The ticket booth was at the front gate of the theater. When Uncle Flick and the Aldens arrived, they saw that the woman who worked there was arguing with a couple in a white Jeep. The couple was very upset.
“What’s the problem here?” Uncle Flick asked as he got out of the golf cart.
The man in the Jeep pointed to the ticket seller. “She won’t let us in to see the movie. All because of some silly business about hot dogs!”
“I’m just doing my job,” said the ticket seller. “And you can’t bring in food from Duke’s Dogs. That’s the rule!” She tapped a sign on the window that said FOOD FROM DUKE’S NOT ALLOWED AT THE DIAMOND DRIVE-IN THEATER.
The woman in the Jeep waved a red-and-white striped paper bag, and Benny could smell french fries. She said, “I don’t understand. This hot dog stand is right next door! We didn’t know until we got here that we couldn’t bring in the food we’d bought.”
Jessie thought the woman had a point.
“Flick Fletcher!” shouted a furious voice from behind them. They all turned and saw a thin older man in a red-and-white striped shirt marching towards them. “Are you giving my customers trouble?”
“They’re my customers, too, Duke,” said Uncle Flick. He glared at the man.
“I think that man owns the hot dog stand next door,” Henry whispered to Jessie. “His name must be Mr. Duke.”
“I know why you made that ridiculous rule, Flick,” said Mr. Duke. “You’re trying to get back at me … for building my sign too close to your precious screen.”
Now that it was getting dark, the neon sign for Duke’s Dogs was shining brightly. The children had noticed it earlier from their spot in the theater—it could be seen beyond the movie screen.
“It IS too close!” said Uncle Flick. “And too bright! But a rule is a rule. We sell food here already!”
Mr. Duke had a mean smile. “Your food isn’t as good,” he said. “If it weren’t for that rule, Duke’s Dogs would put your little snack bar out of business!”
Uncle Flick’s face got very red. “Why … you …” he began to say.
Violet had been looking at the Jeep and she noticed something. She leaned over and whispered to Henry.
“Excuse me,” Henry called out. He got out of the golf cart “My sister noticed the license plate on the Jeep is from New York. Are you from out of town?” he asked the couple.
“Why, yes,” said the woman. “We’re here on vacation.”
Jessie stood up, too. “Uncle Flick, these people didn’t know about the rule. They’ve never been here before.”
Uncle Flick looked down at his feet. “Yes, you’re right,” he said. “They couldn’t have known.”
“We’ll be sure not to break the rule next time,” the man in the Jeep said.
“You can go on in,” Uncle Flick told the couple. “I’m very sorry about the trouble. Enjoy the show.”
“And enjoy the hot dogs, too,” said Mr. Duke. Uncle Flick shot him an angry look.
The white Jeep drove through the gate into the theater. The children were glad to see the problem was resolved.
“I’m glad they got to keep the hot dogs, too,” Benny whispered to Jessie. “They sure smell good.”
“Thank you for speaking up, kids,” Uncle Flick told the Aldens. “Sometimes it helps to have another point of view.”
Mr. Duke spoke up then. “Well, if you want my point of view,” he said, “one of these days, Flick, that temper of yours will get you in trouble, and you won’t be able to talk your way out of it.” He turned around and walked back to his hot dog stand.
Uncle Flick shook his head as he drove the golf cart back into the drive-in. “Mr. Duke and I used to be friends. But we haven’t gotten along in years,” he said sadly.
Jessie couldn’t stop thinking of what Mr. Duke had said. What did he mean by trouble? It sounded almost like a threat.
The children returned to the minivan. Grandfather had brought back dinner from the snack bar. There were slices of pizza, chicken fingers, and bowls of chili.
“Good thing we didn’t fill up on popcorn,” said Jessie, as she took a pizza slice.
“I never fill up on anything!” said Benny. It was true that the youngest Alden always had a great appetite.
“This chicken is delicious,” Violet said. “Mr. Duke was wrong when he said that the food at the Diamond Drive-in isn’t as good.”
