The Mystery at the Calgary Stampede (9 page)

“Have a cruller or a cookie while you’re
waiting.” Mrs. Vanderhoff motioned to the
covered platter and the cookie jar. “There
are plenty.”

After Mrs. Vanderhoff and Mrs. McGregor
left, Jessie finished pouring the cider for
everyone and asked, “Which do you want,
cookies or crullers?” She tried to sound
cheerful so the others wouldn’t realize she
was already getting a little spooked about
being in such a dark, strange place.

“I think we should try something new, so I
vote for the crullers,” Henry said.

Jessie passed them out. “I like the shape of
these. They look like someone braided pieces
of dough.”

“These are yummy,” Violet said, biting
into hers. “They’re so much crunchier that
regular doughnuts.”

“I like the sugar that’s all over them!”
Benny said.

“Maybe I can get the recipe from Mrs.
Vanderhoff,” Jessie said. “I can try to make
them.”

The wind picked up and the branches of
the trees rustled. Most of them had already
lost their leaves, but a few fell from a big oak
tree and blew onto the patio. Watch leaped
up and tried to catch some.

“I’m glad we have a fire.” Jessie shivered,
buttoning the top button of her coat. “It’s
chilly.” The moving branches of the trees
threw shadows on the ground, and they
looked like broken skeletons dancing in the
circle of light from the fire.

Just then Violet jumped, spilling some of
her drink on the ground.

Henry was so startled, he almost dropped
his drink too. “Violet! What’s wrong?”

“Did you hear that noise?”

H
enry said, “I don’t hear anything but the
wind.” He listened and for a moment though
he heard a low rumble of thunder coming
from down the street. It stopped, and he
decided his ears must have been playing
tricks on him.

“I don’t hear anything either,” Jessie said.

Violet was quiet for a moment and then
asked, “You didn’t hear anything that sounded
sort of like an animal snorting, did you?”

Benny made pig noises and then asked,
“You mean like that?” Henry and Jessie
laughed.

“No, not like that,” Violet said. “It’s hard
to explain. Listen again.”

They all sat quietly again, but there were
no noises except the wind and the leaves
blowing across the patio. Watch had stopped
chasing them. He sat next to Henry with his
ears alert.

“I still don’t hear anything,” Jessie said.

“Me neither.” Benny took another bite of
his cruller.

“I guess I imagined it.” Violet scooted her
bench closer to the fire.

Watch got up and walked toward the edge
of the patio. He pulled on the end of the leash
in Henry’s hands.

“I think you can let go of his leash,” Jessie
said. “He can’t get outside the fence.” As soon
as Henry let go, Watch slunk down on his
belly. He crept over to the side of the yard
growling softly.

“That’s the direction I heard the noise,”
Violet whispered.

“Watch, what do you see?” Henry got up
and walked over to the fence. He shined the
flashlight into the area behind the café next
door. “I don’t see anything. Silly Watch. It’s
just the wind.” He listened for the thunder
sound, and for an instant he thought he heard
it again. It stopped, so he came back and sat
down. They all huddled around the fire,
which no longer seemed as bright.

Soon after, they heard the sound of cars,
and then voices as a group of people came
into the back yard.

Jessie was relieved to hear Mrs. Vanderhoff’s
voice. “The tour group is back!” Jessie told
the others.

A young woman wearing a red velvet cape
and carrying a lantern led the group to the
patio. “Welcome to our house,” she said.
Even though she was smiling, her voice was a
little shaky. Her wavy blond hair was falling
out of the bun on top of her head.

She smiled at the Aldens, said hello, and
told her group, “These are friends of the
family. Why don’t you all sit down and I’ll
serve you some treats.” There were two sets
of parents and three children in the group,
but none of them looked like they were
having fun.

The oldest child was a girl about Benny’s
age and she was wearing a pretty princess
costume, but Violet thought the girl was the
most unhappy-looking princess she had ever
seen. A little boy about two or three years
old was dressed as a dragon. As the group
walked to the patio, the boy grabbed hold of
his father’s leg and hid his face.

“We can help,” Violet said, jumping up.
Mrs. Vanderhoff handed her the cookie jar.
Violet pulled the lid off and offered the jar
to the third child, a little girl dressed like a
mouse, who had sat down in the spot next to
Violet’s.

The girl reached her hand in and then
jerked it back out. She screamed, “Gross! It’s
full of something yucky. I think there are
worms and dirt in there.”

Violet peered into the cookie jar. “It does
have something in it besides cookies,” she
said. She sniffed it. “It doesn’t smell like
dirt though.”

Jessie came over. “Can I look?” Violet
held it out to her and Jessie looked inside.
“It smells like chocolate and some sort of
fruit smell.” She reached her hand in and
pulled out something sticky. “This isn’t
really a worm. It’s gummy candy meant
to look like a worm. And I think the dirt
is just crushed up chocolate cookies. We
had treats like this at school last year for
Halloween.”

She looked at Mrs. Vanderhoff, who looked
at Annika.

Annika said, “I don’t know how those got in
there. I filled the jar up with cookies myself.”

“I guess it’s a joke,” Henry said.

“It’s not a funny joke,” the little girl’s
mother said as she took her daughter’s hand.
“This ghost tour is not turning out the way
we expected.”

“I’m sorry,” Annika said. “I don’t know
who would play a trick like that.”

A shriek rang out from the alley. It sounded
like an angry scream.

Everyone stood up. A horse neighed, and
they could hear hooves pounding. Watch
began to bark. The boy dressed as a dragon
cried out and his father picked him up. The
Aldens and Annika ran to the fence at the
back of the yard. The rest of the group but the
scared toddler and his father followed them.
They saw a big black horse come rushing
down the alley. The horse’s rider wore a black
cape that billowed out in the wind.

