Spy Game (5 page)

With their heads bent over their books, the Aldens searched for information about Pandora and her box. Henry came across a story about a winged horse named Pegasus. Then Benny and Violet found one about a girl named Echo, who could only repeat what other people said. Finally, Jessie hit the jackpot.

“I found it!” she said in a loud whisper.

The others leaned closer while Jessie read them the story of Pandora’s Box. It was about a girl who received a box on her wedding day. The box came with a warning—it must never be opened. But Pandora, who was a very curious girl, couldn’t resist. One day, she opened the lid and peeked inside. All sorts of troubles flew out into the world. When Pandora closed the lid, there was only one thing left inside the box—hope.

As Jessie finished reading, the Aldens looked at each other in bewilderment.

“That was a good story,” Benny said. “But how does it fit into the mystery?”

“I can’t help wondering about that myself,” said Violet. “Any ideas, Henry?”

But Henry didn’t answer. His head was bent over another book.

“Henry?” said Jessie. “What are you reading?”

Henry held the book up. “It’s called
Fun Facts About Leap Years
,” he said. “And guess what? 1904 really
was
a leap year.”

“Well, at least that’s one thing we’re sure about,” Violet said, as they pushed back their chairs. “Now if only we could make sense of Pandora’s box.”

“What do you make of it, Henry?” asked Jessie, as they walked out of the library.

“I think we found another piece of the puzzle,” Henry said after a moment’s thought. “But I have no idea where it’s leading us.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Jessie said, trying to sound positive. “We always do.”

Benny rubbed his stomach. “I’m too hungry to think.”

“Okay, Benny.” Henry laughed. “We’ll stop for a bite to eat before we bike out to the Penner place.”

It wasn’t long before the children had settled into a booth at the Greenfield Diner. A teenaged waitress came over to take their order. She was tall and slim with a heart-shaped face. Her fair hair was pulled back with a headband.

“What will it be?” she said with a friendly smile.

Henry ordered macaroni and cheese and a glass of milk. So did Jessie and Benny.

As the waitress jotted down their orders, Violet couldn’t help thinking she’d seen the waitress somewhere before.

“Violet,” Jessie prodded, “do you know what you want?”

But Violet was only half-listening. The more she looked at the waitress, the more certain she was she’d seen her somewhere before. Where was it? Although she was trying not to stare, the waitress caught her look.

“Shall I make it
four
orders of macaroni and cheese?” she questioned Violet.

“Oh!” Violet suddenly snapped out of it. “I’m sorry. I … I was thinking about something.”

“Macaroni and cheese?” the waitress asked again.

Violet nodded, then she said, “Don’t I know you?”

The waitress giggled a little. “It’s funny you should ask me that,” she said. “You’re the second person to recognize me today.”

“Have we met before?” Violet asked.

“No, it’s nothing like that.” The waitress leaned forward as if about to share a secret. “I just signed on with the Greenfield Modeling Agency. I’ve already had a few jobs.” She pulled something from her apron pocket and handed it to Violet. It was an ad for Gorman’s Drugstore. She pointed to a photograph on the flyer. “That’s me holding the bottle of sunscreen lotion.”

Benny looked closely at the flyer. “Wow, you’re famous!”

The waitress beamed. “You can keep it if you want. I autographed the flyer already. See?” She pointed to a signature—
Carly Boyd
—at the bottom of the ad. “When I become a supermodel, my signature will be worth a fortune!” With that, she dashed away.

“No wonder you recognized her, Violet,” said Jessie. “Carly’s face is all over town.”

Violet frowned. She thought there was more to it than that. But she didn’t say anything.

While they waited for their food to arrive, the children talked about the spy game.

“So …” said Jessie. “Pandora closed the box just in time to save hope.”

Benny nodded. “Just like Dora.”

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

“Dora had a box with hope in it, too,” Benny explained.

Violet gasped. “Her hope chest!”

“Way to go, Benny!” said Henry. “You’re a genius.”

The youngest Alden beamed proudly.

“There’s only one problem,” Jessie pointed out. “We already looked through Dora’s hope chest. We didn’t find the gold.”

“Maybe we missed something,” Henry said.

“Like what?” Benny wondered.

Henry grinned. “Like a secret hiding place.”

The others thought Henry might be right. They all agreed it was worth checking out.

“One thing we know for sure,” said Jessie. “1904 really was a leap year.”

“We found out something else, too,” put in Violet. “Brandon had a sister named Abigail.”

“At least, that’s what we think,” Henry said.

As they were leaving, Violet turned around for one last look at the waitress. She still had the oddest feeling she’d seen her somewhere before—and not on the flyer.

