THE BOXCAR CHILDREN SUPER SUMMER

THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER

THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP

GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago

Contents

The Amusement Park Mystery

The Mystery of the Lake Monster

The Mystery of the Pirate’s Map

About the Author

THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY

GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER

Illustrated by Charles Tang

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago

Contents

CHAPTER

1 The Guest House

2 The Merry-go-round

3 The Deserted Barn

4 Peter McKenzie

5 Mystery at the Merry-go-round

6 Who Hurt Benny’s Horse?

7 The Unpainted Horse

8 A Frightening Phone Call

9 The Expert

10 The Terrible Ferris Wheel Ride

11 Frank Tells All

12 The Horses Come Back

CHAPTER 1

The Guest House

“Wake up, Benny,” Henry said, gently shaking Benny’s shoulder. “We’re here.”

Benny yawned and sat up. “Has the bus stopped?”

“Look outside,” Violet said, leaning across the aisle and pointing at the trees. “See? The trees have stopped moving past the window.” She swung her lavender sweater around her shoulders and stood up.

Jessie reached for her bag, which was under the seat, and slid across to the aisle. “I’m eager to see Joe and Alice Alden, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Violet said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen our cousins.”

As they moved up the aisle to the front door, Henry said, “It was nice of them to invite us, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Jessie said. “We had such good times on Surprise Island.”

“And camping out and finding Bill McGregor,” Benny said, wide awake and looking out the window. “I can’t wait to go to the amusement park that’s near Joe and Alice’s.” Then he rubbed his nose. “I’m sorry, though, that we had to leave Watch with Grandfather.”

“Watch will be fine, Benny,” Henry said reassuringly. “Our dog will keep Grandfather company. And Mrs. McGregor will look after both of them.”

Jessie patted Benny’s hand. “One of the first places we’ll visit will be the amusement park, Benny.”

Benny’s face brightened.

“Step lively!” the bus driver ordered.

They took the big step down off the bus and onto the ground.

“Where’re Joe and Alice?” Violet asked, looking around.

“Oh, they’ll be here,” Jessie said. “They’re always on time.”

Henry glanced about the bus station and noticed a big sign with the town’s name, Pine Grove. Suddenly he broke into a wide smile. “Right over there,” he shouted, pointing at a handsome young man.

Benny waved wildly. “Hi, Joe!”

“Hi, Benny!” a young man called, rushing forward and swinging the six-year-old boy around in a circle. Benny yelled with delight.

“Hello, Joe,” Henry said, stepping forward.

Joe grabbed Henry’s hand. “It’s good to see you, Henry.” He stepped back and studied the boy. “You’re almost as tall as me!”

Henry’s dark eyes sparkled. “Well, I am fourteen.”

Joe shook his head and turned to Jessie. He brushed the girl’s cheek with a kiss. “What a young lady you’ve become, Jessie! It’s hard to believe you’re twelve years old and Violet is ten.”

Jessie smiled. “I’m glad to see you, Joe. Where’s Alice?”

“She’s working at the museum, but she’ll be home in time for dinner,” Joe said.

The young man looked over Jessie’s shoulder and drew Violet forward.

Violet’s cheeks grew pink. “Hello, Joe,”she said shyly.

“You can tell you and Jessie are sisters with that brown hair and those brown eyes.”

“Just like you, Joe,” Jessie said, a twinkle in her eye.

Joe laughed as he threw their suitcases in the back of his station wagon. “Welcome to Pine Grove,” he said. “I’ll show you around after you’ve unpacked and had a cold drink. Even in the North Woods it’s hot in August.”

The children scrambled into the large car, and Joe drove down Main Street. Pine Grove was a pretty town surrounded by large pine trees. The children were all eyes as they rode past the library, the drugstore, the grocery store, a dress shop, and the Indian Museum where both Joe and Alice worked.

They hadn’t gone very far down the highway when Benny shouted, “Look! There’s a man in trouble.”

There on the side of the road was a pickup truck with its hood up. The back end was loaded with cameras, stands, and lights.

Joe braked the station wagon and got out. “Hi,” he called. “Can I help?”

A tall man with a red cap poked his head around the hood. “No, thanks,” he said with a smile. “I already called a tow truck, and it should be here any minute.”

Benny had already jumped out and was studying the equipment on the truck. “Are you a picture-taker?” he asked.

The man threw back his head and laughed. “Me? Naw, I don’t know a thing about photography, my boy. I’m just delivering the stuff.”

“Oh,” Benny said. “I see.” Losing interest, he climbed back into the station wagon.

Joe returned to the driver’s seat, and they started off. He made a right turn, then a left, and slowed down when he went by the Pine Grove Amusement Park.

“Oh, boy!” Benny exclaimed. “Can we go to the park and eat cotton candy?”

“You bet,” Joe said. “I thought you kids might enjoy biking there tomorrow.”

“Biking?” Henry asked.

Joe chuckled. “Yes, Henry and Jessie can use our bikes and I’ve rented two more.”

“Hurrah for Joe!” Benny said.

Soon he pulled up to a white house with a large front porch and a swing. Around the house and yard was a white picket fence.

“Here we are,” Joe said. “Everyone out for a glass of apple cider!”

“Wonderful!” Jessie said. “I could drink a gallon!”

Violet smiled. “At least a glass, Jessie.”

They went into the house.

“How cozy!” Violet exclaimed, looking at the dark blue flowered loveseat and matching sofa, and the striped blue, yellow, and green easy chairs.

“It is pretty, isn’t it?” Jessie said.

“Let’s go outside,” Joe said. “And I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

Henry glanced at Jessie not knowing what to expect, but when they went through the kitchen and out the back door, they were both surprised. There was a charming little house, the exact twin of Joe and Alice’s house, only smaller.

“It’s the guest house,” Joe explained, “complete with a kitchen. Do you like it?”

“Do we!” Benny said. “It’s great!”

“Oh, yes,” Violet said. “We can do our own cooking!”

Joe said, “I know how you like to be on your own.”

They explored the little house. The two bedrooms were each done in blue. The living room had a large comfortable sofa, and nearby were two easy chairs. In the kitchen there was an eating nook in a large bay window. There was a small refrigerator and stove and cupboards with glass doors that displayed turquoise and pink pottery dishes.

After the Aldens had unpacked and hung up their clothes, they came back to the main house and drank apple cider with Joe.

Benny held out his chipped cup for more. “I never go any place without my pink cup,” he announced.

Joe smiled. “And why is that?”

“I found this cup in a junk heap when we were living in the boxcar,” Benny answered.

Joe nodded solemnly, pouring the cold juice into Benny’s cup. “I remember the story of the boxcar. Your grandfather told me that you lived there because you were afraid of him.”

“Yes,” Jessie said. “After we lost our parents, we thought it would be better to live alone, rather than live with Grandfather.”

“We thought he was mean and wouldn’t like us,” Violet added.

Henry chuckled. “Nothing could have been further from the truth.”

“It was lucky Grandfather found us,” Benny chimed in.

“Yes,” Joe agreed. “Your grandfather Alden is a fine man.”

“Is he your grandfather, too?” Benny asked, a frown crossing his round face.

“No,” Joe replied. “My father and your grandfather were brothers.”

“So our grandfather is your uncle,” Violet said thoughtfully.

“Yes.” Joe nodded. “Your grandfather is my uncle James Alden.”

The back door opened and footsteps were heard coming across the kitchen and dining room. “Here you are!” Alice exclaimed, coming into the room. “We were counting the days until you arrived. Welcome, Aldens!”

“Hi, dear,” Joe said, offering her a glass. “Will you have some cider with us?”

“Sure will,” Alice said, collapsing in a chair. She wore jeans and a cotton shirt. “I’m thirsty after working in that musty museum all day.” She smiled at each of the children. “You all look marvelous,” she said.

“So do you,” Jessie said, admiring Alice’s slim figure and the light brown hair that curled softly about her face.

Alice laughed, a silvery tinkly sound. “Are you hungry?” she asked, rising.

“Starved!” Benny said.

“Benny, hush,” Violet said.

“But I am hungry,” he replied. “Honest!”

“Good for you, Benny,” Joe said. “We’ve planned a hearty dinner for you.”

“May we help?” Henry asked.

“Why, yes,” Alice said. “Thank you.”

“First, though,” Jessie asked, “may we call Grandfather and tell him we arrived safely?”

“Of course,” Alice said, pointing to the phone on a table in the living room. “Help yourselves.”

They each spoke to their grandfather, telling him they were happily settled in, and promising to call him later in the week.

Re-entering the kitchen, the Aldens were each given a task. Benny set the table, Henry poured milk and water, Violet folded napkins, and Jessie made the salad.

Then the children sat down to eat. They were pleased with the hot delicious dinner that Joe and Alice had prepared—steak, baked potatoes, spinach, tossed salad, and banana-cream pie.

After dinner Benny leaned back and rubbed his stomach. “I’m not hungry anymore,” he said, his eyes half closing. “I’m sleepy.”

Alice sipped her coffee. “Well, you’d better get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow you’ll have a busy day.”

Benny’s face looked puzzled. “We will?”

“Yes,” Joe said. “You’re going to the amusement park.”

“Oh, that will be wonderful,” Violet said, rising to help Alice clear the table.

“Wait until you see the beautiful merry-go-round horses,” Alice said.

Benny’s eyes widened. “Horses?”

“Yes,” Joe said with a chuckle. “The wooden horses on the carousel are hand-carved.”

Alice’s eyes shone. “The horses are really a piece of Americana.”

“Americana?” Violet asked.

“Yes,” Alice said. “A piece of American history or American art. The horses are not only very old but also very valuable.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see them,” Violet said.

“I can’t wait to ride them,” Benny echoed.

“Tomorrow we’ll not only see the horses but ride them as well,” Jessie promised, smiling.

“Tomorrow should be fun,” Henry said, putting a hand on Benny’s shoulder.

CHAPTER 2

The Merry-go-round

On Tuesday morning, in their cabin, the Alden children prepared a big breakfast of orange juice, pancakes, maple syrup, sausage, and milk. Alice had stocked the refrigerator and cupboards with enough groceries to last two days.

“Are you ready to go to the amusement park, Benny?” Jessie asked.

“Yes!” he answered. “I want to eat cotton candy and ride on the tilt-a-whirl and the merry-go-round!”

Violet laughed. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll get dizzy?”

Benny grinned. “Nope! I could ride the tilt-a-whirl all day long!”

Jessie scraped her plate at the sink. She wore jeans and a white T-shirt. Her thick hair bounced up and down when she walked.

Henry stood up from the table and stacked the rest of the plates. “Isn’t this a nice house?” he asked.

“It’s like a doll house,” Violet replied, glancing around.

After the dishes were washed, Henry opened the door. “Let’s begin the day. Alice and Joe are at work already,” he said cheerfully.

They wheeled the bikes out of the garage and mounted them.

As they biked along the road with the sun streaming through the pine trees, Henry whistled a tune with Jessie joining in. Benny puckered up his lips, but no whistle came out. The harder he tried, the more his cheeks puffed out, the redder his face became, and the more air he blew out.

Violet laughed. “Don’t feel bad, Benny. I can’t whistle either.”

Arriving at the amusement park, they put their bikes in a bike rack and carefully padlocked them.

The park opened early on summer mornings. Rides were whirling and twirling around them, lights flashed, and customers on the rides shrieked with delight.

“Ooooh,” Benny gasped, running toward a concession stand. “Cotton candy.”

The others followed and gathered around the stand. Benny gazed at the pink frothy candy oozing out of the machine. He looked up at Henry. “Could I have some?” he begged.

Henry smiled and shook his head. “It’s a little early. But you’ve been dreaming about cotton candy ever since we arrived.” He turned to a woman with dark hair and asked pleasantly, “We’ll all have one. How much?”

The woman pointed to the sign as her bracelets jingled. She wore her hair pulled tightly back into a bun, showing gold earrings. She handed each of them a cone of cotton candy.

“My, my,” a man with black curly hair said to Benny, “that cone is almost as big as you are.” He winked at Henry and took the money. Smoothing down his drooping moustache, he questioned, “Where are you kids from?”

“We’re staying just outside Pine Grove,”Violet answered shyly.

“Yes,” Jessie said in a friendly tone. “We’re visiting our cousins.”

“Welcome to Pine Grove,” he said, holding out his hand to Henry. “I’m Frank Arnold and this is my wife, Sheila.”

“I’m Benny Alden,” Benny piped up.

Henry laughed. “And I’m Henry Alden, and these are my sisters, Violet and Jessie.”

“We serve hamburgers and hot dogs, too,”Sheila Arnold interrupted in a husky voice. “Come back for lunch.”

“Oh, we will,” Benny said happily, licking the giant pink cone of candy.

They walked over to the Ferris wheel. “That’s the biggest Ferris wheel I’ve ever seen,” Violet exclaimed.

Jessie, turning to her left said, “Oh, look, there’s a House of Mirrors!”

A young woman with straight red hair who was standing there glanced at Jessie. “I knew people would love this!”

“Let’s go in,” Henry said.

“Sorry,” the unsmiling woman said abruptly, turning away. “It’s new and won’t be open until tomorrow.”

“Look!” Benny yelled. “The merry-go-round!”

The children hurried away, forgetting all about the unpleasant woman. They stared at the graceful carved horses.

“They’re so lifelike,” Violet breathed, completely won over by the horses’ beauty.

The calliope music blared forth as the horses moved up and down to the musical beat.

“I’ve never seen such beautiful horses,”Henry said in an awed tone.

“And to think,” Violet added, “Alice said they are part of our history.”

Jessie marveled at a large brown and gray steed. The gallant horse had plates of armor painted on and armor over his head so that only his eyes and ears were visible.

“I want to ride that gray one with the dots!” Benny said eagerly. “It looks like he’s breathing fire.”

“That’s called a dapple gray, Benny,” Jessie explained.

“It’s hard to choose a favorite,” Violet said, studying them. “They’re all so beautiful.”

They rode the merry-go-round twice, then dismounted and rode the swings and the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel frightened Benny a little. They ate hot dogs and chocolate shakes and trudged over every inch of the dusty grounds.

Several times they stopped to try their luck at different games. Henry threw a softball, knocked down five wooden milk bottles, and won a box of candy. Jessie put money in a machine full of prizes and maneuvered a huge claw to pick up a silver ring with a green stone. Violet tried her hand at the ringtoss and managed to circle three pegs, winning a small but cute teddy bear. Benny had his weight guessed, but the man guessed wrong, so Benny won a softball.

By midafternoon the children were tired. “I’m ready to go home,” Jessie said, brushing a wisp of hair from her forehead.

“Me, too,” Benny said. “I was ready after that scary Ferris wheel ride.”

Henry led the way to the bikes, and even though the Aldens were weary, they pedaled along the road, filled with contentment. It had been a wonderful day.

When Joe and Alice got home the Aldens told them every detail about the rides, the food, and their prizes. The day had been filled with surprises, but Joe had a surprise, too.

“We’re having a barbecue tonight,” he said.

“Yes,” Alice said. “Joshua Eaton and his daughter, Karen, are joining us. They own the amusement park.”

“Oh, great,” Violet said, her eyes sparkling. “Maybe they’ll tell us something about the merry-go-round horses.”

“I hope so!” Jessie said. “Let’s go to our house and clean up.”

After Henry had given Joe and Alice the box of candy he’d won, the children left.

Once they’d washed and put on clean clothes, they came back to help with dinner.

Jessie was placing the silverware on the table when the doorbell rang.

A gray-haired man and a young woman of about twenty entered. Benny blurted out, “Why, you’re the girl we saw by the House of Mirrors.”

“Yes, I am,” she replied with a flicker of a smile.

“Hello! Hello!” the gray-haired man said. “I’m Joshua Eaton.”

“And these are our cousins,” Alice said, presenting Violet, Jessie, Henry, and Benny.

The children said hello. “Wow,” Benny said. “You own the amusement park! I won a softball!”

“Good for you,” Joshua Eaton said.

“Please, everyone, sit down and make yourselves comfortable,” Alice said. “Before dinner we’ll have a glass of tomato juice.”

“And,” Joe said, bringing in a plate, “crackers and cheese.”

Joshua Eaton leaned forward. “How did you kids like my amusement park?”

“It was great,” Jessie said, looking especially nice in a pink sweater and white shorts.

“The horses on the merry-go-round are beautiful,” Violet said.

“Ah,” Joshua said, settling into his chair. “I’m glad to hear you like my carousel. You know, those horses were carved by the Dentzel Company a long time ago, and are extremely valuable.”

Karen gave a bitter little laugh. “Those horses!” she sneered. “Who cares about some dumb wooden horses! I keep telling Dad that we have to modernize. No one rides the merry-go-round except little kids, and it’s mostly teenagers who come to the park.”

Benny sat up straight and glared at Karen. “Little kids are important, too! And I loved the merry-go-round horses.”

“And I loved the merry-go-round,” Jessie said, a hint of defiance in her voice.

“An amusement park without a carousel wouldn’t be much fun,” Violet said.

“You see, dear,” Joshua said mildly, facing his daughter. “We must keep our valuable carousel.”

Karen sniffed and tossed back her long red hair. Her green sweater brought out the freckles on her oval face. Jessie thought Karen’s face could be pretty if she would smile once in a while.

“Well,” Karen said stiffly, “we’ll see which will get more use, the House of Mirrors or the merry-go-round.”

Joshua sighed as if he and his daughter had had this argument many times.

“The horses are very different from the horses I’ve seen on other carousels,” Henry said.

Joshua chuckled. “Yes, most horses are painted bright colors and trimmed with gold, but the Dentzel horses are usually gray or brown.”

“Tell us about Mr. Dentzel,” Jessie said.

Joshua smiled at the Aldens, pleased that they liked his horses as much as he did. He ran his fingers through his silver hair and began. “Gustav Dentzel was born in Germany. He came to America and settled in Philadelphia. He and his brother, son, and nephews started the Dentzel Company in 1867.”

“The horses are old!” Benny exclaimed.

“Very old,” Joshua said, smiling at Benny. “In the Dentzel Company one man carved the bodies, another the legs, and Gustav’s brother assembled the horses.” He glanced at Henry. “Gustav’s brother’s name was Henry, too.”

“How many Dentzel merry-go-rounds are there?” Alice asked.

“Very few are in operation today,” Joshua answered. “The company only produced two carousels a year. The Dentzel horses,” he continued, “have a distinctive style. They were carved in what is called ‘The Philadelphia Style.’ ”

“The Dentzel animals are so lifelike,” Violet said.

Benny nodded. “I thought the horse I rode today could breathe fire.”

Joshua laughed. “It’s true, Benny. Sometimes it looks like the horses could gallop right off the carousel.”

“Is the company still in business?” Henry questioned.

Karen snorted disdainfully. “No, thank heaven, or we’d be buying more horses. After Gustav Dentzel died, his son, William ‘Hobbyhorse’ Dentzel took over. When he died in 1928, the company ended.”

“How sad,” Violet said thoughtfully. “I wish they’d kept on carving more beautiful horses.”

“With the money we’d earn from selling the horses,” Karen said, “we could install up-to-date rides. We could even add a roller coaster. Teenagers want more exciting rides than what we have.” She frowned at her father. “You have to get with the times, Dad. Who cares about Dentzel’s old horses?”

“I do!” Benny said in a very loud voice. “I love the horses.” He looked pleadingly at Joshua. “Please, Mr. Eaton, don’t ever sell them!”

Joshua reached over and squeezed Benny’s knee. “As long as I’m around,” he promised reassuringly, “the horses will be around, too!”

Jessie glanced at Karen’s face. Joshua’s daughter’s green eyes flashed, and her mouth twisted downward. For a moment Jessie felt a twinge of sadness. Because of Karen’s determination to update the park, Jessie wondered if Karen would be able to talk Joshua Eaton into selling his wonderful horses.

CHAPTER 3

The Deserted Barn

Wednesday morning, after a breakfast of waffles and milk, Jessie and Henry biked to the store for groceries. They walked through the aisles, pushing a cart and picking up bread, milk, hamburger, chicken, buns, lettuce, tomatoes, apples, lemons, chocolate chip cookies, eggs, orange juice, green beans, and corn on the cob. At the deli counter, they bought ham.

When they returned, bike baskets overflowing with grocery bags, they saw Violet and Benny sitting in the porch swing of Joe and Alice’s house. Benny jumped off the porch and dashed toward them.

“See what we’ve brought,” Henry called, pedaling around the back.

“Hurrah for food!” Benny shouted, running around the house to the guest house. He danced around Henry, craning his neck to see what he had brought.

Violet ran after Jessie.

Pulling out one sack after another, Benny asked, “What are we going to do today?”

Violet, setting the gallon of milk in the refrigerator, turned and smiled at Benny. “What would you like to do?”

“Go on a picnic,” Benny promptly replied.

“What a good idea,” Violet said, placing the apples in a bowl.

“Yes!” Jessie said, tossing up a lemon and catching it, “and I’ll make the lemonade.”

“Look,” Violet said. “Ham for sandwiches.”

“And,” Benny said, reaching for the cookies, “cookies for dessert.”

Violet busily set to work making up four sandwiches, while Jessie squeezed lemons and added water and sugar to the juice.

Henry filled four small sacks each with a sandwich and an apple, and Benny added two cookies.

“Let’s not go by the amusement park,” Benny said, “or I’ll want to stop.”

“Then we’ll head in the opposite direction,” Henry said.

In his bike’s basket Henry carried a big thermos, three paper cups, and his lunch bag. Benny carried his lunch bag and his pink cup. Jessie carried her lunch bag, a rolled-up tablecloth, and four napkins. Violet carried her lunch bag and paper plates.

As they pedaled, Jessie pointed to a dirt side road. “Let’s go down that lane. It looks lovely with those elm trees lining both sides.”

“Yes!” Benny shouted. “We’ll explore new lands!”

They laughed and sang all the way down the narrow winding road. Overhanging branches shaded them. They pedaled by a meadow with grazing black and white cows. The yellow field appeared golden in the bright sunlight.

After they had been traveling for a few miles, Benny suddenly groaned. “I’m starving. Are we ever going to stop?”

“Yes, Benny,” Violet answered. “I’m ready to stop, too.”

Henry veered left. “Over there,” he shouted. “There’s a brook and a grove of trees.”

“Perfect!” Jessie said, biking ahead and leaning her bike against a tree.

She lifted out the tablecloth, which she spread on the soft green grass. Violet set out plates while Henry poured the lemonade. Benny put a sandwich on each plate.

Sitting cross-legged, Benny smiled with contentment. “This is nice,” he said. “I can hear the little creek rushing over the rocks.”

“Yes, this is a perfect spot,” Jessie said, gazing over the green grass and the blue water beyond. In the distance was a red barn trimmed in white.

“I wish I had brought my paints,” Violet said.

The tree branches swayed gently in the warm breeze, and nearby a meadowlark trilled a sweet song.

After eating, Henry stretched out while Jessie and Benny ran to the little brook. The water was so clear that they could see the pebbles and sand on the bottom. Before Violet could join them, the little boy and his big sister had slipped off their sneakers and socks, rolled up their jeans, and waded into the water.

“Ohhh, it’s c-cold,” Benny stammered.

“Soon it will feel okay,” Jessie reassured him.

It wasn’t long before Violet splashed into the water, also. Wading downstream, they found smooth pretty pebbles.

At last they came ashore and lay on the bank. In a few minutes, Jessie propped herself up on her elbows. “I wonder what’s in that barn,” she said lazily.

“Let’s find out!” Benny said with excitement.

“Right!” Violet said, turning to look for Henry. “Henry! Come here.”

“I heard you,” he said, standing behind her and chuckling. “I’m ready to check out the red barn. It looks deserted.” He motioned to Benny, and the two boys dashed ahead. Once in the quiet barn, the children gazed at the sunbeams dancing with dust particles. The clean barn floor appeared to be unused. The stalls were brand-new, and fresh hay was piled inside. No one was around. Not a horse. Not a cow. Not even the farmer. There were no tools. The barn was empty.

“Where is everyone?” Benny whispered.

Henry poked his head around one of the stalls and said, “I don’t know, Benny.”

The smell of fresh hay filled the air as they explored the empty barn.

Finally, Jessie said, “Let’s leave. This place gives me the creeps.” They quickly left, puzzled by the silence and the emptiness.

Once they had biked home, they saw Joe and Alice, watering and weeding the flowers in front of the house.

“Hi, kids, come on in for a cold glass of juice,” Alice called, wiping her forehead. She wore gardener’s gloves and held a watering can.

“Gladly!” Benny shouted, dismounting his bike and running toward the house.

The others quickly followed.

Sitting around the table, the Aldens drank the juice and relaxed.

Jessie said, “Today we saw an unusual place.”

Alice, her brown eyes smiling, looked at her. “What kind of a place?”

“A big red barn!” Benny blurted out.

“Yes,” Henry said. “We picnicked near a stream west of here.”

“And we explored a nearby barn,” Violet finished. “It had fresh hay, but it was completely empty!”

“Ah,” Joe said, leaning back. “I know the place. The barn belongs to Old Jim Mitchell, an eccentric man, who lives alone. He doesn’t have any cows or horses and I’ve often wondered why he has such a big barn.”

“What could Old Jim be up to?” Alice wondered.

“It’s a mystery!” Benny said, a big smile crossing his face. “I love mysteries!”

Jessie smiled. “Benny, maybe there’s no mystery at all. Maybe this Old Jim just likes to have a barn for storing things.”

Violet glanced at Jessie. Perhaps her sister was right. And yet remembering the way the deserted barn looked sent a shiver up her spine.

CHAPTER 4

Peter McKenzie

The next morning the Alden children hiked to Clear Lake, which was a small lake in Pine Grove Park.

Arriving at the park with the lake shimmering before them, they eagerly jumped off their bikes. They hurriedly stripped down to the swimsuits they wore underneath their clothes.

As they ran toward the blue-green water, they heard voices. A man and woman were sitting on the sandy bank. The young man said, “But each horse is worth a fortune!”

The girl replied, “Yes, but you know how my father feels about the merry-go-round.”

The young man said, “I like the dapple gray, don’t you?”

The girl emphatically said, “No! Not the dapple gray, the brown, or any other color.” She sighed. “If it were up to me I’d get rid of the carousel. We could sell those horses and make a lot of money. But my father … ” Her words quickly trailed off as she glanced backward and spied the Aldens.

Jessie stopped in her tracks. “Why, Karen, it’s you!” She wondered if Karen would do anything against her father’s wishes.

“Hello,” Karen said smoothly, rising to her feet and tossing back her red hair. “Please, come and meet my friend Peter McKenzie.”

“Hi, kids,” the young man said, a lopsided smile spreading across his handsome face. He had long black hair and wore khaki pants, sneakers, and a white short-sleeved shirt.

“Meet Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny,” Karen said, introducing each of them. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re going swimming at the lake,” Violet answered with a smile.

“Want to go in the lake with us?” Benny questioned, his sturdy legs planted far apart. His red trunks looked even redder against the yellow towel slung over his shoulders.

Peter turned and stared at Benny. A grin broke across his tanned face. “Not today, partner. I’ve got to go back to work.”

“Do you work near here?” Jessie asked.

“Sure do,” he responded. “I’m a golf pro at the Old Oaks Country Club.”

“Do you teach golf?” Henry asked, tossing the beach ball he’d brought up in the air and catching it. “I’d like to learn to play golf someday myself.”

Peter raised heavy brows over his dark eyes. “If you want a lesson, look me up.”

“We will,” Henry said. “That would be great.”

“I’d like to learn, too,” Jessie added.

“I’ve got the time,” he said cheerfully. “Today I only teach one lesson. I’m not earning much money, as you can see.”

“Let’s go, Peter,” Karen said, taking his arm. “I want to check the House of Mirrors.”

“Karen, you have the most fun job of all,” Benny said.

Karen looked at Benny. “I like my job, but,” she added with annoyance, “I’d like it better if the amusement park showed a bigger profit.” With these words she and Peter hurried away.

Jessie watched as Karen and Peter disappeared among the trees. She didn’t like the sound of Karen’s words. Was money the only thing Karen was interested in?

“Come on in the water, Jessie!” Benny yelled.

“Be right there,” Jessie answered. And forgetting Peter and Karen, she laughingly raced into the water and splashed Benny.

The children played together for quite a while, then Jessie and Violet swam out to a raft that was anchored down by ropes. They jumped up on the raft and lay on their backs with their faces to the sun.

Henry and Benny played catch with the beach ball. The morning flew by. When it was time to get out of the water, Benny held back. “Can’t we stay in longer?” he begged.

Henry shook his head. “Violet and Jessie are coming in. It’s almost time for lunch. Later we’re going to the amusement park. Don’t you want to go?”

“Oh, yes,” Benny said, wrinkling his sunburned nose. “I forgot.” He waded as fast as he could to the bank.

It was such a warm and sunny day that they took their time pedaling home.

Once in the house they all helped with lunch. Jessie broiled hot dogs, Violet toasted the buns, Henry poured the milk, and Benny set out the mustard, relish, and ketchup. Dessert was cherry pie.

After lunch, Benny leaned back. “Ummmm,” he said, rubbing his stomach. “That tasted good.”

“Are you sleepy, Benny?” Violet asked.

“A little,” Benny murmured.

“We’d better forget about the amusement park,” Jessie teased.

“No! No!” Benny shouted, his eyes opening wide. “I want to ride the merry-go-round on that pretty dotted gray horse.” He glanced at Jessie. “I mean the dapple gray one.”

Jessie laughed. “You remembered, Benny. Yes, you can ride the dapple gray. Twice if you want to.”

So about two o’clock the children again mounted their bikes and headed for the park. From the distance they could hear the calliope music, and they began to pedal faster.

When they arrived, Benny ran to the cotton candy stand.

“Well,” Sheila Arnold said, “if it isn’t the Aldens again.”

“A cotton candy, please,” Benny ordered.

Sheila filled a cone with pink frothy sugar.

Frank chuckled. “Glad you like our stand, my boy. Come back as often as you like.”

“I like the merry-go-round best of all … better even than cotton candy,” Benny said.

Sheila glanced at Frank and said quickly, “I need some help here, Frank. Stop gabbing!”

Frank nodded, and didn’t say another word. Violet wondered why Sheila was grouchy all of a sudden. Maybe she just didn’t like little kids. Some people didn’t.

After Benny had his candy, he and Jessie went over to the tilt-a-whirl with Violet and Henry trailing behind. It wasn’t long before the four of them were seated in a round tilt-a-whirl car with Benny in the middle. Soon the ride started. At first, the car made a slow half turn, then it picked up speed and whirled one way, twirled another, and spun all the way around. Benny screamed with delight. Henry and Violet laughed so hard their sides hurt. When the car came to a halt, Jessie wiped her eyes. “Oh, that was fun,” she gasped, trying to catch her breath.