“There’s something not right about the
rider,” Violet said.

Henry shone the flashlight at the person
on the horse.

“The rider doesn’t have a head!” Benny
cried. They all jumped back in surprise.

As the horse passed by the fence, the rider
took something from inside the cape and held
it up.

It resembled a head with glowing teeth
and eyes. The rider heaved the head toward
the group.

They all dodged away, bumping into one
another. It landed with a thud in front of
them. It split open, spraying them all with
thick red liquid.

All three of the children from the tour
group begin to sob.

“Don’t cry,” Jessie said. “It was just a
pumpkin…”

One of the mothers held out her hands,
which were speckled with red. “It looks like
blood!”

Violet held out one of the pieces of the
pumpkin. It was coated on the inside with
the red liquid. “That’s not blood. It’s paint. I
can smell it.” She turned it over. “And look at
this on the outside that looks like an eye. It’s
glow-in-the-dark paint.”

The woman said to Annika, “Young lady,
that was a terrible trick. You advertise this as
a ghost tour for families, but look at all the
children crying. This was far too frightening.
They’ll have nightmares tonight.”

“I’m so sorry,” Annika said. “That
horseman was not part of the tour. I don’t
know who it was, or why he would do
something like that.”

The woman took hold of her children’s
hands. “I don’t believe some headless
horseman from a story just happened to show
up to throw a pumpkin at us. I will not be
recommending this tour to any of our friends.
In fact, I’m going to post a review online.
People should know this is not for families.
Let’s go, everyone.”

After the group left, Annika looked like
she was going to cry. Mrs. Vanderhoff put her
arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “I’m
sorry about the awful trick.”

Henry picked up another piece of the
pumpkin. “This is another one of those
strange pumpkins. It’s white, just like the
ones in front.”

“I use white pumpkins for the logo of my
ghost-tour business,” Annika said. “Whoever
played this trick must have used a white
pumpkin on purpose. They aren’t easy to
find.”

“I wonder if the same person put the cookie
crumbs and worm candy in the cookie jar,”
Jessie said.

“Who would have been able to do that?”
Henry asked.

“I don’t know,” Annika brushed her hair
off her face. More of it had fallen out of the
bun. “We always have treats out here after
the tours. I set everything up early so I don’t
have to rush around when we get back. I
don’t know who would have come into the
backyard.”

“Sometimes people play tricks around
Halloween,” Violet said. “Maybe that’s all
it is.”

“I don’t know,” Henry said. “This kind of
trick would take a lot of effort. It’s a really
mean, scary trick. Why would anyone do
that to Annika?”

A ghostly voice came from the path. “I’m
coming to haunt you!”

Benny grabbed Jessie’s hand. “Who…who
said that?”

“I
siah, stop with the voices,” Annika called.
She sounded angry.

A very tall and skinny young man came
around the side of the house. He wore a black
suit with a ruffled shirt and a tall black hat.
When he saw the Aldens and Mrs.
McGregor, he swept his hat off his head and
bowed. “Isiah Sanders at your service.”

Violet whispered to Benny. “He looks like
a character from a book.”

“Where have you been?” Annika asked.

“You were supposed to drive the wagon!”

“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” Isiah dropped
down to his knees in front of her and clasped
his hands in front of him. “Please forgive me,”
he begged. “I can’t go on unless you do.” He
looked over at the Aldens and winked.

The children laughed at the performance.

“Oh, get up, Isiah,” Annika said. “Now is
not the time for acting.”

He did, brushing the dirt off his knees.
“I’m sorry I missed the tour. The harness on
the wagon broke, and I lost my phone. I was
coming to meet you with my car when the
tire went flat. Why is it so dark? And where
is the tour group?”

Henry thought Annika’s friend was making
a lot of excuses. It was hard to believe that so
many bad things could happen to one person
in such a short time.

Annika explained, “We heard some spooky
noises in the woods on the first part of the
tour. It sounded like there was something or
someone out there following us. The tour
guests weren’t happy at all. And then you
weren’t there with the wagon.”

“Are you sure the sounds you heard in
the woods weren’t just from an animal?”
Henry asked.

“It sounded like a very big animal, even
bigger than a deer,” Annika said. “And deer
don’t make that much noise.”

“That’s a mean trick for someone to play,”
Isiah said.

“It was. I wish you had been there. You
have to be more careful with your phone,”
Annika scolded. “I need someone I can count
on to help me with the tours.”

“Let me make it up to you. I’ll lead the next
tour and you take the easy job and drive the
wagon. You know I’m good at telling stories
and doing voices.” He hunched over and then
spoke in creaky, trembly voice like an old
man. “I’ll have them quivering in their boots.
He pointed at Benny with a crooked finger.
“Young man, you there? I see a strange,
ghostly shape. Right behind you!” he yelled.
Benny jumped, twisting around to look.

Benny’s eyes opened wide and then he
smiled. “I knew there wasn’t really anyone
there. I’m not that easy to trick.”

“Just teasing you, young lad.” Isiah laughed.
“See, I’m good, aren’t I?”

Annika stomped her foot and scowled at
him. “This is supposed to be a family-friendly
ghost tour, Isiah. Remember? We don’t want
them quivering in their boots.”

“The tour has to be a little bit scary or else
no one will want to go,” Isiah said. “Can I
have a cookie?” He reached for the cookie
jar and then stopped. Jessie noticed a funny
expression cross Isiah’s face. “Come to think
of it,” Isiah said. “I’d rather have a cruller.
I’m hungry.”

Annika sighed. “You’re the only person I
know who is always hungry.”

“You know two people now!” Benny said.
“I’m always hungry too.”