Goldie Blox and the Haunted Hacks! Read online

  To the awesome students and staff at Piney Grove Elementary —S.M.

  Copyright © 2018 GoldieBlox, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, and in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto. Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC. GoldieBlox and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of GoldieBlox, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 9780525577775 (trade) — ISBN 9780525577799 (lib. bdg.) —ebook ISBN 9780525577782

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  Contents

  Cover

  Dedication

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Chapter 1: The Work-Together Mobile

  Chapter 2: Probably Just the Ghost Cat

  Chapter 3: Homeless Ghosts

  Chapter 4: Funny Fred, the Chef, and the Lady in Pink

  Chapter 5: Dumbwaiter, Dumb Idea

  Chapter 6: I Scream

  Chapter 7: Five Letters. Begins with a G.

  Chapter 8: A Screaming Cup

  Chapter 9: Ghosts in the Toilet

  Chapter 10: Dognapping

  Chapter 11: Just the Autumn Wind

  Chapter 12: Nacho as Ghost Cat

  Haunted Hacks

  About the Author

  “Ta-dum!” Goldie Blox and her dog, Nacho, pulled a blue tarp off her latest invention. “I call it the work-together mobile.”

  Her best friends stared at the vehicle. It had ten bike seats, and each had a set of pedals. A cooler was wedged in the back. There was a single steering wheel next to the front seat.

  “Did you name it the work-together mobile because we helped you build it?” Ruby Rails asked.

  “Exactly!” Goldie smiled. “I couldn’t have done it without my Gearheads.”

  “But why the big reveal?” Li Zhang asked. He lived next door to Goldie and was used to her zany inventions.

  “We just saw it yesterday,” Val Voltz added.

  “But you didn’t see this.” Goldie pressed a button on the steering wheel. A large canopy sprang up from the center. It shaded the seats, and it had a sign attached: BLOXTOWN TOURS $1.

  “Awesome! Let’s take it for a spin,” Li said. He hopped onto a seat in the back row. Nacho jumped onto the seat next to him.

  Val tilted her head. “Goldie, are you sure it’s safe?”

  “I’ll get some safety gear,” Goldie offered. She ran into the BloxShop, which was her garage filled with anything and everything the Gearheads needed to create and engineer. When she returned, she handed out helmets to her friends and Nacho.

  Val slowly raised her helmet. Suddenly, she screamed and threw it down to the ground.

  “What’s wrong?” Goldie asked. She grabbed her friend’s hand.

  “There…was…a…bug….” Val couldn’t catch her breath.

  Ruby picked up the helmet and pulled out the scary bug.

  “You mean this?” she asked. “This ladybug?”

  Val put her hands to her heart. “I thought it was a tarantula.” She sighed. “I just don’t like any bugs. They’re creepy and crawly and make me shiver.”

  “Obviously,” Ruby said, handing Val her bug-free helmet.

  “Sorry. Lots of things scare me,” Val said. “Bugs, rodents, some dogs, all bears, Sasquatch, pop quizzes. I tried to make a list once. I ran out of paper.” She shrugged.

  “Don’t apologize. We’re all afraid of something.” Goldie hugged Val. “Come on. Let’s take the WTM for a spin. Maybe we’ll find someone who wants to go on a tour.”

  Goldie grabbed the driver’s seat. Ruby and Val sat in the row behind her. Li and Nacho worked the back. They only had to pedal two blocks before they found their first customers.

  Two women and one little boy each paid a dollar for a Bloxtown tour. They were given helmets. And because there were three paying customers on board, Goldie obeyed the speed limit. Mostly.

  “That’s my old school.” She pointed over her shoulder. “I accidentally blew the roof off. But we converted it into a smoothie shop. Best maple-cheese-berry smoothies in town.”

  “You can also get normal flavors,” Ruby whispered.

  Everyone pedaled while Goldie steered. She took them up and down the streets of Bloxtown. Her helmet had a built-in microphone so she could be heard as she told the history of her hometown and pointed out local attractions.

  “That’s the town dump. You can find a lot of buried treasure in there. Most of the parts on this vehicle came from that dump.”

  One woman immediately let go of her handles and pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitizer from her purse.

  Goldie laughed. “Don’t worry. We cleaned them all.”

  The tour weaved through town. They stopped briefly to take pictures, and Val gave the customers bottles of water from the cooler.

  “Why didn’t we think to put a motor on this thing?” Ruby said, breathing hard.

  “This is better for the environment. It’s good exercise. And I promised my dad I wouldn’t borrow the motor from the washing machine today because he has a couple of loads to do.” Goldie flashed a big smile. “Besides. When we work together, we can do anything.”

  They pulled up to their last stop of the tour.

  “Ladies and gentleman, on your left is the famous Bloxtown Inn.” Goldie pointed at the once-white building that was now the color of dirt, and surrounded by weeds. “It’s no longer open, but it’s still totally cool. If you ever get a chance, I recommend trespassing. The dumbwaiter alone is worth it.”

  “A dumb what?” the little boy asked.

