“Good idea!” said Henry. He handed a clean plate to Benny, who dried it with a towel and handed it to Jessie.
“We’ll need to spread out newspapers for the mess,” said Jessie, putting the plate into the cupboard.
“We’ll need carving tools too,” said Violet.
“There’s a stack of newspapers by the window,” said Maru. “I’ll bring in the pumpkin-carving tools from the shed. Then I think I’m going to take a nap. It’s been a long day.”
Maru headed outside, letting the screen door slap behind her.
“Maru looks tired and discouraged,” Violet said as she gathered up newspapers.
“Yes, she does,” said Jessie. “And unhappy.”
“I would be unhappy too,” said Benny, “if a skeleton was haunting my house!”
Henry ignored his little brother’s mention of skeletons. “It definitely wasn’t a very grand opening,” he said sadly.
The children worked together to spread newspapers over the dining room table and floor.
“We can save all the scraps for Verónica’s chickens,” said Benny. “They love pumpkin seeds!”
Maru came back inside and gave Henry a box. “Everything you’ll need is in here,” she said. “Mom saved her collection of carving tools from when she was a teacher.”
“Thank you,” said Violet. “We’ll have fun carving pumpkins for the contest tomorrow!”
“Okay,” said Maru. “I really do need a nap. We can go to Tilly Gorts restaurant for dinner later. So don’t worry about messing up the kitchen!”
“Rest well,” said Jessie. “We will clean up.”
“Thank you, Jessie,” said Maru. She headed to her room.
They pulled out tools from the box.
“We just have to figure out who ruined Maru’s escape room,” said Violet, carving a hole in the top of her pumpkin. “I feel so bad for her.”
“The first question we need to answer is why someone would want to hurt her business,” said Henry.
“Good point, Henry,” said Jessie. “I think Burke is a suspect. He could be mad that she bought his house and turned it into a business.”
Violet nodded. “He said that the house’s problems were Maru’s problems now. What do you think he meant by that?”
“I think he meant that the living skeletons from the graveyard are her problem now,” Benny said.
“Those are just made-up stories, Benny,” said Jessie. “There must be a better explanation.”
“I think Nick is a suspect,” said Henry. “He doesn’t seem interested in doing his job.”
“And he likes scary things,” added Benny.
“He doesn’t have a key,” said Jessie. “But he could have left himself a way in and come back later in the night.”
“I don’t know,” Violet said. “He seems nice. And he’s very creative too. Maru said he helped a lot with the Skeleton Key.”
“You’re right,” said Jessie. “It’s hard to imagine Nick wanting to do something mean to a project that he was a big part of.”
“Well, someone creative messed with the welcome sign,” said Henry.
“What about Farmer Dawson?” asked Jessie.
“His corn maze was a lot like Maru’s secret room, wasn’t it?” said Henry. “And he wasn’t all that friendly to Maru this morning either.”
“All three of them are suspects,” said Jessie. “But we still don’t have much evidence.”
For a while, the children worked quietly on their pumpkins. Henry’s jack-o’-lantern had a goofy, gap-toothed grin. Jessie’s was a cat with long whiskers and a waving paw. Benny made a drooping skeleton on his tall, skinny pumpkin.
Violet had something different in mind for her carving. But she needed just the right tool to add the finishing touches, and none of the tools in the box were quite right. Then she remembered the metal object she found in the grass behind the Skeleton Key. It had a fine, sharp tip that would be perfect!
When she was done, Violet turned the pumpkin to her brothers and sister.
“Wow!” said Jessie. “That’s very creative, Violet.”
“That will win for sure!” said Benny.
“How did you get such small details?” asked Henry.
Violet told them about the tool she had found behind the Skeleton Key.
Henry looked over the strange tool. “I think this might be helpful in two ways,” he said.
“Two ways?” asked Jessie. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that it might help Violet win the pumpkin-carving competition,” said Henry. “And I have a feeling it might be the key to solving our mystery.”
Just then Grandfather and Verónica walked in.
