Mystery in the Old Attic (5 page)

Henry moved the flashlight along all the walls very carefully. “Maybe we can find an opening in one of the walls,” he said. The Aldens looked and looked, but they did not see anything that looked like a door.

“Where is the dumbwaiter?” asked Benny. “I know I went up two floors from where I started.”

Henry looked a little discouraged.

“I have a feeling the ring is in this attic,” said Jessie as she sat down on the floor and leaned against a steamer trunk. “We've searched the other floors really carefully. It has to be up here.”

“Maybe we should look inside some of these trunks,” said Violet. She fiddled with a padlock.

“I don't know,” said Henry. “Those trunks may not have belonged to Emily or her mother. Look, this one has Great-aunt Sophie's name on it.” Henry held the flashlight above the trunk so Violet could read the leather name tag.

Violet nodded thoughtfully. “That's true. Emily probably would not hide the ring in a trunk or on a shelf, where the box would be in plain sight.”

“I bet she hid the ring in a closet or, like you said, in a safe,” Benny said as he looked around the big attic and up at the rafters. “Hey, wait a minute,” he exclaimed. He had just noticed that the ceiling continued above a wall that did not reach all the way to the rafters. There's a room behind that wall!” Benny was so excited he was shouting.

“You're right,” said Henry as he rushed over to the wall. Carefully he examined every square inch with his flashlight. “Aha, here's a keyhole.” Henry shone his flashlight on the iron fitting.

“But we don't have a key,” Violet pointed out.

“Wait,” said Jessie. “I saw some keys hanging on the wall near the trunks.” She rushed over to the other side of the attic.

“I saw those, too,” said Benny, following her.

“Look, these keys are labeled,” Jessie said to Benny. “Workshop, sewing room, library, hall closet, and attic!”

Jessie ran toward Violet and Henry with the attic key in her hand. She took a deep breath and fit the key into the lock.

“It fits! It fits!” cried Benny.

Jessie nodded. It took two hands to do it, but the lock finally did turn. The Aldens looked at one another.

“What do you think we'll find in there?” asked Benny excitedly.

Slowly, Jessie pushed the door open.

It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the dim light in the room, but when they did, they could not believe what they saw.

Inside were six dolls seated around a table. They were having a tea party. On the table were blue-and-white china plates, a teapot, a sugar bowl, a pitcher, and cups and saucers. One doll held a small spoon in her hand. Another had her arms around her teacup.

A thick layer of dust covered everything in the room. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling. And the dim noonday light slanted through a little window that was covered with grime.

CHAPTER 7

A Discovery

J
essie was the first to find her voice. “Look, the dolls are using the blue-and-white china Emily mentioned in her diary.”

“And this doll is probably Samantha,” said Violet as she walked over to a dark-haired doll in a faded pink dress.

“You know,” said Henry, “this could very well be the special place Emily talks about in her diary. The place that meant so much to her — and her mother.”

The others nodded. “And besides,” said Benny, “they are all having tea. Emily talks about tea in the first line of her riddle.”

“That's right,” said Henry.

“Oh, I just know the ring is in this room,” said Benny.

“Well, the obvious place to look is near the dumbwaiter,” said Henry.

“Right,” said Jessie as she looked around the room for a little door.

“Here's the dumbwaiter,” said Benny as he rushed over to the far wall. He poked his head inside the dumbwaiter's door. He noticed a small hole near the dumbwaiter's shaft. “Oh, look,” he said excitedly, “this would be a great place to hide the ring.”

While the others looked over his shoulder, Benny put his fingers in the hole. Plaster crumbled from the wall.

“Did you find it?” asked Violet.

Benny shook his head. “No, there's nothing here.”

The Aldens searched and searched. They looked inside and outside the dumbwaiter, in all the cracks in the wall, under tables and chairs and dishes, and in all the corners and crannies of the room.

They went downstairs for lunch and came back with their grandfather and more flashlights. Still they could not find the ring.

“Oh, where could it be?” Benny said.

“I don't know,” said Henry, shaking his head. “We've looked everywhere in this room.”

“Do you think someone found the ring before us and took it?” asked Jessie.

“It's possible,” said Grandfather. “But it doesn't look like anyone has been in this room in a very long time.”

“Not with all that dust on the dolls and furniture,” Violet agreed.

“I don't remember ever seeing this room before,” said Grandfather. “Not in all the summers I visited.” He shook his head. “You children are discovering all kinds of things in the old mansion,” he added proudly.

“But not the ring,” said Henry.

Jessie brushed her long brown hair away from her face with her wrist. “I guess we may not find it after all,” she said.

“Then Emily will get her wish,” said Benny.

“What do you mean?” asked Violet.

“She says in the riddle she hopes no one ever finds the ring but her,” said Benny.