“It’s great,” said Henry. “But there aren’t hot dogs here. And I could see how someone might want a hot dog at the movies.”
Everyone agreed it was too bad that Uncle Flick and Mr. Duke didn’t get along with each other.
The sky over the drive-in theater had darkened to deep blue, and a few stars had come out.
“Look at the screen!” said Benny. “Here comes the movie!”
They turned the car radio on so they could hear the movie. Violet and Benny moved up to the front seat with Jessie so they could have a good view out the windshield. Henry and Grandfather sat in the back seat, since they were the tallest. Watch curled up in Jessie’s lap.
First they watched trailers for upcoming movies, and then a funny commercial for Brinker’s Auto showing Dan Brinker on roller skates. “I love speedy deals!” he shouted.
Finally, it was time for the movie Island of the Horses to begin. The Aldens fell quiet as they followed the story, which was about a boy who had been in a shipwreck and was on a raft looking for land. It was so good that they began to forget they were even in the car. Jessie felt like she was in the scene, too, out on the softly rolling sea—
“One-two-three o’clock, four o’clock rock! Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock rock—” The sudden loud music from the radio surprised everyone.
“Yikes! What’s that?” Jessie cried. “Did someone change the station?”
“It just changed by itself! And it’s really loud!” shouted Benny.
The music blasting out of the radio was clearly not the sound that was supposed to go with the movie. Henry looked around at the other cars. People reached for their radio dials or covered their ears.
“Oh, no!” Violet said. “It’s ruining the movie!”
The children got out of the car and started running towards the projection booth. Car horns were honking. “Fix the sound!” someone yelled. When they got to the projection booth they saw the door was wide open.
“No one’s there!” Jessie said, gasping. But then they saw Amy Castella running towards the booth. She hurried up the steps in a panic. Henry and Jessie could see her fumbling with the controls inside the booth. Finally, the cars stopped honking.
“That was strange,” said Henry.
Violet ran up behind them. “It’s fixed now. You can hear the movie again.”
They went back to the car and watched the rest of the movie. The children had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last strange thing to happen.
After the movie ended, the children lined up at the snack bar to get ice cream. They were standing near a door marked OFFICE when suddenly it opened and Uncle Flick and Amy came out.
“I just don’t know what happened!” Amy was telling Uncle Flick.
“The sound just accidentally switched, I guess!”
“Why weren’t you in the booth?” Uncle Flick asked her. “You’re not supposed to go anywhere, not with all these pranks that have been happening lately. Where were you?”
“I just stepped out for a second!” Amy cried. “I promise I’ll keep a better eye on things!” She hurried off back to her booth. And Uncle Flick walked back into his office, shaking his head.
The children looked at each other. What were all these other pranks about? Why were they happening?
“Maybe two movies in a row is a little too much for Benny,” Jessie said later on, as they all trudged up the front steps of the Fletcher house. Grandfather carried Benny, who had fallen asleep not too long after the start of the second movie.
“He’ll get another chance to see Pirate Spy,” Henry said. “It’s showing tomorrow night, too.”
Benny woke up just then. “I like pirates,” he said. Then he yawned a very big yawn.
After the children got ready for bed in their guest room, they came back downstairs to say good-night to Grandfather. He was in the kitchen drinking coffee with Uncle Flick.
“I’m so glad you kids could come visit the Diamond Drive-in,” Uncle Flick told the Aldens. “At least while I’m still running it.”
“What do you mean?” Violet asked. “Is it going to close down?” The thought made her sad. She knew there weren’t many drive-in theaters anymore.
“No, I hope not,” Uncle Flick replied. “But I was just telling your grandfather—I think I’m going to sell the place.”
“Is it because of all the pranks?” Jessie asked.
“Oh, you’ve heard about those, have you?” Uncle Flick said. “Yes, we’ve had a few lately. Someone fiddled with the lens on the projector to make the movie blurry. Someone poured popcorn salt into the soda fountain. That’s been a pain! But the main reason for selling the place is just … well, my job isn’t as much fun anymore.”
