Scooby-Doo! and the the Rise of the Snow Dragon

Chapter 1
It was a cool winter night in the small town of Startown, Nebraska. The snow was falling down onto the city streets. The frost on the windows made it look like a winter artist had spread his art across the glass. A bunch of lights on the streets were turned out, because it was late into the night. But, a few lights in one of the buildings stayed on; a light on the inside of Mindy Carter Orphanage on 72nd Street. And this light was a lamp, that was turned on by 10 year old Amy Duncans. Amy was an average height girl, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her mother and father were killed in a plane crash when she was 6 and had been sent from orphanage to orphanage because none of her other family members cared enough to take her in. She had no faults; she got good grades, worked hard, never backtalked her elders, and was a great friend, but she didn’t understand why no one wanted to take care of her. On this night, she was reading a chapter of one of her books on her bookshelf in her room when Lucy Carter, Mindy Carter’s great-niece and the caretaker of the orphans, came in to tuck her in like Amy’s mother used to do. “Amy, sweet-heart, you don’t need to stay up late like this. You need to get some sleep.” Amy always stayed up late now that she was homeschooled. But, when it was time to go to bed, she never argued. “You know what tomorrow is, don’t you, Mrs. Carter?” she asked.

“Amy, dear. I’m sorry. I forgot that tomorrow is the day your parents were killed. Would you like me to bring you to the pet store to look at the puppies? That always makes you feel better.” Amy shook her head “No. I want to stay home this year. I know it’s not easy, but I need to recooperate and let the past be in the past.”

 

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Scooby-Doo stuck his head out of the van window as the Mystery Machine drove into Startown. “Gee, Shaggy, it sure is great of your aunt Lucy and uncle Charles to let us help out at their orphanage,” said Freddy from the driver’s seat. “And,” agreed Daphne, “they won’t except their salary.”

“Yep. Like, Aunt Lucy says working with those cute little kids is more important than money to them,” Shaggy explained. He turned to Scooby. “And there’s gonna be plenty of playmates for you to have some fun with, Scoob, old buddy, old pal.”

The Mystery Machine pulled into the parking lot. A brown haired woman and a brown haired man came out, bundled up in winter clothing. “Oh, Shaggy, welcome back, dear,” Lucy said, pulling her nephew in for a hug. “And it’s great to finally meet your friends,” said Lucy’s husband, Charles as he smiled at the gang. A little blonde haired girl peeked out of the open door. Lucy turned to see her. “Aw. It’s okay, sweetie. This is my nephew and his friends,” Lucy said to her gently. The girl then slowly approached them. “Amy, this our nephew, Shaggy, his friends, Velma, Daphne and Fred, and their dog, Scooby. Everyone, this is Amy Duncans, one of our girls here at the orphanage,” Charles introduced her. Amy waved slightly and hid behind Lucy. “She’s just a little shy around strangers,” she told the gang. Scooby cocked his head and walked toward Amy. He put of his paw for her to shake. Amy looked at Lucy. “Go on, Amy. Scooby’s a very friendly dog,” Daphne said in an encouraging way. Amy took his paw into her hand and shook it. Then, she patted Scooby’s head. “Mrs. Carter, can I take Scooby into the barn and play with him?” she asked “Only if it’s okay with Shaggy,” Lucy replied. Shaggy smiled. “Sure, little dude. Like, you 2 have fun.”

“Come on, Scooby!” Amy said, racing off toward the backyard, with Scooby behind her. “Amy loves dogs, but with the orphanage 2 bills behind, we just haven’t been able to afford one,” Charles explained to them. Velma had 1 thing to ask. “If you 2 don’t mind me asking, how did Amy end up in the orphanage?”

“She never really likes to talk about it, but I guess it’ll be okay if you go ask,” said Lucy. In the barn, Scooby was watching Amy brush the fur of one of the ponies. “I love ponies as much as I love dogs,” she told the Great Dane. The others came in a second later. “Oh! Hi, guys! Wanna help me groom our ponies?” she asked. “Maybe later,” Velma told her sweetly. “We just wanna get to know you a little better. So, how did you end up here?” Amy sighed. “Well, I normally don’t like to talk about this very much, but I guess I can talk to you about it.”

She sat down on an old stool nearby. “Well, me and my parents were flying back to Nebraska in an airplane, after we were heading back from our vacation. Suddenly, the pilot said that our plane had been hijacked.”

“How?” asked Daphne. Amy shook her head. “The pilot didn’t say, but he did say we would have to make an emergency landing. I was really scared then, but my mom told me that, if she and my daddy did have to go, to always be brave, no matter what. And that, she would… always love me.”

