Pilgrim Village Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “You should see it at Thanksgiving,” Red said. “But that is a few weeks away, so I guess you won’t be here.”

  “Isn’t it wonderful how popular the village has become?” Linda said proudly. “In fact, if we keep doing this well, we may be able to expand.”

  “I don’t think it’s so wonderful,” said Red. “We don’t need more tour buses filling up the parking lot, dumping even more people on us.”

  “Oh, Red,” Linda said. “You don’t mean that.”

  “Yes, I do,” Red insisted, his face flushing.

  “Maybe we could help you in the kitchen,” Violet said, trying to change the subject. “You could show us how you make that delicious apple pie.” The children had cooked while they were living in the boxcar, and they still enjoyed making meals for themselves.

  “I don’t need more tourists,” Red said angrily, “and I certainly don’t need any children in my own kitchen!” He turned and headed back to the kitchen in a huff.

  CHAPTER 3

  Smoke!

  “Why’d he get so upset?” Jessie asked as the Aldens got up from their table and left the tavern.

  Linda sighed. “It’s not your fault. Lately Red has just been a little bit … touchy. I don’t know what’s bothering him.”

  “We’ll cheer him up!” Benny said.

  “I hope you can. But in the meantime I’d better get you children settled,” Linda said. “I’ll take you back to your cabin and give you your costumes.”

  The Aldens stopped at their car and got their suitcases. Then they went with Linda to a small log cabin at one end of the green. There was a lantern on the front steps. Linda lit the lantern with a match, and led the children inside. By the flickering light of the lantern, the children saw they were in a square room. Across from the door was a large stone hearth with a cast iron pot hanging in the center. A simple wooden table stood in the middle of the room. On either side of the room was a door leading into two smaller rooms.

  “Jessie and Violet can sleep here,” Linda said, leading the children into the small room on the left. There was a double bed with a wooden frame, fluffy pillows, and a patchwork quilt pulled over it. “And the room on the other side has a double bed for you and Henry,” Linda told Benny.

  “Did Thomas Heathcliff live here?” asked Benny.

  “No, he lived in the farmhouse at the other end of the village,” Linda said. “This little cabin was for his guests. And it’s still used just for extra-special guests.”

  “It’s wonderful!” cried Violet.

  “It reminds me of the boxcar days,” said Benny.

  “If you need anything, I sleep in the apartment over my office, which is right next door,” Linda said.

  “We’ll be fine,” Jessie assured her. “We like being on our own.”

  “Now that you’re settled, I’m going back to my hotel,” Grandfather said. “I’ll meet you at the tavern at lunchtime tomorrow.”

  “See you!” Benny said, giving his grandfather a big hug.

  “Good night!” the other children called out as Linda and Grandfather closed the door behind them.

  The Aldens woke up the next morning to sunlight streaming through the tiny windows of their cabin. Linda had given them colonial costumes the night before, and the children put them on excitedly. The blouses and skirts fit Jessie and Violet perfectly. “Look how cute you look!” Jessie said, helping Violet tie on her bonnet.

  Benny put on his shirt and his breeches, which were a little bit too long. “These were the smallest pair Linda could find,” Henry said.

  Jessie rolled the breeches up at the waist, and fastened them with safety pins she had in her suitcase. She was very organized and always came prepared.

  Henry looked quite handsome in his blue breeches and vest. “Don’t forget your hat, Benny.” He handed his brother the three-cornered hat. Benny had just finished buckling his shoes, and was jumping about in his new outfit.

  Linda had told them to go to the print shop that morning and help Eric.

  “What about breakfast?” Benny asked as he helped Jessie smooth the quilts over the beds.

  “Remember we saw that little bakery yesterday? We can get something there,” Violet suggested.

  “But I don’t remember where it was,” Benny said, following the others out of the cabin.

  “I think we should be able to find it pretty easily,” Jessie said, breathing in deeply.

  “We’ll just follow our noses!” said Henry.

