure we do that one together.”

  “Are you kidding?” said Max. “Freddy isn’t going on the hayride.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Josh. “Of course Freddy is going.”

  “Oh no he’s not,” Max said, smirking.

  “Why not?”

  “Because he’s a fraidy-cat. That’s why.”

  “No he’s not,” said Josh. “No one is afraid of silly, old fake monsters in the dark. Right, Freddy?”

  “I, um … I, um …”

  “See. I told you,” said Max. “He’ll never go. He’s too much of a baby.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Josh. “He is not a baby. Of course Freddy is going on the Haunted Hayride.”

  “I bet he won’t,” said Max.

  “Really?” said Josh. “I bet you he will. What do you want to bet?”

  Robbie poked me in the ribs. “Tell him,” he whispered. “You’ve got to tell Josh that you’re too afraid to go.”

  “I can’t do that,” I whispered back.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I want Josh to be my friend. I don’t want Josh to think I’m a wimp, and I don’t want Max to go around telling everyone I’m a baby.”

  “Okay, here’s the deal,” said Max. “You have to give me one of your carnival prizes if Freddy doesn’t go, and I have to give you one of mine if he does.”

  “I like it,” said Josh. “It’s a deal.”

  Max laughed. “I can’t wait until tonight. I hope you win something good, just so I can take it away from you.”

  “You are not going to get any of my prizes,” said Josh, “because Freddy is really brave. Just you wait and see.”

  “Oh, you’ll be the one waiting,” said Max. “You’ll be waiting a long time, a very long time.”

  Josh put his arm around me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Max. Freddy isn’t a fraidy-cat. Right, Freddy?”

  “Right,” I said, trying to sound strong but sounding more like a squeaky mouse.

  “So tell me more about this Haunted Hayride,” Josh said on the bus ride home. “I never got to do anything like that at my school in California.”

  “You are going to love it,” said Jessie.

  “Did you say they take you in the woods behind school?” asked Josh.

  “The deep, dark woods,” said Jessie. “It’s really creepy in there at night, and they set it up to look even creepier.”

  I pulled my hood up over my head to try to block out their conversation.

  “First, they play this really creepy music.”

  “You mean the kind that s
ounds like ghosts moaning?” said Josh. “Ooo … ooo … ooo.”

  “Exactly,” said Jessie. “The kind that sends chills up your spine.”

  Just listening to them was sending chills up my spine.

  “Tell me more,” said Josh.

  Don’t tell me more, I thought. I tried to cover my ears without looking too obvious.

  Jessie continued, “The only light comes from a bunch of glowing jack-o’-lanterns that line the path.”

  “Did you say jack-o’-lanterns?” Chloe interrupted, jumping up out of her seat. “I love jack-o’-lanterns!”

  “No one was talking to you,” Max mumbled.

  “But I don’t like taking all of that gooey stuff out of the pumpkin,” Chloe continued. “It’s so messy and yucky.” She made a face.

  “That gooey stuff is called pulp,” Robbie said.

  “Well, whatever it’s called, I think it’s gross,” said Chloe.

  “Touching all of that slimy pulp is the best part of carving a pumpkin,” said Jessie. “I love playing with all that goop.”

  Chloe wrinkled up her nose. “Well, I won’t touch it. I make my daddy take it all out for me.”

  “Be quiet!” Max yelled. “No one cares.”

  Chloe scowled at Max and sank back down in her seat.

  Josh shook his head. “Is she from another planet or what?”

  Jessie laughed. “You’ll get used to her after a while.”

  “Hey, Jessie,” Josh continued, “didn’t you say things reach out and grab you while you’re on the hayride?”

  “Oh yeah. You’re just riding along, and then all of a sudden, something will jump out of the shadows and scream in your ear or grab you when you least expect it.”

  “Wow!” said Josh. “That sounds even cooler than I imagined.”

  It sounds even scarier than I imagined, I thought to myself. I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life! There’s no way I can go on this hayride.

  Robbie pulled my hood off my head and whispered in my ear. “Freddy.”

  “What?”

  “Do you remember Chloe’s Halloween party last year?”

  I nodded my head. How could I forget?

  “Remember how scared you were when stuff popped out of nowhere?”

  I nodded again.

  “I think you jumped, like, three feet in the air,” said Robbie.

  “I know. I know,” I whispered. “Do you have to remind me?”

  “So how do you think you’re going to be able to go on a hayride in the woods? You don’t even like to go for a walk in the woods at night.”

  He did have a point.

  “Last summer when we went for a walk in the woods after dark to look for fireflies, you got totally freaked out when you heard an owl hooting. You thought it was a ghost, and you ran out of the woods, screaming.”

  I let out a big sigh. “What am I going to do?” I asked Robbie.

  “Tell him,” Robbie said.

  “I can’t do that.” I pulled my hood back up over my head and closed my eyes. Why did I have to be so afraid of everything? If I don’t go on that hayride, then Josh won’t think I’m cool. I want to be a cool surfer kid just like him.

  Josh poked me. “Freddy, I still can’t believe Max bet me you wouldn’t go on the Haunted Hayride.”

  I didn’t answer.

  “Freddy,” Josh said tapping my head, “are you in there?”

  I pulled my hood down.

  “Sorry. Were you talking to me?”

  “Yeah,” said Josh, laughing. “I said, ‘I can’t believe Max bet me you wouldn’t go on the Haunted Hayride.’ ”

  “Uh … yeah … about that—” I started to say.

  “This is going to be the easiest bet I’ve ever won in my life!” Josh said, still laughing.

