The Camp-out Mystery (3 page)

Loud Dreams

V
iolet awoke with a start. She thought she had heard something. She sat up in her sleeping bag. On the other side of the tent, Watch was alert, his ears up, listening. Violet seemed to be the only one of the Aldens in the big tent who was awake. She got up and peeked outside. The woods were wrapped in mist.

Jessie came up behind Violet. “What's the matter?” she asked her sister.

“I thought I heard something,” Violet said. She and Jessie started toward the dining tent.

“Music?” Jessie asked.

“Loud music,” Violet answered. “Did you hear it, too?”

Jessie nodded. “I thought I was dreaming. Where do you suppose it was coming from?”

Violet shook her head. “I don't know. At first, I thought it was someone's radio—another camper's maybe. But it kept getting louder. It seemed to be coming from just over there.” She pointed toward the trees at the edge of their camp.

“And then it faded,” Jessie said. “Maybe someone walked past
carrying
a radio.”

“I don't think so,” Violet said. “It was too dark to be hiking in the woods.”

“Whoever it was might know the woods well,” Jessie suggested. “And maybe they had a lantern.”

“But why would anyone want to play loud music like that in the middle of the night? Especially if they were hiking in the woods?” Violet wondered.

“To scare animals?” Jessie suggested.

“I don't know,” Violet said. “It just doesn't make sense. And I heard something else: someone or something moving around out here. Watch heard it, too.”

“Well, it's quiet now,” Jessie said.

“And it's getting light,” Violet added. “I don't think I can get back to sleep.”

“A nice hot shower would feel good,” Jessie said.

“Yes,” Violet agreed.

While the others slept, Jessie and Violet got out clean clothes and followed the path to the bathhouse. It was a big building divided into two parts: one for men; one for women. Inside each section, a line of sinks faced a line of showers.

When they were dressed in clean jeans and T-shirts, they walked back to camp.

At the site, Henry was up and setting the table. “I used the plastic tablecloth,” he said. “I thought we should save the blue one for dinnertime.”

Henry put a bowl of fruit on the table next to the lantern. The red apples, yellow bananas, and green grapes made a colorful centerpiece.

Benny brought out the cereal boxes. “I can't find the honey,” he told the others.

“It was in the big box with the cereal and crackers,” Jessie said.

Benny shrugged. “I didn't see it there.”

Jessie went back to the kitchen tent with him. She glanced into the box, but she didn't see the squeeze bottle of honey either. She lifted everything out and looked inside. “That's strange,” she said. “The honey isn't here.”

Henry saw something on the ground next to the cooler. He reached down and picked it up. It was the honey.

“How do you suppose it got out of the box?” Jessie wondered aloud.

Benny glanced to either side of him. “Are there bears in these woods?” he asked.

“It was probably just a raccoon or something,” Violet assured him. That would explain the noise she heard.

Mr. Alden emerged from the tent. “Good morning, children,” he said. “You're up early.”

“Good morning, Grandfather,” Jessie and Benny chorused.

“Breakfast is ready,” Henry said. “I'm afraid there's no coffee, though. We didn't make a fire to heat the water.”

“Orange juice and cereal are just fine,” Grandfather said.

They all sat down and poured their favorite cereal into bowls. Benny sliced a banana on top of his cornflakes.

“Did everyone sleep well?” Mr. Alden asked.

“I dreamed I was listening to an orchestra,” Henry said. “Suddenly, the music got louder and louder.”

Benny looked surprised. “I dreamed about loud music, too,” he said.

Violet and Jessie exchanged glances. “That wasn't a dream,” Jessie said. “We heard loud music, too!”

“So did I,” Mr. Alden put in. “It didn't last long, but it was very disturbing.”

“I wonder where it came from,” Henry said.

“Some camper with his radio volume turned up,” Mr. Alden suggested.

“That's what we thought,” Violet said, “but it got so loud it sounded as though it were near us.”

“And then it faded,” Jessie added.

“Well, I just hope they don't do that every night,” Benny said. “I don't like loud dreams.”

Violet and Benny put the napkins and other dry garbage in the center of the fire pit, and put a log on top so it wouldn't blow away. They set the wet garbage at the edge of the pit to dry. They would burn it later.

Jessie and Henry washed off the spoons and knives in the brook.

“We'll heat water later to wash them properly,” Jessie said.

“What do you children want to do today?” Mr. Alden asked.

“Go exploring!” they all said at once.

“Run along then,” he said.

“Don't you want to come with us, Grandfather?” Violet asked.

Mr. Alden shook his head. “Thank you, no. I think I'd like to stay here and read.” He opened a magazine he had brought with him.

“We won't be too long,” Jessie said.

“Take all the time you want,” Mr. Alden said. “Just don't get lost. The woods can be tricky. They can make a person lose all sense of direction.”

Henry held up a silver compass. “We won't get lost with this,” he assured their grandfather.

Jessie packed some fruit and trail mix for their trip. Now they were ready to go. Watch followed them to the hiking path.

“You stay here with Grandfather,” Jessie told him.

