"There it is." Freddie pointed at the Welcome to the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park sign along the two-lane road in a dense forest. "Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park."

"Freddie, please." Shaggy stuffed another sandwich into his mouth. "Can't we just say Lady Evelyn? I work up an appetite saying the entire thing."

"Reah, me, too." Scooby also ate a whole sandwich in two bites.

"Slow down on the food, Shaggy and Scooby," Velma sternly stated, looking over her shoulder. "We need it to last one week."

"Aw," the two groaned, slouching.

"Hey, if all else fails," Freddie joked, "we can revert to the good ole days when we hunted our food." He checked the GPS on the Mystery Machine's dashboard. "All right, thirty minutes to Anima Nipissing, where we'll stay tonight. We'll begin canoeing tomorrow." His eyes sparkled at seeing the elegant trees and the lake hidden behind them. "Isn't it beautiful out here?"

"It's just trees, Freddie," Velma quipped.

Freddie cringed. "There's a mystery beyond those trees, though."

Daphne slid to Freddie and placed her hand on his forearm. "So, tell us again, Fred—what exactly is the Ghost of Ontario? You seem to have done your research."

"I don't know the whole story," he responded, "but it has something to do with a canoe accident ten years ago and a little boy."

"Well, you have fun with your mystery," Daphne added. "I'm ready for some sunbathing and canoeing."

"Like, we're with you, Daphne." Shaggy gestured at Scooby. "Also, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Scooby needs to go out."

"Seriously?" Velma said.

Freddie shrugged. "Hey, we can't blame him. We've been driving for almost eight hours. Now, thinking about it, we could all use a good stretch. Hold on tight, gang." He pulled off the road and parked in a small rest area on the lakeside. Freddie and his friends exited the van and stretched while Scooby disappeared into the bushes.

"Wow," Freddie said while examining the lake and its many islands. He never realized how remote the park was until then, but honestly, it was peaceful and only added to the mystery.

Fred hopped down to a small beach and crossed a few rocks. Before long, he hovered over the clear water. Freddie filled his lungs with wilderness air but jumped and fell off the rocks into the lake when Scooby sprinted out of the forest and leaped into Shaggy's arms.

"Ghost! Ghost!" he barked.

"Shaggy, what happened?" Fred questioned, standing and brushing himself down. He squeezed water out of his shirt.

Stumbling under Scooby's weight, Shaggy answered, "Something spooked Scooby, but I don't know what."

Freddie hiked out of the lake and rejoined the group on the lakeside.

Scooby climbed down and pointed at the forest. "Ghost! Ghost!"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy bellowed. "You saw the ghost?"

Scooby nodded. "Yeah, yeah!"

"Oh, please," Daphne argued, waving a few mosquitoes away, "there's no such thing as ghosts." Nonetheless, soon after she said that, a crack and enormous tumble came from the forest. It sounded like someone had fallen.

Shaggy and Scooby yelled and attempted to run, but Freddie pulled them back.

"Make way for the Mystery Machine!" Shaggy said before realizing Freddie held him.

Daphne hid behind him, but Velma stated, "Somebody's messing with us." She led the way to the forest and poked her nose inside. "Hm." Velma leaned forward and picked up something—a piece of black fur. She giggled and faced Scooby. "It looks like our ghost was only a bear."

"A bear?" Shaggy yelped. "That's even worse!"

"It's a black bear," Velma concluded. "They're not as aggressive as grizzlies."

"Still!" Shaggy said.

Daphne clutched her hips. "But what would a black bear be doing near the road?"

Excitement bubbled inside Fred, and he leaned toward the two girls. "Ah, what's this? Are you girls saying you're up for another mystery?" He poked their ribs for emphasis.

Before they answered, a pickup truck appeared on the road and pulled up alongside the Mystery Machine. The driver parked and rolled down the window. He was a slightly plump man with a mustache and bushy eyebrows, and he wore a checkered shirt and a baseball cap.

The man rested his hairy arm on the windowsill and called, "Eh! You kids looking for the Ghost of Ontario?"

"As a matter of fact..." Velma glanced at Freddie and stood tall. "We are."

"We are?" Freddie squealed. He knew his gang still had it in them! But how did the man—?

