Ghost at the Drive-In Movie (7 page)

Everyone else agreed. So Jessie crossed Amy and Joey off the list.

“What about that argument we heard today?” Henry asked. “Do you think that Mr. Duke is really trying to force Uncle Flick to sell him the theater?”

“No,” Jessie said. She tapped her pen, because she was thinking hard.

“I don’t think so, either,” said Violet. Benny nodded, too.

Jessie kept tapping her pen. “But … but what if Dan Brinker is? What if
he’s
the one who’s doing all the pranks?”

Henry shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense, Jessie. Uncle Flick already likes Dan and
wants
to sell the theater to him. Dan doesn’t have to make him do anything.”

“That’s true,” said Jessie. “But there’s something about Dan Brinker that I don’t trust. For one thing, he said he would help us with the popcorn last night. He said he had extra buckets. But then he never brought them!”

“Perhaps he just didn’t have any extras after all,” Violet said. “Who’s to say he didn’t want to help us?” She always tried to think the best about people.

Henry looked thoughtful. “Well, if you think about it, whoever wrecked the snack bar certainly wouldn’t want to help us.”

“Do you think that ‘whoever’ was Dan?” Jessie asked.

“Who knows? There’s no way we can prove it,” Henry said. “All we can do is think of reasons why he’d play pranks.”

“Maybe he just wanted Uncle Flick to sell him the theater faster!” Benny said. “He likes speedy deals! Remember we wrote it down?”

“Very good, Benny,” Jessie said. Then she flipped back in her notebook to the
WHAT EVERYONE WANTS
page. “Here’s another note I wrote down other night: ‘Dan Brinker says things that other people like to hear.’”

“Gosh,” said Violet. “Is that the same thing as lying?”

“Not always,” said Jessie. “But sometimes, yes it is.”

Suddenly Henry leapt up, the way he always did when he had a big idea. He snapped his fingers. “That’s it! I think Dan is lying to Uncle Flick!”

“Lying about what?” Violet asked.

“Lying about keeping the drive-in theater open!” said Jessie. Her eyes got wide. “Yes, it makes perfect sense.”

Henry went on. “Dan has been telling Uncle Flick he’ll keep running the theater, but really, he doesn’t. Because—”

Benny finished for him. “Because he wants to tear it down and make his car store bigger! Just like the lady there said today. Remember?”

Violet repeated the words. “‘We’re the biggest place in town to buy a car. And we’re getting even bigger.’ Oh, no.”

The children didn’t say anything for a moment. And then Jessie sighed a heavy sigh.

“Maybe we’re right about Dan Brinker, but we won’t know for sure until it’s too late. Because we don’t have any proof,” she said.

“Why don’t we just tell Uncle Flick that we don’t trust Dan?” Henry suggested.

Jessie threw up her hands. “Mr. Duke just tried to do the same thing. And look what happened! Uncle Flick got angry.” She paced around the kitchen. “If only we could catch him doing something … making trouble at the theater. But I don’t think we will.”

The others knew what Jessie meant. The theater was closed that day, and all the other pranks had happened on days it was open. There didn’t seem to be anything they could do. They all slumped in their chairs. Benny fidgeted and played with a scrap of broken balloon he’d found in his pocket. He stretched it and snapped it with his fingers.

“Benny, where’d you find that?” Jessie asked.

“Behind the screen the other day,” said Benny as he stretched and snapped some more.

“That looks like it came off of one of Dan Brinker’s cars,” Henry pointed out. “It’s white, like some of the balloons on his car that very first night. The night he saw the ghost.”

“And we figured out there had been a car parked behind the screen,” said Jessie. “He must have driven it back there. But why?”

Violet was remembering the thing she’d seen behind the screen the night before. She had forgotten about it until now, and she wondered if it was important. She glanced at Jessie’s notebook and at the list they’d made.
Dan Brinker
—
Wants to sell cars … wants to put ads all over town.
She remembered hearing him on the phone.
I’ve planned ahead for this deal,
he said. What did that mean?

“You guys?” she said. “We have to go look at something right now.”

A few minutes later the four children were standing behind the movie screen.

“Jessie, remember that strange bundle you said you saw back here the other day?” Violet asked her sister.

“Yes, but I told you, it’s gone now,” said Jessie.

Violet pointed upwards. “Is that it up there?” she asked.

Jessie looked up, and there, way up along the top of the screen, was something that looked like a very big soft rolled-up blind. It was up so high that it was hard to notice, and since it was in back of the screen, it couldn’t be seen from the theater lot.

“Oh, my gosh, I think it is!” Jessie said. “It’s the same color and everything.”

Uncle Flick and Grandfather heard the children’s voices while they were on their walk. They came behind the screen and joined them. Soon Uncle Flick was peering up at the strange rolled-up thing.

“What on Earth is that? I didn’t put that up there!” he said.

“Look, there are cords attached to it,” Henry pointed out. “They’re tied to the ladders on either side. They must keep it from unrolling.”

“Well, why don’t we unroll it then, and see what it is?” said Uncle Flick. “Where’s Joey? He can help us.”

Before long, Henry and Joey were carefully climbing the two metal ladders that ran down the back of the screen. Henry held on tight while he worked to untie the cord and grab it. Joey did the same. Finally they were both holding the cords taut. The rolled-up thing wavered in the wind a little bit, and they could see it was some kind of nylon fabric, the kind used to make parachutes or flags. What was it?

“On the count of three, we’ll let go of the cords,” shouted Joey. “One, two—three!”