“Wow, it looks like a pumpkin-carving factory in here,” said Verónica. “I see Maru found my carving tools.”
“We won a free pumpkin in the corn maze today,” said Benny.
“We bought the others,” said Violet. “We want to win the pumpkin-carving contest tomorrow so we can get a free ride in the hot-air balloon.”
“It sounds like you had fun today,” said Grandfather.
“Well, it wasn’t all fun…” said Jessie.
“Somebody sabotaged Maru’s Skeleton Key escape room,” Henry explained.
“That’s terrible,” said Grandfather. “Does Maru know who did it?”
“Not yet,” said Henry.
“But we are all working on it!” said Benny.
“Well, as always, you children have found yourselves a mystery to solve,” said Grandfather. “But you missed a beautiful day to be out looking at the leaves.”
“It was gorgeous,” agreed Verónica. “We walked a lot!” She sat at the table and pulled off her shoes.
“It’s still a beautiful day,” said Jessie. “We could go look at the leaves around here.”
“Maru said we can go to a restaurant in town for dinner later,” said Henry.
“She’s taking a nap,” said Benny. “She was very tired.”
“I’m not surprised,” said Verónica. “I’ll go and check on her.”
“And I’ll sit in that comfortable chair over there and read my book,” said Grandfather. “Have fun!”
The children gathered up the newspapers and placed their pumpkins back on the dining room table. Then they put on their coats and took the newspapers out to the chicken yard.
“Here you go, chickens!” said Benny. He tossed seeds and pulp to the chickens. The others joined in.
“Those are happy chickens,” said Benny. “I hope they give us more eggs for breakfast tomorrow!”
The children found a path leading into the colorful woods.
“This path goes along to the road,” said Jessie. “That means we’ll be heading toward the Skeleton Key.”
“Good,” said Violet. “We won’t get lost!” She snapped photos of yellow beech trees, red sumac, and fiery red and yellow sugar maples.
“Why do tree leaves change their colors in the fall?” she asked.
“The leaves don’t exactly change,” said Henry. “They just lose their green.”
“Huh?” asked Benny.
“In fall, the trees stop letting water get to their leaves,” said Henry. “That makes their chlorophyll—the stuff that makes leaves green—go away. Without the green, the other leaf colors appear.”
“But why do the trees do that?” Violet asked.
“The trees are getting ready to sleep all winter,” said Henry.
“That’s a fun idea,” said Benny. “I’d like to sleep all winter too!”
The children walked along the path, admiring the foliage. Soon they came to the edge of an old graveyard. It was surrounded by a wooden fence.
“Is…is this the graveyard behind the Skeleton Key?” asked Benny.
“I guess so,” said Henry. “It’s much bigger than I thought.”
“The gravestones here look even older,” said Jessie. “They look ancient.”
The children walked along the fence, admiring the stones and wond
ering about the people buried there so long ago. They came to an open gate.
“That’s strange,” said Violet. “I’m sure Burke doesn’t want people coming in through this entrance.”
“Or his dog, Hannibal, getting out,” said Jessie. “Maybe we should close it for him.”
“That looks like Burke’s toolshed,” said Henry. He pointed to a place where the gravestones ended and a small shed stood. “Let’s see if he’s there.”
“Maybe we should just close the gate and go back,” said Benny. The sun was setting, and under the tall, old trees, it was starting to get dark.
“It will only take a second, Benny,” said Henry, leading the way through the gate. “We don’t want Hannibal getting out and getting lost. Imagine if that happened to Watch.”
As they got closer, Henry thought he heard a scratching sound coming from around the shed. But when they turned the corner, no one was there.
“That’s strange,” said Henry. “I thought for sure I heard something. Oh well. Maybe Benny’s right, and we should head back.”
But something had already caught Benny’s eye. “Wha…what’s that?” he asked.
The children looked to where Benny was pointing. In front of the toolshed was a shallow hole in the ground. The Aldens walked over and peered inside.
