Authors: Gertrude Warner
Bicycle Mystery (4 page)
The man said to Henry, “You have a fine dog there.”
“Yes, we think so,” answered Henry.
“Did you know he was a very rare dog?”
“No.”
“I’d like to buy him,” the man said.
Benny said, “We can’t sell him. He isn’t ours. He just follows us, and we are trying to find his owner.”
“Well, if he doesn’t belong to anybody, let me have him,” the man said. “I’ll pay you well for him. He’s a young show dog.”
Benny shook his head. “No, we couldn’t sell anything we don’t own. Besides, we are going to find out who does own him.”
“Then this really isn’t your dog?” the man said again. The Aldens didn’t like the sound of his voice at all.
“No,” Henry answered. “We are just trying to find his owner.”
The man asked, “How do you plan to do that?”
Benny said, “Everywhere we go, we ask if anyone has lost a dog.”
Henry added, “And when we get home, we’ll put a lost-and-found notice in the newspaper.”
The woman called to her husband, “Come on, the children aren’t going to sell the dog.”
Shadow gave a short bark at the strange man and then began to whine. Benny stooped down and picked up the little dog. Jessie reached over and petted Shadow while Benny held him.
The man said to the Aldens, “Well, don’t let anything happen to that dog.” And after a moment the strange couple drove off toward Ashby.
The Aldens picked up their bicycles and watched the car until it was out of sight.
“Well, well! What do you make of that?” asked Jessie.
“Not much,” said Henry.
“I don’t like it at all,” said Violet. “Those people tried to make us feel as if we had done something wrong.”
“Well, we know we haven’t,” Benny said cheerfully. “I think
they
are the ones who want to do something wrong. Let’s forget them!”
“That’s the best idea I have heard for a long while,” said Jessie. “Let’s go! We’ll have to ride right along if we want to get to that good motel.”
The Aldens rode along quietly for about a mile. Then Violet said, “I thought that woman took a picture of Shadow.”
“So did I,” said Jessie.
Benny said, “I heard a little click when the man got into the car.”
“Well, never mind,” said Henry. “A snapshot of Shadow won’t hurt us.”
And not one of the Aldens thought that the woman might have taken a picture of them, too, with their four bicycles.
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enny said suddenly, “Now I know where we are! There’s the old lighthouse where we stayed that summer. Remember?”
“That was fun, living in that lighthouse,” said Violet.
Henry said, “It shows we are not many miles from Aunt Jane’s.”
They all looked toward the old lighthouse, but they did not stop.
As they came near Aunt Jane’s big farmhouse, they heard a dog barking. Shadow barked in answer.
“That must be Aunt Jane’s dog Lady,” Violet said. “When Lady was a puppy, we gave her to Aunt Jane. I hope Lady and Shadow won’t fight.”
Aunt Jane and Uncle Andy waved from the front porch.
“How good to see you!” Aunt Jane said. “We have been looking for you. But Lady saw you first.”
Uncle Andy said, “You didn’t tell us you were bringing a dog.”
Henry held Shadow. “We didn’t have a dog then,” he said. “We don’t want the two dogs to fight.” He put Shadow on the grass. The two dogs wagged their tails. They seemed friendly, although they kept on barking.
Then the four Aldens told how they happened to have the dog.
Uncle Andy said, “Here, Shadow, let me see you.” He looked carefully at the little dog. “That’s a Skye terrier,” he said. “Those dogs come from Scotland. From the island of Skye. That kind of a dog is more than three hundred years old.”
“You know everything, Uncle Andy,” Benny said.
“Well, boy, I’ve traveled a lot. You go get that red dictionary in my den. You’ll find a good picture of your dog.”
Benny soon brought out the red book. “That’s Shadow all right,” he said. “When we get home we will advertise in the paper, Found: Skye Terrier.”
“I wonder how he got lost,” said Aunt Jane.
“That’s our mystery, Aunt Jane,” Jessie said. “You know Benny always has to have a mystery.”
“Do you think he was stolen?” Uncle Andy asked. “You said he didn’t have a collar.”
Henry answered, “We don’t know. But that man and woman who stopped in their car thought
we
had stolen him!”
“That’s exactly what they thought!” Benny said.
“Let us know what happens to Shadow,” said Aunt Jane. “I’m sure you don’t know it, but Uncle Andy wants to fly to Spain. He wants me to go with him.”
“Right!” Uncle Andy said. “Your Aunt Jane always goes where I go. I’m going to the airport this afternoon to pick up the tickets.”
Benny said, “That is just like you, Uncle Andy. Always going somewhere.”
“Lunch, kids!” Uncle Andy said next. “I’ve been waiting for you, and lunch was ready a long time ago.”
“Well, I’m ready,” said Benny. “You can believe that, Aunt Jane.”
“Yes, sir!” Aunt Jane said—she remembered Benny’s appetite very well. “It is hard to fill you up.”
The Aldens were delighted to see Maggie, who had worked so many years for Aunt Jane. She had made an enormous egg
salad for lunch. She had platters of ham, glasses of milk, and hot rolls.
After lunch, Jessie and Violet sat down to talk with Aunt Jane. Henry and Benny rode along with Uncle Andy to the airport. They took Shadow with them. Just as they parked the car, Uncle Andy said, “Look at that!”
A big dog was running across the parking lot for the airport. A man was trying to catch him.
The dog was a boxer. The Aldens could see that the dog didn’t want to be caught. The man was having no luck at all.
“Hi!” Benny called. “Come back here and I’ll catch your dog for you.”
“Oh, Ben, don’t say that,” said Henry. “You can’t catch a strange dog.”
“Yes, I think I know a way,” said Benny.
