Boardwalk Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “We are sure that it is perfectly safe,” Henry said.

  The man in the dart booth held out his hand. “I need a receipt for the money, Mr. Cooke,” he said.

  Mr. Cooke put his hand into each of his pockets. “I know,” he said. “But I can’t find my marker.”

  “Is this your marker?” Jessie asked.

  Mr. Cooke took the marker from Jessie’s hand. He started to nod, but then he stopped,as if he was remembering something. He looked at the marker, then stared at Jessie. “There are a hundred markers with my name on them on this boardwalk,” he said. “I give them out for free. They are a good advertisement. You can find them everywhere.”

  “Well, I found your marker at Hanson’s pier,” Jessie said.

  Mr. Cooke signed the receipt for the man in the dart booth. “I’m not surprised you found it at Hanson’s. Like I said, those markers are everywhere.”

  Mr. Cooke handed the marker back to Jessie. “You can keep this as a souvenir,” he said. “It is probably not the one I lost.” Then he quickly walked away.

  The Aldens were running late. They hurried toward Hanson’s pier. But very soon they heard a familiar recording. “Watch the tramcar, please! Watch the tramcar, please!” “Hello, kids!” Leslie waved from behind the wheel of the bright yellow tram. “Why don’t you jump aboard? Are you headed to

  Hanson’s?”

  “Yes,” Jessie said. “Thank you so much!” Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny took the front seat right behind Leslie.

  “So how do you like Hanson’s pier?” Leslie asked.

  “It’s wonderful,” Jessie answered.

  Leslie nodded her head. “I knew you would enjoy it. The Reddy family added many great rides over the years. They built it up into the best pier on the boardwalk.”

  “Do you mean Mrs. Reddy’s family?” asked

  Violet.

  Leslie slowed the tramcar. She picked up two families with small children. “That’s right, Violet,” she said. “Mr. and Mrs. Reddy and their son, Paul, ran the pier for many years.”

  Violet hesitated. “Do you mind if we ask why the Reddy family sold the pier?”

  “Not at all. It is not a secret.” Leslie started up the tram again. “Mr. Reddy was a wonderful man. But he died five years ago. Paul helped Mrs. Reddy run the pier. He is a good son and he helped for several years. But Paul did not like working at the amusement pier. He is an engineer. He got an offer for a very good job in California. He moved away and he lives in California with his family.”

  “It is a shame that he lives so far away,” Violet said.

  “Mrs. Reddy tried to run the pier by herself,” Leslie said. “But it is a big job and she has a very sore leg. Paul and all of her friends encouraged Mrs. Reddy to sell the pier and to retire. She was very sad that her son did not carry on the family business.”

  The tramcar slowed to a stop in front of Hanson’s pier. “Here we are, kids!” Leslie said. “Have fun tonight!”

  The children thanked Leslie and climbed down from the tramcar.

  “It must have been very hard for Mrs. Reddy to sell the pier,” Violet said.

  “Yes,” agreed Jessie. “And she must be lonely with her son living so far away.”

  Benny looked up at all the lights and the spinning rides. “If it were my pier, I would not want to sell it, either!”

  The children hurried off to find Mr. Hanson. He was in his workshop carefully placing Violet’s ghosts into a large box.

  “There you are!” Mr. Hanson said. “How was dinner?”

  “It was great!” Benny said. “I ate five pieces of pizza all by myself.”

  Mr. Hanson’s eyes grew wide. He patted Benny’s stomach. “Where do you put it all?” Henry laughed. “That is one mystery we have never been able to solve.”

  The children followed Mr. Hanson to the haunted house. No one was in line yet. Mr. Hanson placed a sign outside that said “Ride temporarily closed.” Then he pushed open a side door and the children followed him into the haunted house. It was very dark.

  Benny clutched Jessie’s shirt. This was the darkest room he had ever been in! He couldn’t even see his own hand!

  The children could hear Mr. Hanson struggling with the box. “I can’t reach it,” he said. “There is a switch on the wall on the left. Can someone turn on the lights?”

  Henry felt around in the darkness until his hand felt a switch. He flicked it up. Suddenly, the room was flooded with light. All four Aldens jumped back in fear.

