Animal Shelter Mystery (5 page)

“Maybe you can help with something now,” Jessie said. She opened up the farmer's black notebook.

Benny started first. “We found a deed in this old book. A deed is a piece of paper about land.”

Dr. Scott took out a pair of reading glasses from the pocket of her white jacket. She read over the old piece of paper Jessie had given her. “Hmm. If I'm not mistaken, this seems to be a deed for the land the Greenfield Shelter is on. One thing puzzles me, though. This deed includes Miss Newcombe's property as well.”

Violet took another look at the paper. “Maybe when the deed was written, both pieces of property were part of the same land.”

Dr. Scott wiped her glasses with her handkerchief. “You've all discovered a very interesting document here. Of course, this deed is fifty years old, so it may not be legal anymore. The only way to find out is to visit the Land Records Office at the state capital.”

Henry took another look at the piece of paper. “I'm going to ask Grandfather about this. His old friend, Elizabeth Thompson, is a lawyer who works at the state capital. Maybe we can take a trip up there and see if there's a record of this deed on file.”

“That's an excellent idea, Henry,” Dr. Scott said, “so I'll leave the deed with you. Meanwhile, I'll keep up my own investigation here in Greenfield about the shelter property,” she said before getting into her station wagon.

As the Aldens waved to the animal doctor, they heard the telephone ringing inside the house.

“Mrs. McGregor and Grandfather said we should answer the phone for the rest of the day. They said every time they answer, someone hangs up,” Jessie said as she ran up the porch stairs behind Violet.

Violet got to the phone first. “Maybe it's someone who saw my flyer for the two Ger man shepherd puppies,” she gasped. “Boxcar Animal Shelter, Violet Alden speaking.”

No one spoke at the other end, but Violet could tell someone was there.

“This is the Boxcar Animal—” she began to say before she was cut off by a rough voice.

“You're gonna need a lot more than a boxcar for your animal shelter, little girl,” the voice said. “You're gonna need a freight train a mile long for all the animals that'll be leaving the real shelter any day now.”

Violet couldn't find her voice to answer back. Jessie took the phone receiver from her hand. “Who is this, and what do you want?”

“Glad you asked, miss,” the voice said back. “I want you to stop looking for the old lady and stop asking a lot of nosy questions. That's what I want, you hear?”

Jessie was still holding the phone when the person hung up without another word.

“He hung up,” she said quietly.

By this time, Mr. Alden and Mrs. McGregor had gathered near the phone to find out about the mystery caller.

Mrs. McGregor was very upset when she saw Jessie's and Violet's frightened faces. She shook her rolling pin at the phone. “You know, that's the third or fourth time someone has called here today. Only whenever your grandfather or I answered, they hung up.”

Mr. Alden put his arm around Violet. “What did the caller want? Did the voice sound at all familiar?”

“The man said we'd need a freight train, not a boxcar, for all the animals that will have to leave the shelter soon,” Violet told her grandfather.

Jessie picked up the receiver in case the person was still there, but all she heard was the dial tone. “He said to stop looking for Miss Newcombe and to stop asking nosy questions.”

“Well, he said the wrong thing to this family,” Henry said when he joined the group around the phone. “We're just going to make sure we look even harder for Miss Newcombe and ask even more nosy questions!”

CHAPTER 6

Raining Cats and Dogs

A
t the sound of howling, Violet sat up in bed. “Lad!” she cried when she recognized his special howl.

She slipped from her bed and went to the window. Outside it was raining softly and too foggy to see very well. For a second, Violet thought she saw a grayish figure move across the lawn. But when she rubbed the fogged window to see better, there was no one there except the three sleeping rabbits and one sleeping crow in their outdoor cages.

“I must have dreamed Lad was howling,” she said. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, then went back to bed.

Finally a real animal woke her up for good. “Oh, Watch, it's you,” she said and yawned as he pushed against her leg with his nose. “Finally, it's morning,” she said with an even bigger yawn. “What a long night. I'm
so
tired.”

Violet heard the clink of glasses and silverware coming from the kitchen. Everyone's up already, she told herself. She ran her fingers through her brown hair and quickly pulled on some lavender shorts and a flowered T-shirt.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Mr. Alden said to his granddaughter when she appeared in the kitchen.

“Are you feeling well, Violet?” Mrs. McGregor asked. “You look a bit peaked this morning.”

“I
am
tired, Mrs. McGregor,” Violet told the housekeeper. “The rain woke me up during the night. I thought I heard Lad howling.”

“Rain? I don't think it rained,” Mrs. McGregor said as she broke an egg into the frying pan. “It's bright and sunny, just like yesterday. You'll feel fine once you have a nice big breakfast like Benny's.”

“I can't eat right now,” Violet said. “Not until I check the boxcar.”

The animals heard Violet coming and started up some real howling. Violet slid open the heavy boxcar door and looked inside. She hardly ever raised her voice, but this morning she did. “Henry! Jessie! Benny! Grandfather! Come out back!”

Watch was the first to bound out to see what the excitement was all about. When he reached the boxcar, he didn't like what he saw at all. Another dog! Another cat! Was there no end to the animals who were taking over the Alden house?

“Where did this pooch come from?” Henry asked.

A large white dog with black markings looked out at everyone with frightened eyes.

