Haunted Cabin Mystery (5 page)
“Cap has already,” Benny reminded her.
“But he didn't fall here in the barn,” Violet reminded him. “He was outside, over by the water trough. He told me.”
“Come look here,” Jessie called. “I found another board loose, and still another one. And all of them were hidden under the hay with big holes dug underneath.”
Henry stood silently for a moment, frowning as he tried to solve the puzzle. “We need to figure out what made these holes.”
“Or
who
made them,” Benny said, still rubbing his knee.
T
he girls left Cap and Doodle dozing on the front porch. Violet climbed a tree and handed the apples down to Jessie. When her bucket was half full, Jessie stepped back and fell flat, her apples rolling off in all directions. “What happened?” Violet asked. “Are you all right?”
Jessie looked up from the ground. “There are holes all around here. They're like those at the barn except these have soft dirt thrown back in them so you can't see them.”
Violet climbed down and helped gather up the apples. Then, they walked around and found over a dozen holes. “I thought Cap was just nervous,” Jessie said on the way back to the house. “Now I'm feeling nervous myself.”
Violet nodded. “I wasn't nervous this morning, I was scared. I like mysteries to make better sense than this.”
“Me, too,” Jessie said. “We have all questions but no answers.”
Back in the kitchen, Jessie sorted the apples. She kept the perfect ones for eating. She and Violet peeled the others for cooking. Violet sang happily as she got out lard and flour and salt.
“What are you going to make?” Jessie asked.
“A surprise apple pie,” Violet said.
“That's a wonderful idea,” Jessie said, looking doubtful. “I've looked everywhere and can't find a pie pan anywhere. I did find a lot of books stacked behind the roasting pan.”
The girls looked at each other and laughed. “That's just
too
strange. Now how can I bake a pie without a tin?”
“How about turnovers or dumplings?” Jessie asked.
“Dumplings,” Violet cried. “With raisins and cinnamon.”
When her dumplings were bubbling in the oven, Violet took her turn at stirring the simmering applesauce. Jessie began to read one of the books. When the applesauce was done, she took the book with her as they joined Cap and Doodle on the porch.
“Look!” Jessie said. “I found the bird that makes the noise like a kitten. It is called a catbird or a Missouri mockingbird. I even found a picture of it.”
“Let me see,” Cap asked, reaching for the book. “I declare, you're right, Jessie. This picture is exactly like the bird Violet described.”
“I've never heard of a catbird before,” Violet said.
“Listen to what it says here,” Cap said, reading aloud from the book. “It gets its name from its call note, a complaining âmew' like a cat.” Still smiling, Cap looked inside the front cover of the book. He slammed it shut and handed it back to Jessie with a cross look on his face.
Jessie waited until Cap went back to his own reading to look at the inside page. She almost wished she hadn't. The words were written in a childish scrawl: “This book belongs to Jason Lambert.” It brought tears to her eyes to think that Cap had a son who was no longer his friend.
Benny chattered steadily on the way to town, but Henry only half listened. Violet and Jessie had written down their grocery list, but he wasn't sure what
he
needed until he asked someone. He had a plan. He only hoped that what he wanted to do was possible. He was grateful that their grandfather always gave them enough money.
“That's the grocery store up ahead,” Benny said.
“First we call home,” Henry told him.
Mrs. McGregor answered on the third ring and laughed when she heard Henry's voice. “I told your grandfather you'd get in touch,” she said. “He's going to call back tonight. Do you want me to give him any messages?”
“Only that we love him and we're all fine,” he said. “And Benny sends his love to Watch.”
“Tell him Watch is fine and loves him, too.”
Benny beamed. “Now the grocery store?” he asked.
“Now the hardware store,” Henry told him. “You like hardware stores, too, remember?”
“Maybe a little,” Benny admitted.
Once he explained his plan, the woman who waited on Henry knew right away what he needed. “Is there a light fixture on the porch you described?” she asked.