“It’s a skeleton!” cried Benny, hiding behind Jessie.
Jessie looked closer. Sure enough, at the bottom of the hole sat a pile of bleach-white bones.
“Why would there be bones here?” asked Violet. “It’s not a grave.”
Henry examined the hole. “There are scratch marks all around it,” he said. “An animal probably did this.”
Benny thought back to the stories of the skeletons coming alive at night, and of Hannibal, the big phantom dog. He looked around at the shadows creeping out from the old woods. “I think we should go back to the house,” he said.
“Good idea,” said Jessie. “We’ll figure out what’s going on when the sun is out again.”
The children hurried out of the graveyard, closing the gate behind them.
CHAPTER
A Warning
“We didn’t bring any costumes with us,” Violet said the next morning, looking sadly at the clothes in her suitcase. It was the day of the town fair, and she wanted to wear something special.
“Maybe we can make our costumes,” said Jessie.
“Let’s see if Verónica has any old clothes,” said Henry.
Verónica and Maru were in the kitchen with Grandfather, finishing their coffee.
“Look up in the attic,” said Verónica. “I do have some old costumes and clothes stored. I’m sure you can cobble something together.”
“I’m sure they will,” said Grandfather. “Thank you, Verónica.”
“I wish I could come with you all, but I’ve got to be at the Skeleton Key,” said Maru.
“We hope things go better today,” said Henry.
“I do too,” said Maru. “Please apologize to Nick when you see him. I will miss his band’s performance at the town fair.”
“We will,” said Jessie. “Good luck!”
The children headed up to the attic to search for costumes. Henry found a pirate costume that fit. Jessie found a stethoscope and hung it around her neck. She put on a white jacket.
“Just call me Doctor Alden,” she said, smiling.
Violet found a purple butterfly costume.
“There’s nothing here that fits me,” said Benny.
“We’ll make you something,” said Jessie. “What would you like to be?”
“That’s okay,” said Benny. “I just got an idea. You’ll see my costume later!”
“Wow, it sure looks different from last night’s dinner at Tilly Gorts,” said Jessie. The children had taken the short walk from Verónica’s house to the town fair. The street was closed to cars, and people were walking in all directions, visiting the many displays and booths.
“And what are you dressed up to be, young man?” asked a woman passing by the children.
Benny was wearing his orange sweatshirt and black jeans. He had on a red baseball cap with tree leaves pinned to it and the sweatshirt.
“I am a tree getting ready to sleep all winter!” said Benny.
“Very clever,” chuckled the woman. “Have a fun day!”
“Thank you,” said Benny. “You too!”
There were carnival games, a farmers market, and all kinds of displays surrounding the town square. In the middle, a stage had been set up. All of the stores up and down the street were covered with festive decorations.
Henry found a map of the fair at the welcome booth.
“Let’s go and enter our pumpkins in the jack-o’-lantern competition,” said Henry. “Then we can see what else is happening.”
Henry led the way to the competition area. Cleverly carved pumpkins were placed all around on tables.
“These jack-o’-lanterns are wonderful,” said Jessie. “We have a lot of competition.”
“It will be fun to see which one wins,” said Violet.
The judging would happen later on, so the Aldens wandered through the fair. There were crafts, food booths, and lots of games to play.
Benny pointed at a sign over a water trough. “Bob for apples! Are you Bob?” he asked.
“My name is Jeff,” said a boy standing by the trough, smiling. “It costs ten cents to bob for an apple.”
“What does bob for apples mean?” asked Benny.
“It means you grab an apple out of the water with your teeth,” explained Jeff.
“And using no hands!” said Jessie.
“I can do that,” said Benny. “I’m good at getting food in my mouth.” He handed his hat to Jessie, put his hands behind his back, and tried to catch an apple in the trough. He went for the biggest apple first, but as soon as he touched it, the apple sank below the water. Benny tried to grab a smaller one, but it disappeared even more quickly. He gasped for air. “They’re slippery!” he said.
“Push one into the side of the trough using your chin,” said Violet.
