Jenna, Boris and Steele walked down the long tapering corridor. There seemed to be a light at the far end, pitch blackness behind them.

The hallway made a sharp turn into an errie lit limbo abound with mist and decay, the furniture and walls were covered in dust and spiderwebs. Just then music seemed to be coming from directly ahead, through an open doorway across the hall. "Say, doesn't that sound like piano music?" asked Jenna curiously, "It reminds me of Rosey whenever she was taking lessons in learning how to play the piano" "Yes, I would listen to her play favorite songs too" agreed Balto. "It's coming through that door, father" said Kodi who started in that direction towards the sounds. "I'm with you, bro" Aleu said as she followed her sibling and together they walked into the music room, the others close behind. Dogs and wolves found themselves standing in a large room with several chairs arranged in a semi-circle facing a grand piano that stood next to a picture window overlooking the outside property and the storm raging continuously. But what was disturbing of all was there seemed to be no sign of anybody playing the piano! And still, music was coming from the instrument. "Huh, I don't see anyone in here playing piano" Steele said, confused. "Then, who's playing it?" asked Boris glancing about nervously. "Does that answer your question, partner?" said Balto staring down at the carpeted floor at his feet. "Huuuuuuh?!!" gasped the snowgoose as he looked down and stared in disbelief! What the friends saw was shocking to even behold - there upon the carpeted floor was a shadowy outline of an unknown mysterious musician sitting before the piano, its arms rising and falling to strike the keys in rythem. "Ahh, I see you decided to visit my music room..." said the Ghost Host "don't mind my butler, Alfred. He enjoys playing his favorite songs whenever he's not busy with his duties since it helps relax him somewhat...In fact, he doesn't seem to notice you're watching him play for you, hmhmmhmmm..." the unseen host giggled to himself.

Aleu, Balto, Kodi, Jenna, Boris and Steele didn't want to hang around any longer so they quickly hurried from the music room but instead of going back out the door from which they entered, they proceeded through another doorway across the chamber which led into another room resembling a library of sorts. Shelves lined the walls, filled with books. A ladder stood nearby on rollers connected on steel tracks mounted above the shelves and a large picture window gave views of the surrounding grounds outside. Against the far wall stood another fireplace with several armchairs and sofas arranged neatly in front of this fixture. "Our library is well stocked with priceless first editions, only ghost stories of course...and marble busts of the great authors the literary world has ever known...They all have retired here to my home..." said the Ghost Host to his visitors. Sure enough, there were several bust statues set into openings along the shelves and backlit as if in a museum. And yet, it appeared as though the busts were staring at the huskies and wolves with evil glaring faces. "I don't like the way those statues are staring at us, father" whined Kodi in fear, "Gives me the creeps" "Me too, son. Me too" agreed Balto. "Perhaps we should vacate this place and keep looking for another way out, eh?" suggested Boris to which Steele was quick to agree, saying "Yes!" and both Jenna & Aleu nodded in unison that they should continue looking for another EXIT.

Once more the canines stepped into the hallway where they noticed a staircase facing them that seemed to be the only passageway out. As they cautiously climbed to the 2nd floor of the mansion they were greeted by an appalling cold! This as you know is the traditional manifistation of the supernatural. "I hope you don't have an adversion to darkness and cold...but you see, we spirits are sensative to light...And every consideration has been given to our comfort here in this delightfully drearlly place..."

PART 4

By now the canines were standing at the foot of the staircase staring around them and wondering where they should go next? "Where do we go from here, how do we get out of this horrible place?" wondered Jenna who was not liking this experience at all of being trapped inside a haunted house with no way out. Boris studied their surroundings carefully. "Hmm" the goose seemed to say, wing tucked under chin, eyes narrowed in concentration before speaking. "This seems to be the main corridor, we're on the second floor now. So let's hope it leads to a back staircase and a way out" "I'm all for that, let's go" said Steele who started down the hallway, then stopped and looked back. "Well?" he frowned at the others, "Come on...let's keep going if we are going to escape this place" "Okay, we're coming" Balto snapped back and started following the former bully with Aleu, Kodi, Jenna and Boris in tow. Wolves, huskies and goose passed by another long passageway that appeared to strech forever into oblivion with closed doors on both sides and chandeliers overhead that barely light the murkiness gloom. Just in front of this hallway stood several suits of medieval knights in armor on pedestal platforms holding various weaponery ranging from swords, shields, lance spears, mace, halbred (combination battle ax-spear), etc. Suddenly there came a strange noise from far down the corridor that made the friends stop dead in their tracks to listen.

