Mystery Ranch (3 page)
Authors: Gertrude Warner
“That’s right,” said Jessie. “It’s milk toast. Delicious! Now, while you eat, I’ll tell you our plan. Maggie is taking us to the store this morning to buy food. And while we are near the station, we’ll send a telegram to Grandfather. We’ll tell him we are having a fine time.”
“A fine time? Pooh!” said Aunt Jane.
“But it’s true, Aunt Jane,” said Jessie quietly. “We love the ranch already. It’s a beautiful place!”
“I’m the only person who has ever really liked this ranch,” her aunt said. She began to eat her breakfast. Jessie watched her.
“She seems almost starved. If she is hungry, why doesn’t she want to eat?” Jessie said to herself.
Jessie picked up the empty plate and left the room quietly.
When Jessie came into the kitchen, she saw Maggie at the back door with the horse and wagon. To her surprise, Violet was already on the seat.
“Don’t we lock the door?” she asked.
“No, we never do. Nobody ever comes here,” said Maggie. “Go on, old boy!”
As the horse walked slowly along, the girls made up a telegram to send to their grandfather. Tom Young, the station agent, sent the telegram.
“A telegram every day. Quite an exciting town!” he said.
Just then they heard a train whistle. “The train goes the other way every morning,” said Maggie. “Do you want to watch it come in?”
They saw the train come into the station. Nobody got on and nobody got off.
“That’s the way it always is,” said Maggie. “Soon the train won’t stop at Centerville any more. It doesn’t pay.”
Maggie and the girls went to the store. They bought enough groceries to last a week and loaded them into the wagon. The old horse walked even slower than usual going home, because of the load.
When they came back to the ranch, they found Aunt Jane very cross.
“Humph!” she said to Maggie. “You go off riding all over the country and leave me here alone so that anything can happen!”
“But, Miss Jane,” Maggie said, “what could possibly happen to you out here?”
“I was nearly fooled into selling this ranch! That’s what could happen,” the little old lady answered.
“Now, Miss Jane, this must be another one of your strange ideas,” Maggie said.
“Strange, is it? Well, look at this.” She pulled a paper from beneath her pillow. Maggie and the girls came closer to the bed to see what it said. It was an offer to buy the ranch for ten thousand dollars.
“Think of it!” Aunt Jane said. “Ten thousand dollars for my ranch! But I told those three men that my ranch isn’t for sale at any price. I have other plans for it.”
“Dear Aunt Jane,” said Violet softly, “do you mean three men came into your room?”
“Yes,” replied Aunt Jane. “But don’t
you
worry, my dear. I could manage them.”
Aunt Jane leaned her head back on her pillows again.
“Go away, now. All this excitement has made me tired.”
Maggie and the girls went into the kitchen.
“I’d think she would be glad to get rid of the place at any price,” said Maggie.
“I’m glad she didn’t sell it, though,” said Violet. “It’s such a beautiful ranch. I wonder what plans she has for it.”
W
e’ll have a real dinner today,” laughed Jessie. “Maybe Aunt Jane will eat some of this good food if I don’t give her too much.”
“I doubt it,” said Maggie. “She hasn’t eaten a real meal in two years.”
Jessie was right. Maggie was amazed when she saw Aunt Jane’s empty dishes.
“You girls certainly have a way with you,” she said. “I have never seen her eat so much.”
After the dishes were washed, Jessie softly opened her aunt’s door.
Again, Aunt Jane looked as if she had been lying there waiting for something to happen.
“Well,” she said, “what do you want now?”
Jessie spoke softly, “Violet and I wonder if we could explore this house.”
“Go ahead,” said her aunt. “There are no secrets here that I know of.”
“No mysteries?” laughed Jessie.
“No,” said Aunt Jane. “There are no mysteries, but it is a strange house. You’ll find that it was built a little at a time. There are really four parts to the house.”
As Jessie started to go out, her aunt called, “Be sure to look at the big chimney on the other side of the house. It is the prettiest thing here. It was made of stone from our own mountains.”
“We will,” said Jessie.
The two girls smiled at each other and went into the front room.
