The Hundred-Year Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “Look,” whispered Violet. A large brass capsule sat on the table. “It’s like the one in the cornerstone.”

  Henry darted into the dark room and brought out the capsule. He unscrewed the gray cap and took out a piece of paper.

  “What is it?” asked Jessie.

  Henry squinted. “It looks like a letter,” he said. “But it’s too dark up here. Let’s take it downstairs.”

  Everyone sat around the kitchen table as Henry read the letter written in AJ’s fancy writing.

  Dear Curious Ones,

  Congratulations! You solved my journal’s riddles that led you back here to my home. I hope you enjoyed your trip through my world as it was a hundred years ago. As I write this, a few people in Greenfield have begun traveling in automobiles. Some people light their homes with electricity instead of candles and gaslight. And people have begun putting telephones in their homes. These are exciting times! Oh, how I wish I could see what your world looks like. I imagine it is quite wonderful.

  But now, let me answer the biggest riddle of all. How did an orphan like me with empty pockets and an emptier stomach come to build such a grand manor? I had very little when I was young. But books swept me away to amazing places. I traveled to Mars, China, and Africa. I sailed mighty ships and flew daredevil airplanes and dove to the bottom of the sea—all without ever leaving the top of my reading rock, my “home away from home.”

  To be happy, I believe you should do what you love most. I loved books most! When I left the orphanage, I earned money by selling books door-to-door. After a few years, I began making books of my own. Writers sent me stories. Illustrators sent me drawings. And at AJ Wintham & Company, we made these into magical books. I worked hard at publishing. In time, I grew wealthy and wanted to share my good fortune. So I returned to Greenfield and built Wintham Manor to be a magical, joyful, safe place for all children…to play, to create, to read.

  Now that you’ve followed the journal’s clues to my home, can you guess what my treasure is?

  Your friend,

  Alfred J. Wintham

  Henry put the letter on the table. “No wonder we have so much fun here. AJ built this house for kids!”

  “Does that mean this house is his treasure?” asked Benny.

  Jessie shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She took out AJ’s journal and turned back to the final riddle.

  ’Twas then I thought that I might dare

  Create a way, my love to share

  I bound my passion and my pleasure

  Into types of golden treasure

  “Types of golden treasure,” said Jessie. “That doesn’t sound like the manor. I think the treasure is still upstairs!”

  This time the children brought flashlights. They climbed the ladder and entered the room where they’d found the capsule. They flashed their flashlights all around.

  “A door!” Benny cried. He pulled it open, and they all stepped inside. Books! Shelves and shelves of books lined the walls.

  “No wonder the tower looks so big outside but so small inside,” said Violet. “AJ built his secret library between the two walls.”

  The Aldens followed the space that curved all around the tower. There were baby books, picture books, chapter books, teen books, scary books, silly books—all for children. Alfred J. Wintham was printed on the spine of every single one. “AJ’s company published all of these,” said Violet.

  “That’s the answer!” said Jessie. “When AJ wrote about ‘types of golden treasure,’ he meant the words typed on the pages of these books. These books are his treasure.”

  “We found it!” whooped Benny.

  Violet laughed. “We sure did!”

  “One hundred years,” said Henry, high-fiving them all, “and nobody found it but us.” He ran ahead to see what else he could find.

  Violet pulled a beautiful picture book off the shelf. “Maybe someday I’ll illustrate a book like this.”

  Next to her, Jessie paged through a mystery. “Maybe someday I’ll write one.”

  “Here’s more!” Henry carried in big rolls of papers and unrolled them on the floor. Their four flashlights shone on AJ’s drawings. One showed children sliding down zigzaggy slides. Another showed children painting on the art room walls. A third showed children snuggled in comfy reading rooms. “These drawings look like plans for the manor!”

  Benny ran back out to the railing and yelled, “We found AJ’s treasure!” He whooped again and again. His cheers echoed around and around Rapunzel’s tower and floated out the window toward town.

