The Sleepy Hollow Mystery (5 page)

When the tour group was gone, Isiah
said, “Now are you going to tell me what
happened?”

Annika started to cry, so Henry explained
what had happened.

“Not another trick,” Isiah groaned.

“We were worried the horseman would get
you,” Violet said.

“Annika, you should really let me do the
tours,” Isiah said. “Look how upset you are.”

“No, I can do them.” Annika wiped her
face. “I’m not going to let someone scare me
with silly tricks.”

“All right, but think about it.” Isiah patted
his horses. “I should get these old boys back
to the stable. It’s getting late.”

After Isiah left, the Aldens helped Annika
put away the treats and drinks. They were
nearly finished when Violet said, “I hear a
noise. I think someone is in the yard behind
Mr. Beekman’s café.”

Henry walked to the fence. “Hello!” he
called out, shining the flashlight.

“What do you want?” a man said in an angry
voice. “Don’t shine that light in my eyes.”

“It’s Mr. Beekman,” Annika said. She
went over to the fence. “Good evening, Mr.
Beekman. We were just worried when we
heard a noise.”

“Well, I’m allowed to go into my café
whenever I want. I came to get something
I’d forgotten.”

“Sorry we bothered you,” Henry said.

When they had finished cleaning up,
Annika said, “Thank you for helping. I’m
very tired, and I need to think about what to
do about the tours. Good night.”

The Aldens went up to the apartment.
Henry looked out the window. “Mr. Beekman
is leaving. He said he came to get something,
but he’s not carrying anything.”

“Maybe it’s something small, like a piece of
paper he put in his pocket,” Violet suggested.

“We have to figure this out,” Henry said.
“Annika was very upset tonight. If it happens
again, she might stop her ghost tours.”

Jessie told them about the lack of mud
around the wagon. “I’m adding Isiah to the
list,” she said.

“We do know he likes to dress up in
costumes,” Violet said thoughtfully. “He
likes to act too. Whoever is playing the tricks
is good at pretending to be the headless
horseman.”

“Why would he play a trick on Annika?”
Benny asked. “They are supposed to be
friends. I like Isiah.”

“I do too.” Jessie took her notebook out but
didn’t write anything down.

“He really wants to be the one who does
the ghost tours.” Henry said, turning away
from the window. “Maybe he’s hoping
she’ll be so scared that she’ll let him lead
the tours.”

“If Isiah had been riding a black horse,
where did he put it?” Jessie asked. “We know
it wasn’t Ghost or Spook. You can’t make
white horses look black.”

“That’s part of the mystery,” Violet said.

Jessie wrote down Isiah’s name, but the
rest of the Aldens could tell she didn’t like his
name on the list.

The next morning Jessie and the other
children helped Mrs. Vanderhoff make
more crullers.

“There are many different kinds of crullers,
but I think my family’s recipe is the best,”
Mrs. Vanderhoff said as they mixed the flour
and cinnamon and other ingredients. “The
shape is important. First, you take a piece of
dough and roll it between your hands until
it looks like piece of rope.” She gave each of
the Aldens their own dough to work with.
Jessie did hers and then helped Benny.

When everyone had the dough in the
right shape, Mrs. Vanderhoff showed them
how to fold each piece in two so the dough
looked like a braid. “Next we cut them into
sections and fry them in hot oil. Be careful
because the oil can spatter.” She showed
Jessie how to use tongs to put the dough
in the oil. “When the doughnuts are nice
and brown, we take them out and roll them
in sugar.”

“The most important part!” Benny said.

“I think the most important part is to taste
them!” Henry teased.

While they were eating the crullers, Mrs.
Vanderhoff said, “I want you all to enjoy
yourselves while you’re in town. Annika,
why don’t you take our guests to the Harvest
Festival and the Halloween costume parade
in the town square? There will be food
booths and music and games. If you’d like to
dress up in costumes, you might be able to
find something in the attic to wear.”

“We would like that,” Jessie said. “There
are some wonderful old clothes up there.”

“I’ll help you look for something,” Annika
said. “I might wear a costume too.”

They hurried up to the attic, excited about
the parade. “I feel bad that we have to leave
Watch shut up while we’re out having fun,”
Benny said.

“Watch can go too,” Annika said as she
opened one of the trunks. “Some people
bring their dogs dressed up in costumes.”

One trunk was full of colorful dresses
covered in rows of fringe. There were
headbands that matched, and each one had a
big feather attached. “I think girls from the
1920s wore these sorts of dresses,” Jessie said.

“That’s right,” Annika said. She put a blue
headband on. “The girls who wore these
dresses were called flappers.”

“Flappers? That’s funny,” Benny said. “Did
they do this?” He ran in a circle flapping his
arms. Everyone laughed.

“Not like that,” Jessie said, “but I want to
be a flapper.”

“Me too.” Violet picked up a purple dress.
“I’d like to wear this one.” The dresses were too
long for Jessie and Violet, so Mrs. McGregor
helped them pin them up to the right length.

“This looks like a uniform.” Henry put on
a black jacket with gold stripes on the sleeves.

“That belonged to my grandfather,” Annika
said. “He was a pilot during World War II.”

“Can I be a pilot too?” Benny asked.

Violet said, “I don’t think there is another
uniform. Even if there was, I’m afraid it
wouldn’t fit you.”

Jessie picked up a battered brown hat. “You
could wear this and be an explorer. I saw a
man’s brown shirt that matches. If we roll up
the sleeves, you can wear that too.”

“That’s a good idea,” Henry said. “I found
an old metal water canteen. You could use
that as part of the costume.”

Once Benny had his costume together,
Violet said, “Now that we all have costumes,
what is Watch going to wear?”

