Hidden in the Haunted School

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “What a nice addition to Silver City,” Grandfather said.

  “I really want to know more!” Jessie agreed.

  Henry looked up at the old school, imagining how the building would look when it was fixed up. He noticed a rusty blue pickup in the school’s parking lot. The truck had a ladder and a big toolbox in the back. Silver City Electric was written on the truck’s side in silver letters. Henry pointed it out to his siblings.

  “That truck looks familiar,” he said.

  “As a matter of fact, that’s my old friend Bob’s truck,” Grandfather told them. “Remember when he fixed the lights at our house? He’s an electrician here in town.”

  “That’s right,” Henry said. “Will he know about the restoration project?”

  “We should ask him!” Violet said. As shy as she was, she was the one who was the most excited about the new art center.

  “Sure,” Grandfather replied. “I’ve known Bob for years. It will be good to catch up with him.”

  “Do you think the school is as creepy on the inside as it is on the outside?” Jessie asked.

  “I hope so!” Benny said.

  Jessie slid the minivan door open.

  “Come on, Watch!” Benny called. Watch trotted happily alongside the Aldens as they made their way past the iron fence and gate.

  As they approached the stone front steps, Bob stepped into the doorway and waved. “Hello!” he called.

  He wore a blue and silver T-shirt with Silver City Electric on it and carried a flashlight. He stepped out onto the stairs and closed the school door behind him.

  Grandfather waved back. “Hi, Bob! We saw your truck. Do you remember my grandchildren?”

  Bob greeted Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, giving each a friendly handshake. Suddenly, the school’s door swung open with a loud clank. A young man appeared. He was wearing a T-shirt like Bob’s. His sandy-brown hair matched Bob’s too. He held a large camera that hung from a brown leather strap around his neck.

  “There you are, Ansel,” Bob said to the young man. “I must have lost you inside.” He introduced the young man as his son. Ansel gave them a quick wave before turning away and fiddling with his camera.

  “We must’ve seen your flashlight!” Henry said. He remembered the light they saw flickering in the window.

  “I’m sure you did,” Bob replied. “Ansel and I just stopped by to look at the old place. I’m overseeing the renovation project and need to make sure it’s safe for our volunteers. The inside isn’t too bad, just needs a little elbow grease.”

  Jessie’s eyes grew wide, and so did her smile. “Bob,” she started. “Are you still looking for volunteers?”

  “We’d love to help,” Violet added. She didn’t want to miss an opportunity to work on the new art center.

  “We sure could use volunteers,” Bob replied. “We’d love for every one of you to pitch in.” He nodded to all of the Alden children.

  “Can you tell me more about the project?” Grandfather asked.

  He then pulled Bob aside to ask about the specific jobs his grandchildren would be doing.

  While Grandfather and Bob were talking, Ansel was still busy with his camera, staring at the digital screen. He carefully studied each photo as he clicked through them.

  “Will you also be working here, Ansel?” Henry asked.

  “I’m on the arts committee,” Ansel replied, though he didn’t look up from his camera. “So, I’ll be around.”

  “Let’s look inside,” Benny suggested. He pointed to the grand door of the school. “Just a peek!”

  “First,” Henry said, “let’s ask Bob if it’s safe.”

  Grandfather gave his approval with a brief thumbs-up gesture.

  “Grandfather agrees with Bob,” Henry said. “The structure is safe.”

  “Let’s go!” Benny said.

  Henry opened the school’s door. Jessie found a large stone and propped the door open with it.

  “Come on, Watch!” she called.

  Inside, Violet instantly noticed a trophy case. It was covered with a layer of soot, dust, and grime. A few trophies remained in the case. Through the dirty glass, Violet saw a tall, tarnished old cup. On another shelf, smaller trophies were draped in cobwebs. She frowned.

  “At one time,” she said, pointing to the trophies, “these were shiny and new.”

  The Aldens continued walking along the dark hallway.

