Mystery at Peacock Hall

by Charles Tang

  Whistling, Roscoe left.

  “I don’t trust that guy,” Henry said to the other children. “Let’s make sure he really leaves.”

  CHAPTER 8

  The Figure at the Window

  The Aldens ran upstairs to a room with windows that overlooked the front lawn.

  “This is where we found the old paper,” Benny said.

  “And now it’s gone,” Violet added.

  Henry went over to the windows. Roscoe was standing by the empty goldfish pond. He glanced around, as if waiting for someone.

  “I wonder who he’s waiting for,” Henry said.

  Jessie and the others joined Henry, pulling the dusty draperies back so they could see.

  Then an older man joined Roscoe. It was Tate.

  Violet watched the two men. “They seem awfully happy.”

  “Tate did say Roscoe came here a lot when he was a kid,” Henry said. “I guess they’re still good friends. But how can Tate be laughing when he’s about to lose his home? Where will he go?”

  Jessie wasn’t listening. From here, she had a good view of the smokehouse. A light shone in the single window.

  “Look!” she cried.

  A small figure passed in front of the window. Who was it?

  “Somebody’s in the smokehouse,” Violet said.

  “Whoever it is, Tate doesn’t want anyone to know,” Jessie said, remembering the times Tate had scolded them.

  “But he’s busy with Roscoe,” Henry pointed out. “We could go out the back way and he’d never see us. We could find out who Tate’s mysterious guest is.”

  Benny was already heading for the door. “Let’s go!”

  The back staircase came out by the kitchen. As the children tiptoed past the hallway, they glimpsed Cousin Althea sitting alone in the living room.

  Violet felt sorry for her. If only Grandfather would come back with good news!

  The lawn was damp with dew. Violet’s sneakers were soaked by the time they reached the smokehouse. Above the piney woods a round moon was rising. It was an evening for surprises, she thought.

  Benny peered into the peacock pen. Both birds were roosting on the roof of the little house. At least the peacock’s cry wouldn’t give them away.

  He took the lead as they crept single file around the corner of the smokehouse.

  The front door was open!

  Benny was ready to charge in when Henry pulled him back.

  “Let me go first,” Henry whispered. “I’ll make sure it’s safe.”

  Cautiously he stuck his head inside the door.

  “Might as well come in,” called a young voice.

  Violet knew that voice. “David!” she exclaimed, rushing past Henry and inside the little building.

  David sat on an old chair at a table. He’d been reading a book. He wore a pair of jeans with a hole in one knee.

  “Mom’s out,” he said quietly. “She’s picking flowers to finish an order.”

  Violet gazed around the small room. Bunches of dried herbs and flowers hung from the wooden ceiling beams. Fresh flowers stood in buckets and canning jars of water. An herb wreath lay on a larger table. Dishes stacked in the tiny sink and a basket of folded laundry were the final clues.

  “You and your mother live here!” she declared. “You’re the secret Tate’s been keeping from us!”

  David sighed. “That’s right.” He indicated a worn-out sofa and another old chair. “I knew you four wouldn’t give up till you found out the truth. Sit down, everyone.”

  When the Aldens made themselves comfortable, David began his story.

  “Mom and I lost our lease back last fall. The lease on our apartment,” he explained. “Our landlord raised the rent. Mom couldn’t pay it, so we had to leave. But we didn’t have anyplace to go.”

  Jessie felt a pang of sympathy. “We know what you mean. When our parents died, we didn’t have a home, either.”

  “So we moved into an old boxcar,” Henry said. “And that’s where we lived till Grandfather found us and took us to live with him.”

  “I wish I had a grandfather like yours,” David said wistfully. “But it’s just Mom and me. Most of the time we get along pretty good. But this past winter . . .” He stopped.

  Violet thought David looked as if he was going to cry. “How did you meet Tate?” she asked gently.

  “He was driving along the highway and he saw us walking. He stopped to give us a ride. When he found out we didn’t have anyplace to live, he said we were coming home with him and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.” David smiled at the memory. “Tate can be pretty bossy sometimes.”

