Secret of the Mask (3 page)

Mr. Robbins studied the man. “Can’t say I do. I guess he’s not an early bird, like me. I’ve never seen him selling at the flea market, either. Must be new around here. Well, I think I’ll go treat myself to some of your sister’s lemonade and a cookie or two.”

The floppy-hat lady wheeled her shopping cart into the yard. Once again it overflowed with yard-sale items. She peered over the tops of her owlish glasses. “You have new things, I see. These look much more interesting.”

Jessie watched as the woman brushed her hand across a few items on one of their tables and marched straight into the garage. Jessie followed her and found her thumbing through their neatly stacked boxes.

Jessie walked over to the woman and politely tapped her on the shoulder, “Excuse me.”

The woman jumped, surprised to see Jessie standing next to her.

“Only the things on the tables are for sale,” Jessie told her.

“Humph,” the woman said as she quickly walked away from Jessie towards the boxcar.

Violet was so busy pouring lemonade and selling cookies that she didn’t notice a man approach.

“I’d like a lemonade, please,” said a strong voice. She looked up, right into the eyes of the man with the braid she’d seen at the library computer. He was wearing the same silver bracelet with the dark and light silver decorations.

“That’s a beautiful bracelet,” said Violet, handing him his drink. “Is it Hopi?”

The man’s eyebrows shot up. “And how would you know that?”

“From my
Prairie Girls
books. The Hopis are famous for making jewelry that has light silver on top of dark silver. It’s called … it’s called …,” she tried to remember.

“Overlay,” he said. “Silver overlay. And, yes, this is Hopi.” He sipped his lemonade thoughtfully. “Do you have any Hopi items for sale?”

“Oh, no, mostly just stuff from the garage. Although, my brother found an old mask yesterday that looks a lot like a kachina mask. Probably an old souvenir.” Violet glanced at Benny’s table, but the mask was gone. “I guess he sold it,” she said. “Sorry.”

“Hey,” a little boy tugged Violet’s shirt and held up a quarter. “Can I have a cookie?”

Violet looked down at the empty cookie platter. “Oops, I’ll bring some right out.” She ran to the house, pulling open the screen door.

That was the exact moment the neighbor’s cat decided to prance through their yard. Watch dashed out the screen door before Violet could stop him. The cat ran, Watch chased, the cat screeched, Watch barked. They ran in and out, over and under, upsetting tables, knocking over baskets.

“Stop,” shouted Henry, trying to catch them. “Watch, stop!” Finally, Jessie ran one way and Henry ran the other until, together, they trapped Watch. “You’re grounded,” said Henry, grabbing Watch’s collar and pulling him into the house. “I’ll let you out when the sale is over.”

At day’s end, Benny flopped down on the grass, too tired to move. Grandfather came out of the house. “I just received word that a friend in Florida needs my help. I need to fly there late tonight. But I had planned a surprise to thank you for helping me clean out the garage.” He glanced at his watch. “If we hurry, we’ll get there with just enough time for hamburgers and a round of miniature golf. That is,” he smiled at Benny, “if you’re not too tired.”

“Miniature golf!” Benny jumped up. His second favorite thing in the world, after eating, was playing miniature golf. As it happened, they had time for two games of golf. Benny made the hardest shot of the day—hitting his golf ball through a turning windmill and under a bridge—on his very first try.

By the time Grandfather pulled up in front of their house, night stars filled the sky. “I’ll be home in a couple of days,” he said. “Take care of Mrs. McGregor.” And he waved as he drove off.

The weary children walked up the driveway. “Hey,” said Henry, “it looks like the garage door’s open. Did anyone lock it?”

None of them had.

“Let me get my mask,” said Benny, running inside. “Oh, no” he cried. It looked as if a tornado had ripped through the garage—boxes tipped over, old clothing thrown all around.

Jessie stared, wide-eyed. “Who would do this?”

“We just cleaned this garage,” said Violet.

“My mask,” wailed Benny, digging through the rubble. “My mask! Somebody stole my mask.”