  “Check this out,” Jessie said. She was peering at a framed black-and-white photo hanging on the wall. The picture was faded and torn around the edges. The students in the picture wore dark, formal clothes. The date March 14, 1920 was scribbled on the bottom. Jessie recorded the date in her notebook.

  “They’re not smiling,” Henry noted.

  “I don’t think it was fashionable to smile in pictures back then,” Jessie replied.

  Benny followed his sisters and brother as they walked into a classroom. The first thing he noticed was a large clock on the wall behind an old teacher’s desk. The clock’s hands had stopped with the hour hand pointing to twelve and the minute hand to three. Benny shuddered. He wondered how long ago the clock’s hands had stopped turning.

  “This place is definitely as creepy on the inside as the outside!” he exclaimed.

  Rows of smaller desks sat across from the teacher’s desk. Jessie lifted one of the desks’ tops. Inside, she found broken pencils and old papers. Shifting through the papers, Violet found an old cloth doll. The doll’s hair was made of yellow yarn, and its clothes were faded fabric scraps. A small button had been sewn on for an eye, but the other eye’s button was missing.

  “This place is spooky,” Violet said. “We’d better get back. Grandfather might be looking for us.”

  When the Aldens returned to the front steps, Grandfather was still talking with Bob.

  “Good news,” Grandfather said. “Volunteers start next week.”

  “We’ll get this place looking brand-new!” Bob said.

  “Sure,” Ansel muttered.

  He kept his head down, but it looked to Jessie like he was trying to hide a scowl.

  She wondered why Ansel wasn’t more excited to be a part of the project. After all, it was an art center, and he clearly loved taking photos.

  “We’re going to grab the volunteer paperwork from the truck,” Grandfather said. He and Bob headed toward the parking lot.

  While they all waited, Ansel sighed. He looked unhappy.

  Jessie tried to break the ice. “Are you excited about the new art center?”

  Ansel looked up. Then he turned and gazed up at the old school. His eyes narrowed. “This place should be kept the way it is,” he said bitterly. And with that, he marched off to the parking lot.

  “What was that about?” Henry asked.

  Jessie shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said.

  “I want to see the swings!” Benny said just then. He had noticed the rusty playground equipment near the front fence. “Can we wait for Grandfather on the playground?”

  “Sure,” Jessie said. “But be careful.” They walked over to the broken-down playground. Violet and Benny sat on the swings, which creaked and screeched as they moved back and forth. They faced the school yard where the grass and shrubs were overgrown. Long vines wrapped around the fence. The untended yard added to the creepiness of the school.

  Henry walked around looking at the old seesaws, while Jessie sat still on one of the swings. She was thinking about Ansel’s odd behavior. Her thoughts were interrupted by Watch’s loud bark, which startled her.

  “What’s with Watch?” Benny asked. The dog had tensed up, and now he nervously paced in front of the children. Then he stopped and growled in the direction of the school.

  “It feels like…like someone is watching us,” Jessie said.

  Benny looked at the dark windows of the old school. “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” he said aloud. “Right?”

  CHAPTER 3

  An Important Lesson

>   It was the first day of volunteer work.

  “See you in a few hours!” Grandfather called from the minivan. He waved to the children as they climbed the front steps of Hawthorne School.

  Jessie stopped for a moment to look up at the old building. In the morning daylight, Jessie couldn’t remember what about the place had her so nervous just a week ago.

  “Hawthorne School doesn’t look so spooky today,” Violet said. She was thinking the same thing as her sister.

  So was Henry, who gazed at the tower on the top of the school. It looked majestic against the clear, sunny sky.

  Today the school wasn’t deserted at all. Two dozen volunteers had come to help clean up the building. Benny thought all the people looked like a swarm of worker ants. Some were carrying buckets and brooms. They busily swept the sidewalks and stairs. Other volunteers had paintbrushes tucked into their back pockets. Henry stepped off the sidewalk to let two men carrying a faded sofa go by. He had moved just in time. Two more volunteers went by carrying an old rolled-up rug.