As soon as they walked down the ramp, Benny dashed toward the merry-go-round to watch the beautiful horses go up and down and round and round.

When the merry-go-round stopped, Jessie and Violet walked toward it. All at once Jessie noticed Peter McKenzie studying the painted horses. She pointed at the young man who was holding a sketch pad.

Violet said, “Oh, let’s say hello.”

“Yes, let’s,” Jessie agreed, quickening her step.

Peter was so intent in sketching the horses that he didn’t see them at first.

Violet, always interested in art, was eager to see what Peter had drawn.

As the two girls moved closer to Peter, he glanced up. Hastily he slammed shut his sketch book and jumped to his feet. “Hello, Jessie and Violet,” he said, taking a step backward. “I-I’m late,” he added quickly, and turned on his heel.

Strange, Jessie thought. Why didn’t Peter want us to see his drawing of the horses? And why was he sketching them anyway? Something mysterious was in the air. The music started again. Now the drumbeat kept time not only to the rise and fall of the horses, but also to the rapid beating of her heart.

CHAPTER 5

Mystery at the Merry-go-round

Violet and Jessie stared after Peter as he hurried away.

“Will you go on the merry-go-round with me?” Benny asked, jumping up and down.

“Yes,” Violet answered, “but I think Jessie and I will sit in the swan chariot.” She needed to talk to Jessie about Peter McKenzie’s strange behavior.

“That’s okay,” Benny said with a smile.

So Benny rode the dapple gray, while Henry rode the chocolate brown charger. Henry’s fancy horse had a silky mane with a small carved angel clinging to the saddle.

“Wheee, here we go!” Benny shouted, slapping the horse’s side as if he could make it go faster.

Once underway, Benny held on to the mane, and every once in a while he reached down and touched the jewels tacked onto the bridle. Laughing at the horse’s up and down motion, Benny lifted his head high.

Sitting in the chariot, Violet asked, “Why do you suppose Peter wouldn’t let us see his sketch? He acted as if it were a secret.”

Jessie looked puzzled. “I know. I don’t know what he was trying to hide. It’s only a carousel horse.”

After the ride, the children walked over to the House of Mirrors. Henry bought four tickets, and they entered Karen’s latest improvement to the amusement park.

When they reached the first mirror, Benny gazed at himself. His eyes widened and his mouth formed a big O as he saw his funny image. There he stood, a tall thin figure, wavering back and forth.

Jessie, Violet, and Henry, three skinny tall forms, slipped by Benny and went into the corridors of hundreds of mirrors.

Wandering off alone, Violet stopped before a mirror. Her hand flew to her mouth at the sight of herself. The slender young girl was changed into a short squat person with a head that looked like a squashed pumpkin.

Giggling, Violet pointed at herself, unable to believe what she saw. “Henry!” she called.

Her brother hurried around a group of mirrors and stared at Violet’s image. He laughed. “Violet, is that you?”

She nodded, then laughing, pointed to his reflection. The tall boy was now short and fat. He looked as if he were three feet tall and three feet wide. Henry grinned. “We make a weird pair!”

“Jessie,” Henry said, raising his voice. “Come, look.”

But Jessie wasn’t in sight.

Violet, Henry, and Benny all turned a corner to see where Jessie had gone, but when they wended their way down one path, they were faced with more mirrors. They tried another way, but it was the same. Mirrors in front, mirrors in back, mirrors to the right, and mirrors to the left.

“Jessie!” Henry shouted, glancing around.

No answer.

“Jessie!” Benny yelled. “Where are you?” He fearfully glanced at Henry. “She’s gone.”

“I’m here,” came the faint response.

They weaved around one mirror, only to be faced with another.

Henry bit his underlip. “Where could she be?” he murmured.

“Jessie!” Violet said, her voice trembling, her heart pounding. She was beginning to feel frightened.

This time Jessie’s voice was loud and clear. “Here I am,” she said, stepping out from behind several mirrors.

“Jessie,” Benny shouted, running to her. “We thought you were lost.” He smiled at her. “I was scared.”

Jessie nodded. “I was beginning to think so myself.”

From then on the four of them stuck together. After a few false starts they finally discovered their way to the exit.

Outside, Violet said to Benny, “Are you ready to go home?”

“Not yet,” he said. “Could I ride one more time on the merry-go-round?”

“Sure, you can,” Henry said. “We’ll watch from here.”

“Did you pick out a horse you like?” Jessie asked.

Benny nodded and pointed to a light colored horse with a lovely red and turquoise saddle blanket. “I’ll give the dapple gray a rest. I want to ride the white one this time.”

Violet smiled. “It looks white, doesn’t it? But it’s really a very pale gray.”

Henry bought Benny a ticket, and the small boy ran to his chosen steed. Quickly he placed a foot in the stirrup and swung a small leg over the saddle.

The music began and the horses bobbed up and down. But as Henry, Jessie, and Violet watched, they were surprised to see that Benny’s horse stayed in one place. The gray horse went around in a circle with the others, but it didn’t move up and down.

Benny, digging his heels into the horse’s flanks, tried to make it move. Finally, he stopped and looked down at his horse. With a puzzled frown he glanced around. All the other horses were going up and down. Disappointed, he simply sat and waited for the ride to be over.

When the merry-go-round halted, Benny slid off his horse and came running. “The dumb horse didn’t move!” he complained.

Jessie studied the horse. None of the horses had ever been motionless before. Every one had moved up and down. What was wrong with this horse?

She glanced at Violet, who was chewing her underlip. Evidently Violet, too, thought something was wrong.

“I think we should tell Joshua,” Violet said.

For a moment Jessie didn’t speak, then she said thoughtfully, “Maybe it just needs oiling,” she said. “Joshua probably knows and the horse will be fixed tomorrow.”

“Okay, Jessie,” Henry said. He was puzzled, however, as he gazed at the horse. He hoped Jessie was right, and that it was just a little problem.

CHAPTER 6

Who Hurt Benny’s Horse?

Several days passed before the Aldens returned to the amusement park. The first place they stopped was at the concession stand.

“Oh,” Sheila said, “are you children back again?”

“Yes!” Benny said promptly, hopping up on the stool. “We haven’t been here for two whole days.” He grinned. “I missed my cotton candy.” Then his smile faded. “The last time I was here one of the horses wouldn’t work!”

“What do you mean?” Sheila asked.

“The horse Benny rode wouldn’t go up and down,” Violet explained.

“Oh,” Sheila said, frowning. She turned her back, clearly not wanting to talk anymore.

“Ah,” Frank said, coming in from the back. “If it isn’t Benny Alden.” He scooped lots of cotton candy in a cone. “This is for you!” He held out the gigantic pink frothy cone.

“Oh, my,” Violet said. “Look at that, Benny! Can you eat it all?”

“Just watch me!” Benny said, eagerly reaching for the cone. “Ummmm, it’s good,” he said, licking contentedly.

Jessie laughed. “Come along, Benny.”

Henry said, “Listen to the calliope music.”

Benny smiled, pink foam ringing his mouth. “The merry-go-round! Let’s go for a ride,” he said gleefully.

They walked down the dusty pathway with rides and games on either side of them.

“Don’t you want to try a different ride?” Jessie asked, heading for the swings.

Benny lapped up the rest of his cone and turned in the direction of the swings. “I don’t know,” he said doubtfully.

“We rode them when we first came,” Violet reminded him, “and you thought it was fun.”

“Okay,” Benny said, agreeably.

Henry bought four tickets, lifted Benny up into a swing, and strapped him in. Then he, Jessie, and Violet found swings behind Benny and the ride began.

The swings, attached by chains to a center pole, flew out a little from the ground. Then as the swings picked up speed, they flew faster and faster and higher and higher above the ground.

Violet laughed. “Everything’s a blur.”

The swings spun at a dizzy rate.

Gradually the swings whirled slower and slower as they came to a halt.

Henry jumped down and helped Benny out.

Benny staggered a bit, and his face was white. “That was scary!” He held his head.

“But it’s fun to go so fast, isn’t it, Benny?” Violet asked.

“No,” Benny said in a firm voice. “I like the merry-go-round better. The horses gallop at just the right speed.”

“Then the merry-go-round it will be,” Jessie said. “You can pick out any horse you like.”

Benny’s face lit up. “I want the dapple gray again. He’s my favorite.”

So again they all rode horses and enjoyed the bobbing movement and the loud calliope music.

When they dismounted, however, Violet was surprised to see Benny looking unhappy. Bending down, she asked, “What’s wrong, Benny? Your horse went up and down this time, didn’t it?”

“Yes,” Benny replied seriously, his lower lip trembling, “but someone cut my horse’s side.”

“What?” Henry exclaimed, jumping on the platform to examine Benny’s horse.

Henry ran his hand over the horse’s side. There was a long scratch that reached from the horse’s head to the saddle.

“Hey!” an unshaven man yelled. “If you want to go on the merry-go-round, buy a ticket! Look what happens when I take a couple of days off. Nobody watches whats going on!”

Henry gave the cross man a smile and jumped off.

“You’re right, Benny. The dapple gray has a deep scratch on its side.” Henry studied Benny’s face. “Are you sure that mark wasn’t there before?”

“I’m sure!” Benny said. “I know every inch of my horse!”

The children were quiet as they walked out of the park. Then Henry said, “I’m sorry about your horse, Benny. Who could have done such a thing?”

“I wish we knew,” Violet said. “It’s too bad.”

When they were on their bikes, Jessie asked, “Do you think it could have been scratched on purpose?” When she saw Benny’s sad face, she quickly changed the subject. “You know, we have a chicken to make for dinner tonight. Why don’t we invite—?”

“Joe and Alice?” Violet finished, her eyes sparkling.

“Right you are,” Jessie said.

“Great idea,” Henry said.

“Oh, boy, company,” Benny said and he smiled, forgetting about his scratched horse.

Benny begged to be the one to visit the main house and ask Joe and Alice for dinner.

Jessie said, “Of course, you may!”

When they reached their house, the children set to work to make an extra-special dinner.

Alice had given them permission to pick flowers from her garden, so Violet promised to pick a bouquet of carnations and roses for the centerpiece.

“Good,” Jessie said. She had hoped that Violet would volunteer as she always arranged things so well.

By six o’clock, the chicken was roasting in the oven, almost done. Henry and Benny had set the table and arranged the chairs.

When Joe and Alice came in, Alice smiled. “Oh, how lovely,” she said. “This is a perfect ending to a busy day.”

“Why were you so busy?” Benny asked, looking clean and handsome in his navy blue jogging suit.

Joe sat down at the table and said, “We had a school group tour the museum today.” He paused. “But you must have been busy, too. What have you been up to?”

Jessie laughed. “Fun things, like the amusement park.”

“I don’t think Sheila Arnold likes us,”Benny said suddenly.

“Why do you think that?” Joe asked.

“I don't know,” Benny said. Then after a thoughtful pause he added, “But she frowns a lot.”

“Maybe she just had a bad day,” Joe answered with a smile.

Violet passed the chicken to Alice. “This looks positively delicious,” Alice said. “You even put flowers on the table and lit candles. I can’t believe you did all this!”

“It was fun,” Henry said.

“Yes,” Jessie said. “And we always work a little harder when we know we’re having company.”

The dinner turned out well. The chicken was juicy, the salad crisp, the peas not overcooked, and the mashed potatoes smooth and creamy.

For dessert Jessie and Henry served ice cream with chocolate sauce.

“What rides did you go on today, Benny?” Joe asked, taking a spoonful of ice cream.

Benny wrinkled his nose. “The swings. I don’t like the swings anymore! I felt like I was falling out. I like the merry-go-round best.”

Alice asked, “Do you have a favorite horse?” “Oh, yes,” Benny said. “The dapple gray.”

“Ah,” Joe said, pushing back his empty ice cream dish and sitting back. “You even know the horse’s color.”

“I do,” Benny answered. “Today, though, the dapple gray had a big scratch on its side.” He shook his head sadly. “I was upset.”

Concerned, Alice glanced at Benny. “I don’t blame you. A scratch on a beautiful horse! I wonder how it got there.”

“Probably some careless rider,” said Joe. “You really enjoy the merry-go-round, don’t you? I know you hate to see any of the horses hurt.”

“Yes,” Violet answered. “They’re too beautiful.”

“When Gustav Dentzel first introduced his merry-go-round, did everyone find it as magnificent?” Jessie asked.

“Yes, indeed.” Joe stopped and chuckled. “Well, almost.”

“Almost?” Henry said. “You mean someone didn’t like it?”

“It seems Gustav Dentzel was so proud of his spectacular horses that he took them on a tour,” Joe said. “Once, when he traveled to Richmond, Virginia, the calliope started to play, and little boys, instead of riding his merry-go-round, threw stones at it.”

“Threw stones!” Benny echoed, wide-eyed.

“Yes,” Joe continued. “You see, Dentzel’s music played ‘Marching Through Georgia.’ This was a Yankee war song about General Sherman’s burning of Atlanta.”

“That song was a no-no in the South,”Alice said.

“Believe me, Dentzel learned his lesson and never played music that would offend anyone,” Joe said with a laugh.

“Well, I hope his carousel and calliope music go on forever,” Violet said, smiling.

“So do I,” Henry said. But secretly he was worried. Already one horse didn’t go up and down, and another had been scratched. Was someone hurting these beautiful horses?

CHAPTER 7

The Unpainted Horse

Early in the morning Henry said, “You know, I think Joshua needs to know about the scratch on the dapple gray and the horse that doesn’t go up and down.”

“You’re right,” Jessie said.

“If we go now, the park won’t be too busy, will it?” Violet asked.

“We’ll have to find Joshua right away,” Henry said. “He’ll be around.”

“Good!” Benny said. He sneezed twice.

“You’d better wear a sweater and take a handkerchief,” Violet said.

Benny, without an argument, slipped on his sweater and tucked a handkerchief in his pants’ pocket. “I’ve never seen the park with the rides quiet,” he said.

“Today’s the day,” Henry said lightly.

So after a hearty breakfast of orange juice, oatmeal, and toast, the children hiked to the park.

When they entered, the rides were motionless. Only a few people were around. As they passed the concession stand, Sheila was busy cleaning the cotton candy machine.

“Good morning,” the Aldens called pleasantly.

“Morning,” Sheila muttered, scarcely looking up.

Benny whispered, “I told you she didn’t like us.”

They walked toward the merry-go-round where Ned, the man who ran it, sat perched on the platform, munching on a doughnut. He wore a black vest over a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked up, surprised to see anyone in the park. “We’re not open,” he said gruffly, taking another bite.

“We need to see Joshua,” Violet said politely. “Could you tell us where he is?”

Ned jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “He’s back in the trailer.”

“Thank you,” Jessie said.

The man grunted and took a gulp of coffee.

Benny raced ahead and knocked on the trailer door.

Joshua opened the door and said, “Well, if it isn’t the Aldens. Come in.”

The cozy trailer had a bedroom and a stainless steel kitchen with a table in the corner and a cushioned bench around it.

“Have a seat,” Joshua urged, smiling at them. “This is an unexpected pleasure.”

“We have bad news for you,” Benny said, his mouth turned downward.

Joshua’s eyebrows shot up. “Bad news?”

“Yes,” Jessie said. “Benny has discovered two things about your horses that aren’t right.”

“And what is that?” Joshua said, sitting down and folding his hands.

Benny answered, “One of your horses doesn’t go up and down.”

Joshua frowned. “Is that so? I hadn’t noticed. I’ve been too busy working on the House of Mirrors.”

Benny cleared his throat.

“And what else?” Joshua asked.

“The dapple gray has a big scratch on its side,” Benny said.

“My word!” Joshua said, with a worried tone. “You’re very observant, Benny.”

“Yes, he is,” Violet said. “We thought you should know that something is wrong with your valuable horses.”

“I’m glad you told me,” Joshua said, standing up. “Let’s take a look.”

They filed out of the small trailer door and hurried to the merry-go-round.

“Ned,” Joshua said, “start her up, will you?”

With a sigh, Ned crushed his paper sack between two big hands, and tossed it in the trash can. He went to the switch and flipped it on. The merry-go-round started.

Joshua observed the pale gray horse. “Ned,” he said worriedly, “that horse isn’t moving.”

Ned shrugged. “So what’s the big deal?”

Joshua frowned, jumped up on the carousel, and examined the dapple gray. “Turn it off, Ned,” Joshua said grimly, his eyes darkening. “This is bad. Two of my Dentzel horses have been damaged.”

“What do you mean?” Ned grumbled. “Just because a horse doesn’t go up and down doesn’t mean it’s damaged. Some kids like a horse that stands still.”

“Not me!” Benny exclaimed.

Ned glared at him.

“And that scratch,” Joshua said after he examined the horse. “I don’t understand how a scratch that long could happen accidentally.”

Benny’s eyes grew big. “You mean someone hurt your horses on purpose?”

“Maybe,” Joshua said, his lips tightening. “One horse doesn’t go up and down, and suddenly there’s a scratch on another one. It’s strange, I have to admit.”

“Who knows how long that scratch has been there?” Ned snapped. “I think you’re all crazy.”

“No,” Joshua said calmly. “That scratch is brand-new. I know it. I intend to find out how it happened.”

“Yes, the scratch is new,” Benny said firmly. “I know that scratch wasn’t there before, ’cause I’ve been riding the dapple gray all the time.” He looked up at Joshua. “We’ll help you find who did this!”

Joshua managed a smile. “Thanks, Benny. That would be wonderful if you would help me.”

“We will,” Benny said.

“I appreciate how you came all the way over here to tell me,” Joshua said. “I believe you’re more concerned than my daughter.”

“I’ll bet if Karen knew about it, she’d be upset, too!” Benny said.

“I doubt it,” Joshua said miserably. “She’s more interested in the House of Mirrors.” He shook his head. “And now she’s talking to me about putting in a small roller coaster.”

“A roller coaster!” Violet said with astonishment. “That would take a lot of space!”

“It would take up half the park,” Henry said in dismay.

“I know,” Joshua said grimly. “But right now, all I can think about is my horses.”

“I’m sure it will work out,” Jessie said reassuringly.

Joshua gave her a weak smile, but he looked doubtful.

Henry sat on the edge of the merry-go-round platform, ignoring Ned who was tinkering with the machinery.

I wish I could help Joshua, Benny thought. He looks so sad, and he’s such a nice man. He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket, but just as he was about to sneeze a breeze came up, whisking the white square out of his hand.

The handkerchief flew through the air and landed on the floor of the merry-go-round. Without a second’s wait, Benny yelled, “My handkerchief!” and rushed forward, hopping up on the platform. The linen square, however, escaped from his fingers and fluttered beneath the chocolate brown horse. Benny crawled on all fours after it.

He reached for the handkerchief, grasping it. “I got it!” he shouted triumphantly. Then he happened to look up at the horse’s underside. Benny scrambled backwards and said in an excited voice, “The horse’s stomach doesn’t have any paint on it! It’s all bare wood.”

Henry glanced at Benny in astonishment. Then he quickly dashed forward. Ducking his head, he examined the horse. “Benny’s right,” he called out.

Standing up, Henry said in a puzzled tone, “That beautiful horse isn’t finished. Someone left it only partly painted.”

“Surely Gustav Dentzel would carefully paint every inch of his horses,” Jessie said, a frown crossing her face.

“Oh, no,” Joshua Eaton groaned, checking out the horse for himself.

Violet’s heart felt heavy. Had another horse of Joshua’s been tampered with? Who would do such a thing to this splendid carousel?

Just then Ned joined them. “What’s the matter now?” he asked in an annoyed tone.

“The brown horse isn’t completely painted,” Henry said. He didn’t like talking to Ned. The man was short-tempered and didn’t seem to care at all about the merry-go-round he operated.

“This is terrible,” Joshua said. “Dentzel would never have sold an imperfect horse.”

“What are you so upset about?” Ned growled with a shrug. “It’s only a couple of merry-go-round horses.”

But it was plain that Joshua was upset.

“We’d better go home,” Jessie urged.

Joshua nodded absentmindedly as he walked away with his head down.

Leaving the amusement park, the children glimpsed Karen, carrying a clipboard. She was checking the House of Mirrors entrance. She glanced up but seemed to look right past the Aldens as she hurried on.

Jessie gave a discouraged sigh. If Karen had her way, a roller coaster would be installed. Then the amusement park wouldn’t be the same.

CHAPTER 8

A Frightening Phone Call

After their trip to the amusement park, the children hiked home.

After opening the door, Benny ran in and threw himself on the sofa. “I feel bad,” he said.

“Do you have a cold?” Henry asked.

“No.” Benny’s voice was muffled as he pulled the pillow over his head. “I feel bad for Joshua and his horses.”

“I know,” Henry said soothingly. “It’s a shame we can’t find out who’s hurting the horses.”

Just then the phone rang.

“I’ll get it,” Jessie said, jumping up from her chair.

“Hello,” she answered.

For a moment she only listened. Then she said angrily, “Who is this?”

Benny sat up. Henry looked at Jessie inquiringly. Violet hurried in from the kitchen, halting when she saw Jessie talking on the phone.

Suddenly Jessie slammed down the telephone.

Wide-eyed, Benny asked, “Who was it?”

Quietly, Jessie sat down, stunned. Then she spoke. “It was this awful deep voice warning us to keep away from the amusement park.”

“What?” Henry said.

Jessie’s face was white as she repeated the caller’s words. “He said, ‘Don’t come back to the amusement park.’ ”

“The nerve!” Violet said, her dark eyes blazing with anger.

Benny leapt to his feet, his hands on his hips. “This is a free country! We’ll go to the amusement park anytime we want to.”

“Right, Benny!” Jessie said, her chin jutting out with determination.

“We won’t be scared off!” Violet said firmly.

“Who do you suppose doesn’t want us near the park?” Henry asked. “And why?”

The children spent the afternoon playing Monopoly, but their minds were on the phone call. Every once in a while Jessie glanced anxiously at the phone as if afraid it would ring again.

Just after Violet won the game, someone knocked on the door.

Benny rushed to answer. He flung open the door. His eyes were wide. “Hi, Joe,” he said. “Hi, Alice.”

“Come in,” Violet said.

“Oh, we’re so happy to see you,” Jessie said. Then she told them about the terrible phone call, her words tumbling over one another.

“And,” Benny added, “today we saw a merry-go-round horse whose stomach wasn’t painted.”

Joe’s eyebrows rose. “What’s happening at the old amusement park?” he questioned with a worried frown darkening his face.

“Maybe you should stay away from the park for a while,” Alice said nervously. “I don’t like the sound of what’s going on over there.”

“I agree,” Joe said soberly. “We have to think about this.” Seeing the worried look on the children’s faces, he added, “But we’ve got to eat. Let’s go to Mike’s Spaghetti House for supper, go to a movie, and on the way home we’ll stop for ice cream.”

“Oh, boy,” Benny said, clapping his hands. “Could we?”

“Of course, we can,” Joe said.

Violet laughed. “That’s a wonderful idea. We’ll forget all about phone calls and carousel horses.”

“I’d love to spend an evening like that,” Jessie said gratefully.

Alice managed a smile. “You’re right, Joe. We need to forget about the park tonight.”

“Then it’s settled,” Joe said. “Mike makes the best spaghetti sauce in town, and at the Pine Grove theater there’s a new movie called, The Robot Who Had a Heart. ”

“Perfect,” Henry said with a grin.

“We’ll leave in thirty minutes,” Alice said. “Will you be ready?”

“I’ll be ready in five,” Benny said quickly.

Jessie laughed. “Thirty minutes will be fine.”

And in half an hour the children had washed and dressed. Violet’s lavender ribbons in her hair matched her T-shirt. Jessie wore a green top and jeans. Her long hair was pulled back with a green ribbon. Henry, all in white from his T-shirt to his sneakers, had on a red sweatshirt. And Benny, in red jeans and a blue-and-white T-shirt, looked very patriotic.

“I’m ready!” Benny said.

And so were Violet, Jessie, and Henry.

Their dinner at Mike’s was just as good as Joe had promised, and the movie had lots of exciting scenes. Afterward they stopped at an ice-cream parlor and ate scrumptious butterscotch sundaes, piled high with whipped cream and nuts.

On the way home Jessie sank into the back seat of the station wagon and said, “What a wonderful evening. I didn’t think of that awful phone call one time!” She smiled contentedly. “Thank you, Joe and Alice.”

“Yes, thanks,” Benny echoed. “Wasn’t it exciting when the robot caught the mean guy and twirled him around?”

“Yes,” Alice said, her eyes twinkling. “I’m glad we went. Joe and I have been working hard at the museum, too, and a night out did us all good.” She glanced at her watch. “Do you know it’s past midnight?”

As they drove past the dark amusement park, closed for the night, Joe suddenly slowed down. “Look,” he said, pointing in the direction of the park.

Flashes of light brightened a corner of the park. “How weird,” Violet said. “What is it?”

The bright light continued to go on and off.

“I don’t know,” Benny said. “Maybe it’s a spaceship.”

Alice laughed. “I don’t think so, Benny. But I can’t figure it out either.”

“Could it be a flash camera?” Henry asked.

“Why would someone be taking pictures at night?” Jessie asked in a puzzled voice.

“You know, Henry, I think you’re right,” Joe said. “The light seems like the light from a flash camera.”

“I still don’t know why anyone would be taking pictures this late,” Jessie said.

Joe nodded. “It is odd! I wonder why,” he said.

“Maybe,” Henry said thoughtfully, “this person doesn’t want to be noticed taking pictures in daylight.”

“I don’t like it,” Joe said.

“Remember when we first got here?” Jessie said. “We saw that truck that had broken down. It had lots of camera equipment in it.”

“Right,” Violet said. “And that man said he was delivering the equipment to someone.”

“But to who?” Benny asked.

Joe interrupted. “Wait a minute. That truck may have had nothing to do with what we’re seeing now.”

“Maybe we should tell Joshua,” Jessie said.

The flashes of light stopped and all was quiet.

“Not tonight,” Joe said. “Let him get a good night’s sleep. Anyway, whoever’s in the park will just disappear if we go in.”

“We’ll go to the park first thing tomorrow and tell Joshua,” Jessie promised.

When they returned home, the children went directly to their little guest house. The strange lights were still on everyone’s mind.

“I wish we knew what was going on,” Henry said, dropping into a chair.

“Do you think it has something to do with the horses?” Benny asked in a trembling voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to my beautiful horses.”

“None of us do,” Jessie said, agreeing with Benny. She sat cross-legged in front of the chair. “But look at all the strange things that have happened around the merry-go-round.”

“Even Sheila,” Violet said, “seemed upset when she heard one of the horses wouldn’t go up and down.”

“And now it turns out three of the horses are damaged,” Henry said, frowning in thought.

“And someone’s sneaking in the park at night to take pictures and to hurt the horses,” Benny said, his chin in his hands. “This is getting weirder and weirder.”

“Yes, it is,” Violet said.

“So weird,” Jessie said, “that I think we’d better go to bed and sleep on it.”

“I won’t sleep!” Benny announced.

Henry stood up and stretched. “Oh, I think you will, Benny. Come on, let’s get in our pajamas.”

“And we’ll go to the park tomorrow,” Jessie promised. “Joshua might be able to shed some light on what’s going on.”

Maybe, Violet thought. But she doubted it. Joshua seemed as confused as they were.

CHAPTER 9

The Expert

After their late night out the children slept later than usual the next morning.

Henry mixed up a batch of pancakes, Violet broiled the sausages, Jessie poured the orange juice, and Benny set the table.

After they had eaten, they rode their bicycles to the amusement park to tell Joshua about what they’d seen.

Henry pedaled faster to pull alongside Jessie. “Shall we tell Joshua about your phone call?”

Jessie shook her head. “You know, I feel sorry for Joshua. He has enough to worry about. Let’s keep the phone call our little secret.”

“I think you’re right,” Henry said.

When they arrived, they parked their bicycles and walked by the concession stand. Sheila spotted them right away. “Are you back again?” she said in disbelief. “You’d think this place was your second home.”

Jessie glanced at her but didn’t answer. She kept walking. So did Benny, Violet, and Henry. Sheila certainly didn’t welcome them to the park. “Isn’t it funny,” she asked, “that Sheila is so unfriendly?”

“It is,” Henry said.

“Do you think she could be the one who phoned us?” Violet asked.

“It was a man’s voice,” Jessie answered.

“I wonder if we’ll ever find out who it was,” Violet said.

“I’m sure we will.” Jessie’s response was positive.

At last they spotted Joshua. His gray hair ruffled by the breeze, he stood chatting with Ned by the merry-go-round.

“Hi, Aldens,” he called. “Before we open the park, do you want a free ride?”

Violet smiled. “Thanks, but not today, Mr. Eaton. We need to talk to you.”

Joshua gave them a quick look. “Okay, come over and have a seat.” He sat down on the merry-go-round’s platform.

Ned pushed back his hat and stared at them for a few seconds. Then without a word he walked away to the coffee stand.

Benny sat down next to Joshua, but his brother and sisters stood. “Well,” Joshua said, glancing at their faces. “What”s wrong?”

“Last night,” Henry said, “when we drove by the closed park, we—”

“We saw,” Benny interrupted, “the sky lit up with lights.”

Joshua frowned. “What was it?”

“We think someone might have been taking flash pictures,” Jessie explained.

Joshua looked confused. “What is going on?” he said. “I think I need to do something about this!”

Karen, wearing white jeans and a green short-sleeved sweater, stepped out of the House of Mirrors and joined them. “Hi, Dad.” She glanced at the children. “Hello, Aldens,” she said without smiling.

“Hello,” Jessie said, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other. She wasn’t comfortable around Karen. She knew how Karen felt about the merry-go-round and wasn’t sure if she’d care about her father getting to the bottom of this.

“Karen,” Joshua said calmly, “the children told me that someone took flash pictures here last night. Something is definitely going on. Three of my horses have been tampered with!”

Karen raised her eyebrows. “Three?”

Boldly, Benny spoke up. “Yes, three! The light gray doesn’t go up and down. The dapple gray has a big scratch, and the chocolate brown’s stomach isn’t painted!”

“Is that so?” Karen replied, hands on her hips and head tilted to one side. A frown crossed her freckled face and her red hair shone crimson-gold in the sunlight. “It doesn’t sound too serious to me. It’s probably all coincidence.”

“It is serious!” Benny exclaimed. “The horses are being hurt!”

Sighing, Karen glanced at her father. “Then I suppose you’ll be checking into this.”

“Those are valuable horses, Karen,” Joshua retorted. His round cheerful face was changed into a scowl. “And I intend to find out something today!”

