Mystery at Peacock Hall (2 page)

Benny and Henry chose a blue-painted room overlooking the empty fish pond. The girls picked a room across the hall with rose-patterned wallpaper.

Violet sneezed when she opened the linen closet. “Whew! Nobody’s used these sheets in ages.” She took out sheets and pillowcases for four twin beds. Handing two sets to her brothers, she said good night.

In their room, Jessie began making up their beds. “This house needs a good cleaning!”

Violet yawned hugely. “Please. I’m too tired to think about cleaning tonight.”

They climbed into bed and Jessie switched off the old-fashioned lamp on the nightstand.

Scritch-scritch.

“What’s that?” Violet asked.

Jessie was nearly asleep. “What’s what?”

“That scratching sound. Hear it?” Violet sat up.

“Maybe it’s a tree branch outside,” Jessie said drowsily.

But Violet had to see. She slid out of bed and padded over to the window.

A face peered back at her!

V
iolet shouted, “Somebody’s out there!”

Jessie threw back the covers and dashed to the window. “I don’t see anyone. Are you sure?”

“Positive!” Violet thrust back the rosebud-sprigged curtains. A soft mist had drifted in from the hills. It was hard to see clearly. Still, Violet knew she had seen a face.

Feet pounded down the hall. The others had heard Violet’s cry. Grandfather burst into the room, Henry and Benny at his heels.

“What is it?” Grandfather said.

“I saw someone looking in the window!” Violet answered.

Althea Randolph appeared wearing an old velvet bathrobe. “You must have been dreaming, child. We’re two stories up.”

Grandfather looked through the window. “If Violet says she saw someone out here, she did. Henry, you’re still dressed. Come with me. We’ll look outside.”

Benny held out his flashlight. It was new and he never went anywhere without it. “Take this, Grandfather.”

“Thanks, Benny. Henry and I will be back in a minute.”

Everyone went downstairs to wait in the living room.

Violet was still shaking. She couldn’t tell if the face had belonged to a man or a woman. But she knew she hadn’t been dreaming.

Henry came back in, followed by Grandfather, who gave Benny his flashlight.

“Did you find anything?” Benny asked.

“Marks in the dirt under the second-story window,” Henry reported. “Probably from a ladder. Violet was right — someone was there.”

Althea put a hand to her cheek. “Oh, my! In all my years here, I can’t recall ever having a burglar.”

“The person is gone now,” Grandfather assured her.

They all went back to bed. Violet didn’t think she could fall asleep after so much excitement. She closed her eyes, trying to picture the face at the window.

When she opened them again, birds were singing and spring sunshine filled the room.

Jessie was already up and dressed. She swiped a finger across the dusty dresser. “We have to clean this room!”

Violet groaned, pulling on jeans and a purple T-shirt. “Not before breakfast!”

Jessie was worried. If Althea didn’t have any money to pay her taxes, how could she feed five extra people?

She was surprised to walk into the dining room and see the oblong mahogany table set with beautiful china. Althea came in carrying a silver tray loaded with a platter of crisp bacon and fried eggs, a crystal dish of honey and a basket heaped with homemade biscuits.

“Let me help,” Jessie offered. “I love your dishes.”

“They’ve been in my husband’s family for many years.”

As Jessie placed silver knives and forks around the table, she asked, “This house is important to you, isn’t it?”

“I’ve lived my whole life here, it seems. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” Althea left and came back with Grandfather’s wildflowers in a tall vase.

Benny skidded into the room. “Oh, boy! Food!”

Jessie laughed. Her little brother wasn’t interested in pretty dishes or flowers, only the next meal.

At breakfast, Grandfather announced he was going into town to go through the county records.

“I want to make sure that tax bill is accurate,” he said, draining his coffee cup.

When he left, the children went outside to check where the prowler had been.

Henry showed them several dents in the soft earth near the foundation. “Whoever Violet saw used a ladder to look into the second-story window.”

