Tchaikovsky and the Curse of the Halloween Hound

Chapter 2

Back at the school, Mrs. Carroll had the kids gathered outside as their field trip had come to an end. 

"Now, I know you're all excited about trick-or-treating tonight, but let's not forget that your Fernfield history projects are due Monday" Mrs. Carroll reminded her students. 

All of the students nodded, remembering. Well, all except for one... 

"Monday?" TJ asked. 

"What a bonehead" Rodney mocked TJ, causing Kali and the rest of the recess gang to glare at the bully boy. 

"Yes, TJ. Is that a problem?" Mrs. Carroll asked. "It's been assigned for the last two weeks"

TJ started to think back for a second. "Oh! Oh, that project! Yeah, I totally finished mine" TJ replied with a sly tone. 

"Great, TJ" Mrs. Carroll said. "What subject did you choose?"

"Uh..." TJ thought for a moment. "The... Curse of the Halloween Hound!" 

"Perhaps your project might finally answer whether the legend is true or not" Mrs. Carroll then said. 

"Oh, yeah! Definitely!" TJ answered casually. 

"TJ's got it, Mrs. Carroll!" Kali assured. "You have nothing to worry about" 

"Okay, children class dismissed" Mrs. Carroll told her students before walking away, giggling. "Happy Halloween!" 

Kali and the Recess gang watched as their teacher and all the other students left then gathered around TJ. 

TJ sighed, beginning to sulk. "What am I gonna do? If I don't pass this project, I'm gonna be history!" 

"What do you mean, Teej?" Spinelli asked. "It doesn't seem so bad" 

"Spinelli's right" Vince mentioned. 

"Yeah, it sounds like you've got a great spooky topic" Gus added.

"I just picked the first thing that came into my head" TJ told his friends. "I totally forgot about this history project" 

"Uh-oh..." The rest of the gang said. 

"I don't even think I'll be able to go trick-or-treating tonight" TJ continued. 

"Now, that truly is a Halloween disaster" Mikey commented. 

"I'm sure we can find a way to fix this" Kali smiled at her friends, thinking positive. "We always do"

"You know, if the police were involved then I bet Sheriff Dan knows a thing or two about it" Gretchen then spoke up. 

The rest of the recess gang soon smiled in agreement with their smart friend. "Yeah, that's a great idea, Gretchen. Great thinking! Good idea!"

Kali smiled, leading the gang. "Let's go check it out" 

And that's just what the gang did, they went to talk to Sheriff Dan and he told them everything he knew about the Halloween Hound. 

"The Halloween Hound" Sheriff Dan said, leading the kids down into the police station's basement. "Yeah, I've heard that spooky story around the campfire once or twice"

"Careful kids, there's a stair here that-" Sheriff Dan tried to warn before slipping down the rest of the stairway, causing the gang to yelp. "Yep, that's the one"

"Sheesh, this place is a dump" Spinelli commented, looking around. 

"This may prove more difficulty then I previously had expected" Gretchen mentioned.