“Take Watch with you,” Mr. Alden said. “With him along
and
the compass, I won't worry about you getting lost.”

Violet paused to look at the dark buds on the maple tree. She reached up and touched one. It felt like velvet. “These are ready to open,” she said. “We've come to the forest at a very good time.”

CHAPTER 6

The Missing Lantern

T
hey hiked a long way into the woods. After a while they came to another small clearing. A camp was set up there. A woman, a man, and two small children sat at the picnic table eating breakfast. At one end of the table, a portable radio played softly.

“Maybe they played the loud music,” Benny said.

“Let's find out,” Henry suggested.

The man saw the Alden children. He snapped off the radio. Then, he waved. “Hello, there,” he said. “Are you camping here, too?”

The Aldens walked closer.

Henry said, “Yes, our camp is over that way.” He pointed toward their campsite.

“We're the Changs,” the man said. “It's nice to meet you.”

Henry introduced himself and his sisters and brother.

“And this is our dog Watch,” Benny added.

Watch lifted his paw.

The Chang children giggled.

Mrs. Chang said, “We thought we were the only campers here.”

“It seemed a pleasant change,” Mr. Chang added. “All the other campgrounds we've tried have been so crowded.”

“We thought we were the only ones, too,” Benny piped up, “until we heard loud music last night.”

The man and woman looked at each other. “Loud music?” they both said.

“You didn't hear it?” Jessie said.

“We were awfully tired last night,” Mr.

Chang said. “We slept pretty soundly. But— ”

One of the children said, “More milk, Daddy,” and reached for the pitcher. It tipped. Mr. Chang caught it just as it was about to fall over.

Just then, the other child slipped off the picnic bench and started to cry. Mrs. Chang rushed to pick her up.

Henry edged toward the path. “We'll see you again,” he said.

The Aldens hiked along silently. They listened to the birds singing overhead. They saw chipmunks and squirrels and rabbits.

Finally Jessie said, “It sure is strange that the Changs didn't hear that music last night. Their campsite isn't
that
far from ours.”

“Do you think the Changs are the ones who played it?” Violet asked.

“They have a radio,” Jessie said. “They could be the ones.”

“But why would they do it?” Henry asked.

“I don't know,” Jessie answered.

They fell silent again, thinking.

After a while, Benny said, “I'm hungry.”

“Again!” Violet said.

“You're
always
hungry,” Henry joked.

“I know,” Benny agreed.

Jessie pointed to a large flat rock. “Let's sit there,” she said, “and eat some fruit.”

“We can leave the seeds and peels here,” Violet said when they had finished their snack. “The birds and small animals will eat them.”

They continued on. Every so often, they found an empty soda can or some other waste. They picked it up and dumped it into their empty lunch sack.

When it was full, Henry said, “Too bad there aren't more garbage cans along the way. We'll have to carry this with us until we find one.”

Before long, they came to a wide stream. Watch wagged his tail and lapped up a drink of water.

“This must be the same brook that runs along our campsite,” Henry said. He took out the campgrounds map and studied it. “We're nearly out of the park,” he told the others. “We'd better turn back.”

They followed the stream back toward camp.

“We have to stop for wood,” Henry reminded them.

There were special areas marked on the map where campers could get wood. The children stopped at one. They dropped the debris they had collected into a garbage can. Then they went to the large, tarpaulin-covered woodpile.

“How will we carry the wood back to camp?” Violet wondered.

“I have an idea,” Henry said. He took off his belt. He wrapped it around several pieces of wood and buckled it. “We can carry it this way.”

When the children got back to camp, Grandfather was napping against the maple tree, his magazine open beside him.

The children didn't wake him. Instead, they took off their shoes and socks and went wading in the stream. The cold clear water soothed their tired feet. They splashed it on their wrists and faces. It was refreshing.

In the late afternoon, Henry and Benny laid the fire. Then they went into the kitchen tent to prepare supper.

“Benny, you can peel and slice the carrots,” Henry directed. “Jessie, you do the potatoes.” He began slicing a large onion.

Grandfather came in. “What can I do?” he asked.

“You can tear up the lettuce for the salad,” Violet said. “I'll set the table.”

When they all had finished, Violet made hamburger patties and Henry put each one into a foil packet with some of the vegetables. Jessie lit the fire. “We don't want a big flame for this meal,” Henry said. “We'll have to let it burn down a while.”

While they waited for the fire to be just right, they sat at the table and had cranberry juice and crackers.

“How was your hike?” Mr. Alden asked.

“We met some other campers,” Henry said.

“They didn't hear the loud music,” Violet told him.

“That's strange,” Mr. Alden said. “It was loud enough to be heard all over the park.”

“That's what we thought,” Jessie said.

“They must be very sound sleepers,” Mr. Alden said.

When most of the logs had turned to ash, Henry brought out the foil packages and Jessie set them on top of the coals. Twenty minutes after that, everyone sat down to enjoy their meal.

“This is delicious,” Jessie said.

Everyone agreed.

“It's called hobo stew,” Henry said.

“What are we having for dessert?” Benny asked.

“Who needs dessert after that big meal?” Grandfather teased.