by Charles Tang
“I’m not in trouble. You are,” Nicole answered.
Then for the first time, Jason realized that Nicole wasn’t the only one on the path with him.
“Who — It’s the Aldens,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“Catching a monster,” said Benny.
“That’s right,” said Nicole.
By the beams of their flashlights, they saw the frightened look that suddenly crossed Jason’s face. “W-What are you talking about?”
“You,” said Henry. “You’re the one who’s been trying to make everyone think there is a monster around here.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jason said.
“If you’re not the monster, why are you carrying a monster foot around with you in the middle of the night?” asked Jessie. She pointed to the ground next to Jason’s feet. There was a pair of flippers, the sort of flippers that swimmers use when they go snorkeling. But these flippers were different. They had metal nails taped to the ends of them with silver electrical tape.
Jason said, “I don’t know where those came from. I’ve never seen them before.”
“Then why does one of the flippers have your name on it?” asked Violet.
“Uh . . .” said Jason. “Uh . . .”
“Admit it,” said Henry. “You’re the lake monster. You’re Lucy.”
Suddenly Jason’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, I am. At first I just did it for fun. I found an old air horn in the storage shed that was almost worn out. I wrapped a couple of towels around it and snuck out one night and used it to make sounds like I thought a lake monster would make. And you guys fell for it!
“That’s when I got the idea of trying to make everybody believe there really was a monster. I thought if I could scare Mom and Dad, they’d take us home.”
“That was rotten, Jason,” said Nicole angrily. “When you fell out of the canoe, I thought you were really in trouble!”
“How did you do that?” asked Henry.
“I borrowed a jigsaw from the toolshed when no one was around and cut teeth marks in the paddle. Then I used it to paddle out onto the lake not too far from where you guys were having your picnic.” Jason made a face. “I didn’t count on Carl being around. I was afraid he’d catch on. That’s why I was so rude to him.”
“And the footprints — how did you leave footprints on the beach without leaving any others?” asked Jessie.
“I knew that since it had been raining, the ground would be soft, so I waded all the way over to where I got out of the water. Then I put on the flippers and walked up on the beach to make the footprints. Afterward, I waded back,” said Jason.
“That’s why Watch went to the other end of the porch. He could smell you, or hear you, as you waded back,” said Jessie.
“I guess,” said Jason. “But tonight I didn’t have to wade, because it hadn’t been raining and so the ground was dry and firm. I didn’t know that Nicole was making up everything about Nora being ready to leave.”
“And you kept saying there was no monster so that no one would suspect you,” said Violet.
“But we caught you!” cried Benny. “We tricked you and trapped you and you have the monster feet.”
“Okay, okay,” said Jason. “I did it. What are you going to do about it?”
“Either we tell Nora or you do,” said Henry. “She and Drew are the ones who lost business because of what you did. You at least owe her an apology.”
“I know,” said Jason. Then he said, “I’m sorry. You know, I’m almost relieved it didn’t work. Once I started going out in the canoe and walking around the lake and all that, I started kind of liking it here.”
He pointed to Violet’s camera. “How did you think of that?” he said.
“We did what you did,” said Jessie. “We listened to Carl’s stories. That’s what gave us the idea of taking a picture. Carl’s stories started the lake monster mystery — and they helped solve it, too.”
CHAPTER 10
Who Loves Lucy?
“I don’t want to leave tomorrow,” said Benny. “Watch and I want to stay here forever.”
“I wish we could stay too, Benny,” Grandfather Alden said. “But it’s time to go home. We’ll come back again, though.”
“You are always welcome,” Nora said. “In fact, I’m thinking of renaming Black Bear Cabin. I thought I might call it Lucy’s Cabin.”
The Aldens all laughed. So did the rest of the crowd assembled on the porch of the lodge after dinner. They were waiting for Drew to serve a special cake that he had made just for the occasion.
“Am I too late for cake?” a gruff voice asked from the darkness outside the screened porch.
“Not at all, Carl,” Nora said. “Come on up.”
Carl came up the stairs, pushed open the screen door, and walked onto the porch with Wildman at his heels. He pointed to a place by the door. “Wildman, stay,” he said.
Wildman wagged his tail slightly, lay down, and put his head on his paws.
“We should have brought Watch to dinner,” said Benny.
“That’s okay, Benny. I think Drew made a special treat for Watch. And for Wildman, too,” said Nora.
Just then the lights in the dining room behind them dimmed. They turned to see Drew and Jason walking toward them, holding between them a huge cake decorated with candles. They put the cake on the porch table and said, “Everybody blow out the candles for luck.”
So everyone blew out the candles. Then Drew cut the cake and passed the pieces around.
“This is delicious, Drew,” said Dr. Lin. “What do you call it?”
“It’s the new specialty of the lodge,” said Drew. “Monster cake!” Everyone laughed again — even Jason, who looked a little sheepish. Nora and Drew had forgiven him — and given him a job helping them with the lodge for the rest of the summer. He was already working in the kitchen, learning how to cook. He looked happier than the Aldens had seen him look since they’d arrived at Lake Lucille.