  Robbie elbowed me. “You’d better tell him,” he whispered.

  “I’m trying,” I whispered back.

  “I hope he wins a really great prize. I can’t wait to see his face when I take it away from him.”

  “About that hayride—” I started to say again.

  “It sounds so spooky,” said Josh. “I just love when monsters and zombies and mummies come out of nowhere and totally surprise you when you least expect it.”

  Just listening to Josh talk about it was making me sick to my stomach.

  “What’s your favorite part?” Josh asked me.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “I, uh … I, uh …”

  “It’s not a trick question, Freddy,” Josh said.

  “It kind of is for him,” Robbie said.

  “What do you mean? You guys are acting weird.”

  “Josh, I have something to tell you,” I said.

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “I’ve never been on the Haunted Hayride,” I whispered.

  “Did you just say you’ve never been on the Haunted Hayride?” Josh yelled.

  “Thanks for announcing it to the whole entire bus,” I said.

  “Oops, sorry,” said Josh. “But is it true?” he whispered. “You’ve never been on it?”

  I nodded. “Yep. It’s true.”

  “But why not, Freddy?”

  “Because … um … because … um,” I stammered.

  “Because why?”

  “Because—” Robbie started to say, but I cut him off.

  “Because my parents wouldn’t let me,” I lied.

  Robbie turned and stared at me with a shocked expression on his face.

  “Awesome!” said Josh. “Then it will be the first time for both of us.”

  “Yeah,” I squeaked.

  “I can’t wait,” said Josh, giving me a high five. “It’s going to be the best night ever!”

  “The best night ever!” I agreed. That is if I made it through the ride without throwing up in his lap.

  If I was going to go on that hayride, then I was going to need two things: my lucky shark’s tooth in my pocket and one of those neon glow-in-the-dark necklaces around my neck.

  When I got home, I dashed upstairs to get my shark’s tooth and put it in my pocket right then, so I wouldn’t forget it later.

  “Freddy? Is that you?” my mom called from downstairs.

  “Yeah, Mom, it’s me,” I yelled back. “I’ll be down in a little bit.”

  I ran into my room and opened my treasure box. I always keep my lucky shark’s tooth in there, so it doesn’t get lost.

  “Where are you? Where are you?” I mumbled to myself as I rummaged around in the box.

  “Ah! Here you are!” I said, smiling and holding up my shark’s tooth. “You’d better bring me some good luck tonight and keep those monsters away.” I gave it a kiss and shoved it deep into my pocket.

  “Now I need the glow-in-the-dark necklace. I think I have one left over from the Fourth of July.”

  I sat down on the edge of my bed and hit my head with the palm of my hand. “Think, think, think. Where would it be? Maybe it’s somewhere in my closet.”

  I went over to my closet, opened the door, and started tossing things out … my Wiffle Ball bat … my Frisbee … my inflatable shark … my winter boots. “It’s got to be in here somewhere,” I said to myself.

  “Freddy! Do you want a snack?” my mom yelled up again.

  “No thanks. Not right now.”

  I kept searching through my closet, but I couldn’t find the necklace anywhere. This was a problem, a big problem.

  I know, I thought. Maybe Suzie still has hers. We both got one at the Fourth of July parade. Suzie never lets me borrow her things, but she’ll never know it’s her necklace unless I tell her. I just won’t tell her, and then when the carnival is over, I’ll put it back in her room where I found it.

  I tiptoed to the top of the stairs. I could hear Suzie talking to Mom in the kitchen. Good, I thought. I have some time before she comes upstairs, but I’d better hurry.

  I crept quietly into Suzie’s roo
m and looked around. Where would she keep a necklace like that?

  I looked on her dresser where she has other necklaces and bracelets, but I didn’t see it. Bummer. I just wanted to find it quickly and get out before she saw me.

  Sometimes she keeps stuff like that in the drawer of her nightstand. I opened the drawer slowly because it usually creaks, but the necklace wasn’t in there, either. I was running out of time.

  I went over to her closet, opened the door, and stepped inside. Her closet was a lot neater than mine. It shouldn’t be too hard to find what I was looking for.

  I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn’t hear Suzie come in the room. She snuck up behind me and yelled, “Boo!”

  “AHHHHH!” I screamed, and jumped about three feet in the air. How was I going to go on a Haunted Hayride if my own sister spooked me in her bedroom in the middle of the day?

  When I turned around, Suzie was standing there with her hands on her hips, glaring at me. “What exactly do you think you’re doing in my room?” she demanded.

  “I, uh … I, uh …”

  “You what?” she said. “Come on. Spit it out.”

  “I was looking for something.”

  “Well, you’re not going to find it in my room,” said Suzie.

  “How do you know?” I said.

  “Because everything in here is mine.”

  “I’m looking for my glow-in-the-dark necklace from the Fourth of July, and I think I found it,” I said, holding up the necklace.

  “That’s mine,” said Suzie.

  “No it’s not. It’s mine.”

  “Is not.”

  “Is too.”

  “I know for a fact it’s not yours,” said Suzie.

  “Oh really?” I said. “How do you know?”

  “Because mine was red and yours was blue.”

  “I think mine was red,” I said.

  “No, Dad offered you the red one, but you threw a fit and said you had to have the blue one.”

  I knew the red one was hers. I was just hoping she had forgotten. “I don’t think so,” I said.

  “I know so,” Suzie said, grabbing it out of my hands. “So I’ll just take it back right now.”

  Now what was I going to do?

  “You can get out of my room now,” Suzie said, waving her hand toward the door.