  “Why didn’t he tell Cousin Althea?” Henry wanted to know. “Why is he keeping you and your mother a secret?”

  “Tate was going to tell Mrs. Randolph. But then Mrs. Randolph got that tax letter, and Tate thought she had enough to worry about. So he never told her about us.”

  “Were you going to live here forever?” Benny asked. He liked the smokehouse. It was small and neat, like their boxcar.

  David shook his head. “Mom opened the herb stand on the highway. She was saving money to get us an apartment in town. But then the county made her shut down her stand. I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

  The children were silent a moment.

  Jessie absently pulled the scrap of denim from the pocket of her skirt.

  “What’s that?” David asked.

  Jessie flushed. “It’s a piece of material. We saw your pants hanging on the clothesline and wondered if the material came from your jeans.”

  As if to answer her question, David got up and opened a bureau drawer. He pulled out two pairs of denim pants, both with holes in the knees. “These belong to my mom. She can’t afford to buy us new clothes.”

  Jessie felt worse than ever. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean —”

  “We aren’t being nosy,” Henry put in. “We found the material on the ledge beneath the girls’ bedroom window. Somebody tried to break in the first night we got here. He — or she — tore their pants getting away.”

  David’s eyes widened. “You don’t think I did it? Or my mother?”

  “No, of course not!” Violet said quickly. “But that was before we knew you and Heather lived here in the smokehouse.”

  Jessie stuffed the scrap back in her pocket. “We keep finding clues, but they lead nowhere.”

  “I might be able to help,” David told her. “You all came here Sunday evening?”

  “That’s right.” Henry leaned forward with interest. “What do you know about that night, David?”

  “It was warm and I was out taking a walk,” David replied. “Tate told Mom and me that Mrs. Randolph’s relatives were coming, so we’d have to stay out of sight.”

  “Did you see something?” Violet asked anxiously. This was one mystery she definitely wanted solved.

  David shook his head. “I didn’t see anything, but I heard something. A car with a loud engine.”

  “Whose car was it?” asked Jessie.

  But Henry already knew. A certain Jeep had a powerful engine. “It was Roscoe Janney, wasn’t it?”

  “Only one car around here that sounds like his Jeep,” David said. “He must have parked it along the road instead of in the driveway, so nobody would see him. He probably walked up the driveway.”

  Henry nodded. This made sense. “Roscoe is friends with Tate, so he could have easily borrowed a ladder from the gardener. But why would he break into his aunt’s house?”

  Jessie spoke up. “Roscoe knew we were here. Maybe he tried to scare us away.”

  “But we don’t scare that easily,” Benny said.

  Violet explained to David that they had been involved in several mysteries.

  “But this mystery is the hardest of all,” she concluded. “We need to find the hidden treasure to save Peacock Hall. So far we don’t even know what it is, much less where it is.”

  “Soon Cousin Althea will be without a home,” Jessie a
dded. “And Tate. Where will they go?”

  Then she realized that David and Heather wouldn’t have a home, either, if Peacock Hall was auctioned for taxes.

  Now the Aldens had to help two families find a home.

  In one day.

  CHAPTER 9

  The Eye of the Peacock

  The cry of the peacock awakened Benny early Friday morning.

  “It’s the last day!” he cried, leaping out of bed.

  “I know,” Henry said. He threw back his quilt and jumped up. “We have a lot to do.”

  A knock sounded at their door.

  “Come in,” Benny called, already dressed.

  Violet and Jessie stood in the doorway.

  “Ready to search?” Jessie asked, but she knew the answer. If there was anything the Aldens enjoyed, it was a challenge.

  “Got to eat first,” Benny said sensibly. “We can’t hunt for the secret on an empty stomach.” He sounded so serious, the others laughed as they went downstairs.

  Althea fixed them pancakes with link sausages. “You just missed your grandfather,” she said. “He had an early breakfast, then left to go to the bank.”

  “Is he going to borrow the tax money?” Henry asked.

