The Canoe Trip Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  Guards them near his silver sheet.”

  “What does ‘bidden’ mean?” Benny looked at his sisters.

  “It means telling someone to do something,” Jessie answered.

  “Oh,” Benny said. “So, whoever wrote this message is telling us how to find a hidden treasure.” Benny beamed.

  His sisters smiled back at him.

  “You know, Grandfather was wrong,” Benny said. “We have found a mystery on the canoe trail.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Night Noises

  Jessie, Violet, and Benny rushed back to their campsite. Henry and Aunt Jane had already put up the tents. Aunt Jane was washing her hands in the stream.

  “We’ll have the hot dogs tonight,” she said, reaching into the bag of food.

  For once Benny wasn’t interested in talking about food. “Aunt Jane, we found a riddle written on a rock near the old house,” he almost shouted.

  “A riddle?” Aunt Jane said.

  “Really?” Henry asked. “What did it say?”

  Jessie and Violet remembered it word for word and were able to repeat it.

  “Can you show me where it is?” Henry asked.

  “Maybe we should wait until after dinner,” Jessie suggested.

  “I am hungry,” Benny admitted.

  “So am I,” Aunt Jane said.

  “Why don’t we wait,” Violet told Henry. “It will still be light after dinner.”

  “Yes, and then we can look for more clues,” Jessie added.

  Henry and Jessie built the campfire.

  Aunt Jane explored the campsite. “Lots of people must camp here. Look at the remains of all these campfires.” She pointed to several piles of ashes on the ground.

  “Yes, it’s funny we haven’t met any other canoeists so far,” Jessie said. She pulled a large worn blanket from her backpack.

  “This reminds me of when we lived in the boxcar,” Benny said, as he helped Jessie gather a big pile of pine needles to put under the blanket. Violet picked some wildflowers. “Things should look special for our first meal on the trail,” she said. She put the flowers in her tin cup and placed them in the middle of the picnic blanket.

  Jessie took five plates, cups, forks, and spoons out of the bag of cooking utensils and set them on the blanket. Aunt Jane wrapped five potatoes in aluminum foil to put on the coals. Benny helped Henry punch holes in the hot dogs with a fork. Violet cut up some of Mrs. McGregor’s fresh homemade bread for buns.

  Soon dinner was ready and everything was delicious. They finished a loaf of Mrs. McGregor’s homemade bread, ate up all the hot dogs and potatoes, and drank lots of water from the stream. Then they had fresh fruit and homemade brownies for dessert.

  After dinner, Jessie boiled a big kettle of water and they all helped wash and dry the dishes. When everything had been put away, they walked to the big rock in the woods.

  “Every word in a riddle means something,” Aunt Jane said as she looked at the riddle on the rock.

  “Silver and gold coins, so well hidden

  To seek and find them, you are bidden.

  A cat with whiskers but no feet

  Guards them near his silver sheet.”

  “I wonder if they’re talking about those coins that were stolen,” Henry said.

  “Could be,” said Aunt Jane.

  “Somewhere in this riddle is the clue to where the coins are hidden,” said Jessie.

  “They’re ‘well hidden,’” Henry said. “That doesn’t tell us much of anything.”

  “You don’t know,” Aunt Jane answered. “Remember, every word in a riddle tries to tell you something.”

  “What do you think they mean by a cat with whiskers but no feet?” Benny asked. He looked a little discouraged.

  “Wait a minute,” Henry said. He had just thought of something. “Maybe they’re talking about a place. Think of a place near here with the word cat in it.” Henry looked teasingly at his brother.

  “Catfish Lake!” Violet and Benny said at the same time.

  “Good,” Aunt Jane said. “Catfish certainly have whiskers but no feet.”

  “The silver sheet is the lake,” Jessie said. “You know—when the water is calm it looks like a smooth silver sheet.”

  “Now we know the coins are hidden—well hidden—near Catfish Lake,” Henry said.

  “When will we be on Catfish Lake?” Benny asked.

  “In a couple of days, at most,” Henry answered.

  “I think we’ve solved the riddle,” Benny said.

  “But we haven’t found the coins yet,” Henry said, laughing.