“You’re not going to call the police, are you?” Karen asked, with concern. “That wouldn’t be good for the park at all.”

Joshua shook his head. “First I need to be sure. Last night I couldn’t sleep worrying about this whole thing,” Joshua said. “First thing this morning I carefully examined all the horses … the damaged ones and the perfect ones. I know those horses as well as I know my own name. Now I’m wondering if maybe the damaged horses aren’t Dentzel’s horses —if they might not be fakes. They don’t look like Dentzel horses to me.”

“Fakes!” Karen exclaimed. “I doubt that.”

Joshua spoke rapidly. “One of the horses doesn’t work properly, another is badly scratched, and the third is only partly painted.” Joshua paused to catch his breath. “You can be sure the original horses were not like that.”

“Oh, no!” Benny burst out.

Joshua was silent and then said, “I know what I have to do. There are experts in this field, people who would know if these are the real Dentzel horses or not. I have to find someone to examine my horses.”

“Oh, Dad!” Karen said. “Of course these are the real horses. How could they not be? You paid enough for them.”

“I don’t know,” Joshua said. “But I’m going to find out.”

“Good!” Benny cried.

“I’ll make some calls this afternoon,” said Joshua. “Right now, I need to check on a new part we ordered for the Ferris wheel.”

The next day, the Aldens went for a long bike ride along the Old Orchard Bike Trail.

Finally, Benny’s legs grew tired. “I’m hungry,” he complained.

“I’m tired, too,” Violet said, slowing down.

They wheeled about and headed for home.

Once in the house Jessie dropped in a chair. “I’m too tired to eat lunch,” she said.

“Not me!” Benny said. “I could eat two sandwiches.”

Jessie laughed. When the phone rang, however, she became serious.

“I’ll answer it,” Henry said quickly, striding into the room and picking up the phone.

He listened to a deep voice growl at him, “This is a warning! Stop meddling at the amusement park!”

“Who is this?” Henry shouted. But the phone clicked and the line went dead. For a moment Henry stared angrily at the phone. Then he glanced at Jessie. “That must have been the same caller you had, Jessie. He had a deep voice and warned us to stay away from the park.”

Numbly, Jessie nodded. “Oh, Henry, who could it be? These calls scare me.”

Henry smiled grimly. “Don’t worry, Jessie. We’ll find the one doing the phoning.”

“I hope so,” Jessie said in a low voice. Inside, though, she wasn’t sure that they’d ever know who was doing these awful things.

After lunch Violet said, “Let’s go back to the park and see what’s happening.”

Benny asked, “You mean you’re not afraid of mean Sheila or the phone calls?”

“I don’t know if it’s Sheila,” Jessie said thoughtfully. “What about Ned? He never seems too happy to see us.”

“It might be Karen,” Violet said. “She doesn’t care two cents for the merry-go-round. I think she’d do anything to get the money to put in the new roller coaster that she wants for the park. And why was Peter sketching the horses?”

“Let’s go anyway,” Henry said. “I want to see if Joshua found an expert to examine the horses.”

“I doubt if he could locate a person with such special knowledge this soon,” Jessie said. But she stood up.

“I’m ready,” Benny said, one hand on the doorknob.

Bicycling to the park, they went right to the carousel. Rides were whirling, and music was blaring on all sides.

Violet was the first to see the tall woman at the merry-go-round. Without a word, she pointed to her.

The big-boned woman was running her hands over the dapple gray. She peered at the horse’s head and examined the body.

“Hi, Aldens,” Joshua said, smiling. “This is Ms. Margaret Macy, an expert on Dentzel horses. I made lots of calls last night. Frank told me about this expert who happened to be staying at the Sunnyside Motel over at Watertown. She was on her way to Boston but I persuaded her to make a detour and come to Pine Grove. Wasn’t I lucky to find someone on such short notice?”

Margaret Macy glanced at the children and smiled. Then she went back to her work. She didn’t even pause long enough to say hello. Nodding, she methodically checked the horse’s legs, ears, mouth, and eyes.

Violet thought it was quite a coincidence that Margaret Macy happened to be so near Pine Grove.

They all watched as Ms. Macy examined the three horses that had been damaged. She was very careful and finally she said to Joshua, “You don’t have to worry, Mr. Eaton. These horses are definitely Dentzels. The scratch must have been made by someone who cleans the carousel. As far as the unpainted belly of one horse … well, Mr. Dentzel was human. He could make mistakes, too. The horse that doesn’t go up and down has a mechanical problem, but he is a Dentzel horse.”

Joshua Eaton smiled broadly and shook Ms. Macy’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough. You’ve made me very happy.”

The Aldens were almost as happy as Joshua. Jessie and Violet hugged him, and Benny said, “I’m glad Ms. Macy was near here and could come right away.”

CHAPTER 10

The Terrible Ferris Wheel Ride

When the children arrived home, Henry pulled an envelope out of the mailbox. “Hmmm,” he said, bewildered, “this is funny. It’s addressed: ‘To the Aldens’ ”

“We got a letter,” Benny cheered. “May I open it?”

“Sure,” Henry said, handing it over.

Benny tore it open. His mouth formed a big O when he noticed the words had been cut out of newspapers.

Jessie, who was standing behind him, read the letter aloud.

“Aldens! Go home! You’re snoopy and don’t belong here! Don’t return to the amusement park.

Signed,

THE WATCHER.”

Jessie looked up. “How do you like that!”

Benny gave the letter to Henry.

“This is unbelievable!” Violet said indignantly. “Shall we call the police?”

“Well,” Henry said. “Maybe we should tell Joe and Alice.”

“But nothing’s happened to us,” Jessie said. “And if we tell them, they might send us home.”

Henry nodded. “We don’t want to go home now, that’s for sure.” He paused. “Besides, I think we can solve this mystery ourselves.”

“We’ll keep our eyes open,” Jessie said firmly. “And we’ll find out what’s going on.”

“We’ll become ‘The Watchers,’ ” Benny said, pressing his lips together in a stubborn line.

Henry’s smile was grim. “Yes, Benny. We won’t let a few phone calls and one letter keep us from going to the park.”

A rap on the door interrupted them.

Hastily, Henry slipped the letter into his pocket as Jessie opened the door.

Alice stood before them. “I’m driving into town to buy a pair of sneakers,” she said. “How would you like to ride along?”

“That would be fun!” Benny exclaimed.

“And maybe while you’re waiting for me you’d like to order a chocolate ice cream soda at Lou’s Drugstore.” Alice’s green eyes sparkled. “My treat.”

“Yes!” Violet said with a smile.

“Yes,” Jessie said with a wider smile.

“Yes,” Henry said with a grin.

So the Aldens drove off with Alice, and as she shopped, they settled themselves at a round table in the window at Lou’s. Soon they were served huge chocolate sodas.

While they ate, Violet suddenly put down her spoon. “Look,” she said, finding it difficult to swallow, “there are Sheila and Frank.”

Benny craned his neck. “Where?”

“At that table over there,” Jessie said, her voice rising in surprise.

“They’re with Margaret Macy!” Henry said.

Sure enough, the tall woman was seriously talking to Sheila and Frank.

“That’s right,” Henry said. “Frank is the one who told Joshua that Margaret Macy was in Watertown.”

“Oh,” Violet said. “Sheila’s handing Ms. Macy an envelope.”

“I wonder what’s in it,” Jessie said with a puzzled frown.

“I wonder, too,” Benny said, drawing up on his straw for the last bit of chocolate ice cream soda. “Maybe they’re handing Margaret Macy a card wishing her a good trip.”

“I don’t believe that,” Jessie said. “Look, she’s taking money out of the envelope and counting it!”

Sure enough the tall woman carefully counted the bills and, smiling, she stuffed them in her handbag.

“Do you think Joshua asked Frank to pay her for inspecting the carousel?” Violet said.

“Why would he do that?” Jessie asked. “Why wouldn’t Joshua just pay her himself? That doesn’t make sense.”

Henry tapped his chin with the straw. “I think Frank is paying Margaret Macy off.”

“For doing what?” Benny questioned innocently.

“Maybe for pretending to be an expert, examining Joshua’s horses, and saying they were real,” Henry said.

“Why would Frank and Sheila do such a thing?” Violet asked.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out,” Henry said, his jaw set and determined.

The children watched Sheila, Frank, and Margaret Macy. They didn’t talk long. Sheila kept glancing over her shoulder. Suddenly, her eyes rested on the Aldens. She said something to Frank and Ms. Macy, and the three of them left quickly.

“So, Margaret Macy was paid off to say the Dentzel horses were real.” Violet shook her head in disbelief.

“And to think Joshua trusted her!” Jessie straightened her shoulders indignantly. “Margaret Macy isn’t an expert, after all! She’s a crook!”

“He trusted Frank, too,” Henry said. “He believed him when he said Ms. Macy was an expert.”

“We’d better tell Alice!” Benny shouted.

Henry glanced at Benny, shaking his head. “We’d better not. She might not let us go back to the park and find Joshua. He should be the first to know and decide what to do.”

Benny put his finger to his lips. “Not a word,” he whispered.

So when Alice picked them up, the children raved about the sodas, but didn’t mention a thing about what they’d seen.

When the Aldens arrived home, they mounted their bikes and pedaled to the park.

Sheila and Frank were at the concession stand, just as if nothing had happened. When Sheila spotted them, her dark eyes shot sparks in their direction.

“Frank and Sheila are watching us,” Henry said, his lips barely moving. “Act natural.”

“Shall I buy a cotton candy?” Benny asked.

“That’s being very natural,” Jessie said, chuckling. “Go ahead, Benny.”

“Let’s not find Joshua right away,” Violet cautioned. “We don’t want Frank and Sheila watching us.”

“You’re right, Violet,” Jessie said. “We’ll just go on a ride or something.”

Benny joined them, happily licking his cotton candy. “Sheila was grumpy, but she took my money.”

The children strolled down the dusty midway, the calliope music playing a brisk march. And all the while Violet’s heart thumped.

“The carousel horses look beautiful in the sun,” Jessie said, linking her arm through Violet’s.

“Don’t they?” Violet said in a shaky voice. “The chocolate brown shines like mahogany.”

“Can I ride one of the fake horses?” Benny asked.

“Shhh,” Henry said, “not so loud. I don’t think you’d better.” He glanced at Sheila, who was watching them through narrowed eyes. “I think we’ll stay away from the merry-go-round,” Henry said thoughtfully.

“Pretend we’re here to enjoy the park,” Violet said. “We should act casual, so they won't suspect us.”

“Why don’t we ride the Ferris wheel?” Jessie asked.

Benny peered up through the spokes to the top of the Ferris wheel. “It’s too tall,” he complained.

“Yes,” Henry answered. “And because it’s so tall we’ll be able to see the whole park.” Then he leaned down next to Benny’s ear and whispered, “We’ll be able to keep an eye on Frank and Sheila.”

“Okay,” Benny agreed. “We can’t be good detectives if we can’t see what’s going on.”

Soon they were seated on the Ferris wheel, going up, up in the air.

At the top their chair gently rocked back and forth.

When they descended, it halted to let off passengers. Once more they moved swiftly around in a circle.

High on top of the Ferris wheel, the rides and people looked small.

Violet glanced over the side and noticed Sheila talking to the man who ran the ride. After a few minutes, the man walked toward the coffee stand. Sheila now ran the Ferris wheel. Fearfully, Violet glanced at Jessie and Henry, who nodded in understanding. They had seen the man leave and Sheila take over, too.

Again they climbed higher and higher. At the top the Ferris wheel shuddered to a stop.

“I’m afraid to look down when we’re at the top,” Benny confessed. He hugged Jessie tight.

“I like to see everything!” Jessie said. “I can see Sheila below!” She put her arm reassuringly around Benny.

Their chair swayed back and forth.

“All the other passengers have gotten off,” Violet said, biting her underlip. “We’re the only ones on the Ferris wheel!”

“I know,” Jessie replied, her pulse racing.

“I don’t like this ride,” Benny said.

Henry placed his hand over Benny’s.

Sheila gazed up at them, her face twisted in a terrible smile.

Benny dared to peek over the side. “Sheila’s going to keep us up here forever and ever,” he whimpered in a frightened voice.

Henry tried to think of something he could do to make Sheila start the Ferris wheel again, but he couldn’t. Benny started to cry, but he tried very hard not to sob too loud. Tears filled Violet’s eyes, too, as she gazed at the ground that seemed so far away.

CHAPTER 11

Frank Tells All

Benny said between sobs, “Will we ever get down?”

“Sure we will,” Henry said reassuringly. But when he looked down at Sheila’s face, he had his doubts.

“Let us down!” Jessie shouted.

Frank Arnold dashed toward the wheel and grabbed his wife’s arm. Sheila tried to shove him away, but Frank was too strong. For a moment the two struggled, then Frank grabbed the lever.

By this time a crowd had gathered and an alarmed Joshua rushed forward. In dismay he looked up at the frightened children.

Frank pushed the lever forward and the ride started. Down, down, the Ferris wheel came.

Violet sighed with relief and Jessie sank back against the seat. Their awful ride was over.

When they reached the bottom, the children scrambled out.

Stiffly, Benny straightened up. “My legs are wobbly,” he said in a shaky voice. “I don’t like the Ferris wheel!”

“It will be a long time before I ride it, too,” Violet said.

“Thank heavens, you’re safe,” Joshua exclaimed, patting Benny’s back. Then he turned to the Arnolds. “And you, Sheila!” he said angrily. “What did you think you were doing?”

Furious, she pressed her lips together and turned her back on him. Joshua faced Frank.

“Frank,” Joshua said, “what’s going on?”

Frank nervously smoothed down his moustache. “The carousel horses,” he muttered. “They were the cause of everything!”

Joshua stared at him. “Go on,” he said sternly.

“Frank!” Sheila shouted.

“We stole three of the Dentzel horses,” Frank admitted, lowering his eyes. “I went along with the plan for the money. But when I saw the children at the top of the Ferris wheel, I changed my mind.” He glanced shamefaced at Benny. “When it comes to hurting little kids, I draw the line!”

Sheila whirled around. “Frank! Be quiet!” she hissed. She shook her head fiercely, and the red scarf around her neck fluttered.

Frank gave her a sad look and murmured, “It’s over, Sheila.”

Joshua nodded firmly. “You bet it’s over! We’ve known about the three damaged horses for some time.” He shot the children a grateful glance. “Thanks to the Aldens. But we didn’t know you were guilty. Where are my original horses?” Joshua asked in a forbidding tone.

“Frank!” Sheila screamed. “Not another word!”

Joshua half turned to Ned, who stood behind him. “Ned,” he asked, “will you call the police?”

Ned shot Frank and Sheila Arnold a dark look, and said, “With pleasure.”

Joshua turned back to Frank. “I’m waiting for you to answer my question. Where are my horses?”

“In Old Jim Mitchell’s barn,” Frank answered, then continued as if he wanted to get the whole story off his chest. “We had clever artists copy the real horses from the pictures we shot at night. When the carvers finished, they painted the fake horses just like the originals.”

“Except,” Benny piped up, “they forgot to paint one horse’s stomach!”

Miserably Frank nodded. “You kids noticed every mistake that was made.” He paused, then went on, “Everything was done at night. When the fake horses were ready, we substituted them for the original Dentzels.” He sighed. “We were going to be rich!”

“If it hadn’t been for these kids we would have been!” Sheila glared at Benny. “You were always around the merry-go-round, no matter what I did!”

“Take it easy, Sheila,” Frank said. “After the fake horses were in place on the carousel, we hired a truck to haul the original horses to the barn.”

“Our biggest mistake was when we paid Margaret Macy in broad daylight. You kids even saw that!” He sighed. “Everything we did went wrong!”

Panic-stricken, Sheila dashed away.

“Stop!” Joshua yelled.

But Sheila kept running until she reached the House of Mirrors. She hurried inside.

“She’s getting away!” Benny said, racing after her.

The other children followed. Joshua asked several bystanders to guard Frank, and hastily ran after the children.

Henry entered the House of Mirrors. “Benny,” he shouted. “Where are you?” Benny, however, had already disappeared in the twists and turns and passages of the hundreds of mirrors.

Jessie and Violet stayed together, but Henry went after Benny.

Benny, on the trail of Sheila, tiptoed forward. As he came around a corner, he found himself face to face with a short fat boy. “It’s me!” he squealed, and ran on, trying to find Sheila.

Hearing a noise, Benny whirled around, but no one was there. His stomach tightened in a knot. He was alone. “J-Jessie,” he stammered.

No answer.

“Violet?” he called, raising his voice.

No answer.

“Henry!” he called in a louder tone.

No answer.

All at once Sheila appeared. Her eyes were wild and her red scarf was half untied and flapped around her face. “You!” she gasped, glaring at Benny.

Benny couldn’t move.

Sheila grimaced and then vanished behind a mirror.

“Henry!” Benny yelled at the top of his lungs.

“I’m here!” Henry said, stepping from behind a mirror.

Benny turned around and saw a tall skinny Henry. He reached out, but his small hand touched cold glass. “Henry?”

“Here I am,” Henry said, tapping Benny on the shoulder.

Benny sighed with relief. “Sheila was here!” he gasped.

“We’ll stick together,” Henry said. “Joshua’s here, too.”

And sure enough, Joshua seemed to step out of a mirror.

“Where did Sheila go?” Joshua asked urgently.

Benny shook his head. “She went in back of a mirror and just disappeared.”

“We’ll find her,” Joshua said, his jaw square and set.

A slight rustling noise startled them. Henry turned one way, Benny another, and Joshua still another. “Who’s there?” Benny cried.

“Come out!” Henry said in a forbidding voice.

Surprised, Violet and Jessie appeared before them.

“We’re all together,” Jessie exclaimed. “Didn’t you see Sheila?”

“I did,” Benny said proudly, “but she got away.”

The five of them stood in the center of the House of Mirrors, wondering which way to turn.

All at once Violet put a finger to her lips. She nodded in Joshua’s direction.

Slowly, Henry turned and glimpsed the tip of a red scarf.

“I see Sheila,” Benny whispered.

“Stay close to me,” Joshua said. “I know every passageway.”

Jessie glanced at him. Did they dare approach Sheila? There was no telling what she might do.

CHAPTER 12

The Horses Come Back

Silently, Joshua moved toward the mirror where Sheila was hiding. The only movement was the quiver of the red scarf.

Suddenly Joshua flew around the corner and pounced on the woman. Henry followed. Sheila and Joshua scuffled, but Henry grabbed her arm and she stopped struggling.

“All right,” she growled, yanking her arm free of Henry’s grip. Henry recognized the suddenly gruff voice.

“I can tell you made the phone calls!” he said. “What a coward you are!”

“You kids were always interfering,” she sneered. “I had to do something to stop you!” She glared at Henry. “But nothing kept you away from the amusement park. Not even my letter!”

“This way, Sheila!” Joshua ordered.

Henry, Jessie, and Violet walked on one side of Sheila while Joshua was on the other. Benny trailed behind.

“Just in case Sheila tries to escape,” he said fiercely.

After Joshua explained to the waiting police what the Arnolds had done, they led Sheila and Frank away.

“Whew!” Benny said. “I’m glad that’s over!”

All at once Karen raced across the grounds, flying into her father’s arms. “Oh, Dad, I’m sorry I wanted to get rid of the merry-go-round. Ned told me about the thieves.” She paused, gazing fondly at him. “I didn’t realize how important it was to you.”

“You’ll keep the merry-go-round?” Benny asked, his brown eyes growing big.

Karen tossed back her red hair, laughing. “Yes, Benny. The carousel will be the main attraction in our park.” She glanced at her father, her green eyes sparkling. “A roller coaster would take up too much space! I’ll never complain about the horses again.”

Joshua squeezed his daughter’s hand. “You don’t know how much this means to me, dear. The real horses are hidden in Old Jim’s barn.”

Karen’s eyes glistened. “Let’s go and get them.”

“First, I’ll need a truck,” Joshua said, grinning.

“I’ll call Peter. He’ll rent one,” Karen said. “Can’t we all go out to the barn? If it hadn’t been for the Aldens we wouldn’t have discovered the three fake horses.”

“Yes, indeed. The children are invited!” Joshua beamed at each of the Aldens. “This is the happiest day of my life,” he said.

Within an hour, Peter drove up in a truck and the children piled in back. Joshua and Karen sat up front with Peter.

When they arrived at Old Jim’s barn, they couldn’t see a sign of the horses.

“Where could they be?” Joshua asked with a puzzled frown.

Benny noticed a patch of gray shining through the straw piled in one of the stalls. He ran over and tossed straw in the air. “The dapple gray!” he exclaimed. “Here!”

Karen and Peter hurried into the next stall and brushed away the straw on the chocolate brown while Henry, Jessie, and Violet uncovered the pale gray.

Carefully, Joshua and Peter placed the dapple gray, the pale gray, and the chocolate brown horse on the truck.

Driving back to the amusement park, everyone felt happy and relieved. The mystery was solved. And the horses were safe.

Ned met them at the merry-go-round, and he and Joshua installed the precious Dentzel horses in their rightful places.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” Violet said in a hushed tone.

“The most beautiful sight in the world,” Jessie answered, standing back to admire the entire spectacular carousel.

Peter, standing with the Aldens, said, “Which is your favorite, Benny?”

“The dapple gray,” he answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“It so happens I have something for you,” Peter said, his dark handsome face lighting up with a grin.

Benny tilted his head. “For me?” he asked, pleased.

“For you,” Peter replied, taking a drawing from his sketchbook. With a big smile he held it out to Benny.

Benny’s mouth dropped open in amazement. “Look,” he said. “This is my dapple gray! It’s beautiful!”

The others crowded around Benny. “Oh,”Violet exclaimed. “What lovely lines. How real it looks!” Being interested in art, she could appreciate Peter’s skill. She looked up at Peter. “Was this what you were drawing at the carousel that day?”

Peter grinned. “I like to draw. I wanted to surprise Benny with a sketch.”

“We’ll have it framed, Peter,” Jessie promised. “And, Benny, won’t it look beautiful framed, and hanging above your bed?”

Benny, still gazing at his wonderful horse, said, “Yes! I’d like that!”

Happily, the Aldens returned to Joe and Alice’s house. It was time to return to Grandfather’s.

They related what had happened and Alice said, “We’re proud of you. The Dentzel horses are part of our American history, and you’ve helped save them.”

“We’ll miss you,” Joe said, reaching over and roughing up Benny’s hair. “We didn’t have a dull moment since your arrival!”

“We’ll miss you, too,” Jessie said, “but we’ll come back again.”

“You’d better,” Alice said, chuckling.

That night the children packed, and the next day Joe drove them to the bus.

On the way back to Greenfield, each Alden had satisfied and happy thoughts. But all of them were glad that they had helped Joshua find his beautiful horses!

Benny couldn’t wait to tell Grandfather the whole story. And to hug Watch!

The Mystery of Lake Monster

GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER

Illustrated by Charles Tang

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago

Contents

CHAPTER

1 Into the Wilderness

2 The Wild Man of the Woods

3 Here Be Monsters?

4 A Sound in the Dark

5 A Monster Hunt

6 Enormous Footprints

7 A Monster Bite

8 Suspects and Clues

9 A Monster-Maker

10 Who Loves Lucy?

CHAPTER 1

Into the Wilderness

Benny Alden leaned forward to stare out the window. “Wow,” he said. “Look how tall all those mountains are!”

His brother, Henry, laughed. “Mountains are supposed to be tall, Benny. That’s why they’re called mountains.”

“How tall are these mountains?” Benny asked.

Violet Alden looked up from the book she was reading. “It says here that the tallest mountain in the Adirondacks is Mt. Marcy. It’s over five thousand feet tall.”

“How tall am I?” asked Benny. He was six years old.

“Not over four feet tall,” said Jessie Alden.

“I guess that these mountains are a lot taller than I am,” said Benny.

Everybody in the car laughed.

The Aldens were on their way to spend a week at Lucille Lodge on Lake Lucille, high in the Adirondack Mountains in New York State.

“Are we almost there, Grandfather?” asked Jessie.

“Almost,” he answered. Grandfather Alden slowed down and turned the car off the paved road onto a dirt road. The car bounced and bumped over the deep ruts. Tree branches clawed the windows.

The road twisted and turned, higher and higher. Benny could no longer see the tops of the mountains through the trees. At last Grandfather stopped in front of a huge wooden gate. On the gate, a carved sign said LUCILLE LODGE.

“I’ll open the gate,” said Jessie.

“I’ll help,” said Henry.

They jumped out of the car and opened the gate. After Grandfather Alden had driven through, they closed it again and hurried to get back into the car.

They followed the rough track through the trees, but still they didn’t see Lake Lucille or Lucille Lodge.

“We’re not lost, are we?” asked Violet.

“No,” said Grandfather. “Look.” He turned one more corner and the four Alden children gasped.

They were in a broad clearing. Ahead of them was a small, clear, beautiful lake, as blue as the sky it reflected. Steep walls of rock and wooded mountainside rose above it on every side. At the far end of the clearing right on the edge of the lake was an enormous two-story building made of wood. Wide porches with birch-branch railings ran around the building on the lower floor.

Grandfather drove forward and parked to one side of the building. As the Aldens got out of the car, a small, wiry woman with short dark hair and friendly green eyes came out of the building and walked toward them. “Welcome to Lucille Lodge,” she said. “I’m Nora Parker. Everyone calls me Nora.”

“James Alden,” said Grandfather Alden. “And these are my grandchildren: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny.”

“And Watch,” said Benny, patting his dog on the head.

“Hi,” said Nora. She looked at Benny. “How old are you, Benny?”

“I’m six. Henry is fourteen, Jessie is twelve, Violet is ten.” He paused and added, “I don’t know how old Grandfather is.”

“That’s okay,” said Nora, her smile widening.

“Or Watch, either,” said Benny. “We found him when we were living in the boxcar.”

Seeing Nora’s surprised look, the Alden children quickly explained how, when they had become orphans, they had gone to live in an old boxcar in the woods. They didn’t know their grandfather was looking for them. But he was, and when he found them, he brought them all to live with him in his big old house in Greenfield. To surprise them, and to make them feel more at home, he’d brought the boxcar home and put it behind the house so they could visit it whenever they wanted.

“That’s some story,” said Nora when they had finished. “But I’m glad to know you’ve lived in a boxcar. You might not find our cabins so very different!”

A man came out onto the porch and stood on the top step. He wasn’t much taller than Nora. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He was holding a large rolling pin in one hand. He raised the rolling pin. “That’s the truth! You’ll see,” he said in a grim voice.

“Oh!” exclaimed Violet, her eyes widening when she saw the rolling pin.

The man looked at the raised rolling pin. He grimaced. “Sorry,” he said.

Nora said, “This is Drew, my husband. He’s the chef at the lodge.”

The Aldens said hello. Drew nodded curtly. “Welcome to mountain life,” he said. “Mountain life about a hundred years ago, that is.” With that he turned and walked back into the lodge.

Nora looked momentarily embarrassed. She cleared her throat and said, “Drew isn’t used to living up here yet. But when he does get used to it, I know he’ll love it as much as I do. Now let me take you to your cabin.”

The Aldens got their suitcases and backpacks and followed Nora across the clearing to a trail on the other side of the lodge. The trail led up into the woods, but the Aldens saw that there was a small sandy beach nearby. After they had walked for a few minutes, Nora turned down a smaller trail, walked a few steps, and said, “There’s your cabin. You’re in Cabin Number Three, also known as Black Bear Cabin. There are seven cabins in all and four guest rooms in the lodge.”

“Bears?” said Jessie.

“I read about the bears in my book about the Adirondacks,” said Violet. “The book said that the bears won’t hurt people. They’re just as afraid of people as the people are of them.”

“That’s true, Violet,” said Nora. “If you don’t bother the bears, they won’t bother you. In fact, that’s true of all of this wilderness. The motto of the Adirondack Park is ‘Forever Wild.’ That means that these mountains are the homes for the animals and that the people are the guests. As guests you should be just as thoughtful and well behaved as you would be when you visit anybody’s home.”

Benny giggled. “If I see a bear, I’ll say, ‘Please, go away.’ ”

“I wonder what the bear will say?” Nora smiled at Benny. “Here we are.” She pushed open the door of the cabin.

The Aldens stepped inside. The cabin was small, with windows at the front that looked out onto a screened porch above the lake.

Henry and Benny put their belongings in one of the smaller bedrooms and Violet and Jessie put theirs in the other. Grandfather took his suitcases to a larger bedroom. When they came back out into the living room, Nora was standing by the sink. “None of the cabins has plumbing — no running water,” she explained. “This is the pump. You move the handle up and down and it pumps up water from the well for you to use. There’s also an outside shower that uses water that runs down a pipe from the stream. But be careful! The stream water is cold.”

“That’s much nicer than our boxcar,” said Violet. “We didn’t even have a pump.”

“The cabins don’t have electricity, either,” Nora said. “We use special lamps with candles for light. There is a woodstove and a fireplace, of course.”

“We used to cook over a fire when we lived in the boxcar,” Henry said.

“We’ll cook on the stove,” said Grandfather, “but we’ll also eat many of our meals at the lodge.”

“I like this place,” said Violet.

“I’m glad,” said Nora. “Some people think it is not modern enough and too far from other people, but I like it. I’ve been coming here since I was a little girl. I inherited it recently from my cousin.”

“It’s great,” Henry said.

Nora smiled. “I think so, too. And there is electricity and plumbing at the lodge. Plus a small library and all kinds of games and puzzles. Lots of people like to spend the evenings by the fire at the lodge, doing puzzles or drinking hot chocolate.” She smiled. “We usually build a fire in the fireplaces at night, even in the summer. Evenings in the mountains can get cool.”

Grandfather looked at his watch. “After we get unpacked, we should be able to take a short hike before dinner.”

“Why don’t you take the Lakeside Trail,” suggested Nora. “It branches off from the cabin trail just past your cabin. It’s well marked and it will take you all the way around the lake.”

“I’d like that,” said Jessie.

“I’d like dinner,” said Benny. He was always hungry.

Nora said, “Don’t worry, Benny. You’ll be back in plenty of time for dinner. And if you see the Wild Man of the Woods, tell him hello for me.”

“The Wild Man of the Woods!” exclaimed Violet. She looked alarmed. “Who is he?”

But Nora only smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see,” she promised.

CHAPTER 2

The Wild Man of the Woods

“What’s that?” gasped Violet. She moved closer to her older sister.

“Don’t worry, Violet. It’s just a chipmunk. See?” said Jessie. She pointed.

“Oh,” said Violet in a relieved voice.