Jessie rumpled Benny's hair. “You're right,” she said, laughing.

In the next few days, the Aldens tried to forget all about the ring. They cleaned out closets, packed books, dusted furniture, and mopped floors.

When they could, they went outside to enjoy the snow. They practiced their skiing, went sleigh riding, and took long walks in the woods.

“I love Brockton,” said Violet as she walked in a snow-covered meadow with Jessie. Together the girls pulled a sled carrying Benny.

“Let's go around this big pine tree,” called Benny. “Then I'll pull you.”

“You'll pull both of us?” teased Jessie.

“Well, I don't know about that,” said Benny, laughing.

“It's just so pretty here,” said Violet. “We need to find a camera so we can take pictures of this place — and of the house. I wish Grandfather didn't have to sell it.”

“I know. I'm sorry, too,” said Jessie. “I agree. We should at least take pictures of it before we leave.”

“I'm surprised we haven't found a camera in the house,” said Violet as she tugged the sled over a mound of snow. “We've certainly found almost everything else.”

“That's for sure,” said Jessie, laughing.

That afternoon, Violet, Jessie, Henry, and Benny walked along Brockton's Main Street shopping for a camera.

“Could we get something to eat?” asked Benny as the Aldens walked past a small family-owned grocery store. Benny peered in the window. Inside were large tubs of freshly made ice cream.

“There's one flavor called Mackinac Island Fudge. And there's also vanilla and strawberry,” said Benny hopefully.

“Benny, isn't it a little cold for ice cream?” asked Jessie.

“It's never too cold — or warm — for ice cream,” Benny insisted.

“All right,” said Jessie.

Mackinac Island Fudge turned out to be vanilla ice cream with big chunks of chocolate fudge in it. “Yum!” exclaimed Benny after he tasted a sample.

“It's named after Mackinac Island,” said the grocery clerk. “An island in Lake Michigan about two hundred miles from here.”

“That's far away,” said Benny.

The clerk nodded and handed Benny a cone piled with two big scoops of ice cream. “No ice cream for the rest of you?” the clerk asked.

Violet shook her head. “No, thank you,” she said.

Jessie scanned the stocked shelves in the store. “You know,” she said, “I have an idea.”

“What?” asked Benny. Vanilla ice cream dripped down his chin.

“We should give a little tea party,” said Jessie. She pointed to the shelf loaded with tea, coffee, and cocoa.

“What a wonderful idea,” said Henry.

Half an hour later, the Aldens emerged from the store. Jessie carried a shopping bag filled with bread, jam, cream, cocoa, and other goodies.

“When should we give our tea party?” asked Benny.

“Whenever we're in the right mood,” answered Jessie. “But first let's find a camera.”

The Aldens passed a sporting goods store, a bakery, an antique shop, and a deli. At the end of the block stood a small store with a big window displaying an antique desk, some oil paintings, an old radio, and a camera.

“Look,” said Violet, pointing excitedly at the camera. “Let's go inside.”

“Sam's Pawnshop,” said Henry, reading the sign over the door.

“What's a pawnshop?” asked Benny as he held the door open for the others.

“It's a store where you can sell your valuables,” answered Henry. “If you need money, you can take your jewelry or whatever to a pawnshop, and they will buy it from you and sell it at a profit.”

“But if you want to buy your things back, you can,” added Jessie. “Provided the store hasn't already sold them.”

“Oh,” said Benny, looking down all the aisles. “This store sells everything.” Indeed, the store was crammed with rocking chairs, old desks, books, paintings, posters, and toys. Display cabinets holding china dishes, vases, glasses, watches, and jewelry stood in the center of the store.

Violet asked to see the camera in the window. Henry walked to the back of the store to look at old comic books. Benny rushed over to the toys, and Jessie strolled around the big glass display cabinet looking at all the jewelry.

“Aren't those bracelets pretty?” asked the plump woman behind the counter. “Would you like to try one on?”

Jessie shook her head and walked on. Suddenly she stopped short and gasped. There, on a blue velvet cushion, lay a diamond and pearl ring — the same ring Emily had drawn a picture of in her diary!

CHAPTER 8

A Man Named Adam

“A
re you all right?” asked the clerk anxiously, for Jessie looked like she had seen a ghost.

Jessie nodded and took a deep breath before she spoke. “Where did you get that ring?” she asked.

“Oh, that. Isn't it a beauty?” said the clerk. “I'm not sure. Sam, do you know who sold us the diamond and pearl ring?” she called loudly to the man helping Violet.

Sam walked over to the display case with Violet.

“Ring — did someone say something about a ring?” asked Benny as he, too, rushed over to the display case with Henry at his heels.

“Look,” said Jessie, pointing.

Violet, Henry, and Benny gazed at the ring, their eyes wide. “Oh, you found it,” Benny exclaimed. “Who brought it here?”