  “Maybe there are more clues near the abandoned house,” Violet suggested.

  Aunt Jane and the Aldens searched the grounds around the house until it became dark. They found more piles of ashes in the woods.

  “Someone sure is doing a lot of burning,” Violet said.

  “Yes, it might be campers making fires,” Aunt Jane said.

  “Or maybe only one person is making all these fires,” Henry said.

  “Maybe he or she is trying to burn any clues that might lead us to the coins,” Jessie added.

  Aunt Jane and the children nodded. It seemed there was nothing to do but go back to their campsite.

  That night, all the Aldens fell asleep right away. Around midnight, Benny stirred. He thought he heard a sound.

  Owowowowooooo … owowowooooo. …

  Benny blinked and sat up in his sleeping bag. “Did you hear that?” he asked Henry.

  But Henry was still sound asleep. It was very dark in the tent. Staying in his sleeping bag, Benny rolled across the floor until he could touch Henry’s back.

  “Henry,” Benny whispered loudly. “Wake up! I think I hear a wolf outside the tent.”

  “Wolf,” Henry muttered in his sleep. Then Benny heard the sound again, only this time it was louder.

  Owowowooooo … owowowooooo. …

  This time Henry woke up. “Did you hear that wolf?” Benny asked.

  “It sounds very far away,” Henry said. “Try to go back to sleep, Benny. I’ll stay awake for a little while and keep watch. Still, there are no wolves in this part of the country anymore. I’m sure there aren’t.” But not even Henry sounded so sure anymore.

  CHAPTER 4

  More Warnings

  The next morning, the Aldens all slept until the sun was high in the sky. “It must be nearly nine o’clock,” Henry said sleepily at breakfast.

  “It took me a long time to fall back to sleep after hearing that wolf,” Benny said.

  Henry told the others about the sound they’d heard.

  “It might have been a big dog,” Violet said. “Wolves sound a bit like dogs,” Violet loved animals and was always reading about them.

  “Well, maybe it was a dog,” Benny said. But he still looked worried.

  “Well, at least your appetite didn’t suffer, Benny.” Aunt Jane smiled at her younger nephew.

  Benny sat on the picnic blanket eating dried fruit and two large slices of Mrs. McGregor’s homemade wheat bread.

  “We’ll probably finish all the homemade bread by tomorrow,” Jessie said. “After that, we’ll be having oatmeal for breakfast.”

  “I love oatmeal,” Benny said. Suddenly he heard a rustling sound behind him.

  “Did you hear that?” He tapped Henry on the arm.

  A tall man with blue eyes and a black beard walked out of the woods toward them.

  Aunt Jane stood up. “I’m Jane Bean,” she said to the man, and introduced him to her nieces and nephews.

  “I’m Lorenzo Espinosa.” The man spoke softly. “Are those your canoes over there on the shore?”

  “Yes,” Henry answered. “We’re taking a trip across Timberwolf Lake.”

  “How long have you been camping here?”

  “Since last night,” Jessie answered.

  “How has your trip been so far?” Lorenzo looked at them closely. Violet thought he seemed suspicious about something.

>   “Fine, except for the wolf,” Benny told him.

  Lorenzo looked more worried than surprised. “I’m a scientist,” he explained to Benny. “I study the plants and animals in these woods. There are no wolves around here.”

  “See, Benny, what did we tell you?” Henry said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  “But, if I were you, I would worry,” Lorenzo said, raising his voice, “not about wolves, but about...” He paused. “Some very strange things have been going on near Timberwolf Lake,” he finally continued.

  “What kinds of things?” Aunt Jane asked.

  “Well, I also heard your so-called wolf last night,” Lorenzo said.

  Benny sat up straighter and stopped eating.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure it wasn’t really a wolf,” Lorenzo told Benny. “But I’ve heard this animal for the past week or so, on and off. I’ve also seen campfires burning at all hours.”

  “Don’t campers usually make fires?” Aunt Jane asked.

  “Yes, but you’re the only campers I’ve seen all season, and you’ve only just arrived,” Lorenzo said.