  The inside of the school was just as busy. A team of teens from the high school was washing the thick grime from windows. Nearby, a group of women was scraping the windowsills clean to prepare them for a fresh coat of paint.

  After a few minutes, the Aldens found Bob at the volunteer check-in table. He checked their names off a long list and then gave the children their assignments.

  “Benny and Violet,” Bob said. “You will be helping hand out water and snacks at the snack tent on the front lawn.”

  “Perfect!” Benny exclaimed.

  “Just don’t eat all the snacks,” Violet added. Everyone laughed, including Benny.

  Bob turned to Henry and Jessie. “You’ll be sweeping and dusting classrooms today.”

  “Great,” Henry said.

  Meanwhile Jessie looked around and noticed a large sign in the corner that said auction. She was curious.

  “What’s the auction?” she asked Bob.

  “The volunteers will bring the old furniture up here.” He pointed to the corner. “We’ll evaluate it. And then we’ll sell it in an auction. The money we make will cover some of the renovation costs.”

  Everyone agreed an auction was a great idea. They headed back outside and found the snack table. It was set up under a large, blue tent. Benny and Violet went to work placing bottles of water on a table.

  “We’ll be right inside,” Jessie told them.

  Henry and Jessie stopped to pick up brooms and dusting cloths before heading back into the school. After sweeping the main hallway, they started working in one of the old classrooms.

  Henry pulled a cloth out of his back pocket. With a swipe of his hand, he removed a thick layer of grime from a window. When he finished one window, he moved on to the next one.

  “It will take some elbow grease to get these windows clean,” he said.

  Jessie wrinkled her nose as she used her broom to pull a stringy cobweb from the corner. Then she swept a big pile of dust bunnies into a dustpan. She was finishing up when a young woman walked into the classroom. The woman had dark hair with bangs that fell into her eyes.

  “Hi,” Jessie said, walking over to her. “I’m Jessie. And this is my brother, Henry.”

  “Hello,” the woman replied. “I’m Martha.”

  Martha immediately began to follow Jessie and Henry around the room with a cloth rag in her hand. Every once in a while, she wiped the rag over the top of a desk or along the seat of a chair.

  Henry noticed that Martha was missing spots. She seemed to be focused on studying the furniture, rather than dusting it. He watched her lift a chair and inspect the bottom of it. She even examined the legs of a table.

  “These chairs are in good shape for being so old,” Martha muttered.

  Henry agreed. “Will you be working here all weekend?” he asked.

  Martha seemed a little flustered by his question.

  “Yes,” she replied. “I’ll be here with you and your brother and sisters. How’s your little dog, Watch? Is he here today too?”

  “No,” Henry replied. “He’s at home.”

  Jessie was still sweeping when she overheard Martha talking with Henry. She wondered how Martha knew their dog’s name. Jessie was certain that this was their first time meeting her.

  But before she had a chance to ask Martha about it, another woman wandered into the room. Her gray hair was braided and wrapped in a bun. She wore glasses on a chain around her neck. She took several moments to carefully review the room.

  “Did I leave my clipboard in here?” the woman asked. “I’m supposed to be counting the desks and chairs, but I can’t seem to find my clipboard.”

  The woman looked confused.

  “We’ll help you find it!” Jessie offered.

  “Thank you, dear,” the woman replied. She lifted her glasses, still glancing around the room. “I’m Mrs. Koslowski. But you can call me Mrs. K.”

  Jessie and Henry introduced themselves. Then they propped their brooms against the wall. As they walked out of the classroom, Henry turned to Martha.

  “It was nice meeting you, Martha,” Henry said. “See you around.”

  Mumbling a few words of farewell, Martha went back to dusting off a file cabinet.

  “Where were you last working?” Henry asked as they walked down the hallway.

  “Well, I was in one of the classrooms,” Mrs. K replied. “But I can’t remember which one.”