  “I’m sorry,” Mr. Hanson said. “I should have warned you that we were standing in the zombie room before you turned on the lights.”

  Jessie was holding her hand over her heart. “Whoever made those zombies did a very good job.”

  Everyone stared at the rows of tall zombies. They had white faces and red eyes. Their clothes were shabby and their arms were outstretched.

  Mr. Hanson set his box on the floor. “It is a good display, isn’t it? I made it myself. Watch this.” He flipped another switch. The zombies’ legs began to move back and forth and the room was filled with a moaning sound. It looked like the zombies were marching straight at the Aldens!

  Benny held on to Jessie’s hand. “I don’t like it in here,” he whispered. “It’s all pretend,” Jessie said. “Don’t worry.”

  Benny stayed very close to Jessie as Mr. Hanson led the children through the haunted house. There was a room with a huge green-faced Frankenstein and a room with a cackling witch on a broom. In the last room, scary jack-o’-lanterns blinked orange. But the rest of the room was empty.

  “The ghosts used to be right here.” Mr. Hanson pointed to an empty side of the room. There were dark posts lined up next to the wall. But there was nothing else. Mr. Hanson opened the box and everyone carefully removed the ghosts. Mr. Hanson showed the children how to fit the ghosts onto the posts. After the ghosts were screwed on, Violet fluffed out the long white material.

  Mr. Hanson turned to Violet. “You did a wonderful job. These ghosts are even better than the ones that were stolen. Why don’t you turn on this switch and I will show you what your ghosts can do?”

  Violet hit the switch. The posts moved up and down and so did the ghosts! A hidden fan blew air across the ghosts and they seemed to be floating and shimmering in the air.

  “Oh my!” Violet cried. “That is very clever! Your machine makes my ghosts move. It really looks like they are flying!”

  “Thank you, Violet,” said Mr. Hanson. Suddenly, a loud banging came from the zombie room.

  “What could that be?” Mr. Hanson hurried toward the sound. The children followed.

  They found Will. He was kicking the wall with his shoe.

  “Will! What are you doing?” asked Mr. Hanson.

  “I called you, but you didn’t answer,” Will said. “Linda and Jake are not showing up for work tonight. Mr. Cooke hired them for his pier and he promised to pay them more money. I can’t do everything by myself. And I am hungry. I’m leaving to go get some food.” Will kicked the wall again.

  “Will, can’t you just wait until later? I need your help.”

  Will shrugged. “Sorry, Dad. This whole amusement pier thing is your dream, not mine. It’s not my fault that you can’t make it work.” Will turned and left.

  Mr. Hanson sighed. He put his hands deep into his pockets. “Maybe Will is right,” he said. “Maybe I just can’t make it work. I’ve worked so hard, but nothing seems to be turning out right. Maybe I should sell the pier and go back to my old job in Colorado.” “But it’s not your fault that everything is going wrong,” Benny said.

  Mr. Hanson looked up, surprised. “What do you mean?”

  “Benny is right, Mr. Hanson,” Henry said. “You have a wonderful amusement pier. But someone wants you to fail. Someone is trying to ruin you.”

  Mr. Hanson rubbed his forehead. “Ruin me? But who would do such a thing?” he asked.

  “We’re not sure yet,” Jessie said.

  “But whoeve
r it is, is playing a lot of very mean tricks on you,” Henry said.

  “And you have a truly wonderful amusement pier,” Violet added. “You have created some amazing rides.”

  Mr. Hanson smiled. “Thanks, kids. You are very kind. I guess I shouldn’t give up just yet.” He sighed. “Looks like I will be short on help again tonight, though.”

  “What jobs did Linda and Jake have?” Henry asked.

  “Jake runs this haunted house ride,” Mr. Hanson said. “And Linda is in charge of the Big Slide. I’ll have to close a few of the rides tonight. It’s always so hard to choose.”

  “You don’t need to close anything,” Henry said. “Benny and I can run the haunted house ride.”

  “And I would be happy to help out with the Big Slide,” Violet said.

  “I’ll go straight to the ticket booth,” Jessie added.

  Mr. Hanson smiled. “You are sure that you don’t mind?”

  “We don’t mind at all,” Henry said. “It will be fun.”