  “Maybe someone is camping here in secret?” Henry suggested. “Maybe someone is trying to keep people off this lake on purpose,” he continued.

  “I don’t know what to think!” Lorenzo exclaimed. “I’ve been coming up here every spring for the past fifteen years, and nothing like this has ever happened before.”

  For a few moments, Lorenzo did nothing but stare at the ground and scuff dirt over a little pile of pine needles. The Aldens just stared at him and didn’t say a word.

  “If I were you,” Lorenzo continued, “I would go back. Don’t try to get to the end of Timberwolf Lake. It’s not safe. Too manystrange things are happening.”

  The children looked at one another. Why was everyone trying to warn them away from the lake?

  “We don’t want to go home yet,” Benny said. “We have to solve the riddle first.”

  “Do you know about the riddle written on the boulder?” Violet asked Lorenzo.

  Lorenzo took a long time to answer. The children thought he seemed upset.

  “I have more important things to worry about up here than a riddle,” he said abruptly. “And so do you. You have to worry about storms this time of year, not to mention all this funny business.”

  Henry and Jessie exchanged glances. “We’ll be very careful,” Henry said.

  “We really can’t turn back now,” Jessie told Lorenzo firmly. “Our grandfather is waiting to meet us at the end of the trail in White Pine.”

  “Well, you must do what you have to do,” Lorenzo said. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “We’ll be careful,” Violet told him. Againthere was a long pause before Lorenzo responded.

  “You must excuse me,” he finally said. “I have to go back to my cabin to check on my oak specimens.” He suddenly seemed eager to get away from the Aldens.

  “He wasn’t very friendly,” Jessie said a few minutes after Lorenzo had left.

  “He might just be shy,” Violet answered as she gathered up the dishes.

  “He seemed kind of nervous when we asked him about the riddle,” Henry said. He was helping Aunt Jane and Jessie take down the tents.

  “I don’t know what to think.” Jessie shook her head. “Maybe he does know more than he wants to tell us.”

  “It’s hard to know who we can trust on this trip so far,” Henry remarked. “Maybe there is something strange on this lake. We could go another way and still meet Grandfather in White Pine.”

  “I don’t think we need to change our plans yet,” Aunt Jane said.

  “Perhaps we shouldn’t tell anyone else about the riddle until we find out more about it,” Jessie suggested.

  “We might find more clues when we get back on the lake,” Violet said hopefully. “We shouldn’t let those people talk us out of our canoe trip.”

  “Don’t worry, Violet. We’re going ahead.” Henry smiled at his usually quiet sister.

  An hour later Aunt Jane and the Aldens were canoeing toward one of the rocky islands in the middle of Timberwolf Lake. Puffy white clouds dotted the blue sky.

  “I don’t know why everyone is warning us about the weather,” Henry said. “No sign of rain or storms today.”

  “Could we picnic on that rock island?” Benny asked. Today he sat in Henry’s canoe with Violet.

  “I don’t see why not,” Henry answered. “By the time we get there, it should be lunchtime.”

  When the Aldens paddled closer to the island, they saw it was just a very large grayboulder. Small pine trees and vines grew from its cracks.

  Henry and Aunt Jane tied the canoes around a tree trunk and clambered up the boulder in their sneakers. Jessie put bread, dried fruit, and cheddar cheese in a small backpack to take with them. Violet took her sketch pad, and Benny grabbed his softball.

  “Look, we’re scaring away the geese and loons,” Benny said, as he ran to where Henry and Aunt Jane were standing.

  “Yes, they’ll have to find a new place to sun themselves for now,” Aunt Jane said.

  “I’m sure they’ll be back when we start eating,” Henry said.

  Benny ran all around the rock island before coming back to see what was in Jessie’s pack for lunch.

  Violet explored more slowly. She touched the pine trees and tall rushes that grew in the nooks and crannies of the rocks. For a long time, she stared out in the distance at a pair of jagged rocks further down the lake.

  “I’m looking for a good scene to draw,”Violet announced at lunch.

  “Can’t you draw us eating?” Benny asked after taking a big bite of his cheese sandwich.

  “Well, I could,” Violet said. “But I thought I would draw those jagged rocks over there.” She pointed across the lake. “You know, it looks as though there might be something written on them.”