  The children raced down the stairs and gave the plans to Ella. They told her about the treasure trove of books and showed her AJ’s drawings.

  “You did it!” said Ella. “You children solved the mystery of Wintham Manor. I never thought I would see the day…” She wiped away happy tears. “Now I understand the low doorways and all the fun rooms and the twisty attic. AJ built this manor to be a children’s club, a place where all children could come—no matter what their background.”

  “Like a home away from home,” said Jessie.

  Violet thought back to the story of the flu epidemic that had gone through Greenfield. “AJ must have passed away before he told anyone his dream,” she said. “That’s so sad.”

  Ella took a deep breath. She lifted her chin and set her shoulders back. “AJ’s story may have a happy ending yet,” she said, her voice determined. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a phone call to make.”

  The children left Ella to make her phone call and started on their way home. As they were leaving the manor, Levi’s yellow truck rattled past. The back was piled high with slices of tree.

  Suddenly, Benny started pedaling after the truck. “Wait! Wait!” he called. For several minutes the big man and small boy had a very serious talk. Then Levi drove away.

  “What was that all about?” asked Henry.

  “You were right, Henry,” said Benny. “Our hunt for AJ’s treasure made me forget all about my problem, and the answer snuck right up on me!”

  At school the next week, crowds of families and friends came to see the students’ hundred-day projects. Booths and tables were set up all around the schoolyard. And, leaning against the fence, was a big round slice of tree. Benny proudly stood next to it. He’d written a sign:

  COUNT THE RINGS ON 100-YEAR-OLD TREE.

  He gave people Grandfather’s magnifying glass to help count the rings.

  Taped to the tree was a big blue ribbon: “First Prize—Most Original Hundred-Day Project.”

  The Fight for the Manor

  When the hundred-day project was over, Levi brought Benny’s slice of tree to the Aldens’ house. Henry helped him set it on top of the small red table next to the house. Now the children had a big table for their picnics and projects. Violet drew a thank-you card for Levi that all the children signed.

  The first morning of summer vacation, Ella called, excited. “The mayor just called!” she said. “She wants to meet with Levi and me in three days. She wants us to tell her why we think Wintham Manor should not be torn down. We’re bringing the drawings you found in the attic. And we’ll show her the Journal for the Curious and The Only and photos of AJ’s books. Everything, everything, everything!” Ella promised to call the children just as soon as the meeting was over.

  At first, the children were excited. But then Violet’s lip began to quiver. “What if the mayor says no? I can’t bear to think of the manor being torn down.”

  “It’s the funnest house ever!” said Benny.

  Henry started pacing back and forth. “We can’t just sit around doing nothing,” he said. “We need to help.”

  “We can make a flyer about AJ and the manor,” said Violet. She quickly brought out drawing paper and colored pencils. “We’ll ask everyone in Greenfield to call the mayor and tell her not to close the manor. I can put in a photo of AJ and one of Wintham Manor.” She began drawing.

  Henry paced some more. He snapped his fingers. “T
he Gazette is always looking for a good story. I’ll tell them AJ was a paperboy for the Gazette a hundred years ago. I’ll tell them about his dream for Wintham Manor. Maybe the Gazette will let me and all the other kids put flyers in our newspaper deliveries.” He turned to Violet. “As soon as you finish the flyer,” he said, “I’ll bike over to the Gazette and show it to them.”

  “I’ll carry flyers to stores in my wagon,” Benny said, “like we do for our yard sales.”

  Jessie had a different idea. She ran to the computer. Her Where in Greenfield? blog filled the screen. Her readers were having fun trying to solve AJ’s riddles. They had written to Jessie saying: “We found the tall finger rock!” “We found the horse watering trough!” “We ate ice cream at Daisy’s Dairy!”

  Now Jessie typed about AJ’s dream of a special place for children. At the end of her blog, she wrote “Please help save Wintham Manor.” She typed the mayor’s email address and phone number in great big letters and wrote “Write or call before it’s too late!” Then she pressed Send. In seconds, her blog went out to her readers all across Greenfield.