They let go, and the fabric unrolled.

It was an enormous banner, almost as large as the screen! There were words on it:

THE DIAMOND DRIVE-IN IS CLOSED
.

COMING SOON—

BRINKER’S AUTO STORE’S EAST LOT!

BIGGER AND BETTER! DRIVE OUT

WITH A DIAMOND DEAL!

The banner had turned the back of the movie screen into a giant billboard that faced the road.

Everyone stared at it in surprise.

“Closed
? Is that what Dan means to do?” Uncle Flick shouted.

“He’s got some nerve,” said Grandfather. “To put up that banner even before the place was sold.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Violet said. “We were right. Dan Brinker really was lying about keeping the drive-in theater open.”

Jessie nodded. “He promised the screen would stay standing. Only he wasn’t telling the whole truth.”

“He’s in big trouble!” said Benny. “
That’s
the whole truth now.”

The giant banner on the movie screen could be seen from all around. Cars on the road slowed down to get a better look. A small crowd gathered in front of Duke’s Dogs to stare at it. They all wondered about the sign—would the Diamond Drive-in Theater really close down?

“Wait! Stop!” someone called across the road. It was Dan Brinker. He had seen the banner unfurl, too. Now he was hurrying across the road to reach Uncle Flick and the Aldens. “No, no, it’s too early!” he shouted as he reached them. He panted as he tried to catch his breath. “No … nobody was supposed to see that yet!”

“Is that so, Dan?” Uncle Flick said. He glared at Dan. “Just what were you trying to do?”

Dan’s forehead was sweaty. He stammered, “I … I had that banner ready so I could display it as soon as the papers were signed! I wanted this theater closed the first chance I got!”

“You were trying to trick me, Dan!” Uncle Flick growled. “You knew I’d never sell this place to you if it meant closing down the theater, so you said you were going to keep it open! But you lied! You weren’t even going to wait until the end of the season!”

“And you were the one who caused all the trouble around here!” Joey added bitterly. “Why? We trusted you!”

“I think I know one reason why,” Jessie said to Dan. “You had to sneak around the theater to put that banner in place! You brought it over in your car on Thursday night. Then on Friday you broke Duke’s sign so you could climb up the back of the screen!”

“And the ladder made your hands dirty,” said Benny “That’s why you didn’t take any of my popcorn on Friday night! “

Dan Brinker had lowered his head. “Yes,” he said, “You figured it out. I did some of the pranks to create a distraction. And so Flick Fletcher would sell me the place faster.”

“You were also trying to make Uncle Flick and Mr. Duke mad at each other, weren’t you?” Violet asked.

Dan hung his head even lower. “Yes. That, too. I’m sorry.”

Uncle Flick folded his arms. “Dan, you’ll have to pay for the damages to the snack bar kitchen. You’ve done things that are against the law, so I’m going to have to call the police. And, just to be clear, the deal is off!”

“I know,” said Dan. “What I did was wrong. All along I knew, deep down, that it was wrong. I should have stopped when I saw the ghost the other night.”

“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.

“I know the ghost wasn’t real,” Dan said. “But I’ll tell you, I was so scared when I saw it! I thought it was some kind of message, telling me I had to stop cheating people, that I had to slow down.” He looked thoughtful. “I wish I had.”

“Maybe you will now,” said Henry. The others nodded in agreement.

Dan Brinker wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up straight. He walked over to the giant banner. He yanked on one of the corners until the banner came loose and crumpled to the ground. Then he turned and walked back across the road to his store, with his head down.

“I’m glad you’re not selling the drive-in after all, Flick,” said Mr. Duke the next evening. He and Uncle Flick were sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Diamond Drive-in screen. The mini-van was parked nearby. The children and Grandfather had decided to stay one more night to see the new movies,
Space Dogs
and
The Rainforest Giant.
Now they were all having a picnic before the movie started. Mr. Duke had bought over food from his stand.

“I’ll bet you’re glad, Duke,” said Uncle Flick. “Especially since I’ve decided to let my customers bring in your hot dogs.”

“They’re really good hot dogs,” said Jessie as she sat down in a nearby lawn chair. The other Aldens joined her, and soon they were all enjoying the food together.

“I love the onion rings!” said Benny as he picked up a big one and took a bite.

“And don’t forget the popcorn from the snack bar,” said Violet. “That’s good, too.”

“Yes, indeed,” said Uncle Flick. “We’ve gotten a new popcorn machine, but we’re also going to keep a big shaker of Jessie’s popcorn topping on the counter. That is, if you’ll give me the recipe.”

“Of course!” said Jessie, who smiled proudly.

“I bet Joey and Amy will be happy to be part of the business,” Henry said to Uncle Flick.

“I’m making Joey a manager, and Amy will be in charge of special events,” Uncle Flick replied. “And now they’re planning all kinds of interesting things. In fact, they just borrowed the slide projector. I wonder what they’ll use it for.”

After a beautiful sunset in the distance behind the screen, it was almost time for the movie to begin. The Aldens took their seats in the minivan. Watch curled up on Jessie’s lap. Grandfather turned on the car stereo.

“Here we go,” said Henry, as the screen lit up. Then an announcement appeared on the screen:

COMING SOON!

FALL FESTIVAL

AT THE DIAMOND DRIVE-IN THEATER!

HAUNTED HOUSE GALORE!

MOVIES, MYSTERIES, AND MORE!

“Hooray!” Benny shouted as the other children applauded.