  Sure enough, the Aldens could smell something delicious drifting their way. They walked toward the scent, and soon found themselves in front of the small bake shop. Over the door hung a wooden sign shaped like a loaf of bread, and through the window they could see baskets of fresh-baked rolls and muffins on the countertop.

  Each of the Aldens bought a muffin: corn for Jessie, cranberry for Henry and Violet, and blueberry for Benny. The woman behind the counter also sold them cups of milk, although she explained that in colonial times, they would have had to milk their own cow.

  “I’m glad we don’t have to do that,” Benny said.

  The Aldens sat on a bench outside the bakery and ate the warm muffins and drank the cold milk.

  After breakfast, they headed to the print shop, which was on the other side of the green. The children wondered if Eric would be as friendly as he had been when they’d first met him. When he’d left them the night before he hadn’t seemed friendly at all.

  The Aldens were relieved to find that he was happy to see them. “Welcome!” Eric said cheerfully. “Ready to learn about printing?”

  “We sure are!” said Henry.

  “First put these on so that you don’t get ink on your clothes.” Eric handed each of the children a large, heavy apron. “Today I’m printing posters to advertise a special harvest picnic this Saturday at noon on the green. There will be lots of games and prizes, and plenty of food, of course. But before we can start printing, we need to decide what the posters should say, and how they should look.”

  Eric set the children up at a table with some paper and pencils, while he talked to some visitors who had just come in. When at last the Aldens had agreed on the design, they showed it to Eric.

  You’re invited!

  HARVEST PICNIC ON THE GREEN

  Contests, games, prizes, and plenty of food

  Saturday at twelve o’clock

  Please come and enjoy the fun!

  “That looks great,” Eric said. “Now for the next step.” He pulled out two large flat wooden cases. The cases were divided into lots of little compartments that were filled with metal blocks. Eric reached in the top case and took a block from the upper left-hand compartment. On one side of the block was the letter A. “You see, each of these blocks has a letter on it. This upper case holds the capital letters. The lower case holds the small letters.”

  “Is that why they’re called ‘upper case’ and ‘lower case’ letters?” Jessie asked.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is,” said Eric. “These are called blocks of type. You’ll take the type from these cases and lay them in this metal tray.” He showed them an empty metal tray on the counter. “First you’ll need a capital Y for ‘You’re’ and then a small o and a small u and so on. Once all of the type is arranged in this tray, you roll ink over the tray, and put the tray in the printing press.” He motioned to a large machine. “But I’ll show you how to do that later.”

  “Is this really how they printed all their newspapers and books and everything?” Henry asked.

  “Yes,” Eric said. “Things were a lot harder then. But before you start arranging the letters in the tray, there’s one important thing you have to remember. The letters have to be put in backward.”

  “Backward!” Violet said.

  “Let me show you,” Eric said. He took a few pieces of type out of the cases, and laid them in the tray. “Know what that says?” The children leaned over to see. Eric had placed the letters in the tray, and they were all
backward. Then he inked the tray and put it in the press. After he’d printed a page, he showed it to the children.

  “That’s my name!” Benny said proudly.

  “Yes, it is,” Eric said. “To check that you’ve put the type in properly, you use a mirror. If the letters are the right way in the mirror, they’ll come out right on the paper. In colonial times, boys no older than Violet might have had a job like this. Do you know who Benjamin Franklin was?”

  “Is he the one who discovered electricity with a kite and a key?” Benny asked.

  “He was indeed,” said Eric. “And he started off as an apprentice in his brother’s print shop doing the same kinds of things you’ll be doing.”

  For the rest of the morning the children laid the blocks of type in the tray. There were several different cases of type, large and small, fancy and plain. It was fun deciding how the poster should look.

  While the Aldens worked, more visitors came into the shop, and Eric explained what the children were doing and demonstrated how the printing press worked.

  At about noon, Benny’s stomach began to growl. “Can we take a break for lunch?” he asked.