  Just then, Jessie noticed Ansel leaning against the stairwell banister. His eyes were focused on his camera.

  “Hello, Ansel!” Mrs. K called. “Have you been here long?”

  Ansel looked up and gave a fast wave.

  “No,” he replied. “Just arrived.” And then he went back to looking at his camera. He was no more excited to be here than the day the Aldens had met him.

  Henry was surprised that Mrs. K was so forgetful but had remembered Ansel’s name. He figured the two had met each other earlier, so he didn’t give it much more thought.

  As they turned a corner, they heard excited voices coming from down the hall.

  “It sounds like something is happening in Room 107,” Henry said, pointing to a nearby classroom.

  “We better check it out,” Jessie replied. “Do you mind if we make a quick stop, Mrs. K?”

  Mrs. Koslowski shook her head and followed Jessie and Henry into the room. They saw several volunteers huddled around a chalkboard, along with two of the handy-men who were doing the heavier work around the school.

  “What’s going on?” Jessie asked.

  One of the handymen pointed to a large, old bulletin board that had been taken off the wall. “When we removed this,” he replied, “we found an even older chalkboard underneath!” He pointed to the chalkboard on the wall. It was clearly much older than the others in the classroom. It had cracks and plaster around the edges, since it had been hidden in the wall underneath the bulletin board. But the most remarkable thing about it was that the chalkboard still had writing and pictures on it!

  The handyman explained that some of the classrooms had been redecorated a long time ago. Many years ago, builders had put up walls and bulletin boards right on top of the old chalkboards. “You know how sometimes in an old house you’ll peel back the wallpaper and find older wallpaper underneath? It’s a little like that,” he said. “We’ve found old chalkboards in the other rooms, but as you can see, this one is special.”

  Jessie could see why. The old chalkboard had never been erased after the last time it was used. It was filled with lessons and drawings from nearly one hundred years ago!

  “Look at this,” Henry exclaimed, pointing to a corner of the chalkboard. “The date is March 20, 1920!”

  Everyone gathered around to study the old chalk writing. There was a lesson about a classic poem, which read:

  How doth the little busy bee

  Improve each shining hour,

  And gather honey all the day

  From every op
ening flower!

  Henry didn’t recognize the poem, but he did admire the old-fashioned cursive handwriting used to write it. Next to the poem was a drawing of a little girl wearing a long dress. It looked like something that would have been stylish many years ago.

  Jessie looked at the old arithmetic tables that had been drawn up in one corner. “It’s like the students’ work has been captured in time!” she marveled.

  “This reminds me of my mother’s fancy handwriting,” Mrs. Koslowski said, coming closer to the chalkboard. “Beautiful penman-ship like this isn’t taught anymore.”

  More volunteers came into the classroom as word caught on about the old chalkboard, and they all chatted excitedly about the discovery.

  Jessie noticed Ansel walking into the classroom. He snapped a few quick photos, then quietly slipped out of the room.

  As he left, Martha strolled in. She looked over the old chalkboard but didn’t join in the conversation.

  “We should contact the Silver City Herald,” a young woman suggested. “I’m sure the newspaper will be fascinated by this lesson in history!”

  Suddenly, Martha seemed very interested in the volunteers’ conversation. She walked over and sat down with the group.

  “The newspaper will not be interested in this,” Martha said. She pulled a notebook from her bag and scribbled down a few notes.

  “It’s so interesting!” one of the volunteers called out.

  “We should not call the local news,” Martha repeated.

  Jessie watched. She thought that Martha muttered something else under her breath, but she couldn’t make out the words. All she knew was that Martha looked irritated. Why? Jessie wondered.

  Just then, a red-haired girl ran into the classroom. She looked pale and was out of breath.

  “Something’s wrong next door!” she said.

  CHAPTER 4

  The Locked Door

  Jessie and Henry rushed into the hall with the other volunteers. The red-haired girl stood in front of Room 108. With a shaky finger, she pointed to the door.