“Hold on tightly to Watch’s leash,” Grandfather reminded Benny. “We don’t want him to chase any of the animals.”

“Especially the bears,” agreed Benny.

“Woof,” Watch barked, wagging his tail and looking at the chipmunk.

“No, Watch,” said Benny. “Come on.”

Watch gave the chipmunk one last, longing look and then trotted just ahead of Benny as they hiked around Lake Lucille. At first they passed several trails leading down to the lake and the other cabins. But soon they didn’t see any trails at all except the one they were on. It went over rocks and around huge trees. It crossed a narrow stream that tumbled down the mountain into the lake. Through the trees and underbrush they could see glimpses of the lake down below.

“Look,” said Henry. “If we stand on this big flat rock we can look out over the whole lake.”

“Be careful,” Grandfather warned.

Cautiously the Aldens stepped out onto the flat rock. Lake Lucille was spread out before them.

Benny pointed. “Look,” he said. “There’s Lucille Lodge across the lake.”

“We’re halfway around, then,” said Jessie.

Suddenly Benny pointed again. “Look at that!” he exclaimed. “Is that a big fish down there?”

“Where?” asked Henry. He looked in the direction Benny was pointing. But he didn’t see anything except a few ripples on the mirror-smooth surface of the lake.

“It could be a fish. Or it could be an underground stream bubbling up into the lake,” said Grandfather Alden.

“Or it could be a monster,” said a gravelly voice behind them.

The Aldens all turned around quickly in surprise. Watch barked loudly and pulled at his leash.

Standing behind them on the trail was a man in faded clothes of brown and green that seemed to match the woods. A wide-brimmed hat was pulled low over his short grizzled gray hair. He had a deeply tanned and lined face. In one hand he held a walking stick made of a whittled branch. A deep basket woven of strips of bark was slung over his shoulders. Next to him stood an enormous dog with short brown and silvery white fur and one blue eye and one brown eye.

“Who are you?” demanded Jessie.

“It’s the Wild Man of the Woods!” cried Violet, shrinking back against her grandfather.

“Wild Man of the Woods? So you’ve heard about the Wild Man, eh?” said the man. His voice sounded like a growl.

Beside the man, the dog slowly wagged his tail and looked up at him.

“Nora told us about you,” said Benny. “Shhh, Watch! Stop barking.”

“Are you the Wild Man?” asked Henry.

The man shook his head. “My name’s Carl Nielson.” His teeth showed briefly in what might have been a smile. “I live up on the mountain, but I’m not the Wild Man.”

“Who is, then?” asked Jessie.

Carl reached down and patted his dog’s head. “He is. That’s his name. Wildman.”

Everyone stared for a moment. Then Benny started to laugh. “Oh, that’s a joke,” he said.

“Nora had us all fooled,” said Grandfather Alden. “We’re glad to meet you and Wildman, Mr. Nielson.” He stepped forward to shake hands.

Mr. Nielson looked down at Grandfather’s outstretched hand. Slowly, reluctantly, he shifted his walking stick to the other hand and shook hands with Mr. Alden. “You can call me Carl,” he said. “Everybody calls me that.”

“What did you mean about a monster, Carl?” asked Jessie.

“The monster that lives in the lake,” said Carl.

“A monster lives in the lake? Oh, no,” gasped Violet.

“Some say yes, some say no,” said Carl. “I’d say yes.”

Looking up at Carl, Benny said, “Have you seen the monster?”

“That’s another story,” said Carl. “I’ve got a delivery to make.” Without saying good-bye, he walked away from them down the trail in the direction from which they had come. In a moment, he’d disappeared from sight.

“What a strange man,” said Violet softly.

“I don’t think he liked us,” said Benny. “But I liked his dog. Maybe you and Wildman can play together sometime, Watch.”

Watch wagged his tail.

“You don’t think there is really a monster in the lake, do you, Grandfather?” asked Jessie.

“Well, some people believe that a monster lives in Lake Champlain,” said Grandfather. “It’s not all that far from here. They call him Champ.”

“And don’t forget Nessie. She’s the monster who is supposed to live in Loch Ness in Scotland,” said Henry.

“Well, I don’t believe in monsters,” said Jessie firmly.

“I know someone who might turn into a hungry monster if we don’t get back to the lodge for dinner,” teased Grandfather.

“Me,” said Benny, forgetting about the lake monster. “Let’s go!”

After putting Watch in Black Bear Cabin and giving him his dinner and some fresh water, the Aldens went quickly down the trail toward Lucille Lodge. They walked into the lodge through a narrow entrance hall with thick carpets on the floor. Doors opened off either side of the entrance hall. One door had a sign on it that said LIBRARY. The other door had a sign that said TELEPHONE.

They went through the entrance into the great room. It had a high ceiling and an enormous fireplace on one side with big, comfortable chairs pulled up around it. On the other side of the room was the registration desk.

The dining room in Lucille Lodge had two huge fireplaces. At a small table near one of the fireplaces, a young woman with very short black hair was reading a book and eating slowly without really looking at what she ate. Every few minutes she put down her fork and picked up a pencil and made a note in the book.

“Hello,” Nora greeted them as they walked into the dining room. “You can sit anywhere you’d like. The menu is on the blackboard on the wall over there. I’ll come take your order in a few minutes.”

The Aldens chose a table on the porch. When Nora came to take their order, she said, “I can recommend the trout. I know it’s fresh. Carl caught it and brought it today.”

“That’s the delivery he was going to make!” Jessie whispered to Violet.

Henry said, “Carl Nielson?”

“Oh, did you meet Carl?” asked Nora, her eyes twinkling.

“We met Carl and Wildman,” Jessie told her.

“It was a good joke,” Benny said. “Violet was afraid we were going to meet a real Wild Man of the Woods. Weren’t you, Violet?”

“Maybe a little,” Violet admitted, smiling.

“Carl told us about a monster, too,” Jessie said. “A monster who lives in Lake Lucille.”

The twinkle disappeared from Nora’s eyes. “That’s ridiculous! I don’t understand why Carl picked this summer to make up all these crazy stories about a monster in the lake,” she said. “He’s going to hurt my business if he’s not careful.”

“Then there is no monster that lives in Lake Lucille?” asked Violet, looking relieved.

“Of course not,” said Nora. “In all the years I’ve been coming to this lake, I’ve never seen or heard anything that even remotely resembled a monster!”

She turned and walked quickly away, looking upset.

“I guess there isn’t a monster,” said Benny, a little disappointed. “But why would Carl make it up?”

“I don’t know, Benny,” said Henry. “Maybe he was just trying to scare us.”

“Maybe. After all, he didn’t seem to like us very much,” said Jessie.

Violet said thoughtfully, “But what if Carl isn’t making up the story about the monster? What if Nora is just pretending that it isn’t true, so people won’t be afraid to come stay at the lodge?”

Henry said, “The lodge has a small library, remember? Maybe we can go visit it after dinner.”

“Yes,” said Jessie. “We can see if we can find out anything about Champ and Nessie. That might help us figure out if the monster in Lake Lucille is real.”

After dinner, Grandfather took a cup of coffee into the great room and the Alden children went to the small library.

“Look,” said Jessie. “There’s an old set of encyclopedias.”

“We can read all about monsters in there, can’t we?” asked Benny.

“Monsters?” A tall, thin teenage boy with long black hair and dark brown eyes who had been slouched in an armchair in one corner of the library sat up. He looked scornfully at the Aldens. Then he shrugged. “Oh, well, I guess lots of little kids believe in monsters.”

Henry’s cheeks flushed. “We’re not little kids. And we don’t believe in monsters.”

“Jason, Mom and Dad and I are here. It’s time for dinner,” said a girl’s voice.

The Aldens turned to see a girl who was about Violet’s or Jessie’s age standing in the doorway of the library. Like Jason, she had black hair and brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a long dark braid. She gave the Aldens a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m Nicole. Nicole Dubois. We’re staying with my mom and dad in Moose Cabin for the whole summer. Who are you?”

“I’m Henry Alden, and these are my sisters, Jessie and Violet, and my brother, Benny,” said Henry. “We just got here. We’re in Black Bear Cabin.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” said Nicole. “Now I’ll have someone to do things with. Jason never wants to do anything but sit in the library and read. And the only other person staying here is Dr. Lin. She is a biologist who is doing research.”

“There’s nothing to do here except read,” said the boy. “This place is so boring.”

“It’s not boring, Jason!” Nicole cried. “It’s fun to hike and swim and fish and take the canoe out on the lake.”

“Little kid stuff,” said Jason with a yawn. He stood up and walked out of the room. “Anything would be better than being here — even summer school.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “He’s going to college this fall,” she said. “Suddenly he thinks he’s so grown-up.”

“Most grown-ups don’t act like that,” Jessie blurted out. Then she stopped, embarrassed. “Sorry,” she said.

“That’s okay,” said Nicole. “I have to go to dinner, but maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” said Henry.

“We’re in the library to do research on the monster,” Benny said suddenly. “Do you believe in monsters?”

Nicole’s eyes widened. She stepped forward. “You’ve heard about Lucy?” she asked in a low voice.

“Lucy?” asked Violet.

“The monster of Lake Lucille,” said Nicole.

“Have you seen her?” asked Jessie. “Have you seen Lucy?”

Nicole whispered, “No, I haven’t. But I know someone who has.”

CHAPTER 3

Here Be Monsters?

“Who?” Jessie asked.

“Nicole, come on,” a woman’s voice said.

“I can’t tell you right now. I have to go. But I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Meet me at the beach tomorrow morning!” Nicole said in a low, rapid voice. Then she ran out the library door.

“So the monster is real,” said Violet. “Oh, no!”

“We’d better get to work doing research,” said Henry. “The more we know, the better.”

The Aldens searched for information in the lodge’s library for a long time. But the library was small, so they didn’t find very much.

“We should go,” said Benny the next morning when he had finished his big breakfast in the lodge dining room.

“Whoa. Where do you want to go in such a hurry?” asked Grandfather.

“To the beach,” said Benny.

Grandfather took a sip of coffee. “Don’t go in the water until I get there,” he said. “There’s no lifeguard.”

“Okay,” said Benny.

The Aldens put on their bathing suits, put on T-shirts and shorts, picked up their towels, and went down to the beach. At one end of the half-moon of shore was a small dock with four canoes pulled up onto the land next to it. At the other end Nicole sat waiting for them.

She jumped up when she saw them. “You’re here at last!” she cried dramatically.

“Have you seen Lucy?” asked Benny. He put his hand up to shade his eyes and peered out at the lake.

“No. But Carl Nielson has!” said Nicole.

“Carl Nielson? We met him yesterday,” said Henry. “He’s the one who told us about Lucy.”

Nicole’s face fell. “Really? So you know all about what happened,” she said.

“No,” Jessie said. “He just told us about Lucy. He wouldn’t tell us if he had seen her or not.”

“And then Nora told us there was no monster,” added Violet.

“Nora’s saying that because she’s afraid the monster will scare away the guests at Lucille Lodge,” said Nicole.

“Not many people are staying here,” observed Henry. “Maybe they are scared to come visit.”

“Maybe,” said Nicole. She shrugged. “I wish I could see the monster, like Carl did.”

“Where did he see it?” asked Henry.

“What did it look like?” asked Jessie at the same time.

“Did it chase him?” Benny chimed in.

“Over by the big rock across the lake. It had a small head and a long neck and a sort of hump on its back. He was in his boat fishing and it tried to turn him over.”

“How did he escape?” asked Violet, horrified.

“He threw Lucy all of his fish. While she was eating them, he rowed back to shore and jumped out of the boat. When he looked back, Lucy was gone,” Nicole told them.

“Maybe she wasn’t trying to turn him over,” said Benny. “Maybe she was just trying to play.”

“Well, I don’t want to ever play with a monster,” said Nicole. “But I’d like to see her!”

“Me too,” said Benny.

“I would, too,” said Jessie, and Henry nodded.

Violet said, “Maybe I wouldn’t.”

“But Violet, if we could see her, we could prove she exists,” Henry argued.

Violet didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know,” she said. “Lots of people have seen Nessie and Champ and that didn’t prove that they were real.”

“Nessie and Champ?” asked Nicole. She listened carefully as the Aldens explained what they had read.

“We thought we should do some research,” Jessie concluded.

“Research . . .” repeated Henry, looking thoughtful, “research.” Then he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! We have to have proof that the monster exists. Scientific proof.”

“But how do we do that?” asked Jessie.

“I’m not sure,” said Henry. “But maybe we could ask Dr. Lin.”

“Because she’s a scientist?” asked Benny.

“That’s right, Benny,” his brother answered.

Violet said, “But we don’t know Dr. Lin. What if she doesn’t want to help us?”

Nicole spoke up. “She’s not very friendly.”

“We won’t know until we try,” said Jessie. “Where is she staying, Nicole?”

“In Elk Cabin,” said Nicole. “She picked the last one at the very end.”

“Come on, then,” said Jessie. “Let’s go.”

Dr. Lin was just coming out of her cabin as the Aldens walked up the trail to her door. The Aldens remembered seeing her reading in the dining room.

“Hello,” called Henry.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. She closed the door behind her. She was wearing khaki hiking shorts, heavy socks, heavy boots, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a cap. She had a pack on her back, and a camera and a pair of binoculars around her neck.

“We wanted to ask you a few questions,” Jessie said.

“About what?” Dr. Lin asked. “Who are you?”

“We’re the Aldens. We’re here for a visit. And this is Nicole —” Henry began to say, but Dr. Lin interrupted.

“Never mind. I know who Nicole is. And I don’t need to know who the rest of you are. I haven’t got time.” Dr. Lin pushed past them and started walking up the path away from her cabin.

“Wait,” said Benny. “It’s important. It’s about the monster.”

Dr. Lin stopped. Slowly she turned. “Did you say ‘monster’?”

“Yes. The one Carl Nielson says he saw,” Nicole said. “Do you know anything about it?”

“Why would I?” asked Dr. Lin, frowning. She started to turn away. “Besides, monsters don’t exist.”

Henry said quickly, “But if you wanted to prove that one did exist, how would you do it? Scientifically, I mean.”

That surprised Dr. Lin. “Oh,” she said. “Hmmm. Well, you’d need evidence. Scientific evidence. Castings of the tracks of the animal. A photograph. Tufts of fur. Or the animal itself.”

“Alive?” asked Benny doubtfully.

Dr. Lin shrugged. “If possible . . . but I can’t tell you how to catch a monster. I have serious field research to do.”

She turned again and walked quickly up the trail.

The Aldens and Nicole looked at one another. Nicole said, “I have my camera. But we have to find the monster to make a picture.”

“It might be easier to find Lucy’s tracks,” said Henry. “But what’s a casting?”

“We can go back to the library at the lodge,” suggested Jessie. “Maybe we can look it up there.”

“Here,” said Henry. “This book talks about how to make casts of animal tracks. You can use all kinds of materials — like wax. You melt it into the track and when it hardens, you have a cast of the animal’s footprint.”

Jessie read over Henry’s shoulder. “Listen to this! It says that you can tell all kinds of things from a footprint — like how tall the animal is and whether it walks on two legs or four.”

“We have lots of wax,” said Benny excitedly. “We have all those candles in our cabin.”

Violet nodded and took the book back to its place on the shelf.

Just then, they heard angry voices outside the half-open door of the library.

“I don’t care, Drew. That’s one of the best things about Lucille Lodge. It’s not some fancy tourist hotel. The people who come here really love the mountains. They don’t come to watch TV and order room service.”

“Nora, be reasonable. We need to attract more business. And the way to do that is to modernize. Tear down the cabins and build new ones that have running water and —”

“No. We have enough business. We have enough money to live on. What more do we want?” Nora asked.

Drew said, “You’re impossible.”

“If you want more money, I’m surprised you didn’t think we should sell it when we got that offer,” Nora asked.

“Maybe we should have,” Drew snapped. They heard heavy footsteps stomp away. Then they heard Nora sigh and walk slowly after her husband.

CHAPTER 4

A Sound in the Dark

When they were sure that Nora and Drew were gone, the Aldens and Nicole came cautiously out of the library.

“Are they going to sell Lucille Lodge?” asked Benny

“I hope not, Benny,” said Violet.

“If we catch the monster, it won’t get a chance to scare away business,” said Benny. “Then Nora won’t have to sell the lodge.”

“First we have to prove there is a monster,” said Jessie.

“Or that there isn’t one,” Violet said.

“But if there isn’t a monster,” asked Nicole, “why is Carl saying that there is one?”

“It’s part of the mystery,” said Henry. He smiled. “And we like mysteries.”

“Yes. We’ve solved a lot of them,” said Benny. “Let’s hurry and get the candles so we can solve this one!”

But although the Aldens and Nicole spent the whole day looking around the lake, they didn’t see a single sign of Lucy.

They did find Carl again, however, just before it was time to go back to the lodge for dinner — or rather, Carl found them. He appeared as silently and unexpectedly as he had the day before.

“What are you looking for? Did you lose something?” he growled. They looked up from their search along the shoreline to see Carl and Wildman standing in the shadow of a huge tree.

“Hi,” said Benny. “We’re looking for monster tracks.”

“Monster tracks? And have you found any?” asked Carl.

“No,” said Benny. “We found all kinds of tracks, but none of them are monster tracks. At least, I don’t think they are.”

“Here are some tracks,” said Violet. She pushed aside a low branch that overhung the lake.

Carl walked closer and glanced down. “Raccoon,” he said. “They’re nocturnal animals. That means they mostly come out at night.”

“Like owls?” asked Benny.

“Yes. And opossums. Deer, now, they move around most in the early morning and the early evening.”

“Is Lucy a night creature or a day creature?” asked Violet.

“Why would I know that?” asked Carl.

“Because you’ve seen her,” said Nicole.

“Seen who?” Carl asked.

“The lake monster — Lucy,” said Nicole. “You told me so. Remember?”

“That’s right. Nicole told us about how you escaped,” Jessie said. “Did that happen at night or in the morning?”

“In the early morning it was,” said Carl at last.

“If we were going to set a trap to catch Lucy,” said Henry, “how would we do that?”

“Well, instead of setting a trap, my suggestion would be to take a picture of her,” said Carl. “Good luck to you. Come, Wild-man.” As before, the man and the dog seemed to almost melt away and disappear into the trees.

“Found any monsters yet?” Jason asked with a sneer as the Aldens walked past his family’s table after finishing dinner at the lodge that night.

“No. Not yet,” said Benny.

“Well, don’t stop looking. At least it keeps Nicole from bothering me all day long,” said Jason.

Nicole made a face at her brother.

“See you tomorrow, Nicole,” said Jessie.

“Right,” said Nicole.

“Jason’s going to be sorry he was mean to us and to his sister when we find Lucy,” said Benny.

“If Lucy really does live in Lake Lucille,” Violet said. “After all, Dr. Lin said that it wasn’t possible, and she ought to know. She’s a scientist.”

“Even scientists aren’t always right, you know,” said Grandfather Alden. “Not too long ago, scientists said that the idea of traveling in space was nothing but science fiction. And you see how wrong they were.”

Henry said, “That’s true. We have to keep open minds until we can prove that Lucy does exist — or that she doesn’t.”

“But if she’s not real, then why would Carl say that he saw her?” asked Benny.

“It’s a two-part mystery,” said Jessie as they reached the door of their cabin. “One: does a monster live in the lake and how do we prove that she does? Two: if we prove there is no monster, why did Carl say he saw one?”

Watch came running up to them, wagging his tail happily.

“Let’s take Watch for one more walk before bed,” suggested Henry.

“Good idea,” said Grandfather Alden. He handed Henry the flashlight he had been carrying. “Everyone take a flashlight.” Grandfather had taken a flashlight with him to dinner in case they had needed it on the walk home. But they hadn’t, since the summer days were long. Now, however, it was getting dark fast.

Benny attached Watch’s leash to his collar.

“We won’t go far,” Jessie told their grandfather. “Just a little way along the Lakeside Trail, and then we’ll come back.”

The Aldens went out into the night. Stars shone brightly above. A faint breeze brushed the leaves on the trees.

“I like it here,” declared Violet. “Even if there is a monster in the lake.”

Jessie said slowly, “You know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe it isn’t a two-part mystery. Maybe it’s a three-part mystery.”

“What do you mean?” asked Benny. “What’s part three?”

“Maybe Carl really did think he saw a monster. But it wasn’t a monster. Maybe someone is trying to make everyone believe there is a monster in Lake Lucille.”

“But who would do a mean thing like that?” asked Violet.

Just then they heard a long, low sound.

“What’s that?” said Benny, stopping in his tracks. Watch looked toward the lake.

“Look at Watch,” said Jessie. “It came from the — ”

The noise came again, a sound almost like the mooing of a cow, but more eerie. Watch barked once, sharply, and pulled on his leash, straining to get down to the water.

“It’s coming from the lake,” said Henry. “Let’s go.” He raced as fast as he dared back along the main trail and turned down the first trail that led to the lake — the one that went right past Dr. Lin’s cabin.

Just as they reached the beach, the long, low sound came again. Henry shone his flashlight out over the water and the sound faded away.

“What was that?” asked Violet.

“I don’t know,” said Jessie. “But it sounded as if it came from out in the lake.”

“Do you think someone is out there?” asked Benny.

“Someone. Or something,” answered Jessie.

Just then an angry voice behind them said, “What is going on here?”

The Aldens turned to see Dr. Lin standing on the edge of the beach at the foot of the trail that led down past her cabin. She was wearing sneakers and a bathrobe over her pajamas and holding a flashlight in one hand.

“Dr. Lin!” exclaimed Henry. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked you first,” said Dr. Lin crossly. “But if you want to know what I am doing here, I came out to investigate why a herd of noisy children would run past my cabin in the middle of the night.”

“It’s not the middle of the night,” cried Benny. He paused. “Is it?”

“For me it might as well be. I go to bed very early because I get up early to do my work,” said Dr. Lin. “I was sound asleep when you came crashing by.”

“I’m sorry,” said Henry. “We didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“We heard a noise from the lake,” said Jessie.

“And we wanted to see what it was,” Violet finished.

“A noise? What noise?” Dr. Lin cocked her head to listen. Everyone stood very still, even Watch. For a long moment no sound could be heard at all except the whisper of the wind through the trees. Then faintly and far away they heard hooting.

“Oh, that,” said Dr. Lin. “That’s just a mother bear and her cub calling back and forth to one another.”

“It sounds like an owl,” said Benny.

“It does sound that way a little bit,” Dr. Lin agreed. She didn’t seem so angry now. She gave Benny a little smile. “I remember the first time I heard the bears calling to each other. I wasn’t much older than you are. I think that’s when I decided to become a biologist. But you don’t have anything to worry about. Those bears are very far away. They won’t bother you.”

She turned to go.

“Wait,” Jessie blurted out. “That’s not the sound we heard. It was more like a mooing sound, only lower and more growly.”

Dr. Lin looked over her shoulder with a frown. “I’ve never heard a noise like that. There’s no animal I know of that makes that sound in these mountains. Or anywhere, for that matter. It must have been the wind blowing. . . .”

Her voice trailed off as the long, low sound rolled across the lake once more.

CHAPTER 5

A Monster Hunt

“What was that?” asked Jessie after the sound had died away. “What kind of animal makes a sound like that?”

Dr. Lin looked very puzzled and surprised. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never heard an animal call like that one.”

Benny was very excited. “Dr. Lin! Dr. Lin!” he exclaimed. “Do you think it could have been Lucy? The monster in the lake?”

“No, I don’t,” Dr. Lin answered firmly. “There is no such thing as a lake monster — not here, not in Lake Champlain, not in Loch Ness. It is scientifically impossible.”

“Then what made that sound?” asked Violet.

“I don’t know,” said Dr. Lin. “But whatever made it, I’m sure there is a simple explanation.” She tightened the sash on her bathrobe and turned away again. “It’s late and I’m going to bed.”

She turned her flashlight onto the trail, following its beam through the trees. A few minutes later they heard the door of her cabin slam shut.

“Now, who could that be knocking at the door so early in the morning?” asked Grandfather Alden the next day.

The Aldens had just finished eating breakfast and were washing the dishes and putting them away. Benny dropped a handful of spoons in the drawer and said, “I’ll find out.”

A moment later he opened the door and Nicole burst in. “Did you hear it?” she gasped. “Did you hear that sound on the lake last night?”

“The bears calling to each other?” Jessie asked cautiously.

“No! I know what the bears sound like. This was a completely different sound. Kind of like a weird cow,” said Nicole.

“Yes!” cried Benny. “We heard and Watch heard and Dr. Lin heard. Grandfather heard, too!”

Nicole clapped her hands together. “I knew it! I knew it! It’s got to be Lucy,” she said.

“Dr. Lin says it’s not really an animal. She said there’s some ‘simple explanation,’” Henry said, repeating what the biologist had said to them the night before.

“What we need to find out is what made that sound,” said Jessie.

“Or who,” said Violet.

Jessie nodded. Nicole said, “I know. Let’s see if we can take a canoe out on the lake. Maybe we can find something that way.”

“Even if we don’t, it sounds like fun,” said Henry.

“We have to go tell someone at the lodge that we want to use the canoes,” said Nicole. “And get life jackets.”

When the Aldens and Nicole reached the lodge, Nora was at the registration desk talking to a young man and woman holding suitcases. “I think you’ll like it here in the lodge. Your room is called Lakeview. It’s the second room on the right at the top of the stairs,” she said, handing the young woman a key.

“Thanks,” said the young woman. The couple went up the stairs.

Nora turned. “Hi,” she said, smiling. “What can I do for you kids?”

“We’d like to take out two of the canoes and we need life jackets,” said Jessie.

“Good idea. It’s a beautiful day for a paddle around the lake,” said Nora. “Come on. I keep the life jackets in our storage house.”

She led them out of the lodge to a low building next to it. Pushing open the door, she removed several life jackets in various sizes from hooks on the wall. The building was filled with all kinds of tools.

“Wow,” Henry said admiringly. “This is better than a hardware store.”

Nora laughed. “We’re a long way from any hardware store out here. Drew or I only go to town once a week, on Thursdays, for supplies. We have to be prepared to fix things ourselves. And you can’t do that without the proper tools.”

“Look at these old horns with the balloons on one end,” said Benny.

“Benny, wait,” Nora began, but it was too late. Benny had picked up one of the horns and squeezed it. A blast of sound made Benny drop the horn to cover his ears. Watch yelped in surprise.

“Owww,” said Benny. “What was that?” He took his hands away from his ears.

Nora picked up the horn. “It’s an air horn, Benny,” she told him. “We have it in case we need to signal for someone out on the lake.

“And speaking of the right tools . . .” Nora went on. She reached up and took a very small life jacket off a hook. “We even have a life jacket for dogs.”

“Watch knows how to swim,” said Benny.

“Yes, and so do you, Benny, but you know that you are always supposed to wear your life jacket when you are in a boat,” Henry said.

“I know,” said Benny. “Come on, Watch. I’ll help you put your life jacket on.”

“By the way, you didn’t hear any noises coming from the lake last night, did you?” asked Jessie, trying to sound casual.

“No,” said Nora quickly — almost too quickly, Jessie thought. Nora added, “Well, you’d better get started if you want to enjoy paddling around the lake before it gets too hot. Just leave the life jackets on their hooks when you are finished. The door is usually unlocked.”

She turned and walked quickly back to the lodge. Jessie stared thoughtfully after her.

“What is it, Jessie?” asked Henry.

“Nora didn’t even ask what kind of noise, or when we might have heard it — or why I was asking,” said Jessie.

“Do you think she did hear the noise and doesn’t want anyone to know?” asked Violet.

“It’s possible,” said Jessie. “Especially if she thinks it could be bad for business.”

“There is only one thing to do,” Henry declared.

“What?” asked Nicole.

“Go find Lucy — or whatever was making that noise,” said Henry.

When the Aldens and Nicole got back to the beach, they saw Jason stretched out on a towel in the sand. He was wearing his bathing suit and reading. He had on dark glasses and a baseball hat pulled down over his eyes.

“Hi,” said Benny.

“Mmm,” said Jason without raising his gaze from his book.

“Want to come with us on a canoe trip around the lake?” asked Henry politely.

Jason glanced up. “Oh. Are you going to look for monsters?” He laughed.

Violet said, “Even if we don’t see Lucy, it will be fun.”

“Thanks anyway,” said Jason, “but I’ll stay here.” He pointed to the camera that Nicole was holding and added, “When you take Lucy’s picture, tell her to smile.” He rolled over on one side and kept reading.

Henry, Benny, and Watch got into one canoe. Jessie, Nicole, and Violet took the other. They paddled out into the deep blue lake. The water was very still.

When they were in the middle of the lake, they heard the hum of a car motor from the direction of the lodge.

“Sound travels far across the water,” commented Jessie.

Violet raised the binoculars she had brought along and trained them on the lodge. “Someone just drove up to the lodge,” she reported.

A door slammed.

“That’s Drew, coming out of the front door of the lodge. Now a woman in khaki pants and a plaid shirt is getting out of the car. She and Drew are shaking hands,” Violet said.

“It’s probably another guest,” said Nicole.

“I don’t see any luggage,” said Violet. “Wait! Nora just came out of the lodge. She’s got her hands on her hips. She looks angry. It looks as if she and Drew are arguing.”

Everyone in the canoe turned to squint at the lodge. But although they could see the building, without the binoculars they couldn’t see much else.

A car door slammed. Then the lodge door slammed once, then again. The car motor started, then faded away.

“What happened now?” cried Benny.

“The woman in the plaid shirt gave Nora something and she threw it down. Then the woman got in her car and drove away, and Nora went back into the lodge. Drew followed her,” Violet said. She lowered the binoculars.

“Wow, it’s just like a play,” Nicole exclaimed.

“Only you couldn’t see it,” Benny said.

“Would you like to use the binoculars?” Violet asked Nicole.

“Yes,” said Nicole. “I think we should all take turns using them. We can keep a lookout for Lucy.”

“Good idea,” Henry said.

They paddled on. They saw a squirrel drinking from the edge of the lake. They saw a hawk circling high above. But although they paddled around the lake all morning, they didn’t see any sign of a lake monster.

The children put their life preservers back into the storage building. They were on their way to the cabin when Violet bent down and picked up a small rectangle of ivory-colored paper. “Look,” she said.

“What is it, Violet?” asked Jessie.

“It’s a business card,” Violet told them.

“ ‘Mountain Home Real Estate,’ ” she read from the card. “ ‘Geena Bush, Broker.’ ”

“That must be who came to visit Drew and Nora,” said Nicole.

“I don’t think she came to visit Nora,” said Jessie thoughtfully. “Not if Nora was angry to see her.”

