You Can't Scare Me! by R. L. Stine

Courtney. Meet me at the tree house in ten minutes, okay?”
It was incredible! She sounded just like Denise!
    We all gaped at her in amazement.
    â€œMolly, I didn’t know you were so talented,” Charlene said, laughing.
    â€œI’ve been practicing,” Molly said. “I can do all kinds of voices. I’m really pretty good at it.”
    â€œMolly, maybe you can do cartoon voices when you get older,” I suggested. “You could be Daffy Duck. You sound a lot like him already!”
    Hat laughed. Molly stuck her tongue out at me.
    â€œLet’s go inside and call Courtney,” Charlene said eagerly, sliding open the screen door. “If she isn’t home, she’s probably already at the tree house. So we’ll get Buttercup and go there. If she
is
home, Molly can pretend to be Denise and tell Courtney to meet at the tree house.”
    We made our way into the kitchen. Charlene handed the kitchen phone to Molly. Then she brought over the cordless phone for the rest of us to listen in on.
    Molly punched in Courtney’s number, and we each held our breath as we listened to the phone ring. One ring. Two.
    Courtney picked it up after the second ring. “Hello?”
    Molly put on her best Denise voice. “Hi, Courtney. It’s me.” She really sounded just like Denise. I think she could’ve fooled Denise’s own mother!
    â€œCan you meet me in the woods? You know. At the tree house?” Molly asked in Denise’s voice.
    â€œWho
is
this?” Courtney demanded.
    â€œIt’s me, of course. Denise,” Molly replied.
    â€œThat’s weird,” we all heard Courtney say. “How can
you
be Denise when Denise is standing here right next to me?”

16
    â€œOops. Wrong number,” Molly said. She quickly slammed down the receiver.
    Calling Courtney had turned out to be a bad idea.
    Our plan hadn’t exactly worked. But we were sure we could scare Courtney with Buttercup.
    We just had to catch her in the woods at the right time.
    The next day, Sunday, it rained. I was very disappointed.
    My brother, Kevin, stood beside me at the window, watching the raindrops patter against the glass. He was very disappointed, too. He and his friends had planned to finish their Mud Monsters video in the woods.
    â€œToday we were going to tape the big finish where the Mud Monsters rise up out of the mud,” he said.
    â€œMaybe the rain will stop,” I told him.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter,” Kevin sighed. “We won’t be able to shoot anyway.”
    â€œWhy not?” I asked.
    â€œToo muddy,” he replied.
    The week dragged by. It rained just about every day.
    On Saturday afternoon, the sun came out. Charlene put Buttercup on a leash, and we eagerly headed to the woods.
    â€œCourtney’s
got
to be there. She’s
got
to!” I declared.
    â€œSomeone has to scout out the tree house,” Molly said. “Someone has to make sure Courtney and Denise are there before we let Buttercup go.”
    â€œI’ll do it!” Hat and I volunteered in unison.
    Everyone laughed. We were in a good mood. I think we all had a really good feeling, a feeling that this was the day we were finally going to scare Courtney out of her wits.
    The woods started a few blocks from Charlene’s house. It was a really pretty day, the first all week. Everything smelled fresh and sweet from all the rain.
    Buttercup kept stopping to sniff flowers and bushes and other plants. Charlene had to keep tugging the leash to keep him walking. It was a tough job. It isn’t easy to tug a Saint Bernard if he doesn’t want to be tugged!
    â€œMy mouth is kind of dry,” Charlene complained as we neared the edge of the woods. “I hope I can whistle okay.”
    She tried whistling. It came out real breathy. Not much whistle sound.
    But that didn’t seem to matter to Buttercup. He raised his head instantly. His ears shot up and his