The man called, “I can’t run after that dog any more. I have to meet a plane and I’m wasting time.”
Benny called, “Don’t worry. I think I can catch him.” He got out of Uncle Andy’s car and let Shadow out, too. Shadow began to trot after the big dog.
“Stay!” said Benny. Shadow sat down.
“My,” said the stranger. “I wish my dog would mind like that.”
“He would,” Benny answered, “if he took lessons. Now just wait. Stand behind that little truck where your dog can’t see you. Have his leash ready.”
The boxer noticed that nobody was chasing him. He looked back and saw Shadow sitting in the parking lot.
The boxer wagged his short tail and trotted back to see the strange dog.
Benny asked the man, “Are you ready? Catch your dog while he is making friends with my dog.”
The boxer walked up to Shadow. He wagged his tail. Shadow never moved. He just wagged his tail, too. That was hard because he was sitting on it.
“I’m coming out slowly,” the man whispered.
“Right,” Benny agreed. Now everyone was watching to see if the man could catch his boxer.
The big dog was so busy making friends with Shadow that he didn’t notice when his master snapped the leash on his collar.
“There!” Benny said. “There’s your dog.”
Uncle Andy said, “That’s pretty smart, Benny. I didn’t believe you could do that.”
“Thanks, boy,” said the man. “Now I can meet the plane all right.” He put the dog in his car.
A woman had been watching all this time. She said to Henry, “Your dog is a Skye terrier, isn’t he?”
“Yes, we think so,” replied Henry.
Benny broke in, “He isn’t our dog. He just follows us.”
The lady looked at Benny. “I just came from Boston,” she said. “My sister lives there and she told me a friend of hers had lost a Skye terrier.”
Benny shook his head. “This dog could never have come from Boston. We are going to find his owner as soon as we can.”
“Good luck,” the woman said. “He’s a beautiful dog.”
That evening Aunt Jane said, “I’m sorry you aren’t staying with us longer. But I know you want to get home to solve the mystery of Shadow’s owner.”
Jessie said, “We were going to stay just one night anyway. We’ll come back for a longer visit in the fall.”
The next morning the Aldens packed up again. Maggie gave them another set of emergency rations. She said, “Come again soon. I like to have young people around and two barking dogs, too.”
The Aldens got on their bikes and rode off as Aunt Jane and Uncle Andy waved good-bye. Lady barked and wagged her tail. Shadow barked, too.
Benny said, “I like to hear you bark, brother. It’s much better than whining.”
Shadow ran ahead of the bikes. Jessie said, “I believe that dog knows he’s going home. He seems glad to go back.”
“Maybe that’s why Shadow has whined so much,” Henry said. “He knew we were going the wrong way. Don’t let him run too long, Benny. His paws will get sore.”
Benny said, “Pretty soon I’ll give him a ride.” And in about a half hour, he picked Shadow up and set him in the basket in front of the handlebars.
As they rode along, the four riders began to sing. It was a slow song and they really needed a guitar. When Shadow heard it, he began to howl.
Benny was singing the guitar part, “Plunk, plunk, plunk!” He laughed. “That’s what makes you howl, Shadow. I didn’t know you could howl.” Then he went right along singing.
The minute the song was over, Shadow stopped howling. He just rode along in his basket, looking happy. That made Benny laugh again.
“You win, Shadow,” Henry called. “We’ll stop singing and you stop howling.”
After a few hours of pedaling, Benny said, “Look, we are coming to a crossroad. It looks like heavy traffic ahead!”
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ow the Aldens wanted nothing but to get home with the dog. They agreed not to stop anywhere except to eat and sleep.
Violet said, “We must say hello to Mrs. Randall, though. We go right through Second Landing.”
Jessie said, “Let’s do that. We told her we might.”
They rode along steadily for the rest of the trip. On the last morning it was almost lunchtime when Shadow started to run away.
“Come back!” shouted Benny. But Shadow had no idea of coming back.
Benny yelled, “I thought you were an obedient dog. Don’t you understand? Come back!”
Shadow was not listening. He was running for dear life.
Henry watched him for a minute. Then he said quietly, “We must follow him. We can’t lose him now.”
The four children pedaled away until they caught up with the running dog.
“He’ll hurt his paws, Henry,” said Violet. “Can’t you carry him?”
“No, I don’t think I can catch him,” replied Henry. “He thinks he’s going home, that’s sure. Look at his feet go!”
“Wait for us!” Benny called, but Shadow did not stop for an instant.
“He’s going right for Second Landing,” Jessie said. “Mr. Martin’s store is ahead. You don’t suppose he belongs to Mr. Martin, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” said Henry. “Mr. Martin didn’t act as if he had lost a beautiful show dog.”
“It couldn’t be the Randalls,” Benny put in. “They didn’t act as if they had lost a dog either. I didn’t see any dog dish on the floor. And there wasn’t any doghouse in the yard.”
“Still, Shadow acts as if Second Landing is home,” Jessie said.
Shadow went faster and faster. He just raced along.
“What do you know!” shouted Benny. “Look at Mr. Martin. He’s sitting on his steps. Hi, Mr. Martin!”
The Aldens stopped their bikes. Shadow ran a little way and sat down. He was tired out.
“The bicycle riders!” Mr. Martin exclaimed. “How was the trip? What happened?”
Benny pointed to the dog. “That’s what happened,” he said. “He followed us all the way.”
Then Mr. Martin saw the dog. The Aldens were astonished to see him stand up and call, “Here, Smoky! Come here, Smoky!”
“Smoky!” Jessie exclaimed. “Do you know this dog, Mr. Martin?”
“I should say so! That’s the Randalls’ dog.”
