Mystery on Blizzard Mountain (8 page)

“We thought first he’d found Stagecoach George’s treasure. It wasn’t until you mentioned the cape from the museum was purple velvet and we remembered that scrap of purple cloth Violet had found that things began to make sense,” said Henry.

“That purple velvet was an important clue,” Rayanne agreed. “It got my attention. And it got Chuck’s attention, too.”

“That’s when we knew for sure Chuck was faking it. That his ankle was not all that broken anymore,” said Benny.

Henry looked at Chuck. “You’re not even a history teacher, are you? It was all faked.”

Chuck groaned. “No,” he confessed. “I’m a mountain guide from out West. I came here just to hike.”

“We should have known you were no beginner when we found you all snug in your tent when you were injured. Beginners usually wander off the trail. And they aren’t so prepared,” said Maris.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that,” Chuck said. “Anyway, I’d carried the gold, wrapped in the cape, in my pack, about halfway down Blizzard Mountain when I slipped and broke my ankle.” He made a face at the memory.

“I knew I was near the cabin—I’d used it on the way over the mountain the first time. So I managed to get there and bury the gold under the floor of the cabin and put the boards back down.”

“That’s why there was so much dirt on the floor,” said Violet. “We figured that out, too.”

He nodded. “I guess that’s when a piece of purple velvet tore off that old cape. Anyway, I dragged myself back over to the trail so no one would know I’d been in the cabin. I had enough supplies to last awhile, and I knew I’d be okay, that someone would come along before long.”

“You let the air out of our tires, too,” Benny accused Chuck.

“Yes, it was me. When I went to the bathroom at the diner, I really sneaked out and did that. And I followed you up the trail and took part of your food,” Chuck confessed. “I hoped that would scare you off, but it didn’t. So I followed you to the cabin and tried to scare you away then.”

“And you took my boots,” said Henry.

“I did. But I gave them back!” said Chuck. “I couldn’t let you try to hike down the mountain without them, any more than I could leave you without any food at all. I’m a mountain guide. I just couldn’t do it.”

“You’re a better mountain guide than a thief,” said Rayanne. “That wasn’t even gold that you took.”

Chuck sat up. “What?” he said.

“Iron bars painted to look like gold, for the mining display,” said Rayanne. “That’s all it is. Heavy and worthless. It’s the cape the museum wants back. It’s an important part of this park’s history.”

Chuck’s mouth had fallen open. So had Benny’s.

“N-not gold?” Chuck managed to stammer at last.

“Nope,” said Rayanne. “So now that we’ve got the cape back, the museum’s going to let you go.”

“You will?” said Chuck. He jumped to his feet. “Oh, thank you! I’ll never, ever do something like that again. I’ve never done anything like that before. I know it was wrong. I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Good,” said Jessie. She almost felt sorry for Chuck.

“Thank you,” Chuck cried again. “Thank you.”

“Go on, then,” said Rayanne. “We’ll get this down the mountain.”

Chuck looked around. Then, almost running, he headed down the mountain.

As the Aldens and Maris and Rayanne came out of the woods at the bottom of the Blizzard Trail, Grandfather Alden stepped out of a car parked near Maris’s truck.

“Grandfather!” said Jessie. “We caught the thief.”

“And Rayanne’s a real live detective,” said Benny.

Another person got out of the truck.

“Bobcat!” said Maris. “There you are. What happened?”

“We forgot to ask Chuck what he told you to make you leave town,” said Henry.

“So you figured it out, huh?” Bobcat chuckled. He shook his head. “And I fell for it, too. Chuck met me outside the general store. Must have been waiting for me, I realize now. He gave me a message, said it had been left at the diner for me. That’s not unusual. Everyone knows that the people at the diner can always find you. It’s the way a small town works.”

“What was the message?” asked Violet.

“My brother had an attack of appendicitis. It said please come at once. Chuck said he’d see that someone else took supplies to you, so I drove to the airport and flew halfway across the country. Boy, was my brother surprised to see me. We had a nice visit, though.” Bobcat grinned. “That buzzard!”

“Bobcat called when he got back,” Grandfather explained. “I told him what had been going on and we drove here.”

“But what about when your truck wouldn’t start, Maris? Did Chuck do that, too?” asked Violet.

“Nope. My truck’s just an old truck. But Chuck knew about the trouble I’d been having with it. Carola had stopped by the diner earlier on her way out of town and been talking about it. That’s what gave him the idea to try to scare us off the trail until he could get back up there and haul the gold out,” said Maris.

“And because his ankle was hurting, he waited until the first snow so it would be easy to pull the gold out by sled. Only it wasn’t gold,” Henry concluded.

“Chuck made a mistake,” said Rayanne. “And he got caught. Bad luck for Chuck.”

“He always said Blizzard Mountain was a bad luck mountain,” Bobcat said. “Looks like it was—for him.”

“But good luck for us,” said Benny.

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

“Well, Stagecoach George’s gold is still up on Blizzard Mountain,” Benny said. “So on our next visit, we can go back and find it!”

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND
THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON

T
HE
M
YSTERY
B
OOKSTORE

T
HE
P
ILGRIM
V
ILLAGE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
B
OXCAR

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
C
AVE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
T
RAIN

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
F
AIR

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
M
INE

T
HE
G
UIDE
D
OG
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
URRICANE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
ET
S
HOP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
ECRET
M
ESSAGE

T
HE
F
IREHOUSE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
S
AN
F
RANCISCO

T
HE
N
IAGARA
F
ALLS
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
A
LAMO

T
HE
O
UTER
S
PACE
M
YSTERY