"He's been sighted a lot in this area," he explained. "That's how I know you're looking for him." Wow, it was like the man had psychic powers. He exited his vehicle and approached the gang, crossing his arms and slightly spreading his legs apart. "I'm Stanley, but you may call me Stan. I've been conducting my own investigation since the ghost upped his game."

"What do you mean 'upped his game', sir?" Freddie inquired. "Oh, I'm Fred, and this is Velma, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo. We came to look into these hauntings."

Velma lowered her head and muttered, "You mean you came." She slipped the piece of fur into her back skirt pocket.

"That ghost has never been a menace until a few weeks ago," Stan elucidated. "He's suddenly playing 'Lucilla', scaring folks, and popping up as a demon bear at the construction site."

Shaggy gulped. "De-Demon bear? You may have really seen him, Scoob."

"You mean he's stretched his hauntings out to here?" Stan said. "By golly, I don't know what his deal is."

Velma hooked her fingers and placed her hands behind her. "What can you tell us about the ghost? You also mentioned a construction site?"

"Oh, yes." Stan sat with the gang at one of the rest area's picnic tables. "It's on Anima Nipissing for a new resort. It's a canoe resort, to be exact. You see, kids, until the construction started, the ghost kept his distance, but now he's scaring the construction personnel and tourists with his demon bear act. I can take y'all to the site if you want."

"Thanks, but"—Fred checked his gang—"we've been driving all day, sir, so I think we'll head to where we're staying tonight on Anima Nipissing. We'll check it out tomorrow, though."

"Like, we will?" Shaggy whimpered.

Fred's eyes narrowed. "Yes, we will."

Stan tapped the picnic table's top. "Hm, if you guys are going where I think you're going, you can see the construction site from there on the other side of the lake. It's probably best for y'all to canoe to it if you want to look for clues, eh?"

"Excuse me, sir. May I ask you something?" Daphne held her hands before her. "Do you really believe in this so-called Ghost of Ontario? With all the mysteries we've solved, the villains were some hoot wearing a mask."

"I can't say that because I've never seen him." Stan crossed one leg over his other. "No one has until recently as the demon bear."

Freddie punched his left palm. "Well, I believe he's a real ghost. Don't worry, Stan, we'll get to the bottom of this mystery."

Stan pointed at the sky. "If so, listen for 'Lucilla', and look for the eagle. That's how you'll know you're dealing with the ghost."

Velma piped up. "An eagle? We ran into one on our way here."

"You did?" Stan cocked a brow and rubbed his chin. "Was it big?"

"For a female eagle, yes," Velma admitted.

"By golly!" Stan repeated. "She's been flying in and out of the park multiple times since the construction began."

"So, wait," Shaggy whined, "you're saying yes? That was a ghost eagle we found?"

"Again, I can't confirm it," Stan replied, standing, "but everyone in the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park knows that she usually patrols it with the ghost."

Velma smiled a little and also stood. "Thank you, sir. You've been very helpful."

"Here, take this to get you started." Stan reached into his jeans pocket and removed a map, handing it to Velma. "It's a map of the provincial park."

"Thank you." Velma opened the map and began studying it.

Freddie noticed writing on its back but couldn't read it from afar.

"I'll be at the construction site tomorrow, so I'll wait for y'all," Stan included. "If we work together, we may discover the truth behind our Ghost of Ontario."

"Great!" Fred clenched his fists and danced a little. "We'll be there."

Stan saluted. "Well, I guess I'm—"

"Arf! Arf!" Scooby suddenly barked from the beach. He lifted his sniffer off the sand and jumped into a fierce pose. "Arf! Arf!" he barked again across the lake.

Shaggy's knees shook, and his hair expanded like static electricity. "Oh, ho, ho, ho! Like, what did you see, Scoob?"

Scooby sat back and gestured at the lake. "Rerson! Rerson!"

"Rerson—I mean 'person?'" Shaggy translated. "What are you talking about, old boy?"

"I think we need to get that dog to the campsite," Fred said, folding his arms. "Something tells me he's had one too many sandwiches today."

"Huh?" Scooby questioned, setting his paw down. "But... rerson."

"It's time to go, Scooby," Fred added, tapping his arm and turning to Stan. "Thank you again, Stan."

"No problem," he spoke, smiling gently. "I wish you kids luck."