  “He’s going to try,” Althea said. “My cousin Celia certainly married a nice man. I’m so glad you all are here. No matter what happens.”

  “You’ll have many more days in this house,” Jessie said. If we find the secret of Peacock Hall in time,she thought.

  Althea wouldn’t hear of them cleaning up, so the children ran upstairs.

  An hour later, they had searched every square inch of the bedrooms they and Grandfather were using.

  “I don’t suppose this is the treasure,” Benny said, producing a bent gold cuff link.

  Henry studied the object in better light. “It’s not even real gold.”

  “The only room left up here is Cousin Althea’s,” Jessie said. “We’d better ask permission first.”

  She and Violet went downstairs to the kitchen.

  Althea listened to their request. “Certainly you may look in my bedroom. But I think I would have found the secret if it were in my own room! I’ve lived in this house for more than fifty years!”

  “She has a point,” Violet said to Jessie as they went back upstairs. “Althea must know this place better than anyone. Why hasn’t she found the treasure?”

  “Maybe because she doesn’t know what she’s looking for,” Jessie brought up. “That’s been our main problem.”

  The children felt shy in Althea’s bedroom. They looked quickly.

  But, as in the other rooms, their search proved fruitless.

  Hot, dirty, and tired, they went downstairs.

  Althea took one glance at their grimy faces and poured them glasses of lemonade.

  “You are a sight,” she pronounced. “Benny even has cobwebs in his hair. Go outside. It’s a gorgeous day, but it may not last. Spring can be fickle around here.”

  “We really can’t afford to waste time,” Henry said earnestly. “It’s lunchtime now. Only five more hours until . . .” He hated to finish the sentence.

  Althea waved an unconcerned hand. “You children shouldn’t take on my worries. You are guests in my house, even if it is the last day as my house.”

  “Let’s all go outside,” Jessie suggested, “and eat lunch by the fish pond.”

  “Wonderful!” Althea agreed.

  As they made a lunch of tuna salad sandwiches, bananas, and peanut-butter cookies, everyone’s spirits lifted. By the time Henry had spread an old blanket on the grass near the fish pond, they were all laughing at Benny.

  “Benny, you know you can’t turn a cartwheel!” Violet giggled, watching her little brother tumble in the grass.

  “Wait!” he cried. “I’ll get it this time!”

  But he sprawled on the lawn, collapsed in giggles.

  As Althea passed the sandwiches around, a shiny blue car pulled into the driveway.

  Marlene Sanders got out, carrying a briefcase. She smiled when she saw Althea Randolph sitting on the blanket.

  “Lovely day, isn’t it?” she said to the older woman. “What glorious weather for your last picnic at Peacock Hall!”

  “Can I help you, Ms. Sanders?” Althea inquired formally.

  “Yes, you can sign these papers.” Marlene Sanders put her briefcase on the edge of the goldfish pond and opened the brass clasp. She took out some long typewritten pages.

  “What papers?” Althea asked.

  “For the sale of your property.” Uncapping a pen, Marlene handed it to Althea.

  Althea pushed the papers and pen away. “You don’t take no for an answer, do you?”

  Marlene sighed. “It would be so much easier this way, Mrs. Randolph. You’d make a lot of money and could find a nice place in Charlottesville.”

  “I’d rather live in the peacock pen than let your company turn this place into a golf course!” Althea said angrily. “Please go. It is still my property!”

  “But only till five o’clock!” Marlene said, stuffing the papers back into her leather briefcase. Her high heels clipped smartly along the walk as she marched to her car.

  “That woman doesn’t give up,” Althea murmured, watching the car leave. “I’m sorry she spoiled our picnic.”

  “It’s okay,” Jessie told her. “We don’t give up, either! We still have almost five hours to look for the treasure.”

  As they ate, dark clouds rolled in. The air turned chilly.

  “That awful woman brought bad weather with her,” Althea joked.

  After helping carry the picnic things back indoors, the children resumed their search on the first floor.

  “Let’s start in the living room,” Henry suggested. “It’s the biggest room. It’ll take us the longest.”