  “A dumbwaiter. It’s like a small elevator that’s operated by hand. It was used to move heavy items or meals from one floor to another. Waiters wouldn’t have to carry plates up and down the stairs. You should check it out.”

  “But be careful,” Val added, “because the inn is haunted.”

  Goldie laughed. “Val likes to joke around. It’s not haunted. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

  “Tell that to my great-great-uncle Reginald,” Val replied.

  “Is he a ghost?” Li asked.

  “No. He’s just really into spooky stuff. He has seen the ghosts at the inn. So have I.”

  “No way,” Goldie said.

  “Yes way! It’s the most haunted place in town. It’s haunt-a-riffic.” Val pumped her fist.

  “Are the ghosts friendly or dangerous?” one of the women asked.

  Val waved her hand back and forth. “Somewhere in the middle.”

  “There are no ghosts,” Goldie said again. “It’s just a cool, creepy old building.”

  “Not for long,” Ruby said. “Look. It’s going to be destroyed.” She pointed to a sign wedged into the bushes. The Bloxtown Inn was scheduled for demolition next week.

  “That’ll be awesome.” Li rubbed his hands together. “I wonder if they’ll use dynamite and make it implode. That’s like exploding but inward. Or if they’ll use a giant bulldozer.”

  “No, they can’t!” Goldie protested.

/>   Li shrugged. “You’re right. A bulldozer is probably too small for a three-story building. Maybe a wrecking ball.”

  “They can’t use a wrecking ball, dynamite, or a bulldozer.” Usually, Goldie would love to see a demolition using any of these three methods, but not on the inn.

  “This is a landmark,” Ruby added.

  “Not only that,” Goldie continued. “It was way ahead of its time. The contraptions and the gadgets and the—”

  “Ghosts!” Val interrupted.

  Goldie shook her head. “Ghosts or no ghosts, we cannot let the town destroy this building.”

  “You’re right, G,” Li said.

  Goldie set the brake and then hopped off her seat. She motioned for everyone to follow.

  “Is the tour over?” the lady with the hand sanitizer asked.

  Goldie grinned. “Nope, it’s just getting to the good part.”

  “This is not what we signed up for,” said the woman. She and the other customers climbed off of the tour bike and headed down the street.

  Goldie waved goodbye. “Thank you for trying Bloxtown Tours. Tell your friends.”

  The Gearheads and Nacho followed Goldie to the front porch of the Bloxtown Inn. She tried the large front doors. The place was locked tight.

  They went around the building. Li pulled on the back door. Val and Goldie pushed on each window. No luck.

  “Maybe we could climb to the roof and slide down the chimney,” Li suggested.

  “Wait. Look!” Val pointed to the storm cellar door. It hung open.

  “Let’s go,” Goldie said.

  “I guess we’re just going to ignore the No Trespassing signs.” Ruby scowled.

  Val laughed. “That sounds like something I would say.” She hooked arms with Goldie and set off for the open door.

  “So,” Goldie whispered to Val. “You’re afraid of bugs and rats and heights and lots of other stuff, but not ghosts?”

  “Of course not. I love ghosts!” Val exclaimed. Goldie gave her a puzzled look.

  The door creaked as Val pulled it completely open. A cloud of dirt greeted them and they coughed. The Gearheads waved their arms to clear the air.

  Nacho took a step back.

  “Come on, boy.” Goldie pulled a small flashlight from her hair. Her blond curls were like a toolbox. She also had a pencil, ruler, screwdriver, and compass in there. Ruby used her minicomputer for even more light.

  Val led the way under the inn. “I’ve never been down here.”

  Old barrels and wooden boxes filled the rectangular room. Cobwebs and dust covered everything. As the Gearheads walked, they left fresh footprints in the dirt.

  Goldie shined her light at the stairs that led up and into the inn. A door at the top had three deadbolt locks and a large padlocked bar across the middle. They still couldn’t get into the main building.

  Suddenly, a small animal raced out from behind a crate. It brushed Val’s leg as it ran out the door. But she didn’t jump or scream.

  Nacho barked and covered his eyes with his paws.

  “What was that?” Ruby asked. She pointed at Val. “And why didn’t it scare you?”

  “It was probably just the ghost cat,” Val said calmly. “We’ve met before.”

  “Wait! What?” Ruby shook her head.

  “I met the ghost cat when I was little,” Val explained. “Do you want to hear the story?”

  “That wasn’t a ghost cat,” Goldie mumbled. “It was a squirrel or a raccoon.” She looked around, but the critter was gone.

  “I’ve got to sit down for this.” Ruby took a seat on the edge of a crate. Li kneeled on the ground and pulled Goldie down next to him. Nacho crawled into her lap.

  “I was only four or five,” Val started. “My great-great-uncle had been telling me about the ghosts at this inn for as long as I could remember.”

  “So you were on the lookout for ghosts?” Goldie interrupted. “You came here on a ghost hunt.”

  “Not exactly. I came for tea with my grandma and my mom. The restaurant on the main floor used to serve high tea every afternoon. You could get a cup of Earl Grey and some delicious scones with jam and cream.”