Henry told her there was only an electrical outlet under the window. Then she brought him a floodlight with a heavy-duty extension cord. “You'll need to fasten the cord against the house so it won't whip in the wind. And this bracket to rest the floodlight in. Does Cap have a fox after his hens?”
Henry nodded. “My sister saw one this morning. Cap thinks he might have a hawk or an eagle, too,” he said.
She nodded. “This light will scare off any of those.”
“Now the grocery store,” Henry told Benny, grinning. Then he touched Benny's arm. Benny looked at him and then in the direction Henry was looking.
“There's that Mr. Jay again,” Benny whispered. “Why isn't he back on the ship where he belongs?”
“I wonder about that myself,” Henry said. “The minute I looked at him, he turned and went away fast. It really puzzles me the way he always does that.”
Benny nodded. “Me, too. Maybe he can't stand our looks.”
A bell rang over the door of the grocery store. The grocer beamed at them. “Our strangers are back. I hope you found Cap Lambert all right?”
“He's still on crutches, but he's fine,” Benny said. “He has the greatest rooster in the whole world.”
The grocer laughed and started reaching for the things on the girls' list. “That's for certain. Doodle's a beauty. Which size do you want of this canned ham?”
“The biggest one,” Henry said. “We all like to eat.” Since the man was so friendly, Henry asked him Benny's question. “We saw one of the men from our riverboat out there. We wondered why he's still around town instead of back on the boat.”
“That is peculiar, isn't it?” the grocer agreed, filling a little bag with sunflower seeds. “But I know the man you mean. He's been around town for days. I never see him with anyone or talking to people. He reminds me of somebody, but I can't figure out who. He's not a very friendly fellow.”
He handed Benny the sunflower seeds. “Here,” he said. “These are for Cap's old rooster. Give them both my best.”
“N
othing new in town, I guess,” Cap said when the boys had brought in the groceries and brushed Pilot down.
“The new thing is going to be here,” Henry told him.
Cap listened to him explain about putting up the floodlight and examined it carefully. “That's a clever way to drive away varmints. That's the biggest light I ever saw. Where did you think to put it up?”
“It should light both the chicken yard and the barn.”
Cap nodded. “For that, it should be fastened at the back corner of the porch. You'll need a mighty long cord.”
Henry nodded. “I bought the longest one, but let's check it anyway.” Violet held the plug end of the cord next to the outlet. Jessie and Benny led the cord up the wall and out of the window. Henry, on the ladder at the corner of the porch, nodded when Jessie handed him the end. “It's going to work fine,” Henry said. “There's even some extra.”
Benny, on the ladder, handed the nails and hammer up as Henry fastened the metal bracket to the outside corner of the porch. Cap watched as Jessie and Violet hammered in the U-shaped nails to hold the cord against the wall.
“I don't know why I never thought of that,” Cap said as Henry set the big floodlight into the bracket. “Now I can't wait until night to see how well it works.”
When Cap returned to the front porch with Doodle on his shoulder, Jessie turned to Henry. “Now for the barn floor?”
Henry slapped his forehead with his hand. “Jessie! I can't believe this. I forgot to buy any extra nails.”
“We could ask Cap if he has some,” Violet suggested.
Jessie shook her head. “We need too many to explain to Cap. Let's see if we can't find some for ourselves.”
The search for nails went slowly. They found a few bent ones in a toolbox in the barn. Benny went up in the loft to look. “Do you need a little red wagon?” he called down.
Henry laughed. “Not that I know of, why?”
“Because there's one up here,” Benny told him. “And a box of books with all kinds of good pictures in them.”
“How about nails?” Henry asked.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Benny said. He came down the ladder carrying a tin coffee can full of more bent nails.
“We'll hammer them straight on a flat rock in the woods,” Henry said. “That way Cap won't hear the noise.”
“Somebody has to stay with Cap,” Jessie said. “He gets nervous when we're gone too long. He was really fretting when Violet and I finally got back from the orchard today.”
“Oh,” Violet cried. “We haven't had a chance to tell you about the holes in the orchard.”
“In the orchard!” Henry said. “Tell me about them while we straighten these nails.”
