The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “Tricia wouldn’t steal a ring!” Violet said.

  “I didn’t know you had met her,” Mr. Carter said.

  “We haven’t, but I just know she wouldn’t do anything like that.” Violet looked at her sister and her brothers. “Right?”

  “Violet is right,” Jessie said. “No one in the Silverton family would steal anything.”

  “Why don’t you tell me everything that has happened so far,” Inspector Donati said. “We understand you have had some mysterious messages.”

  It took some time, but between the four of them, the Aldens managed to explain everything that had happened.

  “Most unusual,” Inspector Donati said when they finished. “I think it is best if you continue on as you have been doing. If you receive more clues from Tricia, please contact me. If you can’t reach me, contact Mr. Carter. We need to clear this up.”

  Henry said, “We will. I’m sure Tricia didn’t do anything.”

  Inspector Donati said good-bye to them and showed them out. Once they were outside the building, Violet asked, “What do we do now?”

  “You’ll have to wait until someone, who I hope is Tricia Silverton, delivers a clue to you,” Mr. Carter said. “I expect it will be soon. Mrs. Silverton has arranged for you to stay at the hotel the Silvertons always use in Rome.” He took a card out of his wallet. “It’s called the Villa Torretta. Here’s the address. Would you like me to get a taxi for you?”

  “Yes, thank you,” said Mrs. McGregor.

  After he flagged down a taxi for them and they were seated inside it, he leaned in the window and said, “I have to go back to London, but I will be in touch with Trudy Silverton. Good luck.”

  The taxi took them on several busy roads full of more beautiful buildings until it pulled up in front of one with a garden all around it. The Villa Torretta,” the taxi driver said.

  “It doesn’t look like a regular hotel. It looks like a big house, even bigger than the one in Kenya,” Benny said.

  “I’m sure it’s called Villa Torretta because it used to be someone’s house,” Mrs. McGregor said. “A villa can be like a mansion.”

  A doorman opened the door for them. They walked into a lobby of gleaming woodwork and sparkly chandeliers. The man at the front desk checked them in and then motioned for a bellhop to show them to their rooms.

  As they walked to the elevator, the bellhop said, “If you are friends of the Silvertons, I’m sure you will enjoy some of the artwork here.” He motioned to all the paintings, tapestries, and other decorations that filled the lobby. Upstairs, he opened the door to their suite and then said, “Enjoy your stay.”

  After he had gone, Violet said, “Can we go sightseeing since we don’t have any clues?”

  “Yes!” Benny said. “Where should we go first?”

  “I know a little about Rome,” Mrs. McGregor said. “My sister and I came here on vacation a few years ago. I know the first thing you have to do in Rome is get gelato.”

  “What’s gelato?” Benny asked.

  Mrs. McGregor smiled. “You’ll like it. It’s ice cream.”

  Benny grinned. “Let’s go!”

  Mrs. McGregor asked at the front desk, and the man behind it directed them to the nearest gelato shop. “It’s right down the hill near the Trevi Fountain,” he said. “Don’t forget to throw coins in the fountain.”

  Mrs. McGregor said, “We won’t. I did last time I was here, and see, it worked!”

  As they left the hotel, Jessie asked, “What did the man mean by that?”

  “The Trevi Fountain is one of the most famous fountains in Rome,” Mrs. McGregor explained. “There is a legend that if you throw a coin in the fountain, you will return to Rome someday. We’ll get our gelato and then walk over to the fountain so you can see it.”

  The gelato shop had dozens of flavors in all different colors. “It’s like rainbows of ice cream,” Violet said. “But I’ve never heard of some of these flavors.”

  “The fun part of eating gelato is to try something new,” Mrs. McGregor said.

  Violet knew what she wanted right away. She chose almond. The rest took longer to make up their minds. While they were deciding, Violet walked over to the window so she could watch the people. Crowds of people filled the sidewalks. She caught sight of a woman in a purple hat walking away from the shop. The woman disappeared into the crowd. She didn’t have on a coat like they’d seen in the picture, and Violet couldn’t see her face, but she had the strangest feeling it was Tricia Silverton.

  She hurried back over to the others and told them what she had seen. “Tricia might be here after all,” Jessie said. “Maybe she will contact us at the hotel.”

  “She might,” Mrs. McGregor said. “We’ll go back as soon as you’ve seen the fountain. Have you decided on a flavor, Benny?” After much discussion, Benny chose the chocolate hazelnut gelato, and Jessie and Mrs. McGregor picked melon. Henry decided to try fig.

  They walked to the fountain as they ate. Everyone agreed the gelato was delicious.

  Jessie gasped when the fountain came into view. “When you said we were going to see a fountain, I didn’t think it would be anything like this.”

  “It’s almost as big as a swimming pool!” Benny said.

  The fountain stood right in front of a building and took up almost one whole side of it. Water spilled into the pool from all different parts of the giant sculptures that lined the edge of the fountain. In the center was a shell-shaped chariot and strange creatures that looked like winged horses that were part fish. There were statues of bearded men trying to hold on to the horse creatures. Henry thought it was incredible.

  “I love everything about it,” Violet said, “but I really love the turquoise color of the water. I wish I could try to paint it.”

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? We’ll all throw coins in the fountain.” Mrs. McGregor took some coins out of her purse. “You’re supposed to stand with your back to the fountain and throw the coin over your left shoulder.”

  They all took turns, and after watching the fountain for a little longer, they decided they should get back to the hotel.

  As soon as they walked in, the bellhop hurried over. “A messenger just delivered this,” he said. He handed Henry a package wrapped in brown paper. It was addressed to the Aldens, and there was the same little drawing of an owl.