  “Goodness, you’re right,” Aunt Jane said, shading her eyes to see better.

  Jessie, Henry, and Benny looked too. They saw some faint reddish brown letters painted on the rocks.

  “We’re too far away to read what those letters say. Maybe we could canoe closer to the rocks right after lunch,” Jessie said.

  “I don’t think we should try to push ourselves too hard today,” Aunt Jane said. “We had a long day yesterday.”

  “I agree,” Henry said. “Let’s just relax on our own private island. We can go see those rocks later this afternoon. They’re on the way to our next campsite.”

  The Aldens and Aunt Jane finished the last of their picnic lunch. After they had cleaned up, Violet got her sketch pad and drew. Henry read his book of Sherlock Holmes mystery stories. Jessie and Benny tossed the ball back and forth with Aunt Jane.

  It was mid-afternoon when Aunt Jane and the Aldens got back in their canoes. They soon reached the jagged rocks.

  “Hold the canoe steady,” Henry said to Violet, who sat behind him paddling. She stopped and planted her paddle in the water.

  Henry adjusted his binoculars and looked through them for a long time. Or at least it seemed long to the others.

  “Can you read it?” Jessie finally asked from the other canoe. She had pulled her boat very close to Henry’s.

  “I think it says KEEP OUT,” Henry answered, still looking through the binoculars. “Someone wrote that sign with red spray paint.”

  “May I take a look?” Violet asked.

  Henry handed her the binoculars.

  “Yes, it definitely says, KEEP OUT,” Violet said. “There’s also a drawing of a skull and crossbones near the sign.”

  “Do you think it means keep off the rocks, or off the lake?” Benny asked.

  “It could mean the rocks,” Henry said. “But I have a feeling, it means stay off the lake.”

  “Well, that’s our third warning since we left,” Aunt Jane said grimly. No one could argue.

  CHAPTER 5

  A Stranger

  The Aldens passed the jagged gray rocks a
nd kept paddling. After two hours, they reached the narrow strip of land that separated Timberwolf from Catfish Lake.

  “We’re going to have to carry the canoes for a little way,” Henry said.

  “Is this what they call a portage?” Violet asked, pointing to the trail between the two lakes.

  “Yes, it’s like a walking path,” Henry explained.

  Carefully, Henry and Aunt Jane pulled their canoes up the shore of Timberwolf Lake. Henry took the tents, sleeping bags, and waterproof bags out of the canoes. Jessie strapped the paddles inside them.

  Together, Henry and Jessie lifted the front of one canoe. With Jessie’s help, Henry swung the canoe up over his head and then walked the short distance to Catfish Lake.

  Jessie helped Aunt Jane carry the other canoe. Benny and Violet followed, carrying one of the tents between them. Once Henry and Aunt Jane had secured the canoes at the edge of Catfish Lake, they went back to get the rest of the equipment.

  “Our campsite should be at the end of this path,” Henry said, looking at the map. The others were busy repacking the canoes with all the gear.

  “I think that might be the trail,” Aunt Jane said. She pointed to a dirt road that veered away from the walking path.

  “Let’s follow it,” Henry said, shouldering his backpack. The others took their packs and Jessie brought another small bag of food.

  “Let’s leave the tents in the canoes for now,” Henry said. “I think there may be cabins at this campsite.”

  Thick oak trees grew on each side of the path. Their leafy branches met in mid-air, shading the trail. Aunt Jane and the Aldens had not gone far when they spied a canoe hidden in the underbrush.

  “Look, another canoe!” Benny sounded very excited. “Do you think it belongs to Lorenzo?”

  “I don’t know.” Henry seemed doubtful. “We’re a bit far from Lorenzo’s cabin.”

  “That’s good,” Benny said. “He scared me a little. What if he’s one of the coin burglars?”

  “Oh, Benny,” Violet said, “we have no proof of that.”

  “Well, he did act pretty nervous,” Benny reminded her.

  At a bend in the trail, the Aldens saw a wooden lean-to.

  “We get to sleep in a house tonight,” Benny said, skipping toward it.