  It was late when the amusement pier finally closed. Mr. Hanson, Henry, and Jessie checked that all the rides were safely turned off and locked. Violet and Benny picked up stray wrappers and put them in the trash. When they were done, they climbed onto the dark merry-go-round and each picked a horse. Benny climbed onto a large black horse that looked as though it were galloping.

  Violet sat on a white horse that had purple ribbons hanging from its mane.

  Benny held the reins of his horse. “Do you think we will get to ride the rides sometime when they are on?”

  Violet patted the side of her horse. “I hope so,” she said. “I want to try the Big Slide and the roller coaster. I am sure that once Mr. Hanson gets all his problems settled, we can ride the rides.”

  “And play games, too,” Benny said.

  “Yes,” Violet replied. “That would be fun, too.”

  Suddenly, Benny slid off his horse. “I’ll be right back!” he cried. “I just remembered something!”

  “Benny, wait!” Violet called. But it was too late. Benny had disappeared!

  CHAPTER 5

  Benny Gets Hurt

  Violet ran across the amusement pier, but she did not see Benny. A few lights were on here and there, but all the rides and food stands were dark.

  “Violet! Is something wrong?” Jessie asked. Jessie, Henry, and Mr. Hanson were locking the gate to the Ferris wheel.

  “Have you seen Benny?” Violet asked. “No,” Jessie replied.

  Violet explained how Benny had slid from his horse and run away.

  Mr. Hanson looked concerned. “Let’s split up,” he said. “Henry and Jessie, you search the ocean side of the pier. Violet and I will look on the other side. We’ll meet up at the ticket booth.”

  Violet climbed all the way up to the very top of the Big Slide. From the top, she could look down on the whole amusement pier. She could see Henry and Jessie running from ride to ride. She could see Mr. Hanson checking under benches and behind the game booths. But she did not see Benny. Clouds covered the moon, and the beach and the ocean were very dark. Violet worried. What if Benny had run down to the beach and could not find his way?

  Out of the corner of her eye, Violet saw something move at the back of the pier. Someone, or something, had just run down the steps and into the blackness of the beach. It looked like the person was carrying something very big.

  “Stop!” Violet called. But she was too far. She sat and quickly flew down the Big Slide to the very bottom. She called for Henry, Jessie, and Mr. Hanson. They came running.

  Just as Violet was about to tell them what she had seen, loud screaming came from the haunted house! All the lights in the front of the haunted house went on. The cars began to run on the track and bump through the doors. But there were no riders! Everyone rushed toward the ride.

  “Was that Benny who screamed?” asked

  Jessie. “I hope he is all right.”

  “Don’t worry,” Mr. Hanson said. “It was not Benny. The screams are part of the ride. Someone has turned it on.”

  Mr. Hanson quickly found the off switch and shut down the ride. He pushed open the door and Henry, Jessie, and Violet followed him inside.

  “Benny!” Jessie cried. “Are you all right?” Benny sat on the floor in the zombie room.

  His head was in his hands.

  “The zombie hit me,” he said. “Then it ran away.”

  Everyone looked at the platform next to where Benny sat. The tallest zombie was missing from its stand!

  * * *

  Back at Mr. Hanson’s house, everyone sat out on the deck overlooking the ocean. Mr. Hanson scooped ice cream into bowls.

  “Extra chocolate sauce and rainbow sprinkles for Benny,” Mr. Hanson said. “How do you feel?”

  “I’m fine,” Benny said. He lifted an ice pack from his cheek. “It is just a small bump. It hardly hurts at all.”

  “Can you tell us what happened?” Grandfather asked.

  “I won a snake today when I threw darts at a balloon. But when we helped Mr. Hanson set up the ghosts in the haunted house, I left my snake there. I remembered it when I was sitting on the horse on the merry-go-round. I told Violet that I would be right back. I ran to the haunted house to get my snake.”

  “Wasn’t it too dark to find the snake?” Jessie asked.

  Benny nodded. “At first it was too dark. But I knew where the light switch was. I turned on the lights and ran to the ghost room. I found my snake. It was sitting right next to the smallest ghost. I picked it up, but just then all the lights went out. I couldn’t see anything.”