“But why?” asked Violet.

Henry shrugged. “Maybe to scare us.”

“Who knows we’re here?” Jessie pulled her hair off her neck. The day was warming up fast.

“Nobody, except that great-nephew,” Henry replied. “And I don’t know why he’d try to scare us.”

Benny was staring up at the first-floor window just above his head. “Look!” he said, pointing to something blue caught on the sandstone ledge.

Since he was the tallest, Henry reached up and plucked the scrap of fabric free.

“That’s denim,” Jessie said. “The material jeans are made out of.” She compared the scrap to Violet’s jeans.

“A clue,” Henry said. “Nice work, Benny. Now we know the prowler is wearing ripped jeans.”

“I knew we’d find a mystery here,” Violet said.

“Two mysteries,” Benny corrected.

“What’s the other one?” Jessie wanted to know.

“The secret in this house,” Benny reminded them. “Cousin Althea was going to tell us about it, but we had to go to bed. Let’s ask her now!”

He ran ahead, leaping up on the front porch and through the wide front door.

Jessie called after him. “Save your energy, Benny! We have some serious housework to do.” She looked at Henry and Violet. “You don’t mind, do you? I feel sorry for Althea. The house is so big.”

“I like old houses,” Henry replied. “And this one is neat.”

Althea was delighted with Jessie’s plan. She gave them mops, brooms, and cleaning supplies.

But before Benny lifted a dust rag, he had to know about the secret. “You said you’d tell us.”

“Oh, that!” said Althea. “It’s just a silly story, passed from one generation to the next. Grayson told me there’s something in Peacock Hall that’s priceless.”

“What is it?” asked Violet. She was curious, too.

“I have no idea,” their hostess replied. “Grayson didn’t know, either. It’s truly a secret!”

“It must be a hidden treasure,” Benny declared. “We’ll find it for you!”

Althea laughed. “If anybody can, I believe you will, Benny Alden! You remind me of Celia when we were growing up. She was so full of life, just like you.”

Benny flushed. “We haven’t seen the peacocks yet. Where are they?”

“They wander the grounds,” Althea told him. “Don’t worry. You’ll know when they’re around,” she added with a grin.

The kids started on the top floor. Jessie had never seen so many rooms.

Althea followed them slowly up the steep stairs. “Don’t feel you have to scrub every room spotless. I want you to have fun. This afternoon I’ll take you to Monticello. I work there two days a week.”

With the promise of a treat, the children set to work. Dust vanished from dressers and lamps; windows shone. Soon it was lunchtime. After eating Virginia ham sandwiches, chips, and lemonade, they set off in Althea’s ancient car to Monticello.

As they drove down the road, Althea told them a little about Thomas Jefferson.

“As Henry said last night, Jefferson was our third president,” Althea said. “He was a great statesman. Jefferson was governor of Virginia. He wrote most of the Declaration of Independence. He was the minister to France, the secretary of state, and the vice president.”

“Whew!” Benny remarked. “He was a busy man!”

     Althea laughed. “Yes, he was! Besides all that, Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, built a great mansion, gardened, read, and wrote all his life.”

Violet noted the signs they were passing. “What does ‘Monticello’ mean?”

“It’s Italian for ‘little mountain.’ ” Althea turned onto another road that led up and up. “Back when Jefferson was alive, people had to walk up this mountain. It didn’t seem so little then! But they agreed it was worth the hike.”

Like a jewel, Jefferson’s mansion glowed against the velvety lawn. The white dome reflected the sunshine.

Althea parked the car and everyone got out.

Henry gave a low whistle. “Look at that line! I never knew so many people wanted to see this house.”

“It’s like this every single day,” Althea said, waving to the ticket-taker. “But I have a special pass.”

They breezed by groups of tourists and into the entrance hall. Althea stopped to tell them more.

