Mystery of the Hot Air Balloon (2 page)

Jessie laughed. “I’m sure they wouldn’t let you starve, Benny.”

“Oh, here’s something about the rally,” Henry said. “It’s an editorial.” He read the article to himself.

“What does it say?” Violet asked.

“Mostly, it asks questions,” Henry answered. “ ‘Does Lloyd’s Landing want this new business?’ ” he quoted. “ ‘What will ballooning do to this peaceful community? Is it safe?’ It goes on like that.”

“Does it give any answers?” Jessie wanted to know.

“No answers,” Henry responded. “It just says the townspeople should consider these questions.”

“Why wouldn’t the town want ballooning?” Benny wondered aloud. “It looks like so much fun.”

“Is it safe?” Violet asked.

“If you’re trained properly, it’s safe,” Jessie said.

“What could
ballooning
do to Lloyd’s Landing?” Benny asked.

“It could bring lots of people to town,” Violet suggested.

“That could be good for the other businesses,” Jessie said.

Benny nodded. “People have to eat,” he said. “That could be good for the restaurants.”

“And they have to sleep,” Henry said.

“So that could be good for the motels and inns,” Violet concluded.

The Aldens couldn’t think of a single reason why anyone would object to a hot air balloon business in their town.

“I suppose some people just don’t like new things,” Henry said.

The door flew open and Grandfather rushed in. “I have good news!” he announced.

Benny jumped up. “So do we!”

Violet poked him. “Grandfather first,” she said.

Grandfather pulled out a chair and sat down. “Do you remember Lloyd’s Landing?” he asked.

The children looked at each other. Could Grandfather’s news have something to do with the balloon rally? Barely able to contain their excitement, they all said, “Yes!”

“I’ve just learned there will be a hot air balloon rally there this weekend,” Mr. Alden continued. “I left work early to tell you about it.”

The younger Aldens began to laugh.

Grandfather looked puzzled. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“We know all about the rally,” Benny answered.

Henry told him about the hot air balloon landing in the yard.

Grandfather laughed. “I can never surprise you!” he said. “You’re just too smart for me!” Then his tone grew serious. “I don’t suppose you want to go to the rally. You’re all so busy.” But his eyes were twinkling.

“We want to go!” Benny exclaimed. “We want to go!”

“There is one problem,” Mr. Alden said. “I’m not sure there’ll be a place to stay and driving back and forth every day would not be practical.”

Jessie told him about Pete Moran and his invitation to stay at The Landing’s Inn for the weekend.

“That settles it. It will be so good to see Pete after all these years,” Grandfather said.

“May Soo Lee come with us?” Violet asked.

Seven-year-old Soo Lee was the Aldens’ cousin. She had been adopted by Cousins Joe and Alice.

“Of course,” Mr. Alden said. “And we’ll ask Joe and Alice to take care of Watch.” He went to the phone. “I’ll call the inn to tell them we’ll be there bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“You see?” Benny said. “I knew Grandfather would let us go.”

Late the next morning, Mr. Alden swung the station wagon into The Landing’s Inn brick driveway. “You go on ahead,” he told the others. “Henry and I will bring in the luggage.”

Benny hopped out of the car. Soo Lee, Violet, and Jessie followed. They paraded up the wide stairs and across the open porch to carved wood double doors. One of them was ajar.

“Should we knock?” Benny asked.

“I think we just go in,” Jessie answered. She pushed open the door and stepped aside to let the others enter.

No one was in the large entry hall.

“What do we do now?” Benny whispered.

“Shhh,” Jessie said. She pointed toward a set of closed doors across the hall. Behind them, the sound of voices rose and fell. Someone was arguing.

“Mary, you’re wrong!” one voice said. “I’ve made up my mind.”

Another voice said, “I’ll never understand you, Barbara!”

“Sometimes we just have to do what we have to do,” the first voice said.

Then Grandfather and Henry came in.

“Anyone here?” Mr. Alden called.