  “We should wait until we are up in our room to open it,” Henry said, glancing around the lobby. He didn’t think any of the people there were working for the Argents, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Benny could hardly wait to see. As soon as they were in the room, he said, “Let’s see what’s inside! I want to know where we are going next.”

  Jessie unwrapped the package. Inside were a bag of wooden stamps, an ink pad, and an envelope.

  Violet opened the bag and looked at the stamps. “These are alphabet stamps. Wait, not all of them.” She pulled out one. “This one is a dragon.”

  “A dragon,” Henry repeated. “I wonder what that means?”

  Jessie smiled. “We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”

  Turn the page to read a sneak preview of

  THE DETOUR OF THE ELEPHANTS

  The third book of the Boxcar Children Great Adventure!

  The Aldens continue their mission to return lost artifacts around the world by visiting the Great Wall of China, but halfway around the world trouble seems closer than ever!

  After breakfast, the Aldens met Cousin Joe, Cousin Alice, and Soo Lee in the hotel lobby. Henry called their driver, Mary, to tell her they were ready to be picked up.

  “How long will it take to get to that village? Mutan…something?” Benny asked.

  The hotel clerk overheard Benny. “Do you mean Mutianyu by the Great Wall?” she asked.

  Benny nodded.

  “It’s not far,” the woman said. “About one and a half hours from Beijing.”

  Jessie wished Benny hadn’t asked. There was no one else in the lobby
besides the clerk, but the Aldens’ last riddle said to be careful who they trusted. Jessie had not even told Mary their plans. It wasn’t until she arrived in the van that she learned where they would be driving.

  “Oh, you’ll have fun at the Great Wall!” Mary exclaimed. “I’m glad you’re getting to see some sites.”

  Everyone was quiet on the ride except for Benny and Soo Lee, who were trying to think of names for the cloth tigers they had been given the day before.

  When Mary pulled into a parking lot and announced they had arrived, Benny said, “I don’t see a wall.”

  Mary laughed. “You’ll see it when you get out and look up.”

  Everyone jumped out of the van. The wall was far above them, way up on top of a steep slope. Benny’s mouth dropped open. “It looks a lot bigger than it did on the poster!”

  “In many places, the wall was built to run across the tops of mountain ridges,” Mary explained. “That made it even more difficult for invaders to cross.”

  “I’ll be waiting down here when you’ve seen everything,” she continued. “I’m going to go get some coffee and read a book I brought. Take as much time as you need.”

  Everyone got their camera cases and Henry took their duffel bag as well. They walked through the parking lot and into an area where people were selling souvenirs, hats, and arts and crafts.

  “There’s a sign for Mutianyu Village,” Henry said. “I hope it’s not very big. I don’t know how we are supposed to find Dr. Zhang there.”

  The village wasn’t very large. They walked around looking at some of the older buildings until they saw a sign with both Chinese characters and English words on it. The English part read, “Mutianyu Guest House and Restaurant.”

  “Let’s go ask there,” Jessie suggested.

  Inside they found a woman at a reception desk working on a laptop. She looked up and smiled. “Can I help you? I’m afraid we have no rooms available, but our restaurant is open.”

  “We are looking for someone,” Henry said. “Someone named Dr. Zhang. Do you know her? Or him? We don’t know if Dr. Zhang is a man or a woman.”

  “Yes, of course,” the woman responded. “Dr. Zhang is a woman. She is staying here while she works on a book, but today she is on top of the wall, showing a group of visiting students around.”

  “We’d like to see her as soon as possible,” Jessie said. “Would we be able to find her if we went to the top of the wall?”

  “Yes, unless you pass her coming down as you go up. She’ll be with a large group of young people. She is about this lady and gentleman’s age,” the woman said smiling at Cousin Joe and Cousin Alice. “Dr. Zhang carries a cane with her, though she doesn’t use it all the time. It has a silver dragon head for a handle. You should be able to recognize that.”

  “What is the best way to get to the top?” Henry asked. “Is there a path?”

  “There is but it’s quite a long ways to the top. It’s about four thousand steps and will take you more than an hour to hike. If you want to get up more quickly, there is a cable car you can ride.”

  “Let’s take the cable car,” Violet said. “That sounds like fun.”

  “Yes,” Jessie said. “I’d like to find Dr. Zhang as soon as we can.”

  The woman from the guesthouse told them how to find the ticket booth for the cable car. They bought tickets and went to wait in line.

  “These look like cable cars at ski resorts,” Benny said as he watched the bright orange cars go up the mountain. “I didn’t know they used cable cars other places.”

  “It’s a good way to get up high,” Jessie said. “And since they are all enclosed, people can go up and down even in bad weather.”

  The platform they were waiting on was very crowded. “Stay close,” Jessie said to the others. “We don’t want to get separated.” They inched their way forward as the people in front of them got into cars. When it was the children’s turn, the operator asked how many were in their group. Cousin Joe replied, “Seven.”

  “You’ll need two cars then,” the man said. He directed Joe, Alice, and Soo Lee to one. “The rest of you can go up in the next one.” Joe, Alice, and Soo Lee got into their car, and Soo Lee waved good-bye through the window.

  The next cable car came up the platform and the man directed the children inside. Jessie, Benny, and Violet were already in when someone on the platform behind Henry yelled, “Watch out!” Henry stumbled forward into the car, but a person outside the car reached in and took hold of the strap on the duffel bag. Henry tried to grab it back, but the bag was yanked off Henry’s shoulder as the door closed. “Wait!” Henry yelled, but the car was already moving away from the station. Their duffel bag was gone…

  GERTRUDE 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 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.