“Let’s explore the whole house,” said Jessie.
Violet laughed.
“I wonder why we love to fix up old houses?”
The girls stepped into the front hall. They went across it to the other side and found themselves in a front room like the one they had just left.
“This side of the house is exactly like the other one!” said Jessie. “See, here is the kitchen, the little bedroom, two front rooms and a side door.”
“Here is the chimney and the fireplace,” said Violet. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“The stone is smooth and shiny!” cried Jessie. “See the tiny spots of yellow! Could they be gold?”
“They look brighter yellow than gold,” said Violet. “The black spots are pretty, too.”
Upstairs they found eight bedrooms.
“What fun it would be to put on new paper and paint!” cried Jessie.
Violet had opened the door of the little room right over Aunt Jane’s.
“Oh, what a beautiful room!” she whispered. “Do come and look!”
It was the loveliest room in the house. The old wall paper was soft rose color. The window had fine white curtains. The small bed was high, like the big one in their bedroom. But this one had a top, covered with white curtains like those in the window.
“I wonder who fixed this room,” said Violet. “Wouldn’t it be pretty with violets on the wallpaper? I would love to live in this room.” “It looks just like you, Violet,” said Jessie.
The girls finished their exploring and went back downstairs.
When they walked back to the kitchen, they heard Aunt Jane calling Maggie. Violet went in to see what she wanted.
“Did you see the chimney?” asked her aunt.
“Yes,” said Violet. “It is beautiful.”
“The stones came from our mountains,” said Aunt Jane. “We thought once that those mountains were full of gold, but the gold was not real.”
“The yellow and black spots make the chimney look very pretty, though,” Violet said.
“Yes. That was one reason why my father used the stones for the chimney,” her aunt answered. “And he also said that the chimney would always be a lesson to him. Every time he looked at it he could remember how he had to work hard for anything worth having. That way, he wasn’t too disappointed that he had not found a lot of gold.”
“This is really a beautiful house,” Violet said. “There are so many pretty things here. Tell me, Aunt Jane, who fixed the little bedroom right over this one?”
Aunt Jane was very quiet for a minute. Violet thought she was not going to answer. Then she said,
“That was my room once,” she said. She had tears in her eyes.
T
wo days passed before Maggie finally spoke her mind. She was feeling much better now with three delicious meals a day. And she enjoyed having someone to talk to.
Maggie and the two girls were sitting on the back steps, enjoying the cool evening breeze. The dinner dishes were done, and the first stars had come out over the ranch.
“Maybe I haven’t any right to ask,” Maggie began. “But I wonder what your grandfather is going to do about your aunt. She needs some care all the time. You girls can’t stay here all summer.”
“Maybe we can,” said Violet softly. “We love it here, and I think Aunt Jane is used to having us now.”
“There is one thing that’s missing, though,” said Jessie.
“Yes, I know,” said Violet. “We both miss the boys.”
Violet looked very sad.
“Maybe Aunt Jane would let the boys come, too,” said Jessie. “Then it would be perfect.” She looked at her sister.
“Let’s ask her tomorrow,” Violet said.
The two girls went upstairs to bed.
Next morning Jessie took a fine breakfast into her aunt’s room. The little lady began to eat, and Jessie sat down beside the bed.
“We miss Henry and Benny, Aunt Jane,” she began. “Couldn’t we ask them to come for a few days? I’m sure Grandfather would let them come if you were willing.”
“Well,” said her aunt, “I’d agree to that.”
The little lady looked up from her breakfast.
“But I don’t want to see James, remember that!” she said.
“Grandfather is really very nice when you get to know him,” said Jessie.
Aunt Jane gave a short laugh. “Don’t forget that I knew your grandfather long before you did. If these two boys turn out like
him,
back they go!”
Jessie was sorry to hear her aunt talk like that. She did not answer. It was the best thing she could have done. Miss Jane was beginning to love the smiles on these two young faces.
What could she say to make Jessie happy again? she wondered.
“Tell Benny to bring his dog,” she said.
What a smile came over Jessie’s face! She did not say that Watch was not Benny’s dog, but hers.