“It must be here,” said Henry. The children searched and searched, but the mask was gone.

“What else did they steal?” Jessie asked.

“Our money!” Henry clambered through the clutter to the workbench, digging through a pile of old clothes. “Here!” he said as he lifted the tackle box, quickly opening the latches. All their money was still stacked neatly inside. “Whew,” he said. “It’s a good thing the thief didn’t see this.”

“What about the homeless shelter donations?” cried Jessie, running to the boxcar.

The tree stump was empty. The thief had stolen the green Crispy Cracker can. “How
could
they?” she said.

“Look!” said Benny. Moonlight shone on a trail of white popcorn. The children followed it from the garage to the alley, where it suddenly stopped.

“It looks like the thief carried the box with the mask this far,” said Henry, “then climbed into a car.”

A sudden gust of wind stirred scraps of white cardboard that were scattered around the alley. Benny picked one up. “This is the box the mask was in.” They searched all around, finding more scraps and a few popcorn crumbs, but no mask.

Henry thought about the man in the orange truck. The man had seen them in the alley on Locust where they’d found the mask. Then he’d come by last night when they were cleaning the garage. And he was at the yard sale today. Could he have known they had the mask and come to steal it?

“What if our mask wasn’t a copy?” said Henry, “What if it was a
real
kachina mask like the ones we saw in the library book?”

“I think I saw a man looking at kachina masks online when we were at the library,” said Violet. She told them about the man with the braid who wore a Hopi bracelet. He had been at the library, and he had also come to their yard sale. “He asked if we had any Hopi things for sale. Maybe he knew about the mask. Maybe he came back to steal it.”

“And don’t forget the lady with the big glasses and floppy hat,” said Jessie. “She was only interested in old things. And I saw her going through boxes of stuff in the garage. Maybe she saw the mask and knew it was valuable. Maybe she came back to take it.”

This time, the children locked the garage door good and tight before going into the house. One thing was for sure, a thief had come while they were away, a thief who thought their mask was worth stealing. Now the children had to find out why. It was just the sort of mystery the Alden children loved.

“It’s all my fault.” A sorrowful Mrs. McGregor sat on the sofa. “I let Watch out in the yard for a bit of exercise while I relaxed inside. I did hear him barking. But he’d been barking all day, what with so many strangers coming and going. And, well, I just thought he was barking at some old squirrel. I mean, any other time I would have gone out and checked. But,” she looked sadder than ever, “I was watching “What a WackyWorld.” It was, the children knew, her favorite TV show. “And tonight was the final contest to see who would be voted the wackiest. By the time I went to check on Watch, he’d gotten out.”

“He can’t get out of the yard by himself,” said Henry.

Mrs. McGregor shrugged. “All I know is, I found Watch in the alley. He was chewing on a box and looking very pleased with himself.”

“Was there a mask in the box?” asked Benny.

“Mask? No, nothing like that. Just bits of chewed cardboard. And popcorn. Oh, Watch was having a regular picnic. I had to drag him back into the yard and brush popcorn crumbs from his whiskers.”

“Maybe he ate the mask, too,” said Benny. The children looked at Watch. Watch looked at the children, tilting his head to one side. Benny knew that even Watch couldn’t eat a wooden mask.

“Was the garage door open?” asked Jessie.

“I didn’t notice,” Mrs. McGregor said. “I was so upset about Watch getting out of the yard that all I thought about was getting him home and cleaning him up.”

Jessie patted Mrs. McGregor’s shoulder. “It’s all right,” she said. “We’re all to blame. We were so excited about going to miniature golf that we forgot to lock the garage.”

“Do you think,” Violet said softly, “we should call the police?”

Mrs. McGregor scrunched her brow, thinking. “Perhaps,” she said, “you should call your grandfather’s friend Tom Morgan. He’s a retired policeman with a good head and a good heart. He’ll know what to do.”

