by Charles Tang
“Maybe she’s just having a bad day.” Henry indicated a sign beside a graveled path. “The observatory is this way.”
The trail wound upward, between jagged rocks and thick bushes. The children were out of breath when, a while later, they reached a windowless building capped by a white dome.
“We’re on the very top of the mountain,” said Henry as they headed toward the building. “You can see the campus down there.”
They opened the door to the building and walked down a hall lined with desks and bookcases. At the end of the hall another door stood open.
“Come in!” Randy’s voice echoed from within.
The children stepped into a huge round room. The ceiling curved overhead like the inside of an egg. In the center of the room was a large cylinder-shaped object.
Randy Merchant stood at the base of the instrument, holding a pair of pliers. “Welcome,” he said, grinning.
Henry looked up, marveling at the enormous structure. “We’re inside the dome, aren’t we?”
“There’s a big crack in it,” Benny said, pointing to a narrow slit in the roof. “You should get it fixed.”
Randy laughed. “The slit is supposed to be there. The roof slides open when the telescope is in use.” He patted the huge cylinder. “I told you it was a beauty.”
“Can we look through it?” asked Benny.
“I’m doing some maintenance on it right now,” Randy replied. “But I’ll tell you about it. This is a twenty-four-inch reflecting telescope.”
“How does it work?” asked Henry. He was interested in mechanical devices.
Randy adjusted a wheel on the side of the telescope. “There are two types of telescopes,” he explained. “Refracting and reflecting. Both types gather light and send it toward the eye of the viewer. Refracting telescopes use a lens. Reflecting telescopes use a mirror. Both types of lenses allow you to see objects very far away.”
“Speaking of far away, why is this building so far from the rest of the college?” Jessie wanted to know.
“Good question,” said Randy. “Observatories are always located in high places, like a mountaintop. The air is clearer up here and we are farther away from city lights. You want a really dark sky so you can see the stars.”
Henry touched the sleek white metal of the telescope. “Are you an astronomer like Mark Jacobs and Eugene Scott?”
“Oh, you’ve met those two already,” Randy said with a chuckle. “No, I’m not a student. I work for the college, keeping the telescope in working order. I’m also a writer,” he added proudly.
“I’m a writer, too,” Benny put in. “I can write my name. I can write Watch’s name, too.”
“Watch is our dog back home,” Jessie told Randy. “What have you written?”
Randy went over to a desk and pulled out a box.
“These are my journals,” he said. “I write down everything the astronomers do. Even what they eat for snacks. Mark likes peanut butter sandwiches. Eugene Scott eats anything. I hope to get an article published about young astronomers in a science magazine.”
Henry glanced at the clock over the desk. “This has been great, but we should let you get back to work.”
“Come back tonight,” Randy urged. “Mark will show you the stars like you’ve never seen them.”
The Aldens went back outside and down the mountain. It was too early for lunch. They decided to walk through the campus and down the main drive.
“Here’s that trail we saw on the way in,” said Henry.
“But Randy told us to stay away from it,” Violet said.
“But he wouldn’t say why,” said Benny.
“I’m sure he has a good reason —” Jessie began, but a thrashing noise in the woods cut her off.
The children caught a glimpse of a small animal running down the trail.
“What was that?” Violet exclaimed.
“Let’s follow it and find out!” Henry cried.
They hiked a while, swatting gnats and looking for the animal they’d seen. Then the trail became narrower and fainter until it disappeared altogether.
“I think we should go back,” Jessie said.
“I do, too,” agreed Henry. “But which way is back?”
Violet gazed down into the hollow. “Is that a chimney?” she said to the others. “It must belong to a cabin.”
Jessie stared at the stone chimney. “I don’t remember any cabin near the college. I think we’re lost!”
CHAPTER 3
Pictures in the Sky
“We shouldn’t have gone down this trail,” Violet said. “No one knows where we are.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find our way back,” Henry assured her.
“I’m hungry,” Benny said. Lost or not, he wasn’t about to miss lunch. Looking around, he spotted a faint path twisting through the trees. “I think this is it!”
“Benny, you’re right!” Jessie gave him a quick hug.
The children hurried through the dense underbrush. Soon the narrow track widened into the main driveway. Within minutes, they were back on the campus of Mountvale College.
Streams of people poured from the main building.
“Just in time for lunch,” Henry said. “The conference must be over for the morning.”
“And there’s Grandfather,” Violet exclaimed, running over to him. “Grandfather, are you eating with us?”
“I’m sorry, Violet. I’ve been asked to sit with today’s guest speakers,” James Alden replied. “You children go ahead. I’ll see you later this evening.”
The Aldens entered the dining room and quickly staked out a table. Rachel Cunningham brought over four menus.
Jessie tried to be friendly. “Hi, Rachel. How are you doing?”
“Fair,” replied the young woman. She popped her chewing gum impatiently. “What’ll it be?”
Jessie hadn’t even had time to read the menu. She noticed a group of students at the next table. They were snapping their fingers at Rachel.
“I think those people over there want you,” she said. “You can take their order first.”
Rachel barely glanced in their direction. “Rich kids,” she said with a sniff. “Just because their parents have a lot of money doesn’t mean they can treat me like a maid.”