“You’re right,” said Henry. “Nora doesn’t want to sell Lucille Lodge. But Drew sounded as if he might when we overheard them arguing. Remember?”

“Did this broke lady get in trouble for coming to see Drew?” asked Benny.

“Broker, Benny,” said Violet. “Yes, it looks as if she did. This card must be what she tried to give Nora and what Nora threw down.”

Jessie said slowly, “If Lucy isn’t real — and we haven’t found any scientific proof that she is — do you suppose that Geena Bush could have something to do with the rumors . . . and with the sounds we heard last night?”

“Or Drew?” suggested Henry.

“But if Geena Bush had driven up to the lake last night, we would have heard her car. Remember how sounds carry across the lake?” said Nicole.

“True,” said Jessie.

“What if Drew and Geena Bush are working together?” said Violet.

Henry nodded. “It could be. Maybe he sneaked out last night and hiked to one side of the lake to make the sound.”

“What we need are more clues,” said Jessie. “But how do we find them?”

“We keep looking,” Benny said. “It’s a mystery and we’re good at solving mysteries. We will solve this one, too!”

The Aldens had finished dinner and were sitting on the screened porch of their cabin. A soft rain that had been falling for the last two hours had just stopped.

They were glad to sit on the cozy porch and rest. It had been a long hard day, and they were a little discouraged because they were no closer to solving the mystery of the lake monster. No one was talking very much.

“Grrr,” Watch growled suddenly.

“What is it, Watch?” asked Violet.

Watch pressed his nose against the screened porch and peered down into the darkness. “Grrr,” he growled again.

“Watch hears something, don’t you, boy?” asked Henry. He patted Watch’s head. Watch wagged his tail, but he growled again.

“Maybe it’s a bear,” said Violet, sounding a little scared.

“I doubt that,” Grandfather Alden said. “It is unlikely a bear would come this close to the cabin. More likely it is a raccoon or opossum. Or it could just be rain dripping from the leaves.”

“But you have to stay inside, Watch, whatever it is,” said Jessie. She paused. Then she said softly, “What if it is Lucy?”

Watch ran to the other end of the porch. He pressed his nose against the screen and peered intently into the night. He uttered a short, sharp bark and looked over his shoulder as if to say, C’mon!

Henry walked back through the cabin and picked up the largest flashlight from the table by the door. He went back to the porch and clicked it on, throwing a powerful beam out into the night.

In the beam of the flashlight, they could see trees and a glint of water and the lighter color of the lakeshore. But nothing was moving.

Henry turned the beam in the direction that Watch was now peering. No one could see anything.

“There’s nothing in that direction, Watch, except the other cabins and the lodge,” said Henry.

Watch stood on guard for a long moment after that. Then he turned and trotted back to Jessie and jumped up onto her lap. Henry clicked the flashlight off.

“Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” said Grandfather. He stood up and stretched and yawned. “Time for bed. I’m going to do a little fishing tomorrow and I want to get an extra-early start so I can be back in time for a late breakfast with you all.”

“Yes, and we have work to do, too,” said Benny.

“That’s right, Benny,” said Jessie. The Aldens went back into Black Bear Cabin to get ready for bed. Benny was the last one to leave the porch. He stared out through the screen, trying to see through the night to the lake.

“Benny,” Henry called. “Come on. It’s time for bed.”

“Coming,” answered Benny. He leaned close to the screen. “Good night, Lucy,” he said softly before going inside to join his family.

CHAPTER 6

Enormous Footprints

“Benny? What are you doing up so early?” Jessie whispered the next morning.

“Are you awake?” asked Benny. He was dressed. Watch was standing beside Benny with his paws on the edge of Jessie’s bed. He was staring at Jessie, and she noticed that his leash was attached to his collar and that Benny was holding the other end of it.

Jessie yawned and rubbed her eyes. She said, “I guess I am now.”

“Good,” said Benny. “Grandfather left a little while ago to go fishing. That’s when Watch and I woke up. Let’s go down to the lake. We can see if we can find what Watch was barking at last night.”

In the bunk across from Jessie, Violet mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over, pulling her covers up over her head.

“Shhh,” said Jessie. She yawned again. “Whatever was out there is long gone, Benny . . . but okay. I’ll meet you on the steps of the cabin in five minutes.”

Jessie left a note saying where she and Benny had gone in case Violet and Henry woke up before they got back. She went outside and walked with Benny down the path that led from the cabin to the lake.

A faint mist rose from the water. The leaves were wet on the trail from the rain the night before. Drops of water rolled off the leaves they brushed against. The sun had not yet come up over the mountains to begin to dry up the puddles.

“Let’s whisper,” said Jessie. “Remember how sound carries? We don’t want to wake up everybody on the whole lake.”

Benny nodded. “Hear that, Watch?” he said.

Watch wagged his tail briefly and pulled on the leash. He was panting a little; he was excited.

The empty beach curved away from them. It was made of rocks and coarse sand. Benny Watch, and Jessie walked slowly up and down the beach, but they didn’t see any footprints. The rain had washed the shoreline clean.

“Maybe Watch heard a bird flying by,” said Jessie. She stifled a yawn.

Just then, Watch began tugging hard on the leash. “What is it, Watch?” asked Benny. He let Watch lead him down the beach toward the canoes. Suddenly Watch veered off and pulled Benny toward a thick clump of bushes.

“Whoa. Slow down,” said Benny.

Watch didn’t slow down. He stopped and stared at the low bushes.

“Look,” said Jessie. “Those bushes are all mashed and the branches are broken as if something big had crashed through them.” She started forward to examine them. But Benny stopped her.

“Look.” He gasped. “Look at those footprints!”

There was a trail of huge footprints on a smooth swath of sand just at the edge of the bushes.

Keeping a tight hold on Watch, Benny leaned cautiously forward. Jessie did, too.

The footprints weren’t human. They had four long toes with webbing between them. The toes ended in claw marks. The prints were huge, easily a foot long.

“These are Lucy’s footprints,” said Benny, forgetting to whisper. “I know it!”

“They could be, Benny,” said Jessie, forgetting to whisper, too.

“Then Lucy is real,” said Benny. “I knew it! That’s what Watch heard last night. It was Lucy!”

“We need to make a cast of a footprint as soon as possible,” said Jessie. “And take a picture. Watch and I will stay here to guard the footprints and you go get Henry and Violet — and the wax candles we saved in case we found footprints.”

“I’ll be right back!” Benny promised.

He ran back to the cabin. Benny threw open the cabin door with a loud crash.

“Wake up!” he cried. “We’ve found Lucy!”

Henry ran out of the bedroom in his pajamas. His hair was sticking out all over his head. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked Benny.

Violet ran out of her bedroom hopping on one foot and trying to pull a slipper onto the other. “What happened?” she said.

“Lucy,” said Benny.

Violet looked quickly around as if she expected to see the lake monster in the cabin.

“Where?” asked Henry.

“Down by the lake. Bring the candles! Hurry!” Benny said.

“They’re coming,” he reported to Jessie as soon as he ran back to join her. A few minutes later, Henry and Violet came running out onto the beach. Violet had her camera around her neck.

“What is it?” Henry called breathlessly.

“Look,” said Jessie. She stepped back and Benny pointed dramatically.

Violet and Henry stared. Then Violet said in a hushed voice, “Maybe there really is a lake monster.”

“Yes,” said Jessie, trying to sound calm.

Violet held the camera up and took a picture of one of the footprints. Then she took a photograph of the crushed bushes and broken twigs around it. Moving carefully, she took another photograph of the footprint from a different angle, and then another.

Jessie used a tape measure to measure one of the footprints. “This one’s thirteen inches long,” she said, “and seven and a half inches wide.”

“That’s big, isn’t it?” asked Benny.

“Yes,” answered Jessie.

Then Henry took the candles out and lit one. He used it to melt the other candles into the outline of a footprint. When he was finished, he had used up all the candles. Carefully he snuffed out the stub of the candle he’d been using. He dipped the end of the match into the lake and put the match and candle into his pocket. He didn’t want to start a fire — or be a litterbug.

“We have to let the wax harden now, before we lift the cast up,” said Jessie.

“Maybe we should look for more clues,” Violet suggested.

“Good idea,” said Henry.

The four Aldens spread out and looked around carefully. They didn’t see any more trampled bushes or broken limbs in the woods near the footprints.

“That means she didn’t come from the woods,” said Jessie.

They found several large rocks that had been knocked over and some sharp scratches in the sand that looked as if they had been made by claws. “She could have done that,” said Henry.

“Yes,” agreed Jessie. “But why did she come out of the water here? And why did she go back in?”

“Maybe when Watch growled, she heard him and it scared her,” suggested Benny.

“But if Watch was growling at Lucy, why was he facing in the other direction part of the time when he was growling?” Jessie went on. “Remember? He went to the other end of the porch.”

“Maybe Lucy was swimming away,” said Henry. He checked the cast of the footprint. The wax had hardened. Very carefully Henry lifted the wax out of the footprint. Sand and grit were embedded in the bottom of the cast. He held both hands under the enormous wax impression so that it wouldn’t break.

Violet pulled some branches over all the footprints. “We should show them to Dr. Lin,” she suggested.

“Yes,” Jessie said. “But first let’s take this cast up to the cabin and put it in a safe place,” said Jessie. “We don’t want anything to happen to it.”

They took the cast up to the cabin and Jessie put it in the lower drawer of the bureau in the room she and Violet were sharing. Then, although it was early, they went to Dr. Lin’s cabin.

But Dr. Lin wasn’t there.

“I wonder where she is so early in the morning,” said Violet.

Henry looked down at the wet grass in front of the cabin. “I don’t know. But I don’t think she’s been here all night.”

“Why?” asked Benny.

“Look at the wet grass,” said Henry. “We made a trail through it when we walked up to the cabin door. But there was no trail before we got here.”

“You’re right!” Jessie said. “Do you think she’s all right?”

“What if Lucy got her?” Violet said.

“Lucy wouldn’t do that,” said Benny.

“I’ll write a note and we can leave it on her door,” said Jessie. “I think we should talk to Dr. Lin before we do anything else. After all, she is a scientist.”

“Yes,” said Henry. “Maybe now that we have a cast of the footprint, she’ll listen to us and help us solve this mystery.”

CHAPTER 7

A Monster Bite

“This is good,” said Benny. “I was hungry.” He finished the last bite of his sandwich and looked over the picnic spread out on the flat rock by the lake.

The Aldens and Nicole were hiking around the lake again, looking for clues. The Aldens hadn’t told anyone about the footprints except Nicole. They were still waiting for Dr. Lin to get back to her cabin. Nicole had told them that Dr. Lin often went away for overnight camping trips while she was doing research. “She always tells Nora,” Nicole explained. “That’s so if she gets lost, they’ll know to go look for her.”

“That’s good,” said Benny.

When they had run into Drew earlier, Benny had immediately told him of their plans to hike around the lake. “So if we get lost,” he explained, “you’ll know where to look.”

Drew had nodded. “Good for you. You’re already learning important lessons in wilderness safety,” he said. “I’ll tell Nora, too.” He paused. “It is beautiful here,” he said, almost to himself. Then he said, “Stop by the lodge before you go on your hike. I might have a surprise for you.”

The surprise had been a picnic lunch that Drew had made especially for them.

Benny now picked up another peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “Drew is a great cook,” he said happily.

“This is good,” agreed Jessie. She was eating a sandwich stacked high with tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese, and a delicious pasta salad. “It was nice of him to make lunch for us. He even remembered Watch.”

Hearing his name, Watch wagged his tail and kept on chewing on the giant dog biscuit that Drew had packed into the lunch in a brown paper bag that said FOR WATCH.

“I didn’t like Drew at first,” said Violet. “But now I think he’s not so bad. It’s hard to get used to a new place and new people. Maybe he’s just shy.” Violet could understand that. She was a little shy herself sometimes.

They ate in silence for a while. Then Nicole glanced out over the water. “Look,” she said. “Someone has taken one of the canoes out on the lake.”

Henry picked up the binoculars and peered through them. “It looks like your brother,” he told Nicole.

“Jason? I don’t believe it!” Nicole said.

Henry handed her the binoculars. Nicole peered through them and said in a surprised voice, “It is Jason. That’s the first time this whole summer he has taken the canoe out. Maybe he’s starting to like it here after — oh, no!”

“What?” asked Henry.

“His boat just turned over. We have to help him!” gasped Nicole.

She jumped up and began to run back along the trail toward a spot closer to the canoe. She was still holding the binoculars.

The Aldens jumped up, too. Looking out over the lake, they could see the bright green bottom of the canoe upended on the water.

Jessie squinted. “I think I see Carl.”

“Come on,” said Henry, “let’s go help.”

The Aldens ran after Nicole. Just as they caught up with her, they saw Carl and Jason wading out of the lake near the trail. Wildman stood on the shore, half in and half out of the water. He was barking.

“Jason, Jason, are you all right?” Nicole cried.

“Of course I’m all right,” said Jason. He sounded angry. “I had a life jacket on and I can swim.”

Carl growled, “Yes, but if you’d been hit on the head when you fell out of the canoe, it could have been worse for you.”

Jason reached the shore and pulled his arm free from Carl. “I don’t need your help,” he said crossly.

Nicole said, “Jason, Carl helped you. He didn’t know whether or not you were hurt. He went in the water after you. He saved your life. He’s a hero!”

Carl’s deeply tanned cheeks reddened. “None of that, now,” he said. “I’m no hero. I did what anyone would have done if they saw someone fall out of a canoe.”

“I didn’t fall out of my canoe!” Jason almost shouted.

“Then what happened?” Jessie asked.

“Someone grabbed my paddle and pulled me out. And turned the canoe over!” Jason said. He held up the paddle angrily. “It happened too quickly for me to see who did it.”

Everyone froze.

Then Violet said in a soft voice, “Jason, what happened to your paddle?”

Jason looked at the paddle for the first time. His eyes widened. He let go of the paddle, and it would have fallen except that Henry caught it.

The tip of the paddle looked as if someone — or something — had taken a huge bite out of it.

“Lucy!” gasped Nicole. “Lucy bit your paddle. Lucy turned your canoe over.”

Carl stood as still as a statue. Now he seemed pale beneath his ruddy tan. “It’s not possible,” he whispered.

Jason recovered his wits. “You’re right. It’s not.” He glared at Nicole. “Is this your idea of a joke?”

“A joke?” Nicole’s voice rose. “A joke?” she repeated. “I would never do something like that.”

“Besides, how could she?” Henry said reasonably. “She was with us.”

“Maybe you’re all in it together! Maybe you would do anything to prove that some phony monster is real,” said Jason.

“We didn’t turn you over! We were having a picnic,” said Benny.

“Besides, none of us is wet,” Jessie pointed out. “Even if one of us was able to swim out to your canoe and turn you over, we would be wet now.”

“And we saw a footprint, too,” cried Benny. “Of Lucy’s. On the beach. She’s real. It wasn’t us who grabbed your paddle. It was Lucy.”

Jason looked from one of them to the other. Then he said, “Somebody did this to me. And it wasn’t the monster. In fact, the only monsters I see around here are you little kids.”

With that, he turned and walked away. His sneakers made squishing sounds as he walked.

Carl still hadn’t moved. His gaze was fixed on the paddle that Henry held. Then he began to shake his head slowly.

“Are you okay?” Jessie asked him.

Carl looked up. He seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t expected to see them.

“Are you cold? We have a blanket with us. I could go get it for you,” Violet volunteered.

“No, thank you,” said Carl.

“You were right about the lake monster, Carl,” said Henry.

“Yes, Lucy is real,” said Benny. “No matter what Jason says. We had a footprint already. And now we have this paddle to prove it.”

Carl gave Benny an odd look. Then, without speaking another word, he disappeared into the woods, with Wildman right behind him.

As they walked back to the lodge to return the napkins and blanket and thermoses from the picnic, they met Nora coming out of the storage building.

She frowned when she saw the Aldens and Nicole. “Jason told me what happened,” she said. “Is this some kind of joke you kids are playing?”

“No,” said Henry.

“There is no monster,” said Nora. “I practically grew up on this lake. I know it. I would have known if there was anything like a monster in it. There isn’t.”

“Then what took a bite out of this?” asked Jessie, holding up the paddle.

“It got caught on a rock. Or a branch under the water,” said Nora.

“Or bitten by a lake monster,” said Nicole.

“Oh, my goodness! What happened to the paddle?” asked a woman’s voice. It was the young woman who had checked into the lodge the day before.

“Nothing,” said Nora. “Someone turned a canoe over in the lake. I’m about to paddle out and tow it home.”

The man with the woman peered at the paddle. “It looks as if those are teeth marks,” he said.

“They might be,” said Benny. “They might have been made by the lake monster.”

“Lake monster? What lake monster?” cried the woman, looking very alarmed.

At that moment Dr. Lin came hiking into the clearing in front of the lodge. “There you are,” she said to the Aldens and Nicole. She held up the note Jessie had written. “What is all this about finding footprints left by the monster of Lake Lucille?”

CHAPTER 8

Suspects and Clues

“There is no monster!” Nora practically shouted.

“That does it,” the man said. “We’re checking out of here. We don’t need to stay in a place where people think they have seen monsters.”

“But — ” Nora began.

“And we’ll want a full refund,” the man went on.

Nora’s lips tightened. “Fine. I’ll give it to you right now. Come on.” Her chin held high, she led the couple back into the lodge.

“We have a paddle, too. Lucy bit it,” said Benny.

Dr. Lin looked down at the paddle and raised her eyebrows. “It certainly looks as if something might have bitten it,” she said. “Now why don’t you show me these footprints you were talking about. The originals first, and then the cast.”

Quickly they led the way back to the beach. “Right here,” said Benny proudly. He pulled back the protective covering of branches that they had left over the footprints early that morning and pointed.

“Where?” asked Dr. Lin, squatting down.

Benny looked down. His eyes got big. His mouth turned down in disappointment.

The footprints were gone!

“They were here this morning!” Jessie cried. “We all saw them.”

Dr. Lin stood up. “Well, whatever you saw, they’re not here now.”

“We still have the wax cast,” said Violet.

“Yes. We can show you that. And we took photographs and measured it, too,” said Henry.

But when Jessie took the wax cast of the giant foot out of her drawer and brought it into the main room of the cabin to show Dr. Lin, the scientist didn’t look surprised or impressed at all.

She studied it thoughtfully. After a long moment she said, “It is very big and you did a nice job of making a cast of whatever this is.”

“It’s Lucy’s footprint,” said Benny.

“If it is, it is certainly a most unusual footprint,” said Dr. Lin. “In all my studies, I have never come across any animal that had both the webbed feet of a duck and the enormous claws of a tiger. This footprint looks as if it were made by two entirely different species . . . or one. My guess is that it is only one species of animal.”

“Which one?” asked Henry.

Dr. Lin looked up to meet his gaze. “Human,” she said simply. “I’m sorry. I’ve said all along that the existence of a lake monster was not possible. This only proves me right.”

With that, Dr. Lin turned and left the cabin.

“She’s wrong,” Benny burst out. “Lucy is real. I know she is.”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Benny,” said Jessie. “We need some more information. We need to do some more research on Nessie and Champ and on the kinds of animals scientists think they might be.”

“But how?” asked Violet.

“We’re going to take a trip to town,” said Jessie.

“To the library,” guessed Henry.

“But how?” asked Violet.

“We’ll get Nora or Drew to take us,” said Jessie. “Remember what Nora told us? They go to town every Thursday. And tomorrow is Thursday.”

That night at dinner, the Aldens asked Nora if they could get a ride to town the next day.

“To Saranac Lake?” asked Nora. “Sure. What for?”

“We want to go to the library,” said Jessie.

To their relief, Nora didn’t ask them why. She said, “I rely on library books to get me through the winters. Saranac Lake has a nice library.”

After saying good-bye to Watch and Grandfather the next morning, the Aldens found themselves in the big old pickup truck with Drew. He didn’t talk much as he drove. Instead he leaned forward, clenching the wheel tightly and staring at the road. Not until they had reached the outskirts of Saranac Lake did he relax.

“There’s the post office,” he said as he drove down the street. “And the hardware store. And over there is a bookstore. We’ve even got a health food store.”

Drew sounded proud of the town — as if he lived there. “This town has a rich and interesting history,” he went on. “A long time ago, people who were sick with a disease called tuberculosis used to come here to try to get well. Saranac Lake was famous for that. It was called ‘taking the cure.’ Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote Treasure Island, stayed here for a time.”

The Aldens were surprised. “I thought you didn’t like it here,” said Benny. “But you sound like you do.”

Drew looked surprised and then a little embarrassed. “It grows on you,” he said, almost as gruffly as Carl. “Here’s the library. I’ll meet you at the health food store in an hour.”

The Aldens liked the library at Saranac Lake. They quickly found a book with more information about the Loch Ness Monster.

“Look. It says loch is the word they use in Scotland for ‘lake,’ ” said Violet. “The two words do sort of sound the same.”

Henry picked up another book. “And look at this,” he said, keeping his voice low because they were in a library. “Here’s a drawing of what the Loch Ness Monster is supposed to look like. Some people say she is related to a certain kind of dinosaur.”

“Dinosaurs are extinct. Aren’t they?” asked Benny.

“Yes,” said Jessie.

Violet whispered, “Dr. Lin.”

Her brothers and sister looked up.

“What?” asked Henry.

Holding up a piece of paper, Violet repeated, “Dr. Lin. Here’s a piece of paper with her name at the top. See? It says, ‘From the desk of Dr. Kisha Lin.’ ”

“Where did you get that, Violet?” asked Jessie.

“Out of this book. It was marking the place where I was reading about the Loch Ness Monster,” said Violet.

The Aldens studied the piece of paper. “Look. It’s a list of all the books that have information about Nessie and Champ,” said Henry. “It looks as if Dr. Lin has been doing research on them, too.”

As she peered at the paper, Violet said, “But look at the date on the piece of paper. If she was doing research on Nessie or Champ because of Lucy, it was weeks before we got here, at the very beginning of the summer.”

“Why is Dr. Lin researching lake monsters,” asked Jessie, “if she doesn’t believe Lucy is real?”

As they walked back toward the health food store, the Aldens discussed what they had learned.

“If Lucy is real,” said Violet, “why didn’t Nora know anything about her? If she is a relative of a dinosaur, like some of the books thought Nessie might be, she would have had to be in Lake Lucille a very long time.”

“True,” Henry said.

“Maybe Nora did know about Lucy,” said Violet. “Maybe she didn’t want other people to know because she was afraid of driving away business.”

Jessie shook her head. She said, “I hate to say this, but if Lucy had been around for very long, other people would know about her. There would be stories and legends, just like there are about Nessie and Champ.”

“If Lucy’s not real, who is making her real?” asked Benny.

“That’s a good question, Benny,” Henry said. “Who wants us to believe that Lucy is real, and why?”

“Drew,” said Violet. “He wants to sell Lucille Lodge and leave. Maybe he’s trying to scare Nora into agreeing. Or scare off so many people that they go out of business and have to sell the lodge.”

“Maybe. I’m not so sure about that,” said Henry. “But you are right. We have to count Drew as a suspect.”

“And Geena Bush,” said Violet. “She wants to buy Lucille Lodge.”

“Of course she’s a suspect. And of course she and Drew might be working together,” Jessie said.

“Don’t forget Carl,” said Henry. “Remember what Nora said when we first told her about the monster. ‘I don’t understand why Carl picked this summer to make up all these crazy stories about a monster in the lake?’ ”

“But why would Carl want to scare people away?” asked Violet.

“Carl doesn’t like many people, I think,” said Benny. “Maybe that’s why.”

“Yes,” agreed Jessie. “And Carl knows the mountains better than anybody. It would be easy for him to sneak up on shore in the night and leave a fake footprint.”

“And make fake monster calls in the night,” said Benny.

“And he was right there when the canoe turned over. Maybe he did it,” said Henry. “Maybe that’s how he got wet — turning over the canoe, not trying to save Jason.”

“But don’t forget, he was shocked when he saw the bite in the paddle,” Jessie said.

“He was,” Violet agreed. “I don’t think he was just pretending.”

“What about Dr. Lin?” asked Henry.

“But she’s never believed Lucy is real,” said Violet.

“She could be saying that to keep from seeming suspicious. She could be trying to make everyone think there is a monster, because then she could write a paper on it. It would make her famous,” said Jessie.

“She’s pretty familiar with the woods around here from her research,” said Violet. “She could have done all those things herself.”

“But where was she when the canoe turned over?” asked Benny. “We didn’t see her anywhere.”

“She could have swum away while everybody was looking at Jason,” suggested Henry.

Jessie looked doubtful. “Maybe,” she said.

They walked into the health food store and stopped in surprise. Drew and Geena Bush were sitting at a table by the window drinking tea. As the Aldens walked toward the table, Drew got up. “Come up to the lodge for dinner sometime,” he said. “When you find out what a great cook I am, you can tell all your clients and then they’ll come to the lodge, too.”

“I just wish I could convince you to sell it,” said Geena. “But you’re right. It’s beautiful just the way it is.”

Drew smiled slightly. “I have to admit, I don’t always like it. It isn’t the place I imagined ending up as a chef. But I’m beginning to like it.”

They shook hands and the Aldens exchanged glances. Each knew what the other was thinking. Two suspects had just been eliminated from their list.

“Did you find any new clues?” Grandfather Alden asked them when they returned.

“Yes,” said Henry. He, Benny, Violet, and Jessie filled their grandfather in on what had happened during their visit to Saranac Lake.

“Sounds like you are down to two suspects,” said Grandfather Alden. “That’s progress.”

Henry nodded. But he was worried. How were they going to prove that Dr. Lin or Carl was behind the mystery of the lake monster?

The Aldens had just finished dinner and were about to start on dessert when Dr. Lin walked up to their table.

“How is the monster hunt going?” she asked.

“Ah, fine,” said Jessie.

Dr. Lin smiled. “I hear you went into Saranac Lake to the library. It’s a nice library. I did a little research on the possibility of a monster when I first arrived at Lake Lucille. But I reached the conclusion that Carl’s stories were just that — stories.”

Jessie was so surprised, she didn’t know what to say. Without realizing it, Dr. Lin was eliminating herself as a suspect in the lake monster mystery.

“I wish there had been a monster,” Dr. Lin went on. She shook her head regretfully. “Think of what a great discovery that would be!”

“Yes,” agreed Henry, managing to speak at last. “You’d be famous.”

Violet spoke up boldly. “Dr. Lin, where were you the night before last? When you said you were out camping and doing research?”

Without hesitation, Dr. Lin answered, “Near a place called Frozen Gap. I’m not exactly sure how to get there, but Carl could tell you. He’s my guide on my overnight expeditions. I almost never go alone.”

Once again the Aldens were struck speechless. They barely managed to say good-bye when Dr. Lin walked away.

“What’s the matter?” Grandfather Alden asked, looking around at their unhappy faces.

“Oh, Grandfather,” cried Jessie. “If Dr. Lin and Carl were out camping the night the monster footprints were made, then we don’t have any suspects at all!”

“Is something wrong?” asked Nora just then, coming up to their table to refill their water glasses. “You’ve barely touched your desserts.”

“Oh, no,” said Violet quickly. She didn’t want to hurt Nora’s feelings — or Drew’s. “It’s delicious.” She picked up her fork and took a bite of chocolate cake. She smiled. It really was good.

“I’m glad you like it,” said Nora. She glanced across the room toward the table where the Duboises were sitting. “Someone was complaining tonight that we only had chocolate cake for dessert. But when I offered him ice cream, he said he didn’t want that, either. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. He’s been complaining ever since he got here.” She shook her head. “Poor kid. He’s as bad as Drew was when he first got here. He just wants to go back home.”

Nora walked away.

Jessie said in a low, excited voice, “That’s it!”

“What?” asked Benny.

“I think I know who’s been making a monster appear at Lake Lucille. And I think I have an idea of how to catch the culprit!”

CHAPTER 9

A Monster-Maker

Later that night, the Aldens were setting up their trap on one of the paths by Lake Lucille.

“I’m tired of waiting,” said Benny.

“Shhh,” said Jessie.

“I hope Nicole is doing her job,” said Henry. “Otherwise we won’t catch anyone.”

“I put a new roll of film into my camera,” said Violet. “That way we can have lots of evidence.” The Aldens had decided that the best way to catch a monster — a photograph — was the best way to catch their culprit, too.

Watch pricked up his ears and whined slightly. “Is that — ” Benny began.

But a moment later, Nicole came down the path. “I think he fell for it,” Nicole reported breathlessly. “I told him I had heard Nora and Drew talking and that Nora had said that if they had just one more monster incident, she was going to close the lodge for the summer — even if it’s just more footprints on the beach. I said that she said, ‘In fact, if I had seen those footprints, that would have been enough for me.’ ”

“That’s great, Nicole,” said Violet admiringly.

“I know,” said Nicole. “And I pretended to be really upset.”

“Excellent,” said Jessie.

“Now, when he leaves tonight, follow him, but be careful not to get caught,” Henry said.

“And don’t forget your camera,” Benny reminded her. “Just in case something goes wrong with Violet’s.”

Nicole nodded. “I won’t,” she said. “This time, we’re going to have some solid proof of who the real monster of Lake Lucille is.”

The night grew steadily darker. Stars appeared in the black sky. From far away, a bear hooted and a bear cub answered.

“Don’t worry, Watch,” Benny whispered. “They won’t bother us if we don’t bother them.”

As the lights up at the lodge and in the cabins went out one by one, the whole world seemed to be going to sleep. Quiet and calm lay over the lake and the mountains.

Something rustled in the underbrush.

“What was that?” said Violet.

“Just an animal — a raccoon or opossum,” Jessie whispered to her. “Carl told us they liked to go out at night.”

“Oh, yes,” said Violet.

“Shhh,” said Henry very, very quietly.

Everyone froze in their hiding place. Benny put his hand over Watch’s muzzle so Watch wouldn’t bark.

Then a thin beam of light pricked the darkness. It came down the trail. The Aldens could see that someone was walking, half covering the beam of the flashlight with one hand so that it wouldn’t be as bright. Whoever it was wanted only enough light to see — and didn’t want to be seen.

Turning on their flashlights, the Aldens leaped out from their hiding places and ran toward the light.

“Smile!” Violet said as she took a picture.

Jason Dubois was standing in the middle of the path, wearing an awful scowl. Nicole was right behind him.

He held up his hand to shield his eyes. “Nicole? Was this your idea? You’re in big trouble!”

“I’m not in trouble. You are,” Nicole answered.

Then for the first time, Jason realized that Nicole wasn’t the only one on the path with him.

“Who — It’s the Aldens,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“Catching a monster,” said Benny.

“That’s right,” said Nicole.