  The next day, the Gazette published a story about the Alden’s adventure. The newspaper editor liked Henry’s story so much, he printed the flyers for free. Every copy of the Greenfield Gazette was delivered with a brightly colored flyer inside. Flyers appeared in store windows all across town. Suddenly, everyone in Greenfield was talking about saving Wintham Manor.

  Three days later, Ella called the Aldens with the good news. “They’re not tearing down Wintham Manor!” she said. “They’re going to turn it into the children’s club AJ dreamed about. And, thanks to all of you, many people and businesses are donating money. Lots and lots of money. You saved Wintham Manor!”

  For weeks the children were not allowed to go to the manor. “It’s too dangerous,” explained Ella. “There are carpenters, plumbers, painters, and electricians working everywhere. Levi is showing all the workers exactly what to do. AJ’s Place—that’s what we’re calling it—is looking grand. Just the way AJ wanted it.”

  Finally, one day, Ella called. “We’re having our grand opening this weekend. I would like you all to come the day before for a special tour.”

  As the children neared the manor, they hardly recognized it. The dirty stone building had been scrubbed clean. Dark trim around the windows now shone white as the clouds. In front, colorful mobiles turned in the breeze. Hopscotch squares, dot-to-dot pictures, tic-tac-toe grids, and other games were painted on the sidewalk. Someone had written “Welcome to AJ’s Place!” in sidewalk chalk.

  Henry banged the heavy door knocker. The sound echoed through the house. Benny remembered when he first came here. When he was afraid there were ghosts. That seemed like a very long time ago. “Coming, COME-ing,” called Ella’s singsong voice. “Hold your horses. Hoooold your horses.” Slowly, the door swung open. Ella wore jeans and a T-shirt that said “AJ’s Place.”

  Inside, the manor looked the same, but different. The doorways were still kid-size. Alfred Wintham’s mural of Greenfield still decorated the entrance wall. But the rooms seemed brighter. The furniture newer. The Aldens followed Ella upstairs to rooms brimming with art supplies and games. A computer room had computers on big and little tables for children of all ages. “There were no computers back in AJ’s time,” Ella said. “But I just know he would have loved them.”

  They found Levi setting up a room. “What do you think of my Carpenter’s Corner?” he asked. He was filling a pegboard with hammers and screwdrivers and pliers and chisels and sandpaper and boxes of nails and screws. Barrels overflowing with wood scraps stood all around.

  Henry whistled. “I’d sure like to build something here.”

  Levi laughed. “I could use an assistant teacher on weekends,” he said, “if you’re interested.”

  “Yes,” said Henry, grinning, “yes, I am.”

  “Now,” Ella said, “Levi and I have a surprise for you.”

  The children followed them up to the attic. “AJ wanted children climbing up his rope ladder,” said Ella. “He wanted them looking out the tower window. He wanted them to see the beauty of Greenfield the way he had seen it from the top of his reading rock. But not all children can climb as well as the four of you. So…”

  “So…” Levi said as they reached the tower, “I built a little something.”

  The children stared. The tower was filled with ropes of all sizes and colors. Ropes knotted into ladders and tunnels and tubes. Rope bridges to walk across and rope nets to catch you if you fell. A thick bouncy pad covered the floor. The Aldens had a grand time climbing around Levi’s invention. At last, they reached the secret reading room. They found colorful beanbag chairs where children could take books from the shelves and sit and read.

  And that’s just what the children did.

  It seemed everyone in Greenfield came to the grand opening of AJ’s Place. Inside, Ella and Levi led tours. In the backyard, Gus and his wife from Gus’s Gas grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and corn on the cob. Anabel set up a Daisy’s Dairy ice cream stand. Children slid down AJ’s zigzag slides. They swung on wiggly swings. They climbed through fabulous forts. They squealed as they ran through shaky sprinklers. They dug for plastic dinosaur bones in a huge sandbox. They planted plants in the garden.