“Hey, Rachel,” called one of the young men. “What’s good today?”
“I don’t cook the food,” she said over her shoulder. “I just serve it.” Then she took an order pad and pencil from her skirt pocket.
Benny noticed the big ring of keys attached to her belt. “You sure have a lot of keys,” he said admiringly. “Do you know what they all go to?”
“I should,” Rachel replied with a sigh. “I have to clean each of those rooms every day.”
“You have keys to all the dorm rooms?” Henry asked, suddenly interested.
“All the rooms in the Seneca Building,” she said. “Now, what do you want for lunch?”
Henry ordered a chicken salad sandwich with potato chips and milk. So did everyone else.
When Rachel left, Henry leaned forward. “She has keys to all the rooms,” he said. “Rachel could have been the one in our room last night. She was at the cookout. And she got caught in the storm.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Jessie. “But why would Rachel break into your room? Was she looking for something? Nothing was taken.”
“One of my apples,” Benny reminded her.
Violet smiled. “That’s not a very big crime, Benny. Maybe Rachel didn’t have anything to eat at the cookout and she was hungry.”
“But why break into our room to steal an apple?” Henry asked. “She works near the kitchen — she could have anything she wants.”
“Henry’s right,” Jessie agreed. “It doesn’t really make sense. Rachel’s kind of touchy, but I think she’s okay, deep down inside.”
“I don’t think it’s Rachel, either,” Violet said.
“Well, even if it doesn’t make sense, righ
t now she’s our number one suspect,” said Henry.
Just then their lunches came. The children were so hungry that they didn’t speak until there were only potato chip crumbs on their plates.
The students were leaving. It was time for the afternoon session to begin.
As the Aldens were getting up, they saw Eugene Scott pull his chair out in front of a group heading for the door. Mark Jacobs was hit by the chair.
“Sorry,” Eugene said.
Mark rubbed his shin. “It’s okay. It was an accident.”
But Henry wasn’t so sure. To him, it looked as if Eugene had done it on purpose.
Then Eugene hurried out of the dining room with a triumphant smirk on his face.
Mark waved to the Aldens. “Hey, are you guys coming to the observatory tonight? The sky should be perfect.”
“We’ll be there,” Jessie answered. She was excited about looking through the big telescope.
“Will we see the moon?” Benny wanted to know. He didn’t believe the moon was made of Swiss cheese, but he wanted to make sure.
“You bet,” Mark said. “There are many secrets in the heavens. I might even show you mine!”
With that, he disappeared into the crowd.
At the reception desk, Henry picked up a map showing the trails around the campus.
“The trail we were on isn’t marked,” he said.
“But we know it’s there,” said Violet. “Maybe it’s an old trail nobody is supposed to use anymore.”
Jessie had been thinking. “It’s almost like that trail is a secret.”
“Another mystery to solve!” Benny crowed. “We’re going to be busy this week!”
The evening was cool and clear when the Aldens hiked up the trail to the observatory. Frogs cheeped and crickets chirped along the path. An owl hooted in the distance.
“Whoever said the woods were quiet?” Violet remarked. She was glad when they reached the white building at the top. The owl’s eerie cry made her a little jumpy.
Randy Merchant met them at the door.
“I’m on my way out,” he told them. “Mark is at the ’scope. He’s expecting you.”
He climbed into the school van parked on the side of a narrow road. People who didn’t want to walk the trail could drive up the road instead.
Inside the observatory, the dome was open, allowing the huge telescope to poke into the night sky.
Mark Jacobs stood at the top of a set of rolling metal stairs, adjusting some knobs on the telescope.
“Hi!” he said as he waved them toward the stairs. “Come on up.”
“These steps won’t move, will they?” Jessie wondered nervously.
“The wheels have brakes,” Mark told her. “It’s safe.”
One by one, the children climbed up onto the platform.
Mark moved away from the eyepiece. “Who wants to see Jupiter?”
“I do!” Benny said eagerly. Then he asked, “What’s Jupiter?”
“Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system,” Mark replied. He positioned Benny beneath the eyepiece. “Now, look through there. Do you see a yellowish sphere with grayish stripes?”
Benny stared a moment. Then he cried, “Yes, I do! It’s got a red dot in the center!”
The others took turns peering through the eyepiece.
“Wow!” Henry said, awed. “It looks so close.”
“It isn’t,” Mark said. “It takes Jupiter twelve years to orbit the sun. It’s that far away! Our solar system is made up of several planets that orbit the sun.”
“Like Mars,” Violet continued. “And Venus.”
“Can we see the moon?” Benny asked.
Mark shook his head. “Not yet. Moonrise will be in a little while.”
Violet thought moonrise was a beautiful word. She gazed at the sky through the open roof. “There are a zillion stars when you look through the telescope. I can see a lot with just my eyes, but not that many.”
“You can see about two thousand stars on a clear night,” Mark said. “The telescope allows us to see hundreds of thousands more.”
“I want to see outer space!” Benny declared.
Mark laughed. “You’re looking at it! Here’s something else — just wait until I bring it into focus.” He pushed some buttons. The telescope made a whirring sound as it moved very slightly.