  “Can we build a fire?” Violet suggested, shivering. Even though she was wearing a sweater, the room was cold.

  Henry nodded. “Benny, let’s get some wood.”

  Tate’s woodpile was by the garage, but the boys saw no sign of the gardener. Henry wondered if the old man had gone to town to find a place to live.

  “Is this enough?” Benny asked him. He could barely carry the large stack.

  “Great. Now let’s hurry back inside.”

  The girls had already pulled back the fireplace grate. Henry knelt and began stacking logs.

  Benny, who couldn’t see where he was going, tripped over a chair leg. His pile of wood went flying.

  “Oh, no!” he cried as a stick hit the right side of the fireplace mantel. “Did it hurt anything?”

  Violet peered at the corner of the wood paneling. “There’s a scratch in the paint, that’s all —” But as she spoke, a piece of carved molding fell to the floor. “Uh-oh!”

  Henry picked up the molding with its circular carvings. “I bet we can glue this back —” He stopped, staring in amazement.

  The corner of the fireplace slowly creaked open, revealing dark, dusty space inside.

  Violet gasped.

  “A secret room!” Benny exclaimed, hopping up and down. “We found a secret room! I bet the treasure is in there! Where’s my flashlight?”

  Jessie had it. She shone the beam inside the space. “It’s completely empty!” she cried, disappointed.

  “How can it be empty?” Violet demanded. “Did someone find the treasure before us?”

  At that moment, the peacock called outside.

  “Oh, be quiet,” Benny told the bird. If the peacock knew the secret of Peacock Hall, he wasn’t much help.

  Henry still gazed at the fireplace. What did that panel remind him of? Something he’d seen . . . and then it hit him.

  “This is like the fireplace at Monticello!” he declared.

  “The little elevators!” Benny said, remembering the dumbwaiters.

  Jessie was caught up in the excitement. “Then there’s a matching panel on the other side! Let’s look!”

  “Do we have to hit i
t with a stick of wood to get it to open?” Benny wondered.

  Henry smiled. “I doubt it. That would be a pretty awkward way to get into those secret rooms.”

  Violet was studying the ovals carved into the molding. “Benny you were right! The peacock did have the answer!”

  “What do you mean?” Benny asked.

  “This mantel has ‘eyes’ like the peacock’s tail,” she replied. “I bet there’s a hidden catch in one of these circles.” Gently she pushed the molding.

  A door popped open.

  Holding her breath, Jessie shone the flashlight inside the cavity. “I’m afraid to look!”

  Benny wasn’t. He leaned in and pulled out a white china vase with flowers and birds painted all over.

  “Ohhh,” Violet gasped. “I bet it’s worth a lot of money.”

  Henry saluted his little brother. “Benny Alden, I do believe you’ve found the Randolph treasure. And with time to spare! It’s only two o’clock!”

  “The peacock helped, too. We just couldn’t figure out what he was saying.” Benny frowned at the vase. “Is this really the treasure? It’s just an old —”

  At that moment, a figure rushed through the doorway.

  “I’ll take that, thank you!” Roscoe Janney snatched the vase from Benny.

  “Hey!” Benny cried. “That belongs to the house!”

  “Which will be mine by the end of the day.” Roscoe held the vase high out of reach. “And everything in it will be mine, including this vase.”

  Violet felt a rush of anger. “Cousin Althea doesn’t want to sell the house to you!”

  “It’s either that or be evicted,” Roscoe said, shrugging. “I know Aunt Althea. She’ll never allow the sheriff to cart her by the road.”

  “We found that vase,” Henry told the young man evenly. “You don’t have any claim on it.”

  “I’ve been coming to this house ever since I was Benny’s age,” Roscoe admitted. “I never found the secret of Peacock Hall. But you kids did in less than a week! In fact, you messed up my search the other night.”

  “That was you at the window!” Violet accused.

  “I’d been sneaking in here whenever I wanted. I didn’t know which bedrooms you were in, and I tried to break into the wrong one.” He grinned. “A little mistake.”