Read Online Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

to climb down into the
basement. Then help our six friends out the basement door.”
    “Please help us,” Chip begged, tears in his eyes. “Then we’ll be gone. To a
deep forest. And we will never cause you any more mischief.”
    “That sounds good to me!” Mindy exclaimed.
    “So you’ll do it?” Hap squealed.
    They both began tugging at us, chirping, “Please? Please? Please? Please?
Please?”
    Moose, Mindy, and I exchanged troubled glances.
    What should we do?

 
 
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    “Please? Please? Please? Please?”
    “Let’s help them,” Moose said, finally finding his voice.
    I turned to Mindy. I didn’t usually ask her advice. But she was the oldest.
“What do you think?”
    Mindy bit her lower lip. “Well, look how much Buster hates to be tied up,”
she said. “He only wants to be free. I guess everything deserves to be free.
Even lawn gnomes.”
    I turned back to the gnomes. “We’ll do it!” I declared. “We’ll help you.”
    “Thank you! Thank you!” Chip cried happily. He threw his arms around Hap.
“You don’t know what this means to us!”
    “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Hap squealed. He leaped into the air and
clicked the heels of his boots together. “Hurry! Let’s go!”
    “Now?” Mindy cried. “It’s the middle of the night! Can’t we wait until
tomorrow?”
    “No. Please. Now,” Hap insisted.
    “In the darkness,” Chip added. “While the store is closed. Please. Let’s
hurry.”
    “I’m not dressed,” Mindy replied. “I really don’t think we can go now. I
think—”
    “If we stay here longer, we’ll have to do more mischief,” Chip said with a
wink.
    I sure didn’t want that to happen. “Let’s do it now!” I agreed.
    And so the five of us crept along the dark street and up the steep hill
toward Lawn Lovely. Wow, did I feel weird! Here we were, walking around in the
middle of the night with a couple of lawn ornaments! About to break into the
store and set six more lawn ornaments free!
    The old pink house was a strange enough place during the day. But at night,
it was totally creepy. All those lawn animals—deer and seals and flamingos—stared at us through the darkness, with blank, lifeless eyes.
    Were they alive, too? I wondered.
    Hap seemed to read my mind. “They’re only for decoration,” he sneered.
“Nothing more.”
    The two excited gnomes made their way quickly across the wide lawn and around
the side of Mrs. Anderson’s house. Moose, Mindy, and I followed behind.
    Mindy clutched my arm with an ice-cold hand. My legs still felt wobbly. But
my heart was pounding with excitement—not fear.
    Hap and Chip pointed to the long, low window that led down to the basement. I knelt down and peered inside. Total
darkness.
    “You’re sure the other gnomes are down there?” I asked.
    “Oh, yes,” Chip declared eagerly. “All six. They’re waiting for you to rescue
them.”
    “Please hurry,” Hap pleaded, shoving me gently to the window. “Before the old
woman hears us and wakes up.”
    I lowered myself to the edge of the open window. And turned back to my sister
and Moose.
    “We’re coming right behind you,” Moose whispered.
    “Let’s rescue them and get out of here,” Mindy urged.
    “Here goes,” I said softly.
    I crossed my fingers and slid down into the darkness.

 
 
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    I bumped over the window frame and landed on my feet. A few seconds later, I
heard Moose and Mindy slide in after me.
    I squinted into the blackness that surrounded us. I couldn’t see a thing. I
licked my dry lips and sniffed the air. A sharp smell, like vinegar, filled the
hot, damp basement. Sweat, I thought. Gnome sweat.
    I heard a low giggle from outside. Chip and Hap hurtled over the window ledge
and thudded to the floor.
    “Hey, guys—” I whispered.
    But they scampered off into the darkness.
    “What’s going on here?” Moose demanded.
    “We’ve got to find the light switch,” Mindy whispered.
    But before we could move,