"Wh-what's that?" gasped Kodi in shock, "It sounds like howling, like a wolf" "Yeah, I hear it too" Aleu answered her brother in return, then said "Look!" she pointed a paw down the hallway as a strange orange light seemed to appear out of nowhere. "What the heck?!" exclaimed Boris, "Where did that light come from?" he wanted to know. "But it's coming closer" Steele said in terror-filled shock, eyes wide with fright. "Listen, I hear hoofbeats approaching" Aleu said, then looked confused. "Huh?" Jenna asked her daughter, "What do you mean, hoofbeats?" "This can't be right" Aleu said, "Horses do not gallop through houses" "Um, then what about...that?!!" cried Kodi as he started backing up in terror, Balto too had the same look frozen on his face also as the wolf also started retreating. "Aaaaaaaaah!" cried Jenna in alarm as she recoiled from the horrifying sight before her eyes! "Aaaaaaaugh!" screamed Boris as what came forth from out of the shadows before the frightened canines and goose revealed itself to be a tall rider astride a black horse with glowing red eyes. The figure was dressed in red-black jacket, pants, boots, gloves, cape but what was shocking about this specter was IT HAD NO HEAD!!! In fact, the rider's head was held aloft in one gloved hand while the other hand gripped a gleaming-deadly sword. The horse reared up, pawing the air with its hoofs and whinnied angrily while its master laughed evilly stood upright in the stirrups of the saddle waving both head and sword in the air.

Simultanously the knights in armor all turned as one in unison on their platforms, or rather their helmeted heads creaked as they turned in the direction of the goblin ghost and its steed and raised their weapons in salute. "Oh, no! It's the headless horseman ghost of Sleepy Hollow!" cried Steele who recognized the specter immediately from hearing ghost stories about the famous goblin spirit from the book "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" told by the other dogs around Nome. "Oh my gooood!" cried Jenna, "Quick, in this doorway" yelled Balto who turned and darted across the hall and thru another open door. Aleu, Jenna, Kodi, Boris and Steele hurried after the hero then all of them peered back out from their hiding place. Through the dimly lit mist of the upstairs corridor they watched the goblin ghost gallop past the spot where they had stood before still laughing its evil laughter as if it was enjoying a joke it just played on the foolish mortals before vanishing in a brilliant flash of fire and brimstone, then disappearing into a puff of smoke or mist and was gone. Just then the voice of the Ghost Host spoke. "It's nice to see the folks enjoying themselves...in my home, every room has wall to wall creeps...and hot and cold running chills...But it has to take the time to give it that comfortable unliving look...hmhmmhmmm..." The wolves, goose and huskies turned their backs on the corridor and looked into the room towards the sound of their host's voice. Candles set in scounces along the walls suddenly flickered, then dimmed and went out. They stood frozen with fright! They were in the old conservatory, a room cluttered with decaying flowers and plants.

Broken windows in the room allowed them to see the outside and there below was the private graveyard. Even though the rain was falling hard, an un-natural fog choked the gravestones. The rain was coming in through the broken windows, the air was dank and had a musty smell of death. The crow flew in and perched atop a large box situated in the middle of the room. At that instant there came strange noises from out of the dark! "Help, let me out of here! Get me out of here!" an unseen voice cried out. "What's that noise?" wondered Aleu out loud to herself. "Let there be light" commanded Boris and as if by magic the candles flared back to life again to reveal the source of the strange voice. "Uh-oh..." the