While the others went to the woods, Jessie stayed with Cap. He cocked his head. “Do I hear hammering?” he asked.
Jessie nodded. “Henry's nailing down some loose boards in the barn,” she said. “He really likes to stay busy.”
“I've never seen such kids for work,” he said.
As the hammering stopped, a low eerie cry sounded from high up in a pine tree. Jessie caught her breath. She thought of that awful whistling sound they had all heard. Though this was different, it was scary enough to make her shiver. Cap leaned to peer up into the tree. “Listen to that screech owl. Doesn't he make your blood run cold?”
“He sure does,” Jessie said, laughing at how scared she'd been. “Your birds do make some strange noises!”
Henry and Benny came back from the barn. “I heard a spook or something out there,” Benny cried.
Cap laughed. “That's the owl this glen is named for. There's nothing like a screech owl to raise your hair up. It makes some people think this place is haunted.” Seeing Benny's eyes widen, Cap changed the subject. “I'm glad you boys are back,” he said, reaching for his crutches. “I've been smelling that applesauce all day, and I say it's time to eat.”
Henry nodded and glanced at his sister. The screech owl
had
made a scary noise, but it hadn't “raised his hair up” as badly as that awful whistle they had all heard at one time or another. But he couldn't believe Cap's cabin was haunted ⦠by what?
At the table Cap turned to Henry. “So now you're a carpenter,” he said. “Did you get the barn back in shape?”
Henry nodded. “I like carpenter work.”
“I sure appreciate all you're doing,” Cap said, reaching for the bowl to take another serving of applesauce.
“And I appreciate applesauce,” Benny said, taking the bowl from Cap to serve himself again.
That night before going to bed, they turned on the big new floodlight. The yard and barn were almost as bright as day.
Jessie had heard the scary whistling sound the first night they spent in Cap's cabin. She and Henry and Benny had all seen the flickering light. Benny had kept talking about a strange scraping sound. Later Henry had heard the whistling, and Violet had heard it the morning she saw the strange creature running off into the dark woods.
After Henry put up the big floodlight, everything stopped. For several days there was no strange whistling sound, no light, no scraping sound, and no more sign of the awkward dark creature that Violet had seen.
Henry was puzzled. “Did we imagine all that stuff?” he asked.
“That can't be it,” Violet told him. “The holes were real, and Cap talked to me about that whistling.”
“Maybe that strange creature got scared when Violet saw it out by the barn that morning,” Jessie suggested.
“Or maybe it's been afraid to come back since you put that floodlight up,” Violet said.
“Oh, I don't like those ideas at all,” Benny said.
The others stared at him. “Why not?”
He shrugged. “That would mean we haven't helped Cap at all. Those things could come back and scare Cap again, or make him have another accident after we're gone.”
Jessie sighed. “Benny hit the nail on the head again,” she said. “What's more, this trip was only supposed to last ten days. We only have about three days left.”
“Maybe Grandfather will be too busy to come get us on time,” Violet said hopefully. “Grandfather
always
keeps promises,” Benny told them.
The mailman hadn't stopped at Cap's cabin once since the children came. The very next day he stopped out in the road and tooted his horn twice. Cap looked up in surprise. “That's a change,” he said. “I don't get much mail. You boys want to run and get it for me?”
After Henry took the letter, Benny carried it back to Cap on the porch. “How's the old man doing?” the mailman asked Henry. “I was sorry to hear about his fall.”
“He's getting better every day,” Henry told him.
“I thought about stopping but I always run late. Then when I saw that he had help out here, I quit worrying.”
“You mean us?” Henry asked. He hadn't thought of them as “help,” but he liked the way that sounded.
The mailman shrugged. “Maybe I'm wrong. I keep seeing a strange man on the road. I thought he worked for Cap.”
Henry frowned. “What does this man look like?”
“Sober fellow, never smiles,” the mailman said. As he described the man, Henry caught a quick breath. The mailman was describing Mr. Jay from the riverboat perfectly.