The voices hushed. Then, silence. Suddenly the doors to the closed room slid open, and an older woman came out, rushed down the hall and out the side door.

She had stopped for a moment to adjust her clothes. Her hair, her clothes — everything about her was neat and clean.

Shortly after, another woman came out to greet them.

Grandfather Alden giant-stepped across the room. “Barbara!” he said and gave her a big hug. “It is so nice to see you!”

The woman smiled, but her eyes were sad. “It’s good to see you, too,” she said.

Mr. Alden introduced the children. “This is Barbara Moran, Pete’s wife,” he said. “She and Pete own the inn.”

“Welcome,” Barbara said. “Your rooms are ready.” She did not look at them. Instead, she stared out the window and watched the woman with the perfect hair get into her car.

“Is there something wrong, Barbara?” Mr. Alden asked. “Where’s Pete?”

Barbara’s face reddened. “Oh, no, nothing,” she answered. “I’m just a little upset about something. Pete will be back soon. He just ran out to take care of an errand. I thought he’d be back before you arrived.” She smiled. “Let me show you your rooms.”

She led them up the curved staircase and down a narrow hall. “I’ve given you adjoining rooms and bath,” she said and opened two doors.

Henry, Benny, and Mr. Alden went into one room; Jessie, Violet, and Soo Lee into the other. The rooms were large with high ceilings and tall, narrow windows. They were furnished with antiques. Between the two rooms was a big bathroom.

Barbara said, “If there’s anything you need, just ask.”

“It looks as if you’ve thought of everything,” Mr. Alden responded.

“When you’re settled, come downstairs. I’ll make tea,” Barbara said.

“I hope there’s going to be something else besides tea,” Benny said when Barbara left. “I’m — ”

“ — hungry,” the others chimed in.

Mr. Alden was the first one ready. “I’ll meet you downstairs,” he told Soo Lee and his grandchildren. “I’d like to visit with Barbara.”

After he had gone, Henry said, “Barbara seemed . . . strange.”

“Because of the argument,” Violet said.

Henry looked puzzled. “What argument?”

“We heard her arguing with another woman,” Soo Lee explained.

“Before you and Grandfather came in,” Jessie added.

“The other woman — her name was
Mary
,” Benny put in. “I saw her leave. She was all dressed up.”

“I wonder what they were arguing about?” Jessie said.

“Probably nothing to do with us,” Henry said.

W
hen the Aldens came downstairs, Barbara met them in the entry hall. “Come into the parlor,” she said and led them into the room where the argument had taken place.

Grandfather was already there.

A table in the center of the room was set with juice, tea, coffee, and plates of pastries and breads.

“Oh, boy,” Benny said. “Does it smell good!”

“It tastes good, too,” Grandfather assured him.

“Help yourselves,” Barbara told them.

They filled their plates and sat down.

“Have you lived here long, Mrs. Moran?” Jessie asked politely.

Barbara laughed. “Oh, my, yes,” she said. “All my life. I love this old town. Please call me Barbara.” She seemed to relax for the first time since the Aldens’ arrival.

“Barbara’s grandparents and the Lloyds founded Lloyd’s Landing,” Grandfather explained. “Does Mary still live here?” he asked Barbara.

“Mary?” she repeated as though she’d never heard the name before. “Ah, yes, she’s — uh — still . . . here.”

Mary.
That was the name of the woman Barbara had been arguing with. Benny poked Violet. She gave him a warning glance.

“Mary who?” Benny asked.

“Mary England,” Grandfather answered. “She’s the Lloyds’ granddaughter. As I remember she left town — wanted to see the world — but it wasn’t long before she realized there was no place like home.”

“That’s for sure,” Benny said. He took his plate back to the table for seconds.

Sky and Matt came in.

Sky looked surprised and happy. “You made it!” she said.

Benny’s smile was wide. “I told you we would.”

Grandfather stepped forward and introduced himself.

“You must be the grandfather we’ve heard so much about,” Matt said as he shook Mr. Alden’s hand.