  “I don’t know what a scone is, but you’re making me hungry.” Li rubbed his stomach.

  “A scone is like a biscuit or a cookie,” Val explained. “I must have drunk a gallon of tea, and I needed to use the bathroom. I told my mom that I was old enough to go alone. Drinking tea in fancy china made me feel very grown up.

  “I walked down the hall, found the restroom, and did my business. I washed my hands, and when I turned for a towel, a cat was sitting at my feet. He was white and—”

  “There are plenty of white cats,” Goldie interrupted. “Just because it was white doesn’t mean it was a ghost.”

  “I know it was a ghost, because it was also kind of see-through and just appeared out of thin air.” Val opened her hands as if doing a magic trick.

  “Couldn’t the cat have snuck in with you or gone under the door?” Ruby asked.

  “No. It was a small bathroom. And not the kind that has stalls. There was a toilet, a sink, and a ghost cat.”

  Li leaned forward on his knees. His eyes focused only on Val. “Did the cat say anything to you?” he asked, completely serious.

  “No. It’s a cat. It can’t talk.”

  Li shrugged. “It was a ghost cat. There might be different rules for the ghost world. Maybe animals talk and fly.” He stared at Val again. “Did he fly? Ghosts fly, right? They don’t experience gravity like we do.”

  “No one experiences gravity like you do,” Goldie teased her friend. He was known as Li Gravity Zhang because no height was too high and no challenge was too big.

  “I didn’t see the cat fly. He just stared at me. I tried to pet him, but he jumped out of the way. But it was faster than a jump. It was like he transported from one spot to another.” Val’s eyes were huge in the dim light. Goldie could tell she really believed she’d seen a ghost cat.

  “Then someone knocked on the door,” Val continued. “And the ghost cat vanished into thin air. When I walked back to the table, I stopped a waiter in the hall. I said, ‘Excuse me, sir, there’s a cat in the bathroom.’ He froze and asked me if the cat was white and fluffy. When I said yes, he dropped a tray of scones.”

  “What a waste of food.” Li’s stomach grumbled.

  “The waiter told me that it was a ghost cat, and people only saw it right before something terrible was about to happen. That poor waiter was shaking all over.”

  “Did something terrible happen?” Ruby asked. She was shaking a little, too.

  “He did drop the tray of scones,” Val said.

  “That’s not exactly something terrible,” Goldie added.

  “It is if you’re hungry.” Li rubbed his stomach again.

  “I don’t remember anything terrible happening that day. But I did see a ghost cat. You believe me, right?”

  Li nodded, and Ruby shrugged.

  Val turned to Goldie. “You believe me, right, Goldie?”

  “Um…” Goldie hesitated.

  “Do you think I’d lie to you? You’re my best friends.” Val’s voice wobbled.

  “I don’t think you’re lying on purpose,” Goldie said quietly. “But ghosts aren’t real.”

  “You weren’t there.” Val’s face grew red. “I know what I saw.”

  “Let’s just focus on saving the inn. Okay?” Goldie got up and put a hand on Val’s shoulder.

  “I guess,” Val whispered.

  The next day, Goldie, Li, and Ruby headed to the town hall to fight for the old inn. But they needed to make one stop first.

  Goldie pressed the Voltzes’ doorbell.

  Val opened the door. “Hey.”

  “We need
you, Val,” Goldie said. “We’re going to talk to the mayor and the town board. We need to convince them to save the inn.”

  “Didn’t we try to convince the mayor of something before? To reopen your old school?” Val asked. “That didn’t end well.”

  Goldie remembered. She had accidentally kidnapped the mayor by snaring him in a net.

  “This is different,” Goldie promised.

  “What’s in the bag?” Val pointed to Goldie’s backpack.

  “Nothing crazy. No net cannons. We’re just going to talk. Mostly. And we need you there.”

  “You can tell them about the ghost cat,” Li said.

  Val looked at Goldie. “But you don’t believe me.”

  “That’s not important,” Goldie replied.

  “It is to me.” Val kept her eyes locked on Goldie.

  “What we need is for the board to believe you.” Goldie forced a smile. “With your help, we can save the inn. It’s the ghost cat’s habitat, after all.”

  If it even exists, she thought.

  “Okay,” Val finally agreed. “But before this is all over, I’m going to prove to you that the ghost cat is real.”

  Goldie and Li hopped on their souped-up skateboards. Val and Ruby took their bikes. As they rode to the town hall, Goldie imagined how she could persuade the mayor to save the inn. She could convince Nacho to do what she wanted with a strip of bacon. She wondered what meat the mayor liked.

  The Gearheads parked their rides, went inside, and quietly made their way to the mayor’s office.

  “Knock, knock,” Goldie said, standing in the open doorway. “Hello, Mayor Zander.”

  The mayor groaned. “What do you want?”

  “Not much. Just to save the old Bloxtown Inn.” The Gearheads stepped inside the office, even though they weren’t officially invited.