Meg Mackintosh Solves Seven American History Mysteries

by Landon, Lucinda

  “So, it looks like an old tablecloth circa 1950,” Meg quipped.

  What is the fourth artifact?

  “Ten-to-one it’s a piece of a United States flag! It was probably torn in battle when the Union soldiers were here,” said Peter.

  “I think you’re on to something, Peter,” said Gramps as he studied the remnant. “When was the battle?”

  “The Battle of Glorietta Pass was in 1862,” Meg read from her notes.

  “Great-grandmother Joya was born about 1850,” said Lucia. “She would have been about twelve. Our ancestors built this ranch like a fortress. Remember that old South Gate in the walled courtyard around the stables? It has been jammed shut for as long as anyone can remember. Father said Joya let the soldiers in through that gate at the last minute before the Confederates arrived and then she locked it in the nick of time. But then the key was lost. We’ve kept that gate shut all these years.”

  “Your old key,” said Mr. Gonzales. “It could be for a gate like this.”

  Meg fumbled in her knapsack, pulling out the old key. “Let’s try it!”

  They hurried to the ancient adobe wall. Lucia fit the key into the old lock and twisted it. The old lock clunked open, but the door wouldn’t budge. They pushed so hard that the lock casing fell down in between the boards of the hollow door.

  Peter stuck his hand inside the gap to retrieve the pieces. “There’s something inside here.” As he pulled, one panel of wood fell away. Hidden inside the hollow door was a rolled-up piece of cloth. It was red-and-white striped with blue stars. Where one corner had been ripped, Joya’s piece fit in.

  “It’s the American flag!” exclaimed Peter. “The soldiers must have hid it here during the battle.Do you think the flag has been jamming the lock all these years.”

  “Maybe they left it here for Joya in thanks for saving them!” said Lucia.

  “Now there are cinquo artefactos for your family collection, including the key,” said Meg. “Another history mystery solved.”

  “Amazing,” said Mr. Gonzales. “Allow me to cut your silhouettes in thanks.” And he did.

  History Mystery 7

  The San Francisco Riddle

  “San Francisco here we come,” said Peter Mackintosh as he gazed at the map.

  “How many miles is it from Santa Fe?” Meg asked her brother.

  “It’s about 1,200 miles,” said Peter. “It depends on which way we want to go and where we want to stop. There’s so much to see.”

  “Jot down the places you’d like to visit and we’ll make a plan,” suggested their grandfather. Meg, Peter, and Gramps were traveling across the country solving history mysteries.

  Peter started a list and marked a route on the map.

  “While you do that, I’ll take a look at my notes,” Meg said as she chewed the tip of her pencil. “Hmmm, The San Francisco Riddle. I wonder what this mystery is about.”

  Meg thought about the artifacts. “This lantern is interesting,” said Meg as she examined it with her magnifying glass. “It’s made of a metal,” she observed, “oil must have been poured in the base and then burned with this withered wick.”

  “What kind of a design is that?” She showed it to Peter.

  “Clean it off and we’ll have a better idea.” He tossed her a paper towel.

  Meg rubbed he lantern softly. “Maybe a genie will appear, and I’ll be granted three wishes!” she joked.

  “Let’s wish that Gramps will stop in all of the places on my list,” said Peter.

  “Look!” said Meg. “I think it’s a Chinese character. Xu Ming sounds Chinese. I think we know who the history mystery child is!”

  “And the Chinese character might be a clue to our destination once we’re in San Francisco,” said Peter as he showed Meg a map of the city.

  Where would you go in San Francisco?

  “Chinatown!” exclaimed Meg. “I can hardly wait!”

  “There are lots of exciting places to see on our way,” said Gramps. “We’ll try to cover as much of Peter’s list as we can.”

  Gramps was right. All of the National Parks were exciting. But a few days later, when they headed into the city limits of San Francisco, Meg and Peter were happy to return to their investigation.

  “Here’s the clue from the professor,” said Gramps.

  “It’s a riddle,” Meg said, puzzling over the clue.

  “The twin has the gold. Maybe Xu Ming had a twin brother?”

  “Where do we start?” asked Peter.

  “We start by parking the minivan and taking a trolley,” said Gramps. “Driving up and down these hills is exasperating!”

  What do you think the riddle means?

  While Gramps found a place to park, Peter opened his history book to do some research on Chinese immigration to America. Meg continued to puzzle over the riddle.

  When did the Chinese start coming to America? Why did they come?

  “Maybe the lantern has something to do with the gold rush,” suggested Meg.

  “Or building the railroads,” said Peter. “It could have been used to light tunnels they were digging.”

  “Or gold mines?” said Meg.

  “Or both,” said Gramps. “Many Chinese came to California to look for gold, like everyone else did. Some left their families behind in China with plans to return with their fortune. But when the gold rush ended, they stayed on to help build the railroads.”