By the beams of their flashlights, they saw the frightened look that suddenly crossed Jason’s face. “W-What are you talking about?”

“You,” said Henry. “You’re the one who’s been trying to make everyone think there is a monster around here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jason said.

“If you’re not the monster, why are you carrying a monster foot around with you in the middle of the night?” asked Jessie. She pointed to the ground next to Jason’s feet. There was a pair of flippers, the sort of flippers that swimmers use when they go snorkeling. But these flippers were different. They had metal nails taped to the ends of them with silver electrical tape.

Jason said, “I don’t know where those came from. I’ve never seen them before.”

“Then why does one of the flippers have your name on it?” asked Violet.

“Uh . . .” said Jason. “Uh . . .”

“Admit it,” said Henry. “You’re the lake monster. You’re Lucy.”

Suddenly Jason’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, I am. At first I just did it for fun. I found an old air horn in the storage shed that was almost worn out. I wrapped a couple of towels around it and snuck out one night and used it to make sounds like I thought a lake monster would make. And you guys fell for it!

“That’s when I got the idea of trying to make everybody believe there really was a monster. I thought if I could scare Mom and Dad, they’d take us home.”

“That was rotten, Jason,” said Nicole angrily. “When you fell out of the canoe, I thought you were really in trouble!”

“How did you do that?” asked Henry.

“I borrowed a jigsaw from the toolshed when no one was around and cut teeth marks in the paddle. Then I used it to paddle out onto the lake not too far from where you guys were having your picnic.” Jason made a face. “I didn’t count on Carl being around. I was afraid he’d catch on. That’s why I was so rude to him.”

“And the footprints — how did you leave footprints on the beach without leaving any others?” asked Jessie.

“I knew that since it had been raining, the ground would be soft, so I waded all the way over to where I got out of the water. Then I put on the flippers and walked up on the beach to make the footprints. Afterward, I waded back,” said Jason.

“That’s why Watch went to the other end of the porch. He could smell you, or hear you, as you waded back,” said Jessie.

“I guess,” said Jason. “But tonight I didn’t have to wade, because it hadn’t been raining and so the ground was dry and firm. I didn’t know that Nicole was making up everything about Nora being ready to leave.”

“And you kept saying there was no monster so that no one would suspect you,” said Violet.

“But we caught you!” cried Benny. “We tricked you and trapped you and you have the monster feet.”

“Okay, okay,” said Jason. “I did it. What are you going to do about it?”

“Either we tell Nora or you do,” said Henry. “She and Drew are the ones who lost business because of what you did. You at least owe her an apology.”

“I know,” said Jason. Then he said, “I’m sorry. You know, I’m almost relieved it didn’t work. Once I started going out in the canoe and walking around the lake and all that, I started kind of liking it here.”

He pointed to Violet’s camera. “How did you think of that?” he said.

“We did what you did,” said Jessie. “We listened to Carl’s stories. That’s what gave us the idea of taking a picture. Carl’s stories started the lake monster mystery — and they helped solve it, too.”

CHAPTER 10

Who Loves Lucy?

“I don’t want to leave tomorrow,” said Benny. “Watch and I want to stay here forever.”

“I wish we could stay too, Benny,” Grandfather Alden said. “But it’s time to go home. We’ll come back again, though.”

“You are always welcome,” Nora said. “In fact, I’m thinking of renaming Black Bear Cabin. I thought I might call it Lucy’s Cabin.”

The Aldens all laughed. So did the rest of the crowd assembled on the porch of the lodge after dinner. They were waiting for Drew to serve a special cake that he had made just for the occasion.

“Am I too late for cake?” a gruff voice asked from the darkness outside the screened porch.

“Not at all, Carl,” Nora said. “Come on up.”

Carl came up the stairs, pushed open the screen door, and walked onto the porch with Wildman at his heels. He pointed to a place by the door. “Wildman, stay,” he said.

Wildman wagged his tail slightly, lay down, and put his head on his paws.

“We should have brought Watch to dinner,” said Benny.

“That’s okay, Benny. I think Drew made a special treat for Watch. And for Wildman, too,” said Nora.

Just then the lights in the dining room behind them dimmed. They turned to see Drew and Jason walking toward them, holding between them a huge cake decorated with candles. They put the cake on the porch table and said, “Everybody blow out the candles for luck.”

So everyone blew out the candles. Then Drew cut the cake and passed the pieces around.

“This is delicious, Drew,” said Dr. Lin. “What do you call it?”

“It’s the new specialty of the lodge,” said Drew. “Monster cake!” Everyone laughed again — even Jason, who looked a little sheepish. Nora and Drew had forgiven him — and given him a job helping them with the lodge for the rest of the summer. He was already working in the kitchen, learning how to cook. He looked happier than the Aldens had seen him look since they’d arrived at Lake Lucille.

“I like it!” Benny declared.

Everyone agreed with him.

Nora came over to stand next to the Aldens. “Thank you for solving the lake monster mystery,” she said softly.

“We didn’t solve the whole mystery,” said Jessie. “I still don’t know who erased the footprints.”

“Or who turned over Carl’s canoe,” added Violet.

Nora looked a little embarrassed. “I’m the one who erased the footprints,” she said. “I was afraid there really might be a monster — and I didn’t want any proof around.”

“Oh!” said Violet.

A gruff voice said, “And I guess I never really had the monster turn me over in my canoe.”

“You didn’t?” Henry asked. “You made that up?”

“Well, I’ve turned over in my canoe before,” said Carl. “But I made up the story because I was afraid the Parkers were gonna fancy up the lodge and have a lot of careless tourists who didn’t care about the wilderness come up here trampling things and scaring the animals.”

“But we weren’t, Carl. You knew I wouldn’t let that happen,” Nora protested.

Carl nodded. “I realized it after a while. That’s why it shook me up so much when I saw that paddle. I almost felt as if I’d made up a monster and then it had come to life.”

Suddenly a long, low sound echoed across Lake Lucille.

Everyone stopped talking. Wildman raised his head.

“A bear,” said Dr. Lin. “Right, Carl?”

The sound came again, more softly now, before it faded away.

Carl put down his cake plate in amazement. He stared out into the darkness. “It doesn’t sound like any bear I’ve ever heard — or any other animal around these parts.”

“No,” said Dr. Lin softly. “It doesn’t.”

Benny bounced up from his seat. “It’s Lucy,” he said. “See? I knew she was real. It’s Lucy and she’s saying she’s not a monster. She would never bite a paddle or turn over a canoe or hurt anybody.”

“Maybe you’re right, Benny,” said Nora. “Maybe you are right after all.”

Everyone laughed — everyone except Benny. He waved at the darkness in the direction of the lake. “It’s okay, Lucy,” he called. “See you next year!”

The Mystery of the Pirate’s Map

GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER

Illustrated by Charles Tang

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago

Contents

CHAPTER

1 Benny’s Discovery

2 The Legend of John Finney’s Treasure

3 Benny Becomes Famous

4 Lots of Stairs and Millionaires

5 An Unwelcome Visitor

6 Danger, Danger, Everywhere

7 The Helpful Mr. Ford

8 The Final Offer

9 What You See Is What You Get

10 Good News All Around

CHAPTER 1

Benny’s Discovery

It seemed like an ideal afternoon for a walk on the beach. The sky was blue, the breeze was warm, and the ocean was calm and peaceful. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was the mess the storm had left behind.

“Yuck, more seaweed!” six-year-old Benny Alden said as he stepped over another ragged green pile of it. Watch, the Aldens’ dog, tagged along behind Benny.

“And more of these little black shells, broken open,” ten-year-old Violet added.

She picked one up between her thumb and forefinger. “What are they, anyway?”

“I think they’re called mussels,” Jessie said. She was twelve years old and had long brown hair. “I’ll bet the seagulls are happy they’re here. Now they’ve got plenty to eat.”

Benny smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with that!” he said. The others laughed. Benny had a very healthy appetite.

“Tom would know what they are,” Jessie continued. “He knows a lot about this area.”

Tom was Tom Harrison, a retired elementary school teacher and an old friend of the children’s grandfather. He owned and ran a bed-and-breakfast a few blocks inland, and he had invited the Aldens to visit for a week. Grandfather hadn’t seen him in years, and the children were thrilled at the idea of spending some time along the shore. So Grandfather cheerfully accepted his old friend’s invitation. The two men were back at the house now, catching up on old times.

“The storm must’ve been pretty bad,” Henry commented, walking behind everyone else. He was tall and thin, and at fourteen he was the oldest child. His full name was Henry James Alden. He was named after his grandfather, James Henry Alden. “I guess that’s why there are hardly any sunbathers here today. There’s no place to lie down.”

There were all sorts of things from the sea scattered on the beach: thousands of broken shells, small stones, seaweed clumps, and chunks of rotting driftwood. Tom had mentioned that storms were common along the shore. This one had hit the night before the Aldens arrived.

“Oooh! Here’s a pretty one!” Violet said excitedly. She crouched down and picked up a perfectly formed shell. Then she put it in the plastic bag she had brought along.

“Do you think you have enough yet?” Jessie asked.

“Hmm . . . almost,” Violet replied. She had offered to make seashell necklaces for everyone, and now the children were searching for all the perfect shells they could find. Violet was always doing artistic things. She liked to draw and usually brought a pad and coloring pencils with her whenever the Aldens traveled. Her favorite color was, of course, violet.

The Alden children lived with their grandfather in a large and beautiful house back in Greenfield, Connecticut. But there was a time when an abandoned boxcar was their home. After their parents died, they had no place to live. Then they discovered the old train car in the woods. While they were living in it, their grandfather came looking for them. They hid from him, thinking that he was mean. But they soon found out that he wasn’t mean at all.

He took them back to Greenfield and brought the boxcar, too. He put it in the backyard so the children could visit it anytime they wished.

Although there weren’t many sunbathers on the beach, there were other people walking around. A few were wearing headphones and carrying metal detectors. Benny had been watching them for a while. As one man knelt down and dug into the sand, Benny asked, “What is that man doing?”

A stranger’s voice answered, “He’s looking for buried treasure!”

Benny said, “Buried treasure? You mean like gold or something?”

The man shrugged. “Gold, silver, whatever.”

“And what are those things you both have?” Benny asked.

“Metal detectors,” Henry answered, “I think. . . .”

“That’s right,” the man answered, and gave Benny a smile. “It’s called a metal detector because . . . well, because it detects metal.”

“That means it finds metal, right?” Jessie asked.

“Yep. You wave it back and forth just above the ground, and if there’s anything made of metal under the sand”—he tapped his headphones—“you hear a beeping sound in here.”

Benny looked around the beach at the other people who had metal detectors.

“Have you found anything today?” he asked.

The man reached into his pocket and produced two silver coins.

“Do you think they’ve been here for a long time?” Henry asked.

The man nodded. “Probably.”

“Then how come no one else with a metal detector found them before today?”

“The storm,” the man answered. “Whenever there’s a big storm, new things always show up, things that may have been buried too deep for the metal detectors to pick up before. It happens all the time. That’s why all the metal-detector people are out today. This is the best kind of day to find stuff.”

Benny’s eyes twinkled. “Boy, I sure hope I find some old coins!”

The man laughed. “You might; you never know. You just have to keep your eyes open and pay attention as you walk.”

He took another drink from his water bottle. “Well, I’ve got to get back to work. Who knows what other little treasures are lying underground, just waiting for someone like me to find them? Good luck.”

“You, too,” the children said, and the man walked off.

“Oh, boy, old coins!” Benny squealed as they all went back to their seashell search. Suddenly the sand was ten times more interesting to him.

Violet and Jessie both found a few more shells. Henry didn’t have quite as much luck. And Benny, off by himself a few yards from the others, kept a close watch for anything that looked like it was made of metal. Shells were suddenly the last thing on his mind.

As he walked around the side of one particularly large rock, something round and shiny caught his attention. He reached down and grabbed it. Then his shoulders slumped with disappointment—it was nothing more than an old bottle cap. He stuffed it into the pocket of his shorts so he could throw it into a garbage can when he got back to the boardwalk.

He was just about to turn away when something else caught his eye. It wasn’t round and shiny like an old coin, but it still looked interesting. It barely stuck out of the sand and was hiding in the dark space between two huge rocks.

He dropped to his knees and began digging.

“Benny, what are you up to?” Henry asked curiously.

“I’m digging.”

“Digging what?”

“I don’t know. It feels like it’s made of . . . of glass.”

“Glass?” Jessie said, slightly alarmed. She was always watching out for her brothers and sister. Although she was only twelve years old, sometimes she acted and sounded much older. “Be careful, Benny. It might be broken. You could cut yourself.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t—” Henry started to say, then Benny suddenly rolled backward. His prize was in his hand.

It was a bottle.

“Oh, my goodness!” Violet gasped.

“Wow,” Henry said softly.

“Look how old it is!” Jessie exclaimed.

What Jessie said was definitely true—the bottle was very, very old. It didn’t have a nice, neat shape like the bottles the children were used to seeing. And it was sealed shut, but not by a cap. Instead there was a rotting cork stopper in the hole.

“Let me see,” Henry said, kneeling down next to his brother. Benny handed it to him without taking his eyes off it.

“Hmmm,” he said thoughtfully, wiping away the sand. “Looks pretty old. I’ll bet this thing is—”

Then Henry stopped talking, and the others stopped moving. They all saw it at the same time. . . .

There was a piece of paper inside.

“Wow,” Henry said again. “Look at that!”

Benny got up and brushed himself off. He took the bottle back and looked closely at the piece of paper inside. It had turned brown and was cracked around the edges.

“What do you think it is?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but we’ll have to take out whatever’s in the neck to get it,” Henry said.

“Can we go back to the house now?” Benny asked excitedly.

“Sure,” Henry answered, “let’s go.”

The Aldens began walking back, with Benny in the lead. He was skipping along happily with the bottle in hand.

Just before they reached the boardwalk, a woman holding a camera came up to them. She was dressed in long pants and a dark overcoat. This seemed strange to the children because it was such a hot day, but no one said anything.

“What have you found there, young man?” she said to Benny. Her voice was very loud. “I noticed you digging over by the rocks!”

“Ummm . . . I found a bottle,” Benny told her, holding it up.

“Wow, that looks like an old one!” the woman said. “Can I take a picture of it?”

Before anyone had a chance to answer, the woman pulled the camera to her face and clicked off two shots.

“I like to take pictures around the beach,” she told them. “I don’t sell many, but I’d like to. There are lots of pretty things to photograph around here!”

Then she turned and hurried away.

The Aldens looked at one another. Jessie said, “She seemed a little strange.”

“You’re right,” Henry agreed. “Well, let’s get back and see what’s inside the bottle.”

CHAPTER 2

The Legend of John Finney’s Treasure

Tom’s bed-and-breakfast, which also happened to be the house in which he lived, was very large and very old. It sat on a sunny, tree-lined street a few blocks from the beach. A painted sign near the sidewalk said, THE SEA BREEZE MANOR, ESTABLISHED 1919. ALL ARE WELCOME.

The children went up the walk with Benny still in the lead. Then they went into the lobby and shut the door quietly behind them. Henry tapped the little silver bell on the counter. A moment later a man appeared from behind a curtain. He was small and roundish, and he had a full head of white hair. The children’s grandfather was right behind him.

“Hello, kids!” Tom said. He had a wonderful smile, and it matched his sweet and jolly personality. He was everybody’s friend, and he loved people. He told the children that this was the main reason he had bought the bed-and-breakfast. He got to meet new and interesting people all the time.

“Did you all have a good time at the beach?” he asked.

“We sure did,” Henry replied.

“Did you find enough shells for your necklaces, Violet?” Grandfather asked.

Violet held up the bag. “I might be a few short, but I can always go back.”

“Shells weren’t the only thing we found,” Henry added.

“Oh?” said Grandfather.

“Benny found something, too. Show them, Benny.”

“Look at this!” he said proudly, holding up the bottle.

The two men leaned over the counter to have a look. Tom pushed his glasses up. “Wow, that’s a really old one!” he said.

“Where did you find it, Benny?” Grandfather asked.

“It was between two big rocks. Only the top of it was sticking out. And look at this!” Benny said. He turned the bottle so Tom and Grandfather could see the little piece of paper curled up inside.

“What’s that?” Tom asked.

“It’s a small piece of paper,” Jessie answered, “but we have to get the bottle open to see what’s written on it.”

Grandfather took the bottle from Benny and looked at it. “The cork is so old that it would probably break if I tried to pull it. But I’ll bet I could grind it out with a screwdriver.”

“I’ll go get one,” Tom told him.

After Tom brought back the screwdriver, Grandfather pulled a lamp over to a nearby table and sat down. The others gathered around him. He stuck the head of the screwdriver into the neck of the bottle and began grinding out the cork. It was so old and dry that it broke apart easily. Once the neck tube was clear, Tom brought over a long pair of tweezers from his desk.

“I used to use these when I built ship models inside bottles,” he told everyone.

“Oh, so that’s how that’s done,” Violet said. She thought someday she’d like to try that.

Slowly and carefully Grandfather brought out the old piece of paper. Once it was on the table, he turned on the reading lamp, which was very bright. The children moved in closer. Then Grandfather gently unrolled the paper, and everyone gasped.

The paper had turned dark brown over the years, but the drawings on it were still clear. There were some trees, a few rocks, and some squiggly lines that seemed to imply water.

But it was the dotted line that grabbed everyone’s attention. It started at the top of the paper and curved off to the left until it reached the trees. And that’s where the X was. A very large, very dark X.

“Oh, my goodness!” Violet said.

“This looks like . . . well, like a treasure map, or at least part of one,” Grandfather said. “And what’s this here?”

In the bottom right-hand corner, written in letters so tiny that it almost couldn’t be seen, was the name “J. Finney.” Next to it was the number “4.”

“J. Finney. Who’s that?”

All eyes turned to Tom. “You know, it does sound a little bit familiar, but I can’t really—Hey! I wonder if it could be . . .”

His voice trailed off as he hurried out of the room. The others followed him into a little sitting area at the front of the house. On the coffee table were several books about the history of the town.

Tom plopped onto one of the couches and picked up a large black book with the title Cherrystone Harbor, Yesterday and Today on the cover.

“If I remember right, there was a little story in here about—yes! Here it is!”

He put the book flat on his knees so everyone could see. On the left-hand page was the heading “John Finney.” Underneath were a few paragraphs of text. On the other page was a painting of Finney. He was standing on the deck of his ship with his hands on his hips. His long hair was as black as night, as was his tangled mustache. His eyes looked mean, but his mouth was curved in a smile.

Tom handed the book over to Violet and said, “Why don’t you read it for us, young lady?”

Taking the book onto her own lap, Violet smiled and swept her hair back behind her ears. “‘John Alexander Finney was one of the most colorful and eccentric pirates who ever sailed the high seas,’” she began.

Benny’s eyes widened. “Wow! A real pirate!”

Violet continued, “‘He was the captain of his very first ship when he was only nineteen years old, and by the time he was twenty-five he had sailed halfway around the world. He was best known for his wild behavior. He and his men would dock at any port that caught their fancy and go inland for days, causing all sorts of trouble. Like all pirates, John was not only a sailor but also a thief. During his lifetime he stole hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of dollars’ worth of gold, silver, and jewelry.

“‘When he got older, he decided to hide all the treasure he’d stolen over the years. Then he drew a map that showed its exact location. But he didn’t want anyone to find it too easily, so, during his last sailing journey, he cut the map into four pieces and hid each piece in a different part of the world. Over the years, three of the four pieces have been recovered, but the fourth has yet to turn up. It is known that John Finney stopped in Cherrystone on his famous final voyage, so it is possible that he hid the fourth and final piece here during that visit. But so far no one has found it. And this piece is by far the most interesting, because . . .’”

“What’s it say, Violet?” Jessie squealed. “Don’t keep us in suspense!”

Violet looked up. “‘. . . because very near the last piece of the map, so says the legend, lies the treasure.’”

CHAPTER 3

Benny Becomes Famous

After a night of dreams about John Finney’s treasure, the Alden children awoke to breakfast on Tom’s front porch. Jessie and Violet both chose fresh fruit and toasted bagels. Benny chose his favorite, cereal and milk. Henry had scrambled eggs and crisp bacon. But the food went down slowly because the children were too busy talking about what they were going to do after they found the treasure.

“I’m going to buy my own pizza parlor!” Benny told his siblings. “Then I can have all the pizza I want!”

“I’m going to get more art supplies,” Violet said. “And then I’ll take some classes so I can draw better pictures.”

“What’s wrong with the ones you make now?” Benny asked.

Violet smiled.

“What would you do, Jessie?” asked Henry.

“I don’t know. I’d probably just give the money to Grandfather. He’s done so much for us.”

The other children nodded. That did sound like a perfect idea.

Grandfather came onto the porch at that moment, followed by Tom. They both had their plates with them.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Tom asked as he took his seat and jabbed a fork into his eggs.

“We’re going to start at the local library,” Henry told him. The others nodded. This was what they had decided last night, just before they went to bed. “Maybe we can find information about the other pieces of the map. Once we know what the other three pieces look like, we can start hunting for the treasure.”

“Sounds good,” Tom said. “This should be fun for you kids.”

“We love mysteries!” Benny said enthusiastically.

“So I’ve heard. You’ve solved quite a few, haven’t you?” asked Tom.

“Yes, sir. Lots of them,” Benny replied.

“Well, don’t forget about the beach. I heard on the radio this morning that the water’s supposed to be warm all week,” said Tom.

Grandfather took a sip of his orange juice, then said, “You know, I was thinking about something last night. Something about this treasure.”

“What’s that, Grandfather?” Jessie asked.

“It might be best if you didn’t mention it to anyone. I know it’s exciting and everything, but you should keep it to yourselves.”

The children looked at one another in confusion. “Why?” Jessie asked.

“Because I’m sure a lot of other people would love to get their hands on the last piece of the map. Remember, John Finney’s treasure is probably worth a fortune, and there are plenty of people who would love to find it. With the help of that piece, a person could become very, very rich.”

“But we’re not trying to get rich, Grandfather,” Violet explained. “We just want to have fun looking for the treasure.”

“Solving the mystery!” Benny reminded them.

“I know that, children,” Grandfather replied. “But there are other people who want the treasure only so they can get rich.”

“And some of them will do almost anything to get it,” Tom added.

“Are we in any kind of danger?” Benny asked.

“No, not as long as no one else knows,” Grandfather assured them. “You haven’t told anyone else, right?”

Henry answered for all of them. “No, we haven’t said anything to anybody.”

They all went back to their meals, and Henry went back inside to get more juice.

Then Jessie suddenly cried out, “The photographer!”

Tom was so surprised by this that he dropped his fork in his lap. “What?”

“The photographer!” Jessie said again. “Remember, Violet? The lady at the beach as we were leaving?”

“Oh, yes,” Violet said. “I do remember.”

“What are you talking about?” Tom asked.

“A lady with a camera took a picture of the bottle,” Jessie said.

“Really?” Grandfather asked.

“I think she was just walking around, taking pictures,” Violet offered. “It was a pretty day.”

Tom nodded. “Oh, sure, a lot of people do that when they come here.”

“Is it something we should worry about?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t think so,” Tom told her. Then he asked, “But aside from this lady photographer, no one else knows?”

“No,” Jessie said. “No one. I’m sure of it.”

“If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll find pictures of the other three pieces today,” Violet said. “Then we can go looking for the treasure before we head back to Greenfield.”

Out on the sidewalk, a young girl came along on a bicycle. A canvas pouch was tied to the handlebars. She reached into it and pulled out a newspaper with a rubber band wrapped around it, which she then threw onto the front step.

Violet opened the door and picked up the paper. The color picture on the front page caught her attention right away.

“Oh, no . . .” she whispered.

Everyone turned. “What, Violet? What’s the matter?”

She pulled the rubber band off the paper and unfolded it so everyone could see. “Look at this!”

Right on page one was a photograph of Benny proudly holding up his bottle. And the headline underneath, in huge letters, screamed, COULD THIS BE THE MISSING PIECE TO JOHN FINNEY’S PUZZLE?

Tom jumped out of his seat. He looked at the picture closely, then turned the newspaper sideways to read the name of the photographer. It was written in very small print up the left side.

“Oh, no wonder . . .” he muttered.

“No wonder what, Tom?” Grandfather asked.

“Meredith Baker,” Tom said.

“Who’s that?” Violet asked.

“She’s a local lady. Everyone knows her. Of all the people who had to be there when Benny found the bottle . . .” Tom said.

“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.

“She’s very nosy, very chatty, and she’s always looking for something to do. As soon as she got the picture developed, she probably went right to the newspaper. A lot of people around here know that this is one of the places John Finney’s treasure might be buried. I’m sure the newspaper reporters figured it out right away.” Tom sighed and looked at Benny. “Well, so much for keeping it a secret.”

The secret of Benny’s discovery was out now, and nothing could be done about it, so the children went to the town library as planned. They walked in and went straight to the information desk. The woman who was working there, a younger lady with dark hair and glasses, smiled at them. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

“We’re looking for a book on buried treasures,” Jessie said carefully. She didn’t want to say too much.

“Well, our computer catalog is right over there,” the woman said, pointing to a long table in the middle of the room with a row of computers on it. “Just follow the directions on the screen. It’s easy; you’ll see.”

“Thank you,” Jessie replied.

The librarian had been right—the computer catalog system was very easy to use. The children decided to do a subject search for any books about treasures and treasure hunting. There turned out to be eight titles available. As Jessie called out the Dewey decimal numbers, Henry wrote them down on a piece of scrap paper. The library helpfully supplied a small pile of scrap paper and a cupful of pencils next to each computer.

The children went to find the books, and it took them only a few minutes. Henry and Jessie immediately began searching through the index of each one to see if John Finney’s treasure was mentioned.

Violet said, “I’m going to browse through one of the computers for anything else that might help,” then went back to the long table in the main room.

As she began working her way through the computer’s menus, a man walked into the library. He looked vaguely familiar to Violet. He went to the front desk and said, “Good mornin’, Miriam.”

The lady who had helped the children find the treasure books looked up from her desk, saw the man, and frowned.

“Hello,” she said simply. Then she went back to what she was doing.

“Nice day, isn’t it?” the man asked.

“Yes, very nice,” Miriam answered.

“Are you gonna go outside and enjoy it?” the man continued.

By the look on Miriam’s face, she wasn’t the type of person who enjoyed small talk. “No, I’m very busy.”

The man laughed. The room was empty except for Violet, and she was trying to pretend she wasn’t paying attention. “Doesn’t look too busy, miss.”

“I’m paid to be here all day,” the librarian said firmly, “so it’s only fair that I stay here all day.”

The man kept quiet for the next few moments, and Violet breathed a sigh of relief. She went back to tapping away on the computer keyboard to continue her search. But a moment later she heard something that made her heart sink—

She looked over and saw the man pick up a copy of that day’s newspaper, which had been sitting on the front desk. “Hmmm, what’s this?” he said to no one in particular. He studied Benny’s picture and read the story underneath with great interest. “John Finney’s treasure?” he said with a grin. “That’s gotta be worth millions.” The man paused for just a moment, then his eyes widened. “Hey!” he said. “I know this kid!” He held the picture up to the librarian. “I saw him just the other day!”

At that moment Violet remembered who the man was, and her stomach rolled over—he was the man they’d talked to on the beach—the one with the metal detector!

The librarian looked up at the picture, and at first she seemed very annoyed that this stranger had once again pulled her attention away from her work. Then she realized who the child in the picture was. “Oh, my goodness,” she gasped, “that’s—” She pointed in the general direction of the Aldens, then pulled her hand back down, realizing the mistake she had just made.

The man stared at her for a moment, looked in the direction in which she had pointed, then looked back at her. “He’s here?” he asked.

“No, I think I made a mistake. Yes, that’s it. I made a mistake,” she said. But her excuses didn’t fool the man, who was already heading around the counter.

Violet hurried back to where the others were. “We’ve got a problem,” she said nervously.

Henry, with a book in his hands, said, “What? What’s wrong?”

Violet quickly explained what had happened, turning back every few seconds to make sure the man hadn’t found them yet.

“Oh, boy, we’ve got to get out of here,” Henry said. He quickly pieced together a plan. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I’ve got a book here with some information on the treasure. I don’t know how useful it’ll be, but it’s the only book that has something. It’s also got a picture of one of the other map pieces.”

“Too bad we can’t just read it here,” Jessie said. “We could use the copying machine and we wouldn’t even need the book.”

“Well, maybe we can still get lucky.”

Henry said, then proceeded to explain the rest of the plan.

Benny and Henry were heading toward the door when the man spotted them. “Hey, you!” he barked.

The two boys stopped and turned. “Yes?” Henry asked.

The man hurried over to them. “I’d like to talk to you for a moment.”

“Yes, sir?” Benny said.

“I understand you found something on the beach the other day. A piece of an old map?” the man asked.

“Yes, I did,” Benny replied. “Hey, I remember you!”

The man smiled. “You do? Good.”

While he was asking questions, Jessie and Violet tiptoed over to the front desk.

“I’m really sorry about all of this,” the librarian said. “I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay,” Jessie whispered. “But we need your help.”

“Sure, what?”

Jessie brought the book out from behind her back and set it on the desk.

“Could you copy pages thirty-four through thirty-seven for us?”

The woman smiled. “Of course. Just give me a second.”

“. . . I didn’t know what it was,” Benny continued, “so I gave it to the man for five dollars.”

“Five dollars? Do you have any idea how much that treasure is worth?” the man asked.

“Treasure? What treasure?” asked Benny. He and Henry looked at each other.

“John Fin—er, nothing. What I meant to say was, an old bottle like that must be worth more than five dollars. I meant it was a real treasure. And you gave it away for almost nothing,” the man said.

“Not nothing,” Benny corrected him, rubbing his stomach and smiling. “I bought five slices of pizza with the money!”

The man slapped himself on the forehead. “Pizza!” he said to the ceiling.

Back at the desk, the librarian reappeared from the back room with a few sheets of paper. She gave them to Jessie, who quickly folded them and put them into her pocket. Then Jessie took out a dollar bill and offered it to the woman.

“No, don’t worry about it. It was the least I could do after causing you all this trouble. Do you still want the book?” she asked.

“No, ma’am,” Jessie said, “but we’ll put it back on the shelf if you—”

“No need, I’ll take care of it.” She smiled warmly. “Good luck with your search. I hope you find the treasure.”

Jessie and Violet smiled back. “Thanks.” They left the library through the back door.

Fifteen minutes later, Henry and Benny met up with Jessie and Violet at an ice-cream parlor around the corner, just as they had planned. Everyone congratulated Benny on fooling the man from the beach into thinking he didn’t know anything about the treasure. They all agreed Benny should go into acting when he grew up. He just smiled and slipped another spoonful of chocolate ice cream into his mouth.