“I like it!” Benny declared.
Everyone agreed with him.
Nora came over to stand next to the Aldens. “Thank you for solving the lake monster mystery,” she said softly.
“We didn’t solve the whole mystery,” said Jessie. “I still don’t know who erased the footprints.”
“Or who turned over Carl’s canoe,” added Violet.
Nora looked a little embarrassed. “I’m the one who erased the footprints,” she said. “I was afraid there really might be a monster — and I didn’t want any proof around.”
“Oh!” said Violet.
A gruff voice said, “And I guess I never really had the monster turn me over in my canoe.”
“You didn’t?” Henry asked. “You made that up?”
“Well, I’ve turned over in my canoe before,” said Carl. “But I made up the story because I was afraid the Parkers were gonna fancy up the lodge and have a lot of careless tourists who didn’t care about the wilderness come up here trampling things and scaring the animals.”
“But we weren’t, Carl. You knew I wouldn’t let that happen,” Nora protested.
Carl nodded. “I realized it after a while. That’s why it shook me up so much when I saw that paddle. I almost felt as if I’d made up a monster and then it had come to life.”
Suddenly a long, low sound echoed across Lake Lucille.
Everyone stopped talking. Wildman raised his head.
“A bear,” said Dr. Lin. “Right, Carl?”
The sound came again, more softly now, before it faded away.
Carl put down his cake plate in amazement. He stared out into the darkness. “It doesn’t sound like any bear I’ve ever heard — or any other animal around these parts.”
“No,” said Dr. Lin softly. “It doesn’t.”
Benny bounced up from his seat. “It’s Lucy,” he said. “See? I knew she was real. It’s Lucy and she’s saying she’s not a monster. She would never bite a paddle or turn over a canoe or hurt anybody.
”
“Maybe you’re right, Benny,” said Nora. “Maybe you are right after all.”
Everyone laughed — everyone except Benny. He waved at the darkness in the direction of the lake. “It’s okay, Lucy,” he called. “See you next year!”
The Mystery of the Pirate’s Map
GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER
Illustrated by Charles Tang
ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago
Contents
CHAPTER
1 Benny’s Discovery
2 The Legend of John Finney’s Treasure
3 Benny Becomes Famous
4 Lots of Stairs and Millionaires
5 An Unwelcome Visitor
6 Danger, Danger, Everywhere
7 The Helpful Mr. Ford
8 The Final Offer
9 What You See Is What You Get
10 Good News All Around
CHAPTER 1
Benny’s Discovery
It seemed like an ideal afternoon for a walk on the beach. The sky was blue, the breeze was warm, and the ocean was calm and peaceful. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was the mess the storm had left behind.
“Yuck, more seaweed!” six-year-old Benny Alden said as he stepped over another ragged green pile of it. Watch, the Aldens’ dog, tagged along behind Benny.
“And more of these little black shells, broken open,” ten-year-old Violet added.
She picked one up between her thumb and forefinger. “What are they, anyway?”
“I think they’re called mussels,” Jessie said. She was twelve years old and had long brown hair. “I’ll bet the seagulls are happy they’re here. Now they’ve got plenty to eat.”
Benny smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with that!” he said. The others laughed. Benny had a very healthy appetite.
“Tom would know what they are,” Jessie continued. “He knows a lot about this area.”
Tom was Tom Harrison, a retired elementary school teacher and an old friend of the children’s grandfather. He owned and ran a bed-and-breakfast a few blocks inland, and he had invited the Aldens to visit for a week. Grandfather hadn’t seen him in years, and the children were thrilled at the idea of spending some time along the shore. So Grandfather cheerfully accepted his old friend’s invitation. The two men were back at the house now, catching up on old times.
“The storm must’ve been pretty bad,” Henry commented, walking behind everyone else. He was tall and thin, and at fourteen he was the oldest child. His full name was Henry James Alden. He was named after his grandfather, James Henry Alden. “I guess that’s why there are hardly any sunbathers here today. There’s no place to lie down.”
There were all sorts of things from the sea scattered on the beach: thousands of broken shells, small stones, seaweed clumps, and chunks of rotting driftwood. Tom had mentioned that storms were common along the shore. This one had hit the night before the Aldens arrived.
“Oooh! Here’s a pretty one!” Violet said excitedly. She crouched down and picked up a perfectly formed shell. Then she put it in the plastic bag she had brought along.
“Do you think you have enough yet?” Jessie asked.
“Hmm . . . almost,” Violet replied. She had offered to make seashell necklaces for everyone, and now the children were searching for all the perfect shells they could find. Violet was always doing artistic things. She liked to draw and usually brought a pad and coloring pencils with her whenever the Aldens traveled. Her favorite color was, of course, violet.
The Alden children lived with their grandfather in a large and beautiful house back in Greenfield, Connecticut. But there was a time when an abandoned boxcar was their home. After their parents died, they had no place to live. Then they discovered the old train car in the woods. While they were living in it, their grandfather came looking for them. They hid from him, thinking that he was mean. But they soon found out that he wasn’t mean at all.