  Meg thought hard, then reread the clue. “’Look within to be told.’ There’s got to be a clue inside this lantern somewhere,” she said. She undid the stopper that once held in the oil, but couldn’t detect anything inside.

  “Wait a minute,” she mumbled, turning the lantern over. “These tin columns seem hollow.” Sure enough, she was able to undo a circle of tin on the base that opened up to a hollow shaft. Inside was a rolled-up piece of paper.

  “It looks like a Chinese scroll.” Said Peter, amazed.

  Meg unrolled the thin paper, but she couldn’t read the message. “It’s in Chinese.”

  “Come on,” Peter said, practically pushing her out the door of the minivan. “Let’s go to Chinatown and find someone to translate.”

  Do you notice anything about the symbols?

  “It says, ‘Ming Brothers switch lanterns’,” the conductor told them. They thanked him as they spun off the trolley in Chinatown.

  “That’s the same symbol that’s on the lantern. This lantern obviously belonged to the Ming family!” Peter asserted.

  “I’m still trying to figure out what ‘strike’ and ‘spike’ have to do with the mystery,” said Meg, scratching her head.

  Peter found a phone booth and pulled out the local directory. “Gee, there are so many Mings.”

  “Peter, this is hopeless,” said Meg as she gazed over his shoulder. “Let’s try a different tactic.”

  “Not so fast, Meg-o. Look at this listing,” said Peter.

  What did Peter notice?

  “W. Ming Far Away Antiques! Do you suppose there’s a connection?” asked Peter, jotting down the address.

  “It’s in Chinatown. It can’t be too far away,” Meg answered him, and they set off in search of the antique shop.

  A few minutes later, they found it. A bell gently rang as they pushed open the door and entered the store.

  Meg gazed around the dimly lit room. “So much neat stuff!”

  Gramps pointed to some pictures on the wall. “Here are some very old photographs of men working on the railroad.”

  “Conditions don’t look very good,” said Meg. “They worked all winter, even in the snow.”

  “That’s true,” said a young man behind the counter. “The working conditions were deplorable, and the Chinese who built the railroad worked fourteen-hour days and were only paid $28 a month.”

  “I read about that,” said Peter. “The Central Pacific Railroad was in a hurry to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad to become the first transcontinental railway.”

  “So th
ey worked all winter to complete the job. They went on strike for better wages, but the owners cut off their food supply until they began work again,” the young man added.

  “That’s awful,” said Meg.

  “Strike?!” cried Peter. “Let’s see that clue again.”

  Meg pulled the clue out of her knapsack and the lantern too. She read the end of the clue aloud: “Far-away brother lost the strike, city brother saved the spike.”

  “Could I please see your lantern?” asked the young man.

  What did he notice?

  Meg handed over the lantern. Then something on the shelf caught her eye. “Look! It’s a lantern like ours!”

  “Exactly what I noticed,” said the young man as he took down the second lantern.

  “They’re twins,” confirmed Peter. “The both have the same mark.”

  “Where did you find this?” asked the young man.

  “It’s a long story, but we have been searching for a twin,” said Meg. “I thought we were looking for a twin brother, but we found a twin lantern!”

  Peter briefly explained about Professor Brown’s history mysteries, and Meg showed the young man the riddle and the clue that was hidden inside the lantern.

  “Professor Brown must have known that you had the matching lantern,” said Gramps. “It’s lucky it wasn’t sold.”

  “It’s not for sale,” said the young man. “It has a special meaning to my family. My name is Wesley Ming. This is my family’s store. The lantern is a reminder of the hard work my ancestors did when they came to this country. And you were looking for a pair of twin brothers, my great-great uncles. You were looking at their photograph a moment ago, Xu Ming and Kam Ming.”

  “The twin bothers had twin lanterns!” said Peter as he held them up. “That’s odd, your lantern is much heavier. I mean a lot heavier.” He handed the lanterns to Wesley to judge.

  “You’re right. Even though they seem to be identical,” said Wesley.

  “Peter, that’s it!” said Meg “You just solved this history mystery!”

  What is Meg getting at?

  “I bet there’s something hidden inside of your lantern, too,” said Meg. “I’ll show you.” She carefully turned the lantern over and removed the piece on the bottom like she had before. A heavy shiny object slid out.

  “What is it?” asked Gramps.

  “It’s gold!” exclaimed Peter. “No wonder it was so heavy!”

  “It looks like a gold spike. Like the spikes they drove into the railroad ties,” said Wesley. “And there’s a piece of paper with a message.” He translated, “Brothers switch places. I can’t believe this has been found! It’s from my twin uncles!”

  “That’s like the message we had, only ours said, Brothers switch lanterns,” explained Peter.

  “They switched lanterns and places? What’s this all about?” asked Meg.