  “Sure,” said Eric. “You can finish the poster later.”

  “We’re supposed to meet Grandfather at the tavern. Would you like to come along with us?” Jessie asked Eric.

  “Sounds great,” he said. Then a look passed over his face as if he’d just remembered something. “Oh, no, on second thought … I have a special project I have to work on.”

  “What is it?” Benny asked.

  “Well, it’s … it’s … uh …” Eric began. “It’s really nothing.”

  “Then why do you have to —” Benny said.

  “Come on, Benny,” Henry interrupted his brother. “Let’s give Eric some time to himself.”

  The tavern was just as busy as it had been the night before. Mr. Alden was waiting at a table in the corner, and he’d already ordered the special — fried chicken and biscuits — for all of them. They told him about their morning at the print shop and he was very impressed.

  The Aldens were just biting into the crispy chicken when they heard a commotion at the back of the restaurant. Next, they saw black smoke coming from the kitchen. The people sitting near the kitchen door were jumping up from their tables, coughing and waving the smoke away with their hands.

  “Uh-oh!” cried Violet. “Looks like trouble in the kitchen.”

  “Maybe Red could use some help,” Henry suggested. He led the others to the kitchen door and poked his head in. The kitchen was filled with smoke. Red stood next to the stove, holding two large trays of biscuits that had been burnt to a crisp. Their waitress from the night before, Lisa, and a waiter whose nametag said “Steve” were hurrying about the kitchen, opening windows to clear the smoke.

  “What happened, Red?” Henry asked.

  “I don’t know. Someone must have turned off my timer, so I didn’t take the biscuits out when I should have.” Red looked at one of the knobs on the stove. “What is this doing set at four hundred and fifty degrees? No wonder these burned.”

  “Everyone’s ordering the special chicken and biscuits,” said Lisa. “And now we’re out of biscuits.”

  Steve looked out into the dining room, where angry voices could be heard. “Several of the customers are upset about all the smoke. We’re going to lose a lot of business if we don’t do something fast.”

  “We can help,” Violet offered.

  Red looked angry. “I don’t need any help!”

  “Why not, Red?” Lisa asked. “Steve and I are having trouble keeping up with all the customers as it is.”

  “Well, all right,” Red said reluctantly. He didn’t seem happy.

  “I’ll go open the windows in the dining room and fan out some of the smoke,” Jessie said.

  “I’ll tell the customers not to worry, that their lunches will be served soon,” said Henry.

  “What can I do?” asked Benny.

  “You and I can help Red make more biscuits,” said Violet.

  No sooner had the children spoken than they got to work. Red got out large containers of flour, shortening, baking powder and milk. Following Red’s instructions, Violet carefully measured the ingredients into a bowl, and Benny stirred the mixture with a wooden spoon. Then they placed spoonfuls of batter on a baking sheet, and Red put the sheet in the oven. He checked the temperature and timer carefully.

  In no time the biscuits were done, and the children helped arrange them on plates next to Red’s crispy fried chicken. Lisa and Steve rushed the meals out to the customers.

  Seeing that things seemed to be running smoothly, the children returned to their table, where Grandfather was waiting for them.

  “Thanks a lot,” Steve called out.

  Red said nothing.

  After the Aldens had finished eating, the children said good-bye to Grandfather, who was planning to take a nap in his hotel room, and walked back to the print shop. As they strolled across the green, Jessie said, “Red didn’t seem very grateful for our help.”

  “No, he didn’t,” said Henry.

  “Don’t you think it was strange that both the timer and the temperature on the oven were set wrong?” Violet asked.

  “Red seemed to think someone had changed the settings,” said Jessie.

  “Do you think someone wanted those biscuits to burn?” Benny asked, his eyes wide.

  “Why would anyone want that?” said Violet. “It just made a lot of people unhappy.” Violet hated to think of anyone being unhappy.