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny tried everything. Finally, they joined Grandfather at a picnic table. As Benny rested, he looked up at the manor. Sunlight shone through the leaves of tall trees. It made shadows dance on the manor. Way up high, in Rapunzel’s window, Benny saw a large shadow. Benny thought it looked like a man with a huge mustache. The man seemed to be waving his hand and smiling. Benny smiled and waved back. But when Benny blinked, the man was gone.

  Turn the page to read a sneak preview of

  THE SEA TURTLE MYSTERY

  the next

  Boxcar Children mystery!

  Six-year-old Benny Alden was confused. He tilted his head to the side and looked at the map in his sister Violet’s hands. Violet was ten, and she was helping teach Benny how to read the map. The two were in the back seat of Grandfather’s car on their way to a place called Padre Island. Benny pointed. “I know this word says island, but I thought islands were round. This one looks like a big line on the map.”

  “Padre Island is a barrier island,” said Henry from the front seat. Henry was the oldest of the Alden children. At fourteen, he had learned about different land formations in school. “Most barrier islands are long and narrow and not very far from land. They’re kind of like big sandbars.”

  Benny’s twelve-year-old sister Jessie spoke up next. “Look out the window! We’re about to cross the bridge to the island!”

  Within just a few minutes Grandfather pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car. It had been a long journey. But the view was worth it.

  Behind them, seagrasses and flowering vines covered the sand dunes. The beach and the ocean were right in front of them. The four children jumped out and ran down to the water. Grandfather followed with Watch, the Aldens’ wirehaired terrier.

  Violet couldn’t believe what she saw. “There are millions and millions of shells here!” she said, picking up a couple. “All different kinds too.” She was so excited about the shells she didn’t even notice when a big blue heron flew overhead.

  “It’s such a wide-open space. We can see for miles,” said Jessie. “I’m going to take lots of pictures.”

  “Where are all the buildings?” asked Benny.

  “There aren’t any houses or shops on this part of the island,” said Grandfather. “This is a National Seashore, which is a lot like a National Park. The land has been set aside so it can be protected.”

  Henry walked back toward the car to a sandy area in front of the dunes. “Jessie, don’t you think this is a good place for the tent?” he asked. “It’s close to the visitor center and the ranger station.”

  “Yes, it’s perfect,” said Jessie.

  The children piled everything at
the spot Henry had chosen. When they were finished and Grandfather was closing up the back of the car, a truck sped past them. It drove right off the road and onto the sand. Then it sped down the beach.

  “I didn’t know people could drive on the beach,” said Henry. “That looks like fun.”

  “This seashore is very long,” said Grandfather. “It would take a lot of time to travel all the way down it on foot. Vehicles help people to get there faster. There are speed limits, but you’ll have to watch out for cars on the beach.”

  “We will,” said Jessie.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to camp with us, Grandfather?” Benny asked.

  Grandfather smiled. “I’m sure. I’ll be happy sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of the inn back on the mainland. But when I see you in the evenings, you’ll have to tell me all about your adventures.”

  The children promised they would, then said good-bye. After Grandfather had gone, the Aldens got to work setting up the tent and organizing the supplies. When they were done, Jessie looked over everything. She liked to keep things organized. “It looks like we have everything we need,” she said.

  “It’s a lot more than we had when we lived in the boxcar,” said Henry.

  “That seems like such a long time ago,” Violet said. “I can’t believe we didn’t even want to meet Grandfather back then.”

  After the Aldens’ parents had died, the children had run away. They hadn’t wanted to live with their grandfather because they were afraid he would be mean. They found an old boxcar in the woods and had lived in it until their grandfather found them. He turned out not to be mean at all! Now they lived with Grandfather back in Greenfield, Connecticut, and the boxcar was their clubhouse.

  Jessie picked up her camera and put the strap around her neck. “It was nice of Grandfather to arrange this vacation for us. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m ready to explore the beach.”