“How about this bow tie and vest?” Jessie
said. “He can be a dog professor.”

When they were ready, they went
downstairs to the shop. Mrs. McGregor
clapped her hands at the sight of them. “You
look wonderful! Let me take a picture to show
your grandfather.”

Downtown, they found crowds of people.
“I smell something good,” Benny said as they
walked through the festival.

“The Apple House Café has a booth here,”
Annika told him. “You’re smelling their apple
custard tarts. They’re famous for that.”

“I’d like to try one,” Benny said, “but only
if Brett and Mr. Beekman aren’t there. I don’t
like mean people.”

“I don’t see them.” Violet stood on tiptoes
so she could see over the crowd. “Some other
people are working there.”

Everyone tried the tarts.

“These are delicious.” Jessie nibbled on
hers slowly, tasting each bite. “I want to learn
to make these too.”

“Mr. Beekman is too mean to give you the
recipe,” Annika said. “I’ll ask my mother if
she knows how to make them. We should
go say hello to Isiah. He’s working in the
library booth.”

“That booth that says
library
,” Benny said.
“I see a girl dressed as an elf, but not Isiah.”

Annika greeted the girl and asked, “Isn’t
Isiah supposed to be working?”

The girl slammed down a box of bookmarks.
“Yes, but he didn’t show up. I can’t believe he
didn’t even call.”

“He’s been doing that too often,” Annika
said. “If I see him, I’ll remind him he’s
supposed to be working. We should go. It’s
almost time for the parade.”

“Look at those funny costumes.” Benny
pointed to some adults dressed as zoo animals
walking by the booth. They were all carrying
musical instruments.

“That’s the band that leads the parade,”
Annika said. “We can follow them to the
starting point. I wonder where Margot is. I
thought she’d be here taking pictures. ”

All the children and pets participating in the
parade gathered at one end of the street. The
band struck up a tune. The children began to
march as the bystanders clapped for them.

They were halfway down the block
when Violet stopped. “There’s the headless
horseman.” She pointed up the street where a
figure wearing a big black cape sat on a large
black horse. It looked like there was no head
above the cape.

“Maybe it’s part of the parade,” Henry
suggested. “They could have someone dress
up in costume to make the end of the parade
more exciting.”

“There’s something strange about the
horse,” Jessie said. “It has red all around its
eyes and mouth. And the coat is too shimmery
for a normal horse.”

Other children around them began to
point as the horse and rider came closer.

“That horse is scary,” a little girl dressed as
a fairy said.

Watch growled.

The horse reared up and gave an angry
neigh.

T
he musicians in front slowed down, and the
music trailed off. The children behind them
slowed too.

“I don’t think that person is part of the
event,” Violet said.

The horse began to move toward them,
slowly at first, just like on the ghost tour.

“I don’t like this,” Benny said.

The rider kicked the horse’s sides until it
broke into a run, charging right at them.

“Get out of the way!” Jessie gasped. Most
of the children and the musicians scattered
off the street. But Jessie noticed that two
smaller children weren’t moving. They were
too confused.

Jessie picked up the girl in the fairy
costume and carried her to safety. Henry
took hold of the little boy in a superhero
costume. He led him to the sidewalk just as
the rider drew close. The rider pulled the
horse to a stop, reached under the cape and
took out a white pumpkin.

The father of the little boy ran up and
grabbed his son, taking him away into the
crowd. Jessie looked around for a parent to
claim the little girl she held in her arms. She
heard a woman yelling, “Samantha! Where
are you!”

“Mommy, I’m here,” the girl cried.

Before Jessie could find the woman,
Violet said, “Uh-oh. I know what’s going to
happen.”

The horseman raised the pumpkin up and
then tossed it toward them. The pumpkin hit
the ground right in front of Jessie and Violet.
It split open, and dark red liquid spattered
out. The rider kicked the horse again rode
away down a side street.

The girl Jessie held screamed and began to
cry. Her mother came up and took her from
Jessie. “It’s okay,” the woman told the girl,
but she was crying too. “Thank you!” she
said to Jessie.

A boy in a fireman costume held out his
hand. “I’m bleeding!”

“No,” Benny said. “It’s just paint. See?”
Benny took his finger and wiped off a speck
of paint from the boy’s hand.

“Are you all right?” Annika called as she
hurried over to them. She looked over her
shoulder and turned back to the Aldens. “The
mayor doesn’t look happy.”

Henry turned to see a big man in a dark
suit stomping across the street toward them.

The man stopped in front of Annika.
“How could you arrange a trick like that?” he
asked. “That is not the way to get business for
your tours. Look how you’ve frightened the
children with your stunts.”

“It wasn’t me,” Annika protested. “I don’t
know who was riding that horse.”

“You expect anyone to believe that?” The
mayor shook his finger at her. “I don’t want
anything like this happening again. If it does,
the town council might not let you use your
wagon after all.” He turned and walked away.

Annika called after him. “It really wasn’t me!”

The mayor didn’t respond.

“What did he mean about the wagon?”
Jessie asked.

“I had to get special permission from the
town council to use it in the woods. If the
council changes their mind, I’ll have to change
the whole tour. The wagon ride is one of the
best parts of it. I don’t know what to do.”

“We have to find out who is playing these
tricks and make them stop,” Jessie said.

“Let’s see if we can find any clues,” Henry
suggested. “I wish we had thought to run
after the horse to see where they went.”

“I don’t think you’re going to find any
clues,” Annika said. “There won’t be any
footprints on the street to follow.”

“You might be surprised,” Benny said.
“We’re good at finding clues.”

The four of them walked to where they
had first seen the horse. They searched up
and down for anything that could be a clue.
The street was empty.