“And you two must be the adventurers
I
’
ve
been hearing so much about,” Grandfather responded. “Are you staying here, too?”

“For the time being,” Matt answered. “We rented a store in town. There’s an apartment above it. We have some work to do on it before we can move in.”

“As soon as everything’s ready,” Sky added, “we’re getting married.”

Everyone except Barbara said, “Congratulations.”

Soo Lee was thinking about their store. She pictured it in the center of town. Surely, they couldn’t launch balloons from there. “Where do you . . . take off?” she asked.

Sky seemed to know what she was thinking. She laughed. “We’d certainly stop traffic if we tried to launch a balloon in the middle of Main Street.”

“The balloon port is just outside town,” Matt explained. “The store is our headquarters.”

“No matter where you launch them,” Barbara said, “balloons will stop traffic.”

“That could be good for this old town,” Mr. Alden said. “Put some life into it.”

Barbara shot him a disbelieving glance. “There’s nothing wrong with this town,” she said. After a pause, she laughed nervously. “Oh, dear. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that I don’t understand why Sky and Matt chose Lloyd’s Landing for their business.”

Matt smiled. “For the reason you said: There’s nothing wrong with this town.”

“It’s a very charming town,” Sky put in. “We looked all over before deciding to open our business here.”

“Yes, but with all the hills and the forests, won’t it be dangerous?” Barbara asked.

“Ballooning is dangerous only when the pilot is untrained or takes risks,” Matt answered.

“Balloonists enjoy beautiful scenery,” Sky said. “Lloyd’s Landing has plenty of that.”

“We’re so far from the main highway,” Barbara said. “Wouldn’t it be more profitable to locate closer to . . . traffic?”

Sky laughed. “If we wanted to make lots of money,” she responded, “we wouldn’t be in the ballooning business.”

Barbara kept asking questions.

Finally, Henry said, “I read a newspaper article about this — are the townspeople against the business coming to town?”

Barbara’s face reddened. She picked up the coffeepot. “Excuse me,” she said. “I’ll get more coffee.” She hurried away.

“Have you been having trouble with the local people?” Mr. Alden asked Matt.

“No trouble, really,” Matt answered. “They don’t know anything about ballooning so it makes them a little . . . edgy.”

“We bought the property,” Sky said. “It’s ours. We have every right to be here.”

Barbara came in from the kitchen. “Mr. Alden, there’s a telephone call for you. You can take it in the hall.”

Grandfather sighed. “I hope it’s not the mill.”

But it was. “I’m sorry, but I have to get back home,” he said when he returned. “I’m needed at the mill.”

The children tried to hide their disappointment, but it was difficult.

“Don’t look so sad,” Mr. Alden told them. “I think we can work this out.”

Barbara said, “The children are welcome to stay here. I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“They’re very independent,” Grandfather said. “I’m sure they won’t be any trouble.”

“I’ll be happy to have them,” Barbara said.

“They’ll be out at the port with us most of the time,” Sky put in. “We’re on our way out there now. Would you like to ride along?” she asked the children.

Suddenly, Benny was no longer hungry. He set his plate on the table. “Would we ever!”

“Good. Then it’s settled,” Mr. Alden said. He hugged each of his grandchildren. “I’ll pick you up on Sunday evening.”

“Is everybody ready?” Sky asked.

They were.

“Well then, let’s go!” She headed for the door.

The children followed.

“Oh, Benny,” Grandfather said. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Benny cocked his head. “Am I?” he said.

“Your second helping of this delicious cinnamon bread.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” Benny said. “I’ve had enough.”

“L
ook!” Soo Lee shouted. Sitting in the back of Sky’s van, she pointed out the window.

“It’s a balloon!” Benny exclaimed.

To their right, a brightly colored balloon drifted high above the trees.

“
Who
could that be?” Matt wondered.

Behind the wheel, Sky was not so calm. “Whoever it is is in big trouble,” she said. “No one’s supposed to go up until we’re there.”

“It seems to be coming down,” Violet observed.