Officer Morgan didn’t give the children much hope. “It sounds like there’s not much we can do,” he said. Henry put the call on speaker phone so all the children could listen at once. “The garage door was left open, so anyone could have walked in. And you left a can of money on a tree stump, anyone could have walked off with that as well.”

“Can’t you find my mask?” asked Benny

Officer Morgan was quiet a moment. “I don’t expect we’ll find many clues,” he said. “But I’ll send a policeman over to take a look around and file a report. I’d come myself except I’m helping friends over at Pleasant Valley Park. But I promise I’ll stop by tomorrow.”

Henry hung up the phone. “I’m not sure Officer Morgan is right,” he said. “We do have one clue. Whoever broke into the garage left the tackle box full of money behind.”

“Why would they do that?” asked Benny.

“Maybe they didn’t come looking for money. Maybe they came looking for the mask.”

Jessie looked puzzled. “If you’re right, and they didn’t come to steal money, why did they take the Crispy Crackers can with the homeless shelter donations?”

They all fell silent, thinking. But none of them could think of an answer. Finally, Henry said, “We need to go back where this all began. We need to go back to 332 Locust and look for more clues.”

“That house will be empty,” said Violet, who still thought the old house looked creepy. “The man with the moving truck said the people were moving to Minnesota.”

Henry nodded. “Let’s just bike over and take a look around. At least we’ll be doing
something.”

Jessie tried to cheer them up by setting out a plate of leftover cookies. Henry poured everyone a glass of milk. The snack did help them feel a little better.

Still, after they went to bed, it was a long time before anyone fell asleep.

The next morning, as the children pulled their bikes in front of the old blue house, they saw a young man in a robe and pajamas stomping around in the bushes. “May I help you?” he asked.

“Did you just move in?” asked Jessie.

“Me? Oh, dear me, no. I’m visiting from California. My grandmother lives here.”

“The nice lady in the wheelchair?” Jessie asked.

“The very same. Ah!” he dove into the bushes and came out clutching a soggy copy of the
Greenfield Gazette.
“The newspaper boy has a terrible throwing arm.”

“We’d like to talk to your grandmother,” said Henry. “Is she home?”

“Of course she is. The poor dear took an awful spill and broke her hip. She still needs a lot of rest.

“Lyle, dear,” called a voice from the house. “Have you found the
Gazette?”

“I have,” he said. He smiled at the children. “Please come in and say hello. My grandmother absolutely adores company.”

The living room looked totally different than when the children had trick-or-treated. Gone was the clutter of furniture and knick-knacks. All that was left were a few tables, a couple of chairs, a wheelchair folded in the corner, and a large bed. A cheerful woman with curly white hair sat propped up on a mountain of pillows. “Why,” she said, smiling brightly, “who have we here?” The children introduced themselves.

“Call me Grandma Belle,” she said. “Everybody does. I wish I had cookies to give you. My old nurse baked all the time, but my new nurse, Nurse Rumple, doesn’t bake at all.” She winked. “I’ll make certain to have treats for your next visit. Please sit a moment.”

“May I ride your wheelchair?” asked Benny.

Grandma Belle laughed. “Why, of course.” And with that, Benny hopped into the chair and began wheeling around the large room.

“Did the moving van take away all your furniture?” asked Henry.

“Moving van? Heavens, no. Whatever gave you that idea?”

He told her about the Best Movers driver who was looking for 332 Locust. “If you’re not moving,” said Henry, “where are all your things?”

“Well, when I broke my hip and couldn’t get around very well, I had them bring my bed down to this nice bright living room. When I hired Nurse Rumple, she couldn’t stand all my clutter. She said, “It’s not healthy to live among dusty old things,” and she moved most everything out to the garage. I must admit, it is much neater this way.” She looked around the room. “But to tell the truth, I miss having all my things around.”

“I think the house looks nice and bright,” said Violet.

“And clean,” said Grandma Belle. “These past few days, Nurse Rumple has been scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing, washing furniture and fixtures, floors and doors. She’s even been wearing rubber gloves to keep from making smudges. She said she wants to leave everything spic and span when the new nurse comes tomorrow.”