“Then, what happened?” asked Shaggy. Amy went on. “The plane was dropping fast, so I clung to the seat in front of me for dear life. We had crashlanded in a field 2 hours from Lincolnton. All the people on the plane asked if anyone was hurt. I told them I was fine, just a few scratches. But, my dad, he had been sitting by the window, and, the glass broke in, so…” Amy looked like she was about to explode into tears. But, she continued anyway: “Mom had gotten a lot of glass in her body, but it didn’t kill her yet. So they called an ambulance and they took her and me to the hospital. The doctor looked at me and saw I was okay, so he put me in the children’s waiting room to play with some other kids while my mom was being checked out. The doctor came back about 15 minutes later and said they had to do a life saving surgery on Mom, but, she… she flatlined, and… there wasn’t anything they could do to save her. The doctor told me that I was a very brave little girl. But I didn’t feel like a brave little girl. But, if I was, Mom and Dad, they… they would be here; with me.”

Amy burst into tears at that moment. Daphne and Scooby hugged her gently. “Aww, it’s okay, Amy. It wasn’t your fault,” said Daphne. Scooby nodded and licked her face gently. “Thanks, guys. That makes me feel a lot better.”

“Amy! Time for supper!” Charles called from the house. “Coming, Mr. Carter!” she called back. She turned to her new friends. “You 5 are welcome to eat with me.”

 

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Shaggy and Scooby had plenty of delicious meals in their mystery solving careers, but this was definitely one of the top ones. Amy let them sit on both sides of her while they ate. She loved that she had some new friends. Suddenly, a black haired woman with a black briefcase and laptop barged through the door. “Mrs. Carter, you're way behind this month.” Fred, Daphne and Velma looked at each other, concerned. Lucy suddenly looked really worried. “Mrs. Schaffer, I didn't--”

“Expect me?” Mrs. Schaffer cut her off. “Well, I have a surprise. You and your hubby have until the 17th to pay off the mortgage, or you're out of here!” She then stormed out. “Who was that, Mr. Carter?” asked Velma. “Adrianna Schaffer,” Charles replied. “She's been trying to kick us out of the orphanage so she can use it for a car lot.” Shaggy and Scooby gasped. “That's not fair!” exclaimed Daphne. “Where will all of the orphans go after that?” One of the other orphan girls, Susan, stood up. “We'll be kicked out onto the streets. Trust me. Before I came to this place, that was where I stayed.” Amy was close to tears then. “Now, Susan,” Lucy fussed, “you know Amy doesn’t like to hear about such things.” Susan groaned. “She needs to get over the fact that she has to get on with her life. Just because she was saved when her parents died in a plane crash doesn’t mean she was saved by a miracle. It was just luck.”

Amy hated to hear her say that. She ran off from the table, sobbing, upstairs. Scooby never saw somebody so sad; well, except for when the Scooby Snacks factory went out of business for one week. THAT was a total nightmare for him and Shaggy. Scooby got down from his chair and went upstairs after Amy. “Gee, I’ve never seen a girl so sad,” Fred told Lucy. Charles sighed. “Susan’s parents got a divorce and no one could afford to keep her, so they sent her here without saying a goodbye.”

 

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Scooby looked in all of the rooms. “Amy? Amy?” he called, looking in each one. “Amy, where are you?”

“In here, Scooby,” Amy sobbed from the last room on the damp, dark hallway. Scooby went into the dark green room. Amy was sitting on her bed, wiping away her tears. “Hiya, Scooby. Want a cookie?” She pulled a box of cookies out from under her bed. “I always keep a stash in here, just in case of something like this.” Scooby took the cookie from her open hand. A vanilla wafer! One of his favorites. His tounge stuck out. Amy giggled happily. “I’m glad you liked it, buddy. Wanna sit down?”

Scooby sat down on the bed next to her, eating cookies from the box, tail wagging. After he ate his third one, he noticed a family photo on her nightstand. “That’s my mom and dad,” she said when he nudged it with his nose. “Mom was a fashion designer. It wasn’t big stuff, like the designers today, but it was good enough. And Dad was a pediatric doctor. He always knew what kind of sickness I had, if I ever was sick, which wasn’t very likely.” She sniffed. “I miss them, even more now that Susan and Victoria are around.”

“Victoria?” Scooby asked. Amy sighed. “She and Susan are big buddies. They’re always being mean to me. Just because I’m smaller and younger than they are, doesn’t mean I’m an easy target.” Scooby felt terrible for her. He nuzzled her hand, but instead of rubbing him like he thought she would, she threw her arms around his neck. The Great Dane hugged her back. “Scooby, I feel like you and your friends are the only real friends I have.” At that moment, Scooby was at a loss for words. Amy looked into his eyes. “Hey, why don’t you and Shaggy sleep in my room tonight?”

Scooby nodded. He started to leap off the bed when he noticed a stuffed puppy on the end of the bed, which he gently picked up in his teeth. “Oh!” Amy said as Scooby dropped it next to her. “This is Clover, my puppy. I’ve had her ever since I was little. My mom and dad bought her in Washington, D.C."