This time Jessie looked first. “I don’t see anything.”
“Look to your left,” Mark instructed. “See that bright cluster of stars?”
“Oh!” she said. “They’re so pretty — like jewels.”
“That’s what they are called,” Mark said. “The Jewel Box. If you saw the cluster with the unaided eye, it would appear to be a hazy spot.”
While the others viewed the Jewel Box, Mark told them more about stars. “Before man invented the telescope, he used to stare at the sky. He connected the spaces between the stars with imaginary lines and made pictures of animals or objects. Those pictures are called constellations.”
Now Mark pushed another button. The dome slowly opened wider, revealing more of the night sky.
“There’s a constellation,” Henry said. “The Big Dipper.” He pointed to the ladle-shaped group of stars in the north.
“I don’t see it,” Benny said.
“It’s right up there,” Violet told him. “It looks like a cup with a bent handle.”
“The Big Dipper is a good constellation to know,” said Mark. “The two outer stars of the cup point to the North Star. If you keep the North Star in your sight, you’ll always know which direction you’re going.”
At that moment, footsteps rang on the hardwood floor.
“Is the lecture over, Jacobs?” said a familiar voice.
Mark leaned over the railing. “Hey, Eugene,” he said to the figure standing at the base of the rolling stairs. “Have you met the Aldens?”
“I’ve seen them around,” Eugene said moodily. “You’re on my time, Mark.”
Mark looked at the clock. “I still have two hours.”
“No, you don’t,” Eugene argued. “It’s my turn at the telescope.”
“Astronomers sign up for time,” Mark explained to the children. “We can only work at night, so we sign up a day ahead. But I’m positive I signed up for this block of time.”
Eugene tapped a notebook on the desk against the wall. “Check Randy’s log if you don’t believe me.”
“I will.” Mark took the stairs two at a time. The children followed. At the desk, they all stared at the notebook.
Henry read the entry. “It says, ‘Eugene Scott, nine till twelve.’ ”
Mark shook his head. “I can’t believe I made such a mistake. . . . Well, you kids can stay. The moon will be rising soon. I know Benny wants to see it.”
Eugene clattered up the metal stairs. “I’ve got important work to do. I can’t babysit.”
“It’s time for us to go anyway,” Henry said to Mark. “Thanks for letting us look through the telescope.”
It was obvious Eugene Scott didn’t want them around.
Outside they saw a dashing red sports car in the parking lot.
“That’s Eugene’s car,” Mark said, as he walked the Aldens down the trail. “He rarely walks up here.”
It wasn’t until they were in their dorm room that Henry realized something.
Mark Jacobs hadn’t shown them his secret discovery.
CHAPTER 4
The Haunted Mountain
Right after breakfast the next morning, the Aldens marched up the mountain to the observatory.
“I think we should take another look at that log,” said Jessie. “There was something odd about the way Eugene Scott made Mark leave. Mark said it was his turn.”
“Mark was so sure he put down the right time,” Henry agreed.
An early morning mist drifted among the trees like ghostly scarves.
“It’s spooky up here,” Violet said in a soft voice. “Listen to how quiet it is.”
She was right. No birds sang. Not even a small breeze ruffled the treetops.
“It is creepy,” Jessie agreed.
Henry caught his sister’s hand. “I know what you mean.”
“Do you mean creepy like ghosts?” Benny’s eyes grew round. “Is this mountain haunted?”
“No, it’s not,” Henry hastily replied, not wanting to frighten his little brother. “It’s just so quiet.”
At the top of the mountain, the Aldens saw that the parking lot was empty.
“Nobody’s here,” said Benny.
“Let’s try the door anyway.” Jessie went up to the front door and turned the handle. “Hello?” she called down the corridor. “Anybody here?”
“Just us mice!” boomed Randy’s voice. He came out of his office, a clipboard in one hand.
“We didn’t know anyone was here,” Henry said. “Your van isn’t out front.”
“Sometimes I walk up the mountain. Try to get a little exercise. What can I do for you folks?”
Violet spoke up. “We wondered if we could take a look at that log — the one the astronomers sign to use the telescope. Last night Eugene came in and said Mark was using his time.”
“I heard about that,” Randy said, leading them to the sign-in desk. “I’ve never had two scientists sign up for the same clock of time, not since I’ve been keeping the log.” He opened the notebook.
“There it is.” Violet pointed to last night’s entry. “It does say Eugene Scott.”
Jessie bent her head closer. “But look — see those marks? It looks like somebody erased a name and wrote Eugene’s name over it.”
Randy studied the page. “Hmmm. You could be right, Jessie. Mark’s name might have been erased. But I don’t know when this could have happened. I’m here all day.”
“Maybe one of the students came in early to change the names,” Henry suggested.
Randy shook his head. “Astronomers rarely get up early. They stay up all night working in the observatory. They usually sleep late.”
As they left, Henry had a thought. Randy was the log keeper. He could have changed the names.
On their way into the dining room for lunch, Jessie stopped to read a poster.
“ ‘Party time! Join us for the Perseid meteor shower, tomorrow night in the observatory,’ ” she read aloud.