“Don’t you like showing movies?” asked Violet.
“Yes I do,” said Uncle Flick. “But I used to do more than show movies. We’d have fireworks after the show, and contests, and Kids’ Night. Things like that were always good for business. And they were fun. But they’re a lot of work, too. I’m getting older and don’t have as much pep. I’m feeling more and more like this tired and tuckered-out fellow here.” He smiled at Benny.
“I’m not tired,” Benny said. “Or tuckered out.” He yawned again. Everyone laughed.
“But don’t worry,” Uncle Flick went on. “I won’t sell the theater to just anyone. I’m going to make sure that whoever buys this place keeps it open. They’ll have to promise me that movie screen will always stay standing.”
Jessie thought of something. “What about your nephew Joey? Maybe one day he’ll want to run the theater.”
Uncle Flick sighed. “I doubt it. All he wants to do is leave this town and—”
Screech!
Suddenly outside there was the sound of tires squealing, and then a thud. Watch, who had been napping near the front door, leapt up and started barking.
“What on Earth was that?” Uncle Flick said. He and the Aldens hurried out to the porch.
“It’s Dan Brinker’s car!” said Henry. “Or at least, the one he’s trying to sell.”
The shiny red car had driven off the road. Now it was in a small ditch. Some of the balloons that had decorated the car had come loose. The car door was open. Dan Brinker was hurrying about trying to pick up the balloons. He looked pale and shaken.
“Are you all right, Mr. Brinker?” Henry asked.
“What happened, Dan?” Uncle Flick called out.
“It was … it was a ghost!” Dan Brinker said, gasping. “I saw it. Over there.” He pointed towards the darkness of the outdoor theater.
“A ghost?” Benny whispered. “Wow.”
“I … I was taking the back road. I was driving back to my office,” Dan went on. “And then I saw the ghost! It was walking along! And … I suppose I began to panic … and I lost control of the car …” He took several deep breaths and wiped his brow with his handkerchief.
“Do you think it was really a ghost?” Jessie asked Henry quietly.
“No, of course not,” said Henry. But he wasn’t so sure himself.
“This ghost stuff is nonsense, Dan,” Uncle Flick said. “You must have been seeing things! Maybe it was one of those balloons. It’s foolish to try to drive with those all over your car.”
“I know what I saw, Flick,” said Dan. “And what I saw was a ghost!” He straightened up and smoothed his hair. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be on my way. Thank goodness the car wasn’t hurt. I’m just … spooked, that’s all.”
He got back into the car and closed the door. He started the car and drove off.
“I wonder what that was all about,” said Grandfather.
“He sure looked like he’d seen a ghost,” said Henry. Everyone agreed.
“Wait—what’s that?” Violet asked.
Just then, they all heard footsteps coming out of the darkness behind the road. Benny held his breath. Was it the ghost?
But it was only Joey Fletcher. “What was all that racket?” he asked his uncle.
“Nothing,” said Uncle Flick. “I thought you’d finished cleaning up the snack bar an hour ago. What took you so long?”
“Oh … I was just being extra careful. I wanted to make sure nobody was trying to make any more trouble,” Joey said. He shrugged and went inside the house.
By now it was past bedtime. Jessie and her brothers and sister went back upstairs. They all sat on the big bed Jessie and Violet were sharing and looked out the window towards the dark drive-in theater. They could see the screen in the moonlight.
“There really is a lot of trouble here,” Jessie remarked.
“Yes,” said Violet. “So many strange things are happening.”
“I think it is haunted!” Benny said. “And I want to see the ghost.”
“Benny, you know there’s no such thing as ghosts,” Henry said. “Now let’s go to bed.”
Jessie added, “Yes, Mr. Brinker was just seeing things that weren’t really there.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Benny said. But he also thought to himself: Maybe not. |