Mystery of the Hot Air Balloon (7 page)

Everyone was staring at her.

She reddened. “I — I . . . found the scarf,” she continued. “I found it out on Mill Road where Pete found the other one.” She shot Hollis McKnight a pleading glance. “Isn’t that so, Hollis? You remember. Out on Mill Road? Near the spring?”

“It’s no use, Mary,” Hollis responded. “This whole thing has been wrong from the start. We have to tell the truth.” He looked at Matt and Sky. “We — I thought it was best for the community. I was afraid this ballooning business would change Lloyd’s Landing forever. I didn’t want that. I love this town. So I agreed to help Mary stop it.”

Brad nodded. “So you two launched my balloon.”

“That’s how Mary’s hair got messed up,” Benny put in.

“We didn’t know it was your balloon,” Hollis assured Brad. “It was the easiest one to launch. Smaller than some of the others, and everything was set out and ready.”

“How did the red bandanna end up out by the spring?” Pete asked.

“Launching a balloon is hard work — especially for two inexperienced people,” Hollis explained. “Afterward, we stopped at the spring for a drink. The bandannas were stuffed in my pocket. One must have fallen out.”

“And I found it,” Pete said.

“Did you have anything to do with Don’s missing map and compass?” Henry asked.

Hollis shook his head. “No, no. Nothing. I realized that I had been wrong. I wanted nothing more to do with any of it.”

“What made you change your mind?” Jessie asked Hollis.

“The letters,” Hollis answered. “Hundreds of letters in answer to my editorial. It seemed there were just a few townspeople who objected to the balloon business. Everyone else was in favor of it.”

The Aldens remembered the conversation between Hollis and Mary here at the port. He had taken a stack of letters out of a big brown envelope and waved them in her face.

“I tried to tell Mary to stop interfering, but she wouldn’t listen,” Hollis went on.

Had Mary done the other things by herself? Henry wondered. Or was someone else involved?

“But what about Sky’s ad?” Benny wanted to know. “I heard Barbara on the phone. She said, ‘Drop it.’ ”

Barbara stepped forward. “I didn’t cancel that ad. I was phoning Mary to tell her to stop this nonsense. I thought she was right at first: The ballooning business would destroy Lloyd’s Landing. But it was tearing us apart. Pete and Mary were friends and now . . .”

Pete spoke up. “I knew the business would be good for the inn — for the whole town! How could I go along with a plan to ruin it?”

“After Mary left the inn last night, I called her. The line was busy,” Barbara continued.

“Later, I phoned again. We got into an argument. I said some dreadful things. Finally, I just told her to drop the whole thing.”

Mary had listened quietly. Now, with her arms crossed over her chest, she rocked gently back and forth. “I am so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I just didn’t want Lloyd’s Landing to change. When I was young, I thought this town was dull and boring. I left it, but I soon learned that it’s a special place.”

“That’s why we chose it,” Sky told her.

“Ballooning would make it even more special,” Violet said softly.

“I didn’t think so,” Mary said. “I thought it would ruin everything.”

“You’re the one who tried to ruin everything,” Matt said.

“I hoped you and Sky would change your minds. Go somewhere else. That’s why I called up Hollis’s assistant, and canceled the ad. I thought if no one came to the rally, you’d reconsider.”

“But it didn’t work,” Benny said.

Mary sighed. “Nothing worked. I thought Don would cause real trouble when his map and compass were missing, but . . .” Her voice trailed off.

Sky huffed. “Don doesn’t need your help to cause trouble,” she said.

Pete understood what Mary meant. “But all Don did was complain,” he said.

Henry chuckled. “He always does that.”

Mary nodded. “Yes, so no one took him seriously.”

“Did you take our propane tank?” Matt asked.

Mary nodded. “I was sure someone would see me lugging that heavy thing. But everyone was busy. No one noticed.”

In his mind, Benny heard Mary’s car trunk slam shut as it had early this morning. “It’s in your trunk,” he murmured.

“I was sure you wouldn’t go up without it,” Mary said to Sky. “I thought if something happened to keep you from flying, you might just . . . give up.”

“Wrong again,” Matt commented.

“Ballooning will be good for the businesses in town,” Jessie said.

“For The Landing’s Inn and all the inns and hotels,” Henry added.

“And the restaurants,” Benny put in.

“For the whole town,” Soo Lee said.

“And it doesn’t harm the environment,” Violet said.

Mary nodded. “I’m beginning to see that,” she said. “Still, the idea of change . . .”

“We don’t want to change Lloyd’s Landing,” Sky assured her. “We just want to be a part of it.” She put her arm around Mary’s shoulders. “I’ll tell you what: We’ll take you for a ride. You can see for yourself how wonderful ballooning is.”

Mary’s face opened with surprise. “You’d do that? After all the trouble I’ve caused?”

Sky laughed. “Believe me, one ride, and you’ll be our biggest supporter.”

S
ky was right. Mary was a changed person when she returned from her flight. “I’ll never again condemn something I know nothing about,” she said. Then, she offered to take posters announcing the rally to every store in town. “I’ll even put them up out near the highway to attract more business.”

Matt said, “Thank you, but we don’t need more publicity.”

“We’ll keep you busy, though,” Sky said. “It looks as if this will be a very busy, very successful rally.”

She was right about that, too.

The remaining events that day went smoothly. The weather was perfect: clear skies, light breezes. The competitors helped one another. Even Don Fister softened. The Aldens overheard him giving tips to other balloonists.

“Your business will do fine,” Don told Sky and Matt. “And it’ll be good for my business.”

They were all surprised at his change of heart.

Benny asked, “Why will it be good for your business?”

“The more people we can interest in the sport, the better it is for everybody,” he explained. He sounded as if he had always believed that.