“And look over here!” Benny said.

“There's a big gray cat in this cage! Where did it come from?”

“Who are these two animals?” Mr. Alden asked his grandchildren. “Do you suppose Dr. Scott dropped them off from the shelter last night??

Violet shook her head. “These animals couldn't be from the shelter. They weren't there yesterday.”

“Dr. Scott wouldn't just leave them here without letting us know,” Jessie added. “Maybe someone was here last night, Violet, and you really did hear something going on.”

By this time, the boxcar was noisy with barking dogs, crying cats, and five Aldens all talking at once.

It was Henry who noticed the new dog rubbing noses with Lad. “Lad knows this dog, too!” Henry said. “The hook on the dog's tag broke off, but his collar looks just like Lad's.”

“Not just the collar—the whole dog looks like Lad!” Jessie said. “Only this dog is white where Lad is black, and black where Lad is white. They both must belong to Miss Newcombe.”

“I guess I wasn't dreaming after all,” Violet said. “Someone brought these animals here during the night. I wonder who?”

The Aldens heard Jessie's newspapers hit the sidewalk. “You'll have plenty to do today,” Mr. Alden said. “Papers to deliver, two new pets to look after, and another mystery to figure out.”

Henry was in the boxcar getting leashes for Watch, Lad, and the new dog when all the dogs started howling and barking at the same time. Then Watch broke away and raced to the front yard.

“What's the matter with these dogs?” Violet asked.

“I thought I heard a car door slam,” Jessie said.

When the Aldens reached the front yard, all was quiet. The bundle of newspapers was where it was every morning. Everything was still except for a very nervous Watch, trailed by Lad and the new dog, who looked plenty nervous, too.

“I wonder what this is all about,” Henry said, trying to calm all three dogs.

Violet checked down the street where the dogs were looking. “I'm sure they didn't bark for nothing, especially Watch. He never barks unless something is wrong.”

Jessie bent down to sort out her newspapers. Turning pale, she cried, “Here's what's wrong!” She held up a torn, dirty sheet of paper. “Someone must have just stuck this inside my newspaper bundle after it was dropped off.”

Henry grabbed the paper and read it out loud: “ ‘This is your last warning. Mind your business!' ”

“So that's what upset the dogs,” Jessie said. “Well, whoever wrote this will have to write a longer note next time, because I'm going to go right on minding Miss Newcombe's business until we find her!”

The Aldens never did a faster job of helping Jessie with her newspaper route. They even set the dogs to work carrying papers up to people's porches, and the route was finished in record time.

“All done,” Jessie told everyone when all the newspapers were gone. “Now let's get to Miss Newcombe's house right away. I kept one paper out, and I'm going to deliver it there no matter what!”

The Aldens listened carefully for traffic when they reached Fox Den Road. No rusty pickup truck was going to surprise them this time!

When they got to Miss Newcombe's gate, Jessie whispered, “Look, the No
TRESPASSING
sign is still up, but the gate's open today. Violet, you and Benny wait out here while Henry and I go up to the house and ring the doorbell.”

Violet, Benny, and the three dogs stayed out of sight of the house but well away from the road. They looked on as their brother and sister marched straight up to the house and rang the bell.

When the door finally opened, they heard Jessie's clear voice speak out. “Good morning. I'm delivering free copies of the
Greenfield Daily News
this week. Would you like one?”

Through the bushes, Benny and Violet could see that the man talking to Jessie was one of the same men who had been at Mr. Seed's hardware store! He was staring angrily at their sister. “We don't want any paper in this house,” he finally answered. “And if you see the fellow who put this milk in the cooler, tell him not to come back. We don't want any deliveries. Especially from you snoopy kids, you hear?”

This didn't stop Henry. “Maybe someone else in your house would like our paper,” he told the unshaven man. “Home delivery saves a lot of car trips to town. Won't you check with the other people in your household?”

For an answer, Henry got a door slammed in his face.

“Did you see anyone else in there?” Violet asked when Jessie and Henry came back to the gate.

“No one,” Henry answered. “Just that man. He was one of the men who bought the dynamite at Mr. Seed's.”

Jessie's brown eyes grew large and bright. “You know who else he is? The same man I heard on the phone. I'm sure of it. He finishes what he's saying with ‘you hear.' As if we couldn't hear a loud voice like that!”

Violet shivered. “Do you really think it's the same person, Jessie? Why would Miss Newcombe let someone like that live in her house?”

Henry looked worried. “Maybe she didn't let them in, Violet. Maybe they scared her away.”

“Well, that man didn't scare these dogs away. Look, they want to go back to the house,” Benny cried.

Sure enough, Lad and the white dog were pulling hard on their leashes and half dragging Benny up the driveway toward the house again.

“They know this is their home,” Violet cried. “Well, I'm just going to march up there and see what happens. Let's see what the man has to say about that!”

This time, four Aldens and three dogs went up to the porch. Violet rang the bell.

The door flew open. “I told you, I don't want what you're selling, you hear?” the man shouted when he saw a porch full of Aldens and dogs. “Now, git!” he said.

Suddenly, Lad pulled so hard on the leash, it slipped from Benny's hand. He dashed into the house! Before the Aldens had time to think about their manners, they were in the house, too.