  Violet drew in her breath. “You must have been so frightened!”

  “I was a little scared,” Benny admitted. “But I felt along the walls. I walked into the zombie room. There was a light in there.”

  “But I don’t have any lights just in the zombie room,” Mr. Hanson said. “The switch you used turns on all the lights in the haunted house.”

  “It wasn’t that light, Mr. Hanson. It was a small light, like from a cell phone or a little flashlight. Then the giant zombie started to move. He came right off the machine that you built. His arms swung around. One of them hit me in the side of the face. I fell down.”

  “Where did the zombie go?” asked Henry. “It can’t walk. It’s not real. And it was not there when we found you.”

  “I don’t know,” Benny said. “It was too dark. The little light went off. And then all of a sudden the ride started up and you came and found me.”

  Just then, everyone heard giggling coming from the beach. But it was too dark to see anyone.

  As everyone was finishing their ice cream, Will and Wendy came in the front door. When their father called to them, they walked back toward the deck.

  “Where were you tonight?” Mr. Hanson asked. “I sure could have used your help.”

  Will looked down at his feet.

  “We’re sorry, Dad,” Wendy said. “We went for a long walk after dinner and we lost track of the time.”

  Wendy played with a string hanging from the bottom of her shirt. Her eyes quickly glanced toward Benny. “Are you okay, little guy?” she asked. “How about I get you some more ice cream?” Wendy asked.

  Grandfather smiled. “Benny never says no to ice cream.”

  Wendy carried Benny’s bowl into the kitchen. “Hello up there, Aldens!” A shout came from the boardwalk below.

  Mr. Hanson leaned over the rail. “Come on up, Hunter,” he said. “We are just having some ice cream. I hope you can join us.”

  “Sounds great!” Hunter ran up the stairs. “I’m glad I saw the candles flickering on your deck,” he said. “I wanted to stop by to see if anyone is up for hitting the beach tomorrow morning.”

  Benny jumped out of his chair. “Are you going to teach me how to boogie board?”

  Hunter laughed. “That’s the first thing I am going to do. But it won’t take long. You’ll figure it out quick.”

  “You children have been an enormous he
lp. You should go and enjoy the beach tomorrow,” Mr. Hanson said.

  Benny clapped his hands. Wendy came back out onto the deck and handed Benny another heaping bowl of ice cream. “Wow!” Benny said. “This is the best night ever!”

  Will and Wendy turned to leave the deck. Hunter called to them.

  “Do you want to come tomorrow, too?” Hunter asked. “There will be lots of kids there. We always have a good time. Do you like to surf?”

  Will hesitated. He folded his arms and leaned against the door frame.

  “Thanks, but we don’t surf,” Wendy said. Then she sighed. “But we used to ski when we lived in Colorado.”

  “That’s cool,” Hunter said. “I’ve never been skiing. If I teach you to surf this summer, maybe you can teach me how to ski in the winter. I’ve heard the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania have some great slopes. And they are not too far from here.”

  Wendy smiled. She looked over at Will. Will shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a deal,” Wendy said. “We’ll see you in the morning!”

  When Benny awoke, it was early morning. He rushed downstairs and out onto the deck. He wanted to see how big the waves were. He could not wait to swim in the ocean and try out the boogie board that Hunter promised to bring. But when Benny looked toward the beach, he saw something that made his heart beat fast. He stumbled back into the house.

  “Henry! Jessie! Violet!” Benny called. “Come quick!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Zombie on the Beach

  Henry, Jessie, and Violet heard Benny’s shouting and rushed out onto the deck to find him. Even Grandfather and Mr. Hanson had jumped from their beds. They all stood looking out at the beach. At first, no one knew what to say. The tall zombie, the one that had hit Benny in the face, was standing on the beach, its arms outstretched as though it was marching toward the Hanson’s beach house. The sun was rising behind it on the ocean, and the zombie cast a huge shadow across the sand.

  “How do you think it got there?” Benny finally whispered. “Do you think it followed me here?”

  “No, Benny,” Jessie said, putting her hand on her little brother’s shoulder. “It is not real. Someone stole the zombie when you were in the haunted house. Then the thief brought the zombie to the beach and left it here.”