He took them back to Greenfield and brought the boxcar, too. He put it in the backyard so the children could visit it anytime they wished.
Although there weren’t many sunbathers on the beach, there were other people walking around. A few were wearing headphones and carrying metal detectors. Benny had been watching them for a while. As one man knelt down and dug into the sand, Benny asked, “What is that man doing?”
A stranger’s voice answered, “He’s looking for buried treasure!”
Benny said, “Buried treasure? You mean like gold or something?”
The man shrugged. “Gold, silver, whatever.”
“And what are those things you both have?” Benny asked.
“Metal detectors,” Henry answered, “I think. . . .”
“That’s right,” the man answered, and gave Benny a smile. “It’s called a metal detector because . . . well, because it detects metal.”
“That means it finds metal, right?” Jessie asked.
“Yep. You wave it back and forth just above the ground, and if there’s anything made of metal under the sand”—he tapped his headphones—“you hear a beeping sound in here.”
Benny looked around the beach at the other people who had metal detectors.
“Have you found anything today?” he asked.
The man reached into his pocket and produced two silver coins.
“Do you think they’ve been here for a long time?” Henry asked.
The man nodded. “Probably.”
“Then how come no one else with a metal detector found them before today?”
“The storm,” the man answered. “Whenever there’s a big storm, new things always show up, things that may have been buried too deep for the metal detectors to pick up before. It happens all the time. That’s why all the metal-detector people are out today. This is the best kind of day to find stuff.”
Benny’s eyes twinkled. “Boy, I sure hope I find some old coins!”
The man laughed. “You might; you never know. You just have to keep your eyes open and pay attention as you walk.”
He took another drink from his water bottle. “Well, I’ve got to get back to work. Who knows what other little treasures are lying underground, just waiting for someone like me to find them? Good luck.”
“You, too,” the children said, and the man walked off.
“Oh, boy, old coins!” Benny squealed as they all went back to their seashell search. Suddenly the sand was ten times more interesting to him.
Violet and Jessie both found a few more shells. Henry didn’t have quite as much luck. And Benny, off by himself a few yards from the others, kept a close watch for anything that looked like it was made of metal. Shells were suddenly the last thing on his mind.
As he walked around the side of one particularly large rock, something round and shiny caught his attention. He reached down and grabbed it. Then his shoulders slumped with disappointment—it was nothing more than an old bottle cap. He stuffed it into the pocket of his shorts so he could throw it into a garbage can when he got back to the boardwalk.
He was just about to turn away when something else caught his eye. It wasn’t round and shiny like an old coin, but it still looked interesting. It barely stuck out of the sand and was hiding in the dark space between two huge rocks.
He dropped to his knees and began digging.
“Benny, what are you up to?” Henry asked curiously.
“I’m digging.”
“Digging what?”
“I don’t know. It feels like it’s made of . . . of glass.”
“Glass?” Jessie said, slightly alarmed. She was always watching out for her brothers and sister. Although she was only twelve years old, sometimes she acted and sounded much older. “Be careful, Benny. It might be broken. You could cut yourself.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t—” Henry started to say, then Benny suddenly rolled backward. His prize was in his hand.
It was a bottle.
“Oh, my goodness!” Violet gasped.
“Wow,” Henry said softly.
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br /> “Look how old it is!” Jessie exclaimed.
What Jessie said was definitely true—the bottle was very, very old. It didn’t have a nice, neat shape like the bottles the children were used to seeing. And it was sealed shut, but not by a cap. Instead there was a rotting cork stopper in the hole.
“Let me see,” Henry said, kneeling down next to his brother. Benny handed it to him without taking his eyes off it.
“Hmmm,” he said thoughtfully, wiping away the sand. “Looks pretty old. I’ll bet this thing is—”
Then Henry stopped talking, and the others stopped moving. They all saw it at the same time. . . .
There was a piece of paper inside.
“Wow,” Henry said again. “Look at that!”
Benny got up and brushed himself off. He took the bottle back and looked closely at the piece of paper inside. It had turned brown and was cracked around the edges.
“What do you think it is?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but we’ll have to take out whatever’s in the neck to get it,” Henry said.
“Can we go back to the house now?” Benny asked excitedly.
“Sure,” Henry answered, “let’s go.”
The Aldens began walking back, with Benny in the lead. He was skipping along happily with the bottle in hand.
Just before they reached the boardwalk, a woman holding a camera came up to them. She was dressed in long pants and a dark overcoat. This seemed strange to the children because it was such a hot day, but no one said anything.
“What have you found there, young man?” she said to Benny. Her voice was very loud. “I noticed you digging over by the rocks!”
“Ummm . . . I found a bottle,” Benny told her, holding it up.
“Wow, that looks like an old one!” the woman said. “Can I take a picture of it?”
Before anyone had a chance to answer, the woman pulled the camera to her face and clicked off two shots.
“I like to take pictures around the beach,” she told them. “I don’t sell many, but I’d like to. There are lots of pretty things to photograph around here!”