CHAPTER 4

Lots of Stairs and Millionaires

“I can’t say I’m happy about this,” Grandfather said after hearing of his grandchildren’s latest experience. They were all back on the porch, enjoying the coolness of the late afternoon.

“Oh, James, they’re fine,” Tom pointed out, patting Benny on the back. “I think Benny handled the situation brilliantly.”

“I didn’t like lying to that man,” Benny assured his grandfather, “but I wasn’t sure what he would do if I told him the truth, that I still had the piece of the map.”

Grandfather nodded. “I suppose it was the best thing to do.”

“So, aside from all that, what did you learn about the map?” Tom asked.

“Well, each piece was definitely buried in a different part of the world,” Jessie replied, “just like that book of yours said.”

“And where are the others now?”

“They used to belong to three separate people,” Henry answered. “But according to those pages we copied, they’re now all owned by some millionaire named Winston Walker. He’s the man who found the last piece before Benny found his. He bought the first two and found the third.”

“Did you find pictures of the other three?” Grandfather asked.

“No, just one,” Jessie said. “Violet drew a copy of it and then joined it to Benny’s. There’s a number ‘1’ at the bottom of it, so it looks as though we’ve got pieces number one and four.”

“If we could put all the pieces together,” Violet continued, “they would make a perfect square. The piece Benny found belongs in the bottom right-hand corner, and the piece I drew from the book goes in the top left.”

“Once you find pictures of the other two,” Tom said, “you’ll be the first people to see the complete map in hundreds of years.”

“And then we can find the treasure!” Benny said gleefully.

“That’s very possible,” Tom told him. “Very possible indeed. So what’s the next step in your investigation?”

Henry said, “We’re thinking of going to the historical society, if there is one around here. Maybe someone there could help us.”

“We have one,” Tom said. “It’s inside the lighthouse on the other side of town, near the miniature golf course. It’s like a little museum inside, and there’s a library. Plenty of books to go through.”

“Sounds like just the right place,” Henry said. “I guess we’ll head over there first thing in the morning.”

“Welcome to Cherrystone Harbor’s lighthouse and historical society,” the man behind the front desk said the next morning.

He closed the book he was reading and smiled at the Aldens. “My name is Cliff. What brings you kids here today?”

“We were hoping to visit the library,” Henry replied.

Cliff patted the book. “Interested in brushing up on your local history?”

“Sort of,” Henry said. “We’re visiting only for a few days, but we really like the town.”

“Oh, I see,” Cliff said, nodding. “Well, the library is upstairs and to the left.” He pointed to a staircase on the other side of the room.

The children turned to go. “Thank you,” Henry told him with a polite wave of his hand.

Fifteen minutes and a lot of huffing and puffing later, the Aldens reached the last step. The library was at the very top of the lighthouse!

It was a simple square room with bookshelves for walls. There was a table in the center with a few chairs around it. A window on the left side had been opened, and a cool breeze was blowing the drapes around.

“I’m too tired to even read!” Benny cried, pulling out one of the chairs and slumping into it.

“Yeah, that was quite a climb,” Henry commented, wiping the perspiration from his forehead.

Could John Finney’s treasure be worth all this?

“Well, I guess we should get busy,” Henry suggested, and with that the Aldens began their hunt for information.

This time they decided to keep an eye out for any book that sounded as though it might tell them something about John Finney or his treasure.

Nearly an hour later, after it seemed as though they had gone through every book in the room, Jessie said, “I vote we spend the afternoon at the beach and forget about John Finney’s treasure for the rest of the day!”

“Me, too!” Benny cried out.

“Great idea,” Violet said wearily as she closed another volume.

“Yeah, I guess we should take a break,” Henry agreed, looking out the window at the beautiful blue sky.

“We’re not going to have any luck here,” Jessie said, taking a seat next to Violet. “I’ve looked through all the books on my side of the room, and so has Benny. And Violet has only two left.”

Henry frowned. “Okay, perhaps we’ll go someplace else tomorrow. Any idea where else we might—”

“Oh, my goodness, look at this!” Violet yelped. She held open the second-to-last book. On the right-hand page was a picture of one of the map pieces.

And it wasn’t one of the two the Aldens already had.

“What’s it say, Violet? Read it! And then we’ve got to draw a copy of that piece!”

Violet set the book flat in front of her. “Okay. According to the text, the piece shown here is piece number two. It was found accidentally by a man digging a well in Italy in 1872. It was passed down through his family until eight years ago, when Winston Walker bought it for eleven thousand dollars.”

“Wow!” Henry exclaimed.

“There’s some more information about the first piece,” Violet went on, “but nothing we don’t know.” She smiled as she read on. “It also says that the fourth and final piece has yet to be found.” She looked up at Benny. “You took care of that, didn’t you?”

“Sure did!” Benny said.

Violet read some more, and as she did, her smile disappeared as quickly as it had come.

“What’s wrong?” Jessie asked.

Violet slid the book across to her sister, pointing to a paragraph. Henry and Benny came around and read along over her shoulder. The more they all read, the deeper their hearts sank.

“Oh, no . . .” Jessie said in a whisper.

“‘Oh, no’ is right,” Henry agreed. “Let’s get out of here. After we get back from the beach, we’ve got some serious thinking to do.”

As planned, the children spent the rest of the day along the shore, enjoying the sunshine. In the meantime, Grandfather helped Tom do some repairs on the top floor of the house.

Violet collected a few more shells, then sat on her blanket in the sand and put two necklaces together. She gave one to Jessie, who was lying next to her. Henry and Benny spent most of the time in the water. There were a few people reading the newspaper from the day before, and that worried the Aldens a bit. But happily no one made the connection between the boy whose picture was on the front page and the one who was swimming around in the ocean.

The Aldens left the beach at around four o’clock to head back to Tom’s. They looked like typical tourists with their sandals and their towels slung over their shoulders.

Just before they reached Tom’s street, a shiny black limousine pulled up to the curb next to them. The back window came down, and a man dressed in a suit leaned forward.

“Excuse me,” he said with a smile. “Would you happen to be the Alden children?”

Henry said, “Er . . . yes.” The man was smiling, but for some reason Henry didn’t think he could be trusted.

The man looked down at Benny. “Then you must be the little boy who found the bottle the other day.”

“Y-yes, that’s right,” Benny said.

The man put out his hand to shake. A diamond ring on his fourth finger sparkled in the afternoon sunlight. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Uh, you, too,” Benny replied. He didn’t want to shake the man’s hand, but he didn’t want to be rude, either.

The man reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and took out an envelope. Then he held it open so the children could see what was inside—a thick wad of fresh twenty-dollar bills.

“There’s a thousand dollars in here. That’s a lot of money for a little boy like you. You can have it if I can have that bottle you found. In fact, I don’t even want the bottle. I’d just like to have what’s inside it.”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Benny said.

“Really? May I ask why?” said the man.

“Because I’d have to talk to my grandfather first,” Benny told him.

“Yes,” Jessie said, coming forward and putting her arms around her little brother. “We would have to talk to our grandfather.”

The man pretended to look hurt. “Oh, do we have to get him involved? Can’t we just make a deal right here?”

“I’m sorry,” Henry cut in, “but we really shouldn’t be talking to strangers in the first place.”

The man’s smile suddenly came back. “That’s very smart,” he said, although he didn’t sound as if he meant it.

Then he reached into his pocket again and took out a business card. “Well, when you’re ready to make a deal, after you’ve talked to your grandfather, please give me a call.”

“Ummm, okay,” Henry said, looking over the card quickly.

“Have a nice day, children,” the man told them as the window went back up. Then the car pulled away and was gone.

The others huddled around Henry to see what was on the card. There was nothing but a name and a phone number, and the name made their hearts jump:

Winston Walker

1-732-555-0241

“I think we’d better get back and tell Grandfather and Tom about this,” Henry said sullenly.

“I think you’re right,” Jessie replied. “Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 5

An Unwelcome Visitor

“I’m not surprised Walker turned up,” Tom said as he brought his fork to his mouth. He and Grandfather had made reservations at a nice restaurant called the Crab’s Claw Inn, right on Oyster Bay. “He has obviously been after John Finney’s treasure for years.”

“But how did he get here so fast?” Violet wondered aloud. “Does he live around here?”

“No,” Tom said, “but a man with that much money travels all the time.” Tom snapped his fingers. “He can be anywhere in an instant. He probably saw the story in the paper.”

“Speaking of which,” Grandfather said, reaching into his jacket pocket, “look at this.” He opened the front page of a different newspaper. This one was called the Daily Tribune, and there was Benny’s face again. It was the same picture as last time.

“This is one of the biggest newspapers on the East Coast,” Grandfather said. “Your story is getting around fast. Pretty soon Winston Walker will have a lot of competition for that treasure.”

“So what do we do?” asked Jessie.

“You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to,” Tom replied. “Or you can take Winston Walker’s offer if you wish.” He looked at Benny. “It’s your piece of the map, Benny, so it’s your decision.”

Benny had been playing with his food but not eating it. The others were beginning to get worried. It was a rare moment when Benny wasn’t hungry.

“I want to keep it,” he said firmly.

“So then keep it,” Tom told him. “Have you found out anything about the other pieces?”

The children looked at one another with silent, somber faces, which puzzled Tom. “What’s wrong?”

“We got a picture of one of them, piece number two, but the third piece, well . . . that’s the one Winston Walker found, and . . . he’ll never let anyone else see it or photograph it. He’s the only one who knows what it looks like. That’s what the book in the Lighthouse Library said.”

Tom looked at Grandfather, then back at Henry. “So what are you going to do?”

“We’re not sure yet,” Henry admitted. “We were thinking maybe we could put the other three pieces together and figure out where the treasure is from there, but . . .”

Tom frowned. “I doubt John Finney would make it that easy. Knowing him, he probably made sure you needed all four pieces.”

“That’s what we figured, too,” Jessie said.

Henry sighed, then smiled. “We’ll think of something,” he told them. He wanted to keep a positive outlook on the situation. But deep down inside, neither he nor any of the other Alden children had a clue as to what that something would be.

After they all got back from the restaurant, Tom and Grandfather turned in for the night. The children, on the other hand, decided to play a card game. They sat on one of the beds in the boys’ room. Watch was lying on the carpet near the doorway. Playing games with one another was something the Aldens always enjoyed. But tonight they enjoyed it even more because it helped them forget all about John Finney’s treasure for a little while.

“Do you have a . . . seven?” Jessie asked Benny, holding all her cards in a fan.

Benny giggled. “Nope! Go fish!”

Jessie frowned and took another card from the deck. Then she groaned and took another. By the time she got to her fifth, she was rolling her eyes and groaning. “Who taught him how to be such a good cardplayer?”

“Grandfather,” Henry said. “Remember? He taught all of us how to play.”

Caught up in their card game, the Aldens didn’t hear what was happening in Tom’s backyard. But Watch did hear something. He got up and hurried out of the room. The children, still playing cards, didn’t notice him.

When Watch got to the first floor, he ran to the door that led to Tom’s study and sniffed along the bottom. Then he began growling loudly.

“Do you hear that?” Violet asked. “I think it’s Watch.” The children ran out of the room and hurried down the stairs.

“Watch, be quiet!” Henry said when he got to the bottom. But Watch just kept barking and scratching at the door.

“He must hear something in there!” Violet said.

Without hesitating, Henry opened the door and pushed it back. Then he reached over and flicked on the light. The intruder was almost all the way out the window. If the children had waited another second or so, they wouldn’t have seen anyone at all.

Watch zoomed across the carpet, but the thief jumped down just in time. Then he—or she—hurried across the lawn, swiftly scaled the fence, and disappeared into the night.

Henry snapped his fingers. “Just missed ’em!”

Grandfather and Tom appeared in the doorway. “What’s all this racket?” Grandfather asked.

“There was someone in here!” Benny replied. He looked scared, so Violet came up behind him and draped her arms around him.

“What?” Tom said. “Did you see the person’s face?”

Henry shook his head. “No. When I turned on the light, the person was almost out the window.”

“How strange,” Tom said. “Nothing like that has ever happened here. Someone must know we have the fourth piece of the map.”

He went outside and apologized to the other guests who had awoken because of the noise. If any of them wanted to go to another bed-and-breakfast, he told them, he’d understand. But they all said no, they wanted to stay. They knew it wasn’t Tom’s fault. Since everything seemed to be under control, they all went back to bed.

Coming back into his study, Tom said, “Is anything missing?”

“Here’s the bottle,” Jessie said, standing by the desk.

“And there’s the piece of the map,” Henry said, pointing to it on the table.

“But why didn’t the person take it?” Jessie asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Tom said quietly. “Even if he wanted to draw a copy of it, he couldn’t do it in the dark. Is it possible he just put it down and forgot about it?”

“Maybe he—” Henry began, but then someone came walking into the room.

It was an elderly woman in slippers and a robe. Her hair was the off-white color of old piano keys, and it ran down her back in a long ponytail. She held the robe tightly around her body, as if she were chilly. “Tom? What happened?”

“Oh, hello, Mrs. Carter. How are you?” Tom asked.

“I’m fine, but you don’t look so good. I heard all the commotion,” Mrs. Carter said.

“We had a break-in,” Tom told her. “Mrs. Carter, these are some friends of mine. This is James Alden, and these are his grandchildren, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and the little fellow is Benny. Kids, this is Mary Carter. She’s my next-door neighbor.”

Mrs. Carter and the Aldens exchanged hellos. Then the woman said, “A break-in? Was anything taken?”

“It doesn’t appear so.”

“What were those flashes?”

Everyone looked confused.

“Flashes?” Jessie asked.

Mrs. Carter pointed to the windows. “There were flashes in here. I saw them from my sitting room while I was watching TV Quick bursts of light. About a dozen.”

Tom said, “I’m afraid I don’t—”

“Pictures!” Violet blurted out. “Someone was taking pictures! The light bursts were caused by the flash!”

Tom sighed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably exactly what it was. There are so many reporters and other treasure hunters around here now, it could’ve been anybody. John Finney’s treasure is probably so valuable, some people will risk getting arrested for breaking into someone’s house in order to get their hands on it.”

Then Grandfather added, “So, as you said, it could’ve been anybody.”

“Uh-huh, that’s right. But no matter who it was,” Tom replied, “they’ve got pictures of the last piece of the map now. So if you kids really want to find that treasure, I suggest you do it as soon as possible.”

CHAPTER 6

Danger, Danger, Everywhere!

The next morning the children and their grandfather went to a little shopping village that they had spotted when they first got into town. Originally the children had planned to go alone, but now Grandfather insisted on going with them. Soon after they arrived, however, they split up because the children wanted to get their grandfather a souvenir.

There were dozens of tiny stores in the village, each with its own specialty. One sold nothing but kites, another sold saltwater taffy, and another sold beach items such as bathing suits, suntan oil, and folding chairs. The first store they went into was called Treasures in the Sand.

Jessie saw the sign. “Haven’t we had enough trouble with stuff we’ve found in the sand?” she said with a groan. The others laughed.

Once inside, each Alden went to a different part of the store. Violet was drawn to a rack of matted photos, sketches, and paintings. The ones that she liked she set aside for the others to see.

She had just found a beautiful watercolor of an ocean sunset when she noticed the two men outside. They were standing on the sidewalk, with people moving all around them. One had a little notebook, and a copy of yesterday’s newspaper was sticking out of his back pocket. He also had a pencil tucked behind one ear. The second man had a camera hanging around his neck. Both were watching Benny through the window with great interest. It didn’t take Violet long to figure out who they were—a reporter/photographer team.

Benny was looking for a price sticker on a seagull sculpture when the reporter pointed at him. Then the man said something to the photographer, who brought his camera up to take a shot.

“Benny!” Violet said sharply.

Startled, Benny almost dropped the sculpture.

“Yes?”

“Come here for a second. You’ve got to see this!” Violet said.

Benny walked away just in time. Both the photographer and the reporter looked disappointed. Then they moved closer to the window, determined to find out where Benny had gone.

“What?” Benny asked. “What do you want to show me?”

Violet didn’t have an answer ready. “Huh? Oh . . . this, isn’t this nice?” she asked clumsily, showing him the sunset painting.

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“There’s an even nicer one over there,” Violet said after the two men found Benny again. She took him by the arm and quickly led him to the other side of the store. Then she looked back briefly and saw the men hurrying around to the other window. They had figured out what she was up to.

She went to Henry and Jessie, who were standing together, talking quietly.

“I think we’ve got a problem,” said Violet.

“What? What’s wrong?” asked Jessie.

Violet said, “I’m not going to turn around, but there are two men outside. One has a notebook and the other has a camera. They’re trying to get a picture of Benny.”

Trying to appear as casual as possible, Henry and Jessie glanced over Violet’s shoulder and saw the two men.

“Reporters,” Jessie said with a sigh.

“I’m sure,” Violet said.

“Wh-what are we going to do?” Benny asked.

“I’ve got an idea,” Jessie said. “Stay here. I’ll be right back. Benny, come and stand behind Henry and Violet so those two men can’t get any pictures of you.”

Benny eased out of sight, and Jessie went over to the sales counter, where an older woman was reading a magazine with her glasses perched at the end of her nose.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” Jessie said.

The woman looked down at the pretty young girl and pulled off the glasses. They rested against her chest on a beaded chain. “Yes? Can I help you, young lady?”

“Um, well, would you happen to have a back door?” asked Jessie.

“A back door? Yes, through the stockroom, but it’s not for customer use,” the woman answered.

Jessie looked worried. “Well, could we please use it anyway, my sister and brothers and I?”

“May I ask why?”

Jessie hesitated, unsure of how to answer.

Then she sighed. “Because there are two men outside who . . . we’d rather not see.”

The woman eyed Jessie suspiciously. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“No, no, ma’am, but . . .” Jessie started to say.

The woman turned toward the window. The reporter and photographer didn’t notice. They were too busy waiting for Benny to make another appearance.

“Why does that man have a camera?” the woman demanded.

“I think he’s a photographer for a newspaper,” Jessie said. “Please, we really need to—”

Suddenly a smile spread across the woman’s face. “Are you the children who found that bottle, the one with the map in it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jessie said.

“Did you find the pirate’s treasure?” the woman asked.

“Miss,” Jessie said firmly, “we really need to get out of here. Can we use the back door, please?”

The woman’s smile disappeared. “Well, okay, I guess in this case it’ll be all right.”

“Thank you,” Jessie replied.

The woman led the Aldens to a small door located in a quiet corner at the back of the store.

“Thank you very much, ma’am,” Henry told the lady as he and the others went out. The bright afternoon sun came flooding in around them.

“If you find that treasure, don’t forget about me,” she said. The children only smiled.

Now they were standing in the alleyway between Treasures in the Sand and the surf shop next door. At one end they could see people on the busy sidewalk. The other led to a large parking lot.

“It’s not going to take those two long to figure out what happened,” Henry said.

“I think we should go back to the parking lot,” Violet offered.

“Good idea,” Henry agreed.

It seemed for a moment that they would get away cleanly. But no sooner had they reached the end of the alley than someone at the other end shouted, “There they are!”

All the children turned at the same time. The reporter and photographer were standing there. Everyone remained still for just a second, then the two men started running.

“Let’s go!” Henry cried, and the Aldens took off.

The children reached the other end of the lot at the same time the two men exited the alleyway.

“We need to go back!” Jessie said breathlessly.

“Back? You mean the way we came?” Henry asked, still running.

“No, back to the sidewalk, where all the people are!” Jessie told him. “We’ll lose them in the crowd.”

As if they had rehearsed it a hundred times, all four children turned right at exactly the same moment. They ran up a gently sloping driveway that led to the main road, then made a sharp left turn when they got to the sidewalk.

As Jessie had predicted, there were people everywhere. And since the Aldens were smaller than most of them, they had little trouble blending into the crowd and becoming invisible to the newspapermen.

“Now what do we do?” Violet asked. “They’ll keep looking until they find us!”

“Do you see Grandfather anywhere?” Jessie asked.

Henry took a long and careful look around. “No, nowhere.”

“Let’s go into one of the stores!” Benny suggested.

Jessie ran a hand through her little brother’s hair. “That’s our Benny, always thinking.”

“We can hide in that saltwater taffy place!” he added.

“Yeah, that’s our Benny,” Henry said. “Always thinking . . . about food!”

The children laughed. “It’s a good idea, Benny,” Jessie said, “but we really should hide in a store that no one would expect us to go in.”

“Well, we’d better hurry,” Violet pointed out. “Those two men should be coming up that driveway any moment!”

The children looked around for just the right shop. Which one looked the least interesting to a youngster?

“There!” Jessie said, pointing. “The antique place!”

The others turned and saw the sign YESTERYEAR ANTIQUES.

“Hey!” Violet protested. “I like antiques!”

Jessie grabbed her sister’s hand and took off. Henry and Benny followed close behind. “I know. I do, too. But who would think to look for four children there?” Jessie said.

Henry looked back to see if the two men had made it to the street yet. They appeared just as the children reached the front door of the shop. Fortunately the men didn’t notice.

A little silver bell jingled as the children went in. “Let’s get to the back, where they won’t be able to see us if they walk by,” Henry said.

The back of the store was dimly lit and smelled of must and mildew—as if the whole building were as much of an antique as the things that were in it. The Aldens found themselves surrounded by hundreds of fascinating items from years past: dishes, furniture, paintings, and even some old toys. It didn’t take them long to forget about the two men who had been chasing them. There was so much to see!

For the first time in the last fifteen minutes, they felt as though they could relax. There was nothing to fear here, in the quiet back room of this peaceful little store.

Or was there?

“Well, hello there,” a deep and familiar voice said. The children froze. Then they turned and saw someone standing in the open doorway.

Winston Walker.

“Oh, no,” Jessie said softly.

Walker looked positively delighted. He clapped his hands once, then rubbed them together. “What a pleasant surprise! I didn’t know you children were lovers of fine antiques!”

“We’re not,” Henry told him. “We’re just looking for a present. For our grandfather.”

Walker’s face lit up with joy. “A present? How very thoughtful of all of you! What do you have in mind?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” Jessie said. She didn’t like the way Walker was talking to them. The words were nice, but the way he said them made it sound like he didn’t mean them.

“Well, there are lots of nice things in here. I come here all the time. It’s one of my favorite stores down on the shore. Of course, most of the things in here are very expensive. Possibly more expensive than you children could afford.”

None of the Aldens liked the sound of this. How did he know what they could and couldn’t afford?

“However, if you kids had a little more money in your pockets, then I’m sure you could have anything in here that you wanted.”

“Maybe,” Henry said with a frown. Now he wasn’t sure what was worse—being outside with those two men or being in here with the snobby Winston Walker.

Walker stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Now, let’s see, how could you kids get some more money? Hmmm.” He snapped his fingers and looked brightly at Benny. “I know! You, young man, could sell me that piece of the map that you found! And this time, I’ll double my first offer to two thousand dollars. Now, that’s a lot of money for a little fellow like you to have. I never had two thousand dollars when I was your age—whatever that age might be. So, do we have a deal, young man?” Walker said, taking his wallet out of his back pocket. “It just so happens that I have the cash on me right now.”

“Even if he said yes, he doesn’t have the piece of the map with him,” Jessie said.

This didn’t seem to bother Winston Walker at all. “That’s quite all right, quite all right. I’ll come by the house in which you’re staying and pick it up later. I trust you.”

“How do you know where we’re staying?” Violet asked suspiciously. The others were wondering the same thing.

“Oh, I make it my business to know such things. Yes indeed.” Walker carefully counted out twenty hundred-dollar bills, then held them out to Benny. “So, my young friend, do we have a deal or don’t we?”

“I really shouldn’t without my grand—” Benny began to say.

Mr. Walker’s charm slipped away for a second. “Him again!” he barked. The children froze.

Then Walker’s smile returned. “I mean . . . him? Well, maybe I could throw in a little extra just to be nice.”

“Grandfather’s not interested in your money!” Jessie said.

“Oh, is that right? Well, good for him. I admire that.” He looked back at the youngest Alden. “So what do you say, Billy?”

“It’s Benny,” Benny corrected him.

“Huh? Oh, yes, of course. So how about it, Benny? Would you sell me that piece of the map?” Winston Walker asked.

“I’m sorry,” Jessie said, taking Benny by the hand and leading him back toward the front of the store, “but we have to be going now. We’ve got to find our grandfather.”

“But I—I . . .” The Aldens didn’t hear the rest of Winston Walker’s sentence. Newspaper reporters or not, they would rather be running around in the crowd than in a little antique store with that rude man.

Fortunately, neither the reporter nor the photographer were anywhere in sight. The children found their grandfather about fifteen minutes later, looking for something to read in a paperback bookstore.

CHAPTER 7

The Helpful Mr. Ford

After hearing of his grandchildren’s latest adventure, James Alden decided they would eat dinner that night in the kitchen rather than on the front porch, where they might be seen.

As they all quietly ate their meals, Tom read the latest article about John Finney’s treasure in a paper called the Atlantic Informer. The picture of Benny that Meredith Baker had taken on the beach was still the only one the newspapers had, so they kept running it over and over again.

“Says here John Finney’s treasure is probably worth more than ten million dollars,” he announced. He stroked his chin and added, “I wonder who made up that number?”

Violet, who was looking down at another paper while cutting her steak, said, “This one says it’s worth only four million.”

“Mine says six,” Benny chimed in through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

“Mine says six, too,” Jessie added. Her newspaper was the same one that ran the first story and picture a few days before.

Tom said, “Maybe it is six.”

Henry shook his head. “I don’t know. This one here says twelve.”

Tom whistled. “Wow, twelve million dollars. That’s quite a high price to put on a treasure no one’s even seen in nearly two hundred years.”

All the wild stories surrounding the map and the treasure had become so silly that neither Tom nor the Aldens could take them seriously anymore.

“Hey, Benny, according to this story, you’re eleven,” Violet said, giggling. “I didn’t know you were older than me!”

Grandfather said in a grumpy voice, “And the Atlantic Informer thinks you’re from California.”

“The next one will say I’m from Mars!” Benny told them, and everyone, including Grandfather, broke out into laughter.

When things settled down, Grandfather said, “We really will have to do something soon, before the situation gets any worse.”

“Like what?” Henry asked.

“Like either you try to find the treasure or you let Winston Walker have the last piece of the map,” suggested Grandfather.

“I . . . I don’t like that second idea,” Benny said.

“I don’t, either,” said Jessie. Violet and Henry nodded in agreement.

“Then you’ve got to find the treasure without that missing piece,” said Grandfather. “And that’s not going to be very e—”

The front doorbell rang. Tom got up to answer it. He knew it couldn’t be one of the guests because they all had keys.

The man Tom found on his front porch was so tall and muscular that he almost looked like a giant. A tiny blue knapsack was slung over his shoulder.

“Can I help you?” Tom asked.

“Is this the house where the boy who found the old bottle is staying?” the man asked.

“Can I ask what your interest in the boy is?” Tom wanted to know.

“My name’s Jack Ford. I used to work for Winston Walker,” said the man. “I was with him in Brazil when he found the third piece of the map. I have a feeling you’d like to know what it looks like.”

Tom just stood there, speechless. Then he invited Jack Ford inside.

They all went into Tom’s study. Jack sat in the comfortable chair by the fireplace, his knapsack lying beside him like a sleeping dog.

“First of all, you should know that Winston Walker is a bit crazy. He’s obsessed with that treasure,” Jack began.

“Obsessed?” Benny repeated, not sure what the word meant.

“He thinks about it all the time,” Jack said, pointing to his own head. “It’s like the only thing in the world that he cares about.”

“Oh . . . yeah,” Benny said. “We already noticed that.”

“Why were you in Brazil with him?” Henry asked.

“I was a digger, which means I was good with a shovel,” said Jack. “I’d been all around the world doing that kind of work. But working for Winston Walker was a horrible job. He made us sleep in ratty tents and eat lousy food. We had to work nonstop ten hours a day, and we didn’t get Saturdays and Sundays off.”

Violet said, “That’s terrible.”

“That’s exactly what he was,” said Jack, nodding.

“Then why did you keep working for him?” Jessie asked.

Jack frowned. “Because I thought there’d be a big payoff. I thought as soon as the job was finished, he was going to give us all a huge chunk of money.”

“Why did you think that?”

“He told us whoever found the next piece of the map would get a huge bonus.”

Benny said, “You found it, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. It was under a big banana tree, about a foot down in the ground.”

“In a bottle?” Benny guessed.

“Uh-huh, the exact same type of bottle you found,” Jack told him. “I was by myself, and I ground out the cork with a stick. I wanted to make sure the piece of paper inside was part of John Finney’s treasure map before I went yelling about it. About a year earlier, some other guy thought he’d found it, but he was wrong. Winston Walker fired him.”

“How mean,” Jessie said.

“Winston Walker could be very mean when he was angry. Like I said, he wasn’t the nicest guy in the world. But anyway, I shook the paper out of the bottle, and sure enough, it was the third piece of the map,” Jack said.

“What did Walker do?” Henry asked.

“Well, I went over and showed it to him, and he was as excited as a little kid. All the other workers cheered and carried me around on their shoulders. That night, Walker took us to a nice restaurant. The next morning he gave us our money and sent us back to the United States. But I never got that bonus he promised. He said he’d send it to me, but he never did. In fact, I never heard from him again.”

Grandfather said, “Was it a lot of money, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“It was five thousand dollars. That might not be a lot of money to him, but it sure was a lot to me. Still is.” Jack went on to tell them that he had been sending money to his mother back in the United States. She lived alone and didn’t have enough money. He had told her about the bonus, then called her when he found the piece of the map. They were both very excited. He promised to give her the money so she could finish paying for her house.

“That’s so awful,” Violet said sadly. “And to think I felt sorry for Winston Walker.”

“Oh, you still should,” Jack replied. “His greed is a disease, just as bad as any other, and worse than some. It controls him.”

“So then why have you come here?” Tom asked. “I mean, why are you so willing to tell us what the third piece looks like? How come you’re not interested in getting the piece Benny found so you can have the treasure for yourself?”

“Because I don’t want to end up like Walker,” Jack replied. He became thoughtful. “If I found the treasure and became rich, I might start acting like him and thinking like him. He thinks money brings you happiness, but he’s one of the unhappiest people I’ve ever known. And because he’s so unhappy, he makes other people unhappy. I’m not saying all rich people are unhappy, but he certainly is.”

Suddenly Violet did feel sorry for Walker all over again, although she didn’t say so.