As busy as the Aldens were with launching and chasing, they found a few quiet moments. They sat under the oak tree. Sometimes, they talked about the mystery they had solved. Sometimes, they would be silent, each lost in his or her own thoughts. Sometimes, Violet would sketch. Her drawings were full of colorful balloons and bright skies.

“I wonder what’s it’s like,” Soo Lee said.

They all knew what she meant. Each was trying to imagine what it would be like to float over the countryside.

“We’ll soon find out,” Henry responded enthusiastically.

“Tomorrow at sunset,” Jessie added.

That night, Barbara and Pete had a barbecue. All the balloonists and their crews attended it. Mary England and Hollis McKnight were there, too.

“I’d like to make up for the missing ad,” Hollis told Sky. “I thought I’d run a full-page story about ballooning. Perhaps you and Matt could write it.”

Sky shook her head. “Writing an ad is one thing,” she said, “but I couldn’t write an entire article.”

“Count me out, too,” Matt said.

“Henry’s a good writer,” Benny offered. “Maybe he could do it.”

“Oh, Benny, please, I couldn’t write anything,” Henry said, but he had been thinking the same thing.

Hollis tilted his head and looked at Henry through the bottom half of his glasses. “How about it, son?” he said. “Would you like to give it a try?”

Henry gulped. “Really?” he said.

Hollis smiled. “Really.”

“Yes, sir, I’d like that,” Henry decided. “Jessie could help. She knows a lot about ballooning.” He looked at Jessie. There was a question in his eyes.

Jessie’s smile was an enthusiastic yes.

“Good,” Hollis said. “Now, you have to understand, I don’t print every article sent to me.”

“Oh, you’ll print this one,” Benny said. “It’ll be very good.”

“And you could use Violet’s drawings,” Soo Lee said.

Violet blushed. “Oh, Soo Lee, I don’t know.”

Hollis was delighted. “Story
and
illustrations! Perfect!”

“Now that that’s settled,” Benny said, “let’s eat!”

On their way to the table, Matt said, “You certainly are a talented family.”

Sky nodded agreement. “That’s for sure,” she said. “Writers, artists — ”

“Don’t forget detectives,” Benny put in with a grin on his face.

Sky nodded again. “And very good ones at that. We never would have solved this mystery without you.”

The evening ended early. Everyone wanted to be rested for the last day’s events.

The Aldens gathered in the girls’ bedroom where they sat up talking for a short time.

“Strange how things work out,” Henry commented.

“What do you mean, Henry?” Violet asked.

“Well, take Mary. She’s really interested in ballooning now. I’ll bet she keeps volunteering to help.”

Jessie understood what he meant. “And if she hadn’t been so against the business to begin with, she might not have come out to the port at all.”

“It’s lucky Mary didn’t hurt anybody,” Benny reminded them.

“She was careful not to do anything dangerous,” Henry said.

“Still,” Soo Lee put in, “she had no right to do the things she did.”

They all agreed with that.

Henry stretched and yawned. “We’d better get to bed,” he said and crossed into the other room.

Benny followed. “I’ll be up all night,” he said. “I’m so excited about tomorrow.” But he fell asleep the minute he laid his head on the pillow.

Next morning, when Sky and Matt drove the Aldens to the port, it was still dark. Yet, everyone was busy readying for flight. Several balloonists ascended as the day’s first light appeared in the sky.

Still sleepy, Soo Lee asked, “Why do the balloonists like to fly so early?”

“Dawn and sunset are the best times,” Sky answered.

“The sun has an effect on the wind,” Matt explained. “During the middle of the day, the breezes are usually too strong.”

Violet got out her sketchbook. “It’s hard to tell which is prettier,” she said. “The sunrise or the balloons.”

Because they were excited about their own flight, the Aldens thought the day would seem long, but they were wrong. When Sky said, “Well, are you ready for your great adventure?” they were surprised the time had come.

Mary, Pete, Brad, and Don volunteered to be their crew. Matt was the crew chief.

Once the balloon was inflated and straining to be free, they took hold of the basket to steady it. The Aldens climbed over the padded sides into the basket.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Sky told them.

That was difficult to do in such a small space. But no one complained.

Sky opened the blast valve.
Whooossshhh!
The yellow-blue flame roared into the bulging bag.

There was a tug on the basket.

“Is everybody clear?” Sky called.

Matt raised his arms toward the spectators. “Move back,” he directed them. Then he said, “All clear” to Sky.

“Hands off!” Sky shouted.

The crew stepped away.

One more blast of heat and then everything went silent. In a few seconds, the world began to fall away. The people seemed to grow smaller.

“Are they moving or are we?” Benny wanted to know.

Sky laughed. “We’re moving all right. Look around you.”

Sure enough, they were already above the treetops.

Sky skillfully maneuvered the balloon higher and higher. Below them, everything was in its place, neat and orderly.

“It’s like a patchwork quilt,” Jessie said.

Benny giggled. “Look!” he said.

Below them, a dog ran through a field, barking at them. All along their route, people came out of their houses or stopped their work in the fields to wave. Miniature cars moved along the roads. Some of them pulled to the side of the road to watch them pass. To the west, the sun had slipped into the slot between earth and sky like a bright copper coin into a piggy bank. It left behind a brilliant display of color.

Violet gasped. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

Soo Lee spotted the chase crew. “There’s the van,” she said.

Then, for a long time, no one said anything. Now and then, the
whoosh
of the burner sounded. Otherwise, everything was silent.

Suddenly, Henry pointed to a station wagon making its way toward Lloyd’s Landing. “That looks like Grandfather’s car.”

“It is! It is!” Benny exclaimed. “Wait till he hears about everything!”

Jessie laughed. “You certainly got your wish, Benny,” she said. “No one could hope for a better adventure.”

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.