  “The story is that Kam Ming went to work on the railroad and Xu stayed behind in San Francisco,” said Wesley. “When Xu heard about the strike, he sneaked into the camp to make sure his brother was okay, carrying the lantern to find his way. Maybe he brought food and clothing. When he found his brother in poor health, Xu switched places with Kam and sent him back to San Francisco — they were identical twins, so no one noticed.”

  “But why did they switch lanterns too?” Peter asked.

  “The lanterns held the messages. The old family must have known about the secret hiding places. If something happened to either of them, the message would explain. A Chinese worker always would return the lantern to the Ming family,” said Wesley.

  “Kam, the twin on the railroad brought the golden spike back with him,” he concluded. “Chinese workers often made precious things out of the gold they had mined and hid the items to get them back to China.”

  “A narrow spike fit into the hollow hiding place,” said Meg.

  “It’s also like the golden spike that they drove in when they connected the two railroads at Promontory Point!” added Peter.

  “Only this spike commemorates the Chinese workers!” said Wesley proudly. “These are small signatures of workers on the spike — my ancestors and their friends! I’m so glad you found me. I never would have known the spike was hidden in here.”

  “Now the twin lanterns have found each other,” said Meg.

  “They make a nice pair,” added Peter.

  “So near and yet so far away,” mused Gramps, as he gave Meg and Peter a hug. “Case closed.”

  “Cases closed,” said Meg. “We solved the seven history mysteries.”

  “We still have to drive all the way home,” said Peter. “There is still more to see.”

  “And there is always another mystery on the horizon,” said Meg with a smile.

  Extension Activities

  Peril at Plimoth — Who Were the Pilgrims?

  Pose the following research questions. Who were the Pilgrims and why did they come to America? After students complete their research, challenge them to present their findings in creative ways, for instance, as a time-travel interview with a Pilgrim or a web site.

  The Minuteman’s Secret — “Child’s Play”

  What kinds of games did children play in colonial America? What songs did they sing during the American Revolution? What types of arts and crafts did children do? Young readers can be urged to research Amercan games, songs, and arts and crafts of the 1700s — and then use their research to plan and hold a Revolutionary Days Fair.

  Witness at Washington — Town Time Capsule

  Many people had a hand in designing our nation’s capital. Who was instrumental in founding, designing, and building the reader/student’ own community? They can research for the information and then, for example, create a time capsule that records their community’s history.

  The Camouflage Clue in Ohio — Portrait of Harriet Tubman

  Who was Harriet Tubman? What prompted her to help others? Young readers can be encouraged to research the life of Harriet Tubman and then present their findings in the form of a short story, a play, a poem, or a song.

  The Warning at Scottsbluff — Obstacles on the Oregon Trail

  What geographical obstacles stood in the way of settlers on the Oregon Trail? Students can make physical maps showing the route of the Oregon Trail and then consider how geography would have affected travelers — and how warning signs might have been placed.

  The Puzzle at Pecos — Family Artifacts

  Young readers may be urged to think of artifacts that have been passed down in their own families. Then they may write descriptions of their artifacts and tell about their importance to them and to their families.

  The San Francisco Riddle — Strike it Rich

  Encourage young readers to imagine that they had joined the gold rush to California. Ask them to choose a number: 1 or 2. Explain that 1 means they struck it rich, but 2 means they went broke. Suggest that students write letters home describing their successes or their lack of luck.

  About the Author

  Lucinda Landon at about the same age as Meg Mackintosh.

  Author and illustrator Lucinda Landon was born in Galesburg, Illinois. Her family moved to Schenectady, New York, where she and her three sisters grew up. She comes to children’s books with a background in art and design, having attended the Sir John Cass School of Art in London, St. Lawrence University, and Rhode Island School of Design. She has worked as an art museum guide, children’s librarian, and special education teacher.

  The first book she illustrated, The Young Detective’s Handbook by William Vivian Butler, received a special Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981. A character from that handbook evolved into Meg Mackintosh. Meg was also inspired by a childhood friend named Meg, but Landon admits that Meg Mackintosh is also a bit like her.

  Landon has always loved reading mysteries and remembers that there weren’t many for middle readers when she was growing up, especially with girl detectives and clues in the pictures.

>   “Writing the Meg Mackintosh series,” says Landon, “gives me the opportunity to combine my love of drawing and mysteries. It’s fun to design books with the clues hidden in both text and the black-and-white illustrations.”Landon says she likes to keep her mysteries fast paced, with intriguing clues and questions posed to the reader to see if they can match wits with Meg.

  Lucinda Landon is married to photographer Jim Egan and has two sons, Alex and Eric, two dogs, one cat, and two horses. They live in an old house in Rhode Island that was built in 1709. The house has a hidden trap door to the basement and a secret hiding place behind the chimney. “It’s a great place to write mysteries,” says Landon.

  Learn more about

  Meg

  Mackintosh

  at www.megmackintosh.com