  “I don’t know,” said Henry. “But something about what happened just doesn’t seem right.”

  CHAPTER 4

  All Jumbled Up

  When the children returned to the print shop, they found Eric’s assistant, Judith, giving demonstrations for the visitors. “Eric’s in his office,” she told them.

  “I’ll tell him we’re back,” Violet said, walking to Eric’s office at the back of the shop. When she entered the small room, Eric was sitting at his desk, his head bent over a book. The book looked very old. Violet could see that the pages were yellowed and the cover was made of leather that was cracked around the edges. The book was handwritten, and there were blots of ink here and there on the page. Eric was so busy making notes on a pad of paper that he didn’t realize Violet had come in.

  “Eric,” she said softly. Since he still didn’t look up, she said his name again, louder.

  “What?” Eric looked around, startled. Seeing Violet, he quickly closed the book as if he didn’t want her to see it and put it into a drawer with the pad of paper. “Oh, hello.” He stood up and ushered Violet out of his office.

  “Was that your special project?” Violet didn’t want to be nosy, but she was very curious about the old book.

  “Uh, yes …” Eric said nervously. Then he quickly changed the subject. “How was your lunch?”

  “It was good, except there was a little problem in the tavern.” Violet was about to tell Eric what had happened when a large group of tourists entered the shop. Eric went to help Judith demonstrate the printing process.

  By the end of the afternoon, the shop was quiet again. Since there weren’t many visitors, Judith left early. The Aldens completed the tray of type for their poster and checked it carefully in the mirror. Then they showed it to Eric.

  “Great work,” he said. “We’ll print it tomorrow.”

  “Why not today?” Jessie asked.

  “You’ve done enough work. Go enjoy yourselves,” Eric insisted.

  “We are enjoying ourselves,” Henry replied.

  Eric looked at the children as if he didn’t know what to say. Then he seemed to have an idea. “You know, the general store sells delicious apple cider. Have you tried it yet?”

  “No,” said Henry. “But —”

  “I think Benny would really like it,” said Eric, guiding the Aldens out the door. “We’ll print your poster tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” said Jessi
e. “But what about our aprons?” She had begun untying hers.

  “Bring them back tomorrow. Bye!” The children were surprised when Eric quickly shut the door and turned the sign in the window around so that it said “Closed.”

  “He certainly seemed in a hurry to get rid of us,” Henry commented.

  “Yes, he did,” Violet agreed. “I wonder if he’s going to work on his special project. When I went into his office after lunch, he was looking at a very old book. As soon as he saw me, he put the book away so I couldn’t see what it was.”

  “First Red acted strange, and now Eric. What’s going on?” asked Benny.

  “I don’t know,” said Jessie. “But that cider sounds pretty good to me. Let’s go.”

  The Aldens arrived at the print shop the following morning, ready to print their poster. Eric welcomed them in, but he seemed very distracted.

  He showed them how to place the tray of type in the printing press. Then he took out a large roller and showed them how to coat it with sticky, black ink.

  “Jessie, why don’t you roll the ink over the type,” Eric suggested.

  Then Eric showed Violet where to put the first sheet of paper.

  “Henry, press down on this bar here,” Eric said.

  “Here we go,” said Henry, following Eric’s instructions. The sheet of paper was pressed firmly against the tray of type.

  Carefully Jessie removed the first poster from the press.

  “Let me see it!” Benny called out.

  “Careful,” Jessie warned. “The ink’s still wet.”

  Benny turned over the sheet, careful not to put his fingers in the wet ink. The others watched his eyes grow wide. “Uh-oh! I think we goofed.”

  “What do you mean, Benny?” Jessie asked.

  Benny turned the poster around so they could all see it.

  StdRn!nu’ldyfoo

  read the first line of the poster. The rest of the poster was just as bad. All of the letters were jumbled around and mixed up — forward, backward, right side up, and upside down.

  “What happened?” Violet asked. “We were so careful to put the letters in the right way.”