“I won’t drown you in history,” she promised, “but you should know Mr. Jefferson started working on this house when he was twenty-six. He worked on it for forty years. Monticello tells the story of his life better than any biography.”

The children gazed around the large, airy room.

“Jefferson was interested in everything,” Althea told them. “This entrance hall used to be a sort of museum. Visitors who came saw a fossilized mastodon jawbone, a model of a great pyramid, a buffalo-hide map, and other curiosities. But many of those things are put away now.”

Benny was disappointed. The elk antlers were neat, but he really wanted to see a fossil jawbone.

“Let’s go into the east portico,” Althea said, leading them into the next room. “See the compass on the ceiling? It connects with the weather vane on the roof. Jefferson wanted to know the direction of the wind without having to go outside and look at the weather vane.”

“What’s that?” Jessie asked, pointing to a strange contraption by the door.

“It’s a clock,” Althea said. “Jefferson designed it, along with many other inventions we’ll see.”

Henry examined the cannonball weights on either side of the door. “This is a weird clock.”

“Actually, it’s very clever.” Althea indicated words on the walls. “The cannonballs are attached to those wires. As the weights descend, they pass the days of the week marked on the wall. Not only does the clock tell time, it tells you what day it is!”

Benny peered into a hole cut into the floor where the weights disappeared. “What day is down there?”

Althea laughed. “Okay, so Jefferson wasn’t perfect. He made a slight mistake and forgot Saturday.”

Jefferson’s inventions were all over the house. In the library was a folding table that turned into steps used to reach the top bookcase shelves. Thomas Jefferson wrote so many letters, he invented a device that allowed him to make two copies at the same time.

“I could use that,” Violet commented. “Then I wouldn’t have to write so many thank-you notes for birthday presents!”

Each of the children had a favorite invention. Henry liked the chaise lounge with candlesticks fitted into the arms and a revolving writing desk.

Jessie thought the music stand was neat. Five racks held sheet music for five musicians and folded into a small box for easy transporting.

Violet decided the bedrooms were the best. Built into cozy alcoves, the beds had overhead storage spaces and porthole windows high above. One bed sported a revolving coat rack at one end that could be turned with a stick.

“You could pick out your clothes without getting up!” she remarked.

But Benny hadn’t yet seen the invention that he would like best of all.

A
lthea led them into the dining room just as a tour group was leaving.

“We’ll have this room to ourselves until the next group comes,” she said.

Benny glanced around. Dining rooms were only interesting when there was food on the table.

“Mr. Jefferson was an intensely private man,” Althea was saying. “He wanted his guests to speak freely without servants hanging around. As you may know, Jefferson unfortunately kept many slaves. They carried food from the kitchen through an underground passageway, up a small staircase, and into this room.”

Now Benny was fascinated. “Can we see the tunnel?” he asked eagerly.

“I’m sorry we can’t. But,” Althea added, “we
can
see this.” She walked over to the ornately carved fireplace. “Sometimes the servants would put food on a special elevator in the cellar below. By using pulleys, meals were sent up here.”

She pulled open a panel on the side of the fireplace. Inside was a narrow compartment with boxes to hold trays and bottles.

“A dumbwaiter!” Henry exclaimed.

“Wow!” Benny said. “If I had one at home, Mrs. McGregor could send me cookies and milk anytime I wanted!”

Jessie laughed. “Mrs. McGregor is our housekeeper,” she explained to Althea.

Althea showed the children a matching secret panel on the other side of the fireplace, then said they ought to go.

“I think Benny is tired,” she observed.

“Can   we   come   back   to   Monticello?” asked Jessie. “I’d like to see the gardens.”

“Absolutely!” Althea said. “I work in the Jefferson Center for Historic Plants tomorrow. You can come with me.”

“Did Thomas Jefferson have peacocks?” Benny asked.

Althea shook her head. “But he had a pet mockingbird. When Jefferson lived in the White House, he tamed a mockingbird. The bird sat on his shoulder and chirped in his ear.”