The Mystery at the Calgary Stampede (10 page)

“There, you see,” Isiah said, holding up
his hand to high-five Benny. “Some people
just need to eat. I should be going. I promise
I’ll be there tomorrow.” He said good-bye
to everyone.

After he left, Annika slumped down on one
of the benches. “I guess the ghost-tour business
was a bad idea. Maybe I should just quit.”

“No, it’s too soon to give up,” Mrs.
Vanderhoff told her.

“Can we go with you tomorrow?” Henry
asked. “We might be able to help find out
who is playing tricks.”

“That’s a good idea,” Mrs. McGregor said.
“If anyone can help solve this mystery, it’s
these four.”

“You can come,” Annika said. “But I don’t
think it will help.”

“Annika, you sound very tired.” Mrs.
Vanderhoff said. “Things will seem better in
the morning.” She got up. “Why don’t we all
go to bed?”

She took the Aldens up to the apartment
and showed them the sleeping bags on the
floor. “I set everything up for you before it
got dark. There are flashlights for each of you
on the table and extra blankets on the sofa.
Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

“We’ll be fine,” Jessie said.

“Good night, then.” After she left, Watch
inspected each sleeping bag. He picked a dark
green one and then lay down on it, closing
his eyes.

“Watch is tired too,” Violet said. “Someone
is going to have to share their bed with him.”

“I will,” Benny said. “He can watch out for
me. Watch can watch me, get it?”

“That’s good, Benny,” Violet said. “Let’s
all go to bed. I’m as tired as Watch.”

Once they were all in their pajamas,
Benny asked, “That wasn’t really a headless
horseman, was it?”

“No, it was someone dressed up like that,”
Jessie said. “There’s an old story about a
headless horseman by an author named
Washington Irving. It’s set in Sleepy Hollow.
We read it in school.”

“I don’t know why someone would want to
dress up like that,” Benny grumbled. “It’s too
scary.”

“We’ll find out who did it and then you’ll
see it’s just a trick,” Henry said.

They woke the next morning when Mrs.
McGregor came in the door. She had a
tray with mugs of hot chocolate. “Good
morning! The power is still out, but as soon
as you’re dressed, we’re going next door to
the restaurant for breakfast. I hear they have
very tasty apple pancakes.”

Benny jumped up. “Let’s go!”

“Not in pajamas!” Jessie said, laughing.

“Oh, right,” Benny said, looking down at
his pajamas. “I forgot.”

Mrs. McGregor picked up Watch’s leash.

“I’ll take Watch and give him his breakfast,”
she said. “He can stay in the backyard while
we go to the café. Come along, Watch.”

When the Aldens were ready, they walked
over to the café with Mrs. Vanderhoff and
Mrs. McGregor. “Annika won’t be joining
us,” Mrs. Vanderhoff said. “I’m afraid she
has a bad headache. She is still upset about
last night.”

“I’d be upset too,” Jessie said.

“Yes, we don’t like when people play mean
tricks,” Henry added.

In front of the café a man wearing a jacket
and a tie was watching two workers attaching
a sign to a post outside the restaurant. The
sign had a big red apple on it.

“I can read the sign!” Benny said. “It’s
called the Apple House Café!”

“Good job, Benny,” Jessie said. “You’re
learning fast.”

“Good morning, Mr. Beekman,” Mrs.
Vanderhoff said. “What a nice new sign.”

The man mumbled something and then
turned away from them.

Mrs. Vanderhoff shook her head sadly at
the man’s reaction and said, “Let’s go on in.”

As they walked up the steps, one of the
workmen said, “This paint isn’t dry! It’s all
over my hands. We shouldn’t be putting up
this sign now.”

“I want it done today,” Mr. Beekman said.
“Put it up and I’ll repaint it if it needs it.”

He added something else, but the Aldens
couldn’t hear because a hostess opened the
door of the café and said, “Welcome to
the Apple House Café.” She showed them
to a big round table in the back and gave
them menus.

A few minutes later a waiter in a red apron
appeared. He scowled at them. Violet thought
he looked a little like the man outside, but
much younger. Both had curly brown hair
and round faces.

“Good morning, Brett,” Mrs. Vanderhoff
said.

The young man didn’t respond to her
greeting as he pulled out an order pad. “We’re
busy,” he snapped. “There’s going to be a
long wait for your food. What do you want?”
He took down their orders for pancakes,
eggs, bacon, coffee, and orange juice before
hurrying away.

“The people who work here don’t seem
very friendly,” Violet said.

“It’s just Brett and his father,” Mrs.
Vanderhoff said. “I’m afraid they aren’t very
happy with me. They offered to buy my house
at a good price. They want to turn it into a
bed and breakfast for Brett to run. I just don’t
want to sell. I love my little shop, even if it
doesn’t make much money.”

“Could Mr. Beekman be the one playing
the tricks?” Henry asked. “He may think the
tricks will convince you to sell the house.”

“We know he has red paint,” Violet said.

“And someone who owns a restaurant
might know about food that looks like worms
and dirt,” Jessie added.

“Oh, I hope he wouldn’t do that.” Mrs.
Vanderhoff looked shocked. “That wouldn’t
be very neighborly. I’m sure it’s someone else.”

Brett stomped over with a coffee pot and
a pitcher of juice. He set the juice down
with a thunk and some of it sloshed onto the
tablecloth. “Oops,” he said as he walked away.

The Aldens looked at each other. They
weren’t so sure.

Buy
The Sleepy Hollow Mystery
now!

G
ERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER
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.

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 l979. 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