Benny nudged the biggest apple to the back of the trough. Pinning it up against the wall, he was able to sink his teeth into it. Benny yanked up his head with the apple in his mouth.
The Aldens cheered.
Jessie gave him back his leaf-colored hat. “Now you’re an apple tree!” she said with a laugh.
“That was fun,” said Benny. He shared his apple with the other children.
“I wonder how Maru is doing today,” said Violet.
“She looked very worried,” said Jessie. “I hope nothing bad happens at the Skeleton Key again.”
“I wish we knew what was going on there,” said Henry. “I hate to think someone was really trying to hurt her business.”
“Well, maybe right now we should have some fun,” said Jessie.
“We might get a new idea while we are here,” said Violet. “Ideas are like that sometimes.”
“That’s true,” said Henry.
“What will we do now?” asked Benny.
“That looks like fun,” said Violet. She pointed to a booth nearby.
“Face painting!” said Benny. “Let’s do it.”
“I’m game,” said Jessie.
“I’ll watch the rest of you,” said Henry.
Violet, Benny, and Jessie giggled as they let the artist paint their faces. Violet got a butterfly on her cheek. The artist painted autumn leaves on Benny’s cheek. Jessie decided she wanted four hearts.
“One heart for each of us,” she said.
Henry snapped a picture with Violet’s camera. “You all look terrific,” he said. “What’s next?”
“Let’s go look at all the Halloween decorations,” said Violet.
“Good idea,” said Jessie. “We can come back later and see if any of our pumpkins won the jack-o’-lantern contest.”
They walked around town and admired the holiday decorations. The whole town looked like it wa
s celebrating. Giant balloon figures floated above them, each streetlamp had a scarecrow attached, and costumed characters roamed the sidewalks.
“Look at all the ghosts and ghouls walking around,” said Violet. “Some of them are a little creepy!”
“It’s all in good fun,” said Jessie. She waved at a ghoul that passed them, and the ghoul waved back.
A post-office worker dressed as a pony express rider was handing out free movie passes to passersby. Outside the bank, two people were dressed up as bank robbers. A tall man stood by while a shorter man tried to open a safe on the sidewalk.
“What’s in there?” asked Benny.
“You’ll see very soon,” the tall man said in a friendly voice.
“Are you going to get it open?” asked Violet.
The shorter man turned and said, “All doors can be opened with the right tools.”
With that, the door to the safe sprang open. The fake robbers tossed bags of candy to the crowd.
“A candy vault!” said Benny, digging in to grab some chocolate.
While her siblings shared the candy, Violet was thinking about what the man had said. If any door could be opened with the right tools, could someone have used tools to get into Maru’s old house?
“Oh, look, isn’t that Burke and Hannibal?” said Henry. He pointed to a stooped figure and a large black dog walking a little ways down the street. The dog’s eyes gleamed yellow against its pitch-black face.
“It is,” said Benny. “Let’s wait here, please.” With the town fair, Benny had almost forgotten about what they had seen in the graveyard the night before. He stood close to the others as Burke and Hannibal went inside a pet store.
“What does a phantom dog need from a pet store?” asked Benny.
“Who knows?” laughed Jessie. “Phantom dogs don’t eat pet food. Maybe Burke is buying him special phantom food!”
Still, Jessie could tell her little brother was getting worried. “Why don’t we head back to the fair and check on our jack-o’-lanterns?” she said, taking Benny’s hand.
“Good idea,” said Henry, looking at his watch. “It’s almost time for Nick’s band to play!”
The Aldens walked back to the town fair and headed to the jack-o’-lantern competition. The pumpkins were set up under a big tent, and a candle had been placed in each one. All around, silly, happy, angry, and spooky faces glowed. One pumpkin was set up on a stand above the others. It didn’t have a face at all. Instead, a beautiful array of leaves were carved into its sides, glowing red and orange and yellow. Next to the pumpkin sat a big blue ribbon.
The Skeleton Key Mystery Page 4