“I made a promise to myself—if I was alive when the last piece was found, I swore I would go to the people who found it and let them know what the third one looked like. I know Winston Walker hasn’t let anyone else see it. Only two people in the world know what it looks like—Winston and I.” Jack took a sip of the lemonade Tom had given him. “Either way, I’ve always had a good memory, and I know exactly what’s on that third piece. I’ll be glad to tell you about it. I saw Benny’s picture in the paper while I was at my home in upstate New York. I’m glad that someone else has a chance to find that treasure.”

Tom took out the drawing that Violet had made of the three pieces of the map and laid it on the table. The missing part was in the lower left-hand corner.

With pencil in hand, Jack slowly and carefully began adding the final images. There were some more trees, a few rocks, and, strangely, a bird sitting on its nest. He drew six of these, all of equal size.

“Is that a . . . a nesting bird?” Jessie asked.

“Yes. I was surprised by that, too. I’m not sure what it means. Birds nest all over the world,” said Jack.

“This is probably the first time anyone’s seen this map in its complete form in two hundred years,” Tom said almost in a whisper.

“Can you tell where the treasure is, Mr. Harrison?” asked Henry.

Tom scratched his head. “No, not yet. I guess it would be safe to say this is the ocean over here,” he said, pointing to the squiggly lines. “And these trees . . . well, they could be any trees. Same with the rocks. But the birds . . . why do they seem familiar?”

He walked around the room, stroking his chin while the others kept studying the map. He stopped at the window and stared into the backyard. There were some birds fluttering around the feeder he had hung from one of the trees. He watched them for a moment, hoping they would help him remember. But nothing happened.

And then it hit him.

“The nature trail!”

Everyone turned at once. “Huh?” Henry grunted.

“There’s a nature trail over near the bicycle path. I used to go there with my students. About a mile down, there’s a bird sanctuary. The Department of Environmental Protection declared the area a protected nesting site so no one could build on it. Birds have been nesting there for hundreds of years!” Tom rushed over and looked at the completed map again. “That has to be it. It has to be. And this part here, where the X is . . .” He tapped the spot with his fingers. “That must be the little grove of pine trees. They’re very, very old. That has to be it,” he said again, softly to himself. “It has to be. . . .”

CHAPTER 8

The Final Offer

“Okay, so do we have it all figured out?” Tom asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning. It was nearly ten o’clock now.

Jack Ford had been gone for about two hours. Before he left, he wished them all good luck. He had shown no interest in finding the treasure.

Henry nodded. “I think so. We all get up before sunrise. You and I go to the shed in the backyard and get the shovels. Then we load them into Grandfather’s station wagon, which is parked around the corner.”

“Right” Tom said.

“While we’re doing that, everyone else can gather up some food and something to drink,” Henry said. “And then we all sneak out to the car and head for the nature trail.”

“Now, what happens if we don’t—” Jessie began, then was abruptly cut off.

“Well, isn’t this nice?” said a deep, powerful voice. All heads jerked up, and there in the doorway stood Winston Walker.

“How did you—” Tom began.

“The front door was open, so I let myself in,” Walker replied.

“What do you want?” asked Grandfather.

Walker folded his arms and smiled. “I think you all know why I’m here. You have something that I want.”

“The last piece of the map,” Henry said.

“Exactly right. I’m guessing the reason you didn’t take my latest offer was because it was too low. I should’ve known. Two thousand dollars doesn’t buy much these days. So, I’m prepared to make it three thousand.”

Walker let his offer linger for a moment.

“No? Then how about four? I’m afraid that’s my final offer.”

“What do you think, Benny?” Grandfather asked. “You found the bottle, so it’s your decision. Whatever you want to do is fine with us. Right, kids?” They all agreed that it was.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Walker, but I don’t think I’d like to do that,” said Benny. After all that had happened, he wanted to find the treasure for himself.

Walker began tapping his right foot, and his hands went into his pockets. Suddenly his smile seemed forced. “May I ask why, Benny?”

“I . . . I just don’t want to,” Benny answered.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Walker,” Tom said, “but since Benny obviously isn’t interested in making a deal with you, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to—”

“I don’t understand!” Winston Walker said forcefully, his face turning red. “I’m offering you four thousand dollars! In cash! No kid has that kind of money! All you have to do is give me that lousy little piece of paper that you found on the beach!”

“But he doesn’t want to,” Jessie said angrily

“Mr. Walker—” Tom started saying, but the millionaire didn’t seem to hear him.

“I’ve been looking for that treasure longer than anyone! I have a right to it! I’ve spent thousands of dollars and half my life trying to find it! It belongs to me! ME!”

No one said anything. They just stared. Walker looked as though he were about to explode.

Then Grandfather stood up, walked to Tom’s desk, opened the top drawer, and took out the piece of the map that Benny had found. Winston Walker’s entire manner changed instantly. His eyes widened and his smile returned.

“Is that it?” he asked excitedly.

“Yes, it is,” Grandfather answered. “This is the fourth and final piece to Captain John Finney’s treasure map.”

“Can . . . can I have it?” Walker asked, reaching toward it from the other side of the room.

Grandfather shook his head. “No, you can’t. My grandson found it, which means it belongs to him, and he already said you can’t have it.”

“Now, look here,” Walker began sternly, taking a quick step toward Grandfather Alden.

Grandfather grabbed the telephone off its cradle and held it up. “Mr. Walker, my good friend Tom, who I might remind you is the owner of this house, has already asked you once to leave. I’m now asking you a second time. If you don’t do so at once, I will have no choice but to call the local police. They are as aware of all this treasure business as you are, and I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate a wealthy and important gentleman like yourself giving a group of innocent youngsters a hard time.” Grandfather’s face was serious.

A heavy silence hung in the room. All eyes shifted to Winston Walker, but no one moved. Walker seemed to be thinking over Grandfather’s statement.

Walker’s expression was transformed from one of helplessness back to thinly contained rage. “All right, Mr. Alden. You win. I can see I’m not going to get anywhere with you people.”

“Maybe if you had been a little kinder, things would be different,” Grandfather Alden told him.

For just a brief moment, Walker seemed confused again, as if the idea of being kind were the most bizarre thing in the world. Then he smiled and said, “It doesn’t really matter what might have been, Mr. Alden, because I’ll find another way. I didn’t become such a wealthy and successful man by giving up a fight this easily.” He stormed across the room toward the door. “This isn’t over yet, not by a long shot!” he growled. He seemed to be talking to himself. “You’ll hear from me again!” he called out just before he slammed the front door shut. And then he was gone.

“We’re going to have to keep our eyes and ears open,” Tom said. “One thing he said was absolutely true—he’s not the kind of man who gives up easily. I have a feeling we’ll hear from him again.”

“Probably” Grandfather said.

“So what do we do now?” Henry asked.

Grandfather replied, “We stick to our plan for tomorrow.”

“Really?” Benny said with great enthusiasm.

“Really Winston Walker’s not the only one who doesn’t give up, right?”

“Right!” Benny cheered.

“Okay, then, let’s go over the plan one more time,” Grandfather told them.

CHAPTER 9

What You See Is What You Get

“We’re almost there,” Tom said, huffing and puffing. It was a very hot day.

“I hope I have enough strength left to dig!” Benny said.

“You will,” Henry told him. “If no one digs, we won’t find the treasure.”

The Aldens’ plan to escape early in the morning so none of the newspaper people would see them had worked perfectly. There hadn’t been a single reporter or photographer in sight.

“I wish I’d brought my camera,” Violet said as she walked down the sunlit trail. The tall reeds on either side of the path created a sort of natural corridor, hiding the group from plain view. “This is such a pretty place.”

The path brought them to a small footbridge that spanned a shallow stream, then curved sharply to the left before leading them into an open field.

“And there are the birds,” Tom said.

There were hundreds of them scattered all over the place, sitting on their little nests made of twigs and straw. They looked up curiously at the visitors, but none of them seemed too alarmed.

“Wow,” Violet said in a whisper.

“I’ll bet John Finney saw the very same thing,” Henry said.

“Maybe he stood just where we’re standing just now!” Benny guessed.

“That’s possible,” Tom replied. “And look over there.”

He pointed a little farther down the path. There in the distance, standing out from the other trees, was a small crowd of crooked pines.

“The pine trees!” Benny said.

“Yep,” Tom told him. “If the treasure’s not buried in there somewhere, then I have no idea where it is.”

“Are we ready to find out?” Grandfather asked.

“Ready,” Henry said, patting his shovel.

Checking the map one more time, Tom made his best guess as to exactly where the treasure was buried. Then he and Grandfather sat back and let the children do the digging. The loose, sandy soil was easy to cut into, but the growing heat of the day made the work exhausting.

After about an hour the children had made a hole nearly four feet deep and just as wide. Then they stopped to take a rest and have a drink.

“Boy, I’m beat!” Henry said as he poured out a cup of the ice-cold lemonade for Jessie. “And that hole’s pretty deep. How far down could the treasure be?”

“Maybe we’re not digging in the right place,” Violet pointed out.

Tom studied the map again. “Well, if it’s not here, then I know one or two other places it might be, but that’s about it. I still think it’s here, though.”

“What if we don’t find it?” Benny wondered.

“Then we don’t find it,” Jessie answered. “We’ll be no worse off than we are now.”

Benny considered this for a moment, then nodded. “That’s true.”

Grandfather smiled. He was proud of his grandchildren for not being so concerned with finding the treasure. They were happy on the inside, and finding or not finding the treasure wouldn’t change that.

Henry took another long sip from his cup, then set it aside and said, “Well, I’m going to get back to work. If the treasure’s down there, we’ve got to find it.”

Then a voice—an unpleasantly familiar one—said, “Yes, you do. You’ve got to find it so you can give it to me.”

Once again Winston Walker appeared out of nowhere. “So nice to see you all again,” he said with his usual charm. “And it’s even nicer to see that you’ve started digging already.”

“How did you find us?” Jessie asked. She couldn’t help it. “You never had the last piece.”

“I know, but shortly after I left you all, I was paid a visit by a charming little photographer lady.” He pulled a picture out of his pocket and held it up for everyone to see. “And look what she had for me—a very nice shot of the last piece of the map. Seems she was in the right place at the right time a few nights ago.”

“Meredith Baker,” Jessie said.

“Yes, I believe that was her name,” said Winston Walker. “She’s quite a businesswoman. This picture cost me a pretty penny, but at least it led me here. I congratulate you youngsters on your detective skills. It seems as though you have solved the mystery of the pirate’s map. And I was hoping to do that myself,” Walker told them.

“They haven’t found the treasure yet, Mr. Walker,” Grandfather said sharply.

“I can see that. But if they do, I know they’ll be sensible and hand it over to me. After all, I’m the one who’s spent half of his life searching for it.”

The children looked at one another as they stood in the hole they’d dug. Then Benny sighed and said, “You can have whatever we find, Mr. Walker. It seems like you want it a lot more than we do. We don’t need it.”

A smile spread across Winston Walker’s face. “That’s just what I wanted to hear.”

Grandfather and Tom both smiled, too, but not for the same reason. They were proud of the children, proud of the way they decided not to fight with Winston Walker over the treasure. They weren’t controlled by greed like he was.

So they went back to digging, and Walker watched them with great eagerness. No one spoke, no one laughed, no one even smiled. The fun seemed to have gone out of this treasure hunt for the Aldens. Now all they wanted to do was find the treasure so they could be done with this business. There were still a few days of their vacation left that they could enjoy.

Another half hour passed, and the hole became another foot deeper. But still there was no sign of any treasure.

Henry was just about to suggest that they try a different spot when his shovel hit something hard—

Clink!

Everyone froze. Walker’s eyes widened. He took a step forward.

“What was that?”

“I think I hit something,” Henry said. “Something made of metal.”

“Keep digging, keep digging!” Walker commanded, making wild gestures with his hands.

Jessie, Violet, and Benny climbed out of the hole to give Henry more room. A little more dirt had to be removed before the object’s identity became clear—it was an old iron box.

“Faster! Faster!” Walked urged.

Henry didn’t like being bossed around by this man, but he quietly kept digging anyway.

Hardly another moment had passed when Winston Walker finally ran out of patience. Much to everyone’s shock and surprise, he jumped into the hole next to Henry, dropped to his knees, and began digging around the box with his bare hands. Soon his expensive clothes were covered with dirt, but he didn’t seem to care. “So many years of searching . . .” he mumbled to himself, “and now it’s mine . . . all mine. . . .”

It took another fifteen minutes before the box was loose enough to move. Walker put his hands on either side of it and pulled mightily. It came free on the third try.

Tom and the Aldens came forward, and Walker got to his knees. The box was fairly large. There was a small padlock at the front, and it was caked with rust.

The millionaire grabbed a large rock and smacked the lock with all his might. Being so old, it broke off on the first shot.

“And now,” he said aloud, “at last . . .”

He pushed the lid back and took a good long look at what was waiting for him inside. Then the smile slowly melted from his face.

Nothing was there except a small, rotted leather pouch.

Winston Walker looked as pale as a ghost. He didn’t move for a long time. He just stared at the pouch with wide, unbelieving eyes.

Then he picked it up slowly, looked at it some more, and shook its contents into his other hand. There were only two items inside—a single gold coin and a piece of paper about the same size as each of the map pieces.

“What does it say, Mr. Walker?” Violet asked quietly.

Walker read it once in silence, as if he hadn’t heard Violet’s question. Then he cleared his throat and began out loud:

Whoever you are, I congratulate you on your cleverness. It is my hope that the adventures you have undertaken to find this have caused the blood in your veins to run both hot and cold. I have devoted most of my life to seeking out excitement, and it was one of my last wishes to help someone else do the same.

As for my riches, you have already found them—this single gold coin. It is all that is left of the great fortune I gathered during my many journeys on the high seas. The rest of it has been given away to my relatives and my friends. In my old age, I find I no longer have any use for it.

My best wishes and congratulations again to you, wise adventurer.

Captain John Alexander Finney

Another moment passed in silence. Winston Walker remained still, staring at the note with his mouth open.

Finally, Benny surprised everyone by crouching down and patting Walker on the back. “Sorry, Mr. Walker,” he said quietly. Then he stepped back.

Everyone thought Walker was going to explode in anger. But instead, much to their utter amazement, he just let out one small sigh.

“What have I done?” he asked the Aldens. “I’ve spent my whole life looking for . . . for nothing. There was never any treasure at all, never. All the time and money I’ve spent, flying all over the world, day and night, thinking about it. And all the people . . .” He looked at the children. “All the people I’ve hurt. What have I done?”

Violet stepped forward. “You could start making up for it,” she suggested. “It’s never too late.”

Walker said, “How? How can I undo all of this?”

Grandfather said quickly, “You could start by giving Jack Ford the five thousand dollars you owe him.”

“Jack Ford?”

“Yes, the man who found the third piece of the map for you. You promised a five-thousand-dollar bonus to whoever found it, and you never paid up,” Grandfather said.

Walker appeared to think about this for a moment, then he nodded slowly. “Yes, yes, I do remember that. I thought he got that money.”

“No, Mr. Walker, he never did. And he was going to use it to help his mother finish paying for her house. Because you never gave him the money, he had to keep working to give her a little extra every few weeks. The house still isn’t paid for,” said Grandfather.

Walker straightened up. “Then it will be,” he said firmly, and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he meant it. Only part of him was sad now. The other part was angry, not at John Finney for not leaving any treasure, but at himself for all the wicked things he’d done while chasing it. “I’ll not only pay for his mother’s house, I’ll buy her a new one, and him, too.”

At that moment someone came running around the bend. Everyone turned and was amazed to find Meredith Baker standing there, huffing and puffing, out of breath.

“Did he hurt any of you?” she asked abruptly.

“Huh?” Benny said.

“That Winston Walker character. Did he hurt any of you?”

Grandfather answered for everyone. “Well, no. Who are you?”

“This is the person who broke into Tom’s house,” Jessie said coldly. “Meredith Baker.”

Tom turned and gave the woman an angry look, but she put a hand up in defense.

“I’m sorry about that, Mr. Harrison, I really am. That’s why I’m here. I knew Walker would want that last piece of the map, and I knew you guys would never give it to him, so I figured I could make a quick buck by getting a picture of it and selling it to him.”

“You should be ashamed!” Benny scolded her, but Henry quickly hushed his little brother.

“You’re right, I should. That’s why I’ve been following all of you. After I sold the picture to Walker last night, I couldn’t sleep, and it took me half the night to figure out why—I felt bad and was worried about what might happen to you kids. By the next morning I knew I had to do something about it.”

Meredith reached into her pocket and pulled out a huge wad of cash with a rubber band around it. She threw it at Winston Walker, who caught it against his chest.

“You can have your money back, Mr. Walker,” she said. “I don’t want it. I know what people around this town think of me. I know they think I’m a little strange. But I’ve never committed a crime before, not until the other night.” She turned to Tom and continued, “Mr. Harrison, I’m truly, truly sorry for what I did. Not only was it a crime, but it was just plain wrong. If you want to press charges against me, I’ll understand.”

All eyes turned to Tom, who appeared to be thinking over Meredith’s offer. He began stroking his chin. “You know, I was thinking of putting together a nice color pamphlet advertising my inn, but the one thing I can’t do is take a really good picture. You wouldn’t happen to know any top-notch photographers, would you?”

Meredith stared blankly at Tom for a long moment. Then a broad smile spread across her face. “Actually I think I do know someone. She’s very good and I’m sure she’d do it for free.”

Tom nodded slowly. “Is that right? Gee, she sounds perfect. Why don’t you ask her to come to the house—through the front door this time—next Wednesday.”

Meredith’s smile grew even wider. “I sure will, Mr. Harrison. I sure will.”

“Great,” he replied. And with that, Meredith Baker turned and walked away, looking very happy.

Grandfather folded his arms and looked back at Winston Walker. “So, now, what were you saying before?” he asked sternly.

Walker said, “I was talking about Jack Ford and his mother, and how I’m going to buy a house for each of them.”

“Oh, yes, of course. That’s a very nice gesture, Mr. Walker,” Grandfather told him, “but will you stick to your word?”

Winston Walker looked right into Grandfather Alden’s eyes. “You better believe I will. I’ll make things right with him, and with a whole lot of other people, too.”

He climbed up out of the hole and brushed some of the dirt from his clothes. “Then I’m going to do something nice for you kids,” he said.

“There’s no reason for you to do that, Mr. Walker,” Grandfather replied, but Winston Walker was already waving his hand.

“No, no, I insist. It’ll be the right thing to help me get . . . well, get better, I guess.”

For the first time since Grandfather met Winston Walker, he felt a little bit of fondness for him.

“Good for you, Winston,” Grandfather said, patting him on the back.

“Yeah, good for you,” Benny added with a smile.

Winston Walker smiled back at the youngest Alden and said, “Here—Benny—you can have this.”

He thumbed John Finney’s single gold coin into the air, and Benny caught it.

“Wow, thanks!” Benny said.

“You’re welcome. And now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“Good luck,” Jessie said.

“Thanks,” Winston Walker replied, then turned and headed back down the sunlit nature trail. He reached the curve before the footbridge, followed it into the reeds, and was gone.

CHAPTER 10

Good News All Around

There were only two days of vacation left for the Aldens, and they were determined to spend them both at the beach.

Benny and Henry were playing in the ocean, running around and splashing each other, while Jessie and Violet lay on their towel, reading. Grandfather sat nearby in a folding chair, resting peacefully with his hands folded together on his chest. In the sand next to him was a little transistor radio broadcasting the day’s baseball game. There were hundreds of other sunbathers around, and for the first time none of them showed any interest in Benny. The great mystery of John Finney’s treasure had finally been solved, and most people found the outcome more funny than anything else. It was yesterday’s news. It had already been forgotten.

Tom came back from the boardwalk carrying a large cardboard box. “Food’s here!” he called out. Benny turned quickly. He and Henry hurried over.

“Let’s see, now . . . a hot dog for Henry, a hamburger for Violet, a cheeseburger for Jessie, some fries with each of those orders, and of course one of everything for Benny.”

“Oh, boy, I’m starving!” Benny cried out excitedly, jumping up and down.

“What would you like first?” Tom asked.

“Ummm . . . the hot dog!” Benny replied.

Tom lifted one dog out of the box and handed it over. “There you go. Hey, James, your food is here.”

Grandfather pushed up his sunglasses. “Thanks, Tom. That should hit the spot right about now.”

Everyone ate quietly while they listened to the game and watched other people playing in the waves.

When Grandfather was finished with his hamburger, he reached alongside his chair to get his copy of the day’s newspaper.

“Did anyone see this?” he asked, displaying the front page. Right in the center was a picture of Winston Walker shaking hands with another man. Behind them was the old lighthouse where the town’s historical society was located. The headline underneath the picture read, MILLIONAIRE TO DONATE PROFITS FROM BOOK DEAL TO LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

Jessie said, “Book deal? What book deal? I didn’t know he wrote a book.”

“He hasn’t yet,” Grandfather told her, “but he’s going to. According to the article, it’s going to be called Fool’s Gold and it’s going to be partially about his worldwide search for John Finney’s treasure. But mostly it’s supposed to be about the foolishness of spending your whole life chasing nothing but money.” Grandfather looked at the picture and shook his head. “He’s been offered half a million dollars for the book. Even when he’s not trying to make money, he still does.”

“Some people are just like that,” Tom said.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention that Jack Ford called this morning,” said Grandfather.

“What did he say?” Benny asked eagerly. He and the other children had grown fond of him during his short visit.

Grandfather smiled. “It was hard to tell. He seemed a bit . . . in shock. He mumbled something about Winston Walker paying off his mother’s house, and then buying her a new one. Then he bought one for Jack, too. They’ve both already been paid for. Jack didn’t know what to say. He was speechless.”

“It’s wonderful that Winston Walker kept his word,” Violet pointed out.

“It sure is,” Tom told her.

He had not only kept his word about Jack Ford, but also about giving something to the Aldens, too. The morning after finding John Finney’s box, a personal note from Winston came for the Aldens at Tom’s house. It said simply that there were four brand-new bicycles waiting for the children at their favorite shop when they got back to Greenfield.

Grandfather laughed. “Jack wanted to know what made Winston change so quickly. I told him it was because of John Finney’s treasure.”

Benny looked confused. “But . . . there was no treasure.”

“Oh, yes, there was,” Grandfather said wisely. “Only it wasn’t the kind of treasure Winston Walker was expecting.”

Benny didn’t quite understand what Grandfather meant, but Jessie did. “He found out what he had become, and he was given the chance to change it,” she told everyone.

Her grandfather jabbed a finger at her. “Exactly,” he said proudly. “So it looks as though everything did turn out for the best.”

“It sure did,” Tom agreed.

Benny finished the last bite of his hamburger and looked back at the ocean. He really wanted to get into the water again, but he knew he shouldn’t so soon after eating.

Then something caught his eye that made him jump up off his towel and run down there anyway—it was a bottle, bobbing back and forth in the foam.

He rushed in and grabbed it before the next wave could pull it back out. It was very, very old, much older than John Finney’s . . . and was that a small piece of paper with something drawn on it inside?

No, Benny saw after his imagination calmed down. The bottle was no older than he was; it simply had been designed to look old. And the paper he saw wasn’t on the inside. It was the bottle’s label, pasted on the other side.

He brought it back to where everyone was sitting so he could throw it in the trash when they left.

“Another treasure map, Benny?” Grandfather asked.

Benny shook his head. “No, but maybe that’s okay.”

He laughed then, and the others laughed with him.

Two days later the Aldens were back in Grandfather’s station wagon, cruising north toward Greenfield, headed for home.

About the Author

GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children, quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

THE BOXCAR CHILDREN

SURPRISE ISLAND

THE YELLOW HOUSE MYSTERY

MYSTERY RANCH

MIKE’S MYSTERY

BLUE BAY MYSTERY

THE WOODSHED MYSTERY

THE LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY

MOUNTAIN TOP MYSTERY

SCHOOLHOUSE MYSTERY

CABOOSE MYSTERY

HOUSEBOAT MYSTERY

SNOWBOUND MYSTERY

TREE HOUSE MYSTERY

BICYCLE MYSTERY

MYSTERY IN THE SAND

MYSTERY BEHIND THE WALL

BUS STATION MYSTERY

BENNY UNCOVERS A MYSTERY

THE HAUNTED CABIN MYSTERY

THE DESERTED LIBRARY MYSTERY

THE ANIMAL SHELTER MYSTERY

THE OLD MOTEL MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN PAINTING

THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE MIXED-UP ZOO

THE CAMP-OUT MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY GIRL

THE MYSTERY CRUISE

THE DISAPPEARING FRIEND MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST

MYSTERY IN THE SNOW

THE PIZZA MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY HORSE

THE MYSTERY AT THE DOG SHOW

THE CASTLE MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST VILLAGE

THE MYSTERY ON THE ICE

THE MYSTERY OF THE PURPLE POOL

THE GHOST SHIP MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY IN WASHINGTON, DC

THE CANOE TRIP MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN BEACH

THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CAT

THE MYSTERY AT SNOWFLAKE INN

THE MYSTERY ON STAGE

THE DINOSAUR MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN MUSIC

THE MYSTERY AT THE BALL PARK

THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE HOT AIR BALLOON

THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE

THE PILGRIM VILLAGE MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN BOXCAR

THE MYSTERY IN THE CAVE

THE MYSTERY ON THE TRAIN

THE MYSTERY AT THE FAIR

THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST MINE

THE GUIDE DOG MYSTERY

THE HURRICANE MYSTERY

THE PET SHOP MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE SECRET MESSAGE

THE FIREHOUSE MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY IN SAN FRANCISCO

THE NIAGARA FALLS MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY AT THE ALAMO

THE OUTER SPACE MYSTERY

THE SOCCER MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY IN THE OLD ATTIC

THE GROWLING BEAR MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER

THE MYSTERY AT PEACOCK HALL

THE WINDY CITY MYSTERY

THE BLACK PEARL MYSTERY

THE CEREAL BOX MYSTERY

THE PANTHER MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN’S JEWELS

THE STOLEN SWORD MYSTERY

THE BASKETBALL MYSTERY

THE MOVIE STAR MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP

THE GHOST TOWN MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK RAVEN

THE MYSTERY IN THE MALL

THE MYSTERY IN NEW YORK

THE GYMNASTICS MYSTERY

THE POISON FROG MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY SAFE

THE HOME RUN MYSTERY

THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES

THE MYSTERY IN THE COMPUTER GAME

THE MYSTERY AT THE CROOKED HOUSE

THE HOCKEY MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT DOG

THE MYSTERY OF THE SCREECH OWL

THE SUMMER CAMP MYSTERY

THE COPYCAT MYSTERY

THE HAUNTED CLOCK TOWER MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE TIGER’S EYE

THE DISAPPEARING STAIRCASE MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD MOUNTAIN

THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER’S CLUE

THE CANDY FACTORY MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMY’S CURSE

THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY

THE STUFFED BEAR MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF ALLIGATOR SWAMP

THE MYSTERY AT SKELETON POINT

THE TATTLETALE MYSTERY

THE COMIC BOOK MYSTERY

THE GREAT SHARK MYSTERY

THE ICE CREAM MYSTERY

THE MIDNIGHT MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY IN THE FORTUNE COOKIE

THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER MYSTERY

THE RADIO MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE RUNAWAY GHOST

THE FINDERS KEEPERS MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BOXCAR

THE CLUE IN THE CORN MAZE

THE GHOST OF THE CHATTERING BONES

THE SWORD OF THE SILVER KNIGHT

THE GAME STORE MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF THE ORPHAN TRAIN

THE VANISHING PASSENGER

THE GIANT YO-YO MYSTERY

THE CREATURE IN OGOPOGO LAKE

THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL MYSTERY

THE SECRET OF THE MASK

THE SEATTLE PUZZLE

THE GHOST IN THE FIRST ROW

THE BOX THAT WATCH FOUND

A HORSE NAMED DRAGON

THE GREAT DETECTIVE RACE

THE GHOST AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE

THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELING TOMATOES

THE SPY GAME

THE DOG-GONE MYSTERY

THE VAMPIRE MYSTERY

SUPERSTAR WATCH

THE SPY IN THE BLEACHERS

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The Amusement Park Mystery copyright © 1992 by Albert Whitman & Company

The Mystery of the Lake Monster copyright © 1998 by Albert Whitman & Company

The Mystery of the Pirate’s Map copyright © 1999 by Albert Whitman & Company

978-1-4532-2475-5

This 2011 edition distributed by Open Road Integrated Media

180 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Contents

The Amusement Park Mystery

1 The Guest House

2 The Merry-go-round

3 The Deserted Barn

4 Peter McKenzie

5 Mystery at the Merry-go-round

6 Who Hurt Benny's Horse?

7 The Unpainted Horse

8 A Frightening Phone Call

9 The Expert

10 The Terrible Ferris Wheel Ride

11 Frank Tells All

12 The Horses Come Back

The Mystery of the Lake Monster

1 Into the Wilderness

2 The Wild Man of the Woods

3 Here Be Monsters?

4 A Sound in the Dark

5 A Monster Hunt

6 Enormous Footprints

7 A Monster Bite

8 Suspects and Clues

9 A Monster-Maker

10 Who Loves Lucy?

The Mystery of the Pirate's Map

1 Benny's Discovery

2 The Legend of John Finney's Treasure

3 Benny Becomes Famous

4 Lots of Stairs and Millionaires

5 An Unwelcome Visitor

6 Danger, Danger, Everywhere

7 The Helpful Mr. Ford

8 The Final Offer

9 What You See Is What You Get

10 Good News All Around

About the Author

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

Copyright

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Contents

The Amusement Park Mystery

1 The Guest House

2 The Merry-go-round

3 The Deserted Barn

4 Peter McKenzie

5 Mystery at the Merry-go-round

6 Who Hurt Benny's Horse?

7 The Unpainted Horse

8 A Frightening Phone Call

9 The Expert

10 The Terrible Ferris Wheel Ride

11 Frank Tells All

12 The Horses Come Back

The Mystery of the Lake Monster

1 Into the Wilderness

2 The Wild Man of the Woods

3 Here Be Monsters?

4 A Sound in the Dark

5 A Monster Hunt

6 Enormous Footprints

7 A Monster Bite

8 Suspects and Clues

9 A Monster-Maker

10 Who Loves Lucy?

The Mystery of the Pirate's Map

1 Benny's Discovery

2 The Legend of John Finney's Treasure

3 Benny Becomes Famous

4 Lots of Stairs and Millionaires

5 An Unwelcome Visitor

6 Danger, Danger, Everywhere

7 The Helpful Mr. Ford

8 The Final Offer

9 What You See Is What You Get

10 Good News All Around

About the Author

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

Copyright