When the Aldens arrived back at the Penner place, they headed straight for the attic. They checked every inch of the hope chest for secret compartments. But they turned up nothing.

“I don’t get it,” Benny said, the game of checkers tucked under his arm. “I was so sure we were on the right track this time.”

Jessie could feel her brother’s disappointment. “Never mind,” she said, putting a comforting arm around him. “We’ll have a nice game of checkers tonight. That’ll be fun, right?”

Benny gave a half-hearted smile.

“Do you think we should’ve checked with Amanda first?” Violet wondered. “Before bringing the game downstairs, I mean.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Violet,” Jessie said as they walked along the hallway.

Once again, the four children paused in front of the photograph of Dora. “There must be a clue we’re not seeing,” Henry said thoughtfully.

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Violet suddenly gasped.

“Carly Boyd!” she cried, her eyes wide.

“Are you talking about the waitress at the diner?” Benny asked.

Violet nodded. “I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen her before.” Seeing their puzzled faces, she added, “Don’t you get it? Carly Boyd looks exactly like Dora!”

“What?” Henry laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

Violet pulled the flyer from her back pocket. “Take a look for yourself,” she said, flattening out the creases.

The other Aldens looked from the flyer to the photograph and back again. “I can’t believe it!” Jessie said in astonishment.

“Carly looks enough like Dora to be her twin sister,” added Henry.

“They have the same heart-shaped faces and fair hair,” said Violet, who had an artist’s eye for detail.

“And they’re both tall and slim,” added Jessie. “Carly’s the spitting image of Dora, as Grandfather would say.”

“It’s the strangest thing.” Violet felt an icy chill up her spine. “What do you think it means?”

“Maybe Carly’s related to the Penner family,” Jessie said. “That would explain why they look so much alike.”

“We can ask Amanda about it when she gets home,” Violet proposed.

Henry had an idea. “Why don’t we cool off in the creek while we’re waiting?” And the others were quick to agree.

The Aldens changed into their swimsuits, then made their way to Fudge Hollow. They lost all track of time as they splashed around in the creek. The afternoon shadows were growing longer when they finally headed back to the house. After changing back into T-shirts and shorts, they went downstairs to help Mrs. Dawson with dinner. But when they got close to the kitchen, they paused at the sound of Mrs. Dawson’s voice.

“No, I’m sure they don’t suspect a thing, Steve,” Mrs. Dawson was saying. She was talking on the phone, her back to the children. “Yes … I know it would ruin everything if they figure out what’s really going on.”

The Aldens couldn’t believe their ears. Was it possible that Mrs. Dawson and Steve Kooner were partners in crime?

“No, not yet,” Mrs. Dawson went on. “But I’m keeping my fingers crossed … If I can open Pandora’s box, my dreams will finally come true.”

This made Benny gasp, and Mrs. Dawson whirled around. Her eyes widened when she saw the Aldens in the kitchen doorway.

“Oh, you gave me a start!” she cried, hanging up the phone. “I … um, was just …” She didn’t seem to know what to say. It was almost as though she’d been caught doing something wrong.

“We thought we’d help with dinner,” Violet said quietly.

“Oh, everything’s ready, Violet,” Mrs. Dawson told her. “I thought chicken and salads would hit the spot. I always say, nothing beats a cold dinner on a hot day.” She seemed relieved to be talking about something else.

As the Aldens sat down at the table, Mrs. Dawson hurried out of the room, looking troubled.

“Can you believe it?” Jessie said, keeping her voice low. “Steve and Mrs. Dawson are working together.”

“You don’t really think they’re trying to steal Amanda’s gold, do you?” Violet asked.

“I don’t want to think that, Violet,” Jessie said. “But she was talking about Pandora’s box. What else can it mean?”

“It means she’s tracking down clues,” said Benny.

“And did you notice?” Henry added. “Mrs. Dawson couldn’t even look us in the eye.”

Violet had to admit it seemed suspicious. But she didn’t want to believe Mrs. Dawson would do something so awful.

They were quiet for a while as they ate their dinner. It wasn’t until they were clearing the table that Benny spoke up.

“Mrs. Dawson’s dream is to open a bookstore,” he reminded them. “And that costs a lot of money.”

Henry stacked the plates on the counter. “Maybe she’ll do whatever it takes to make her dream come true.”

“Even stealing from Amanda?” cried Violet.

“We all like her,” Jessie told her sister. “But we have to consider every possibility.”

Violet opened a drawer. She was looking for a dishtowel. “I know how it sounds, but—” She suddenly stopped talking.

“What’s wrong, Violet?” asked Jessie, who was up to her elbows in soapy water.

“There’s something here I think you should see.” Violet’s eyes were huge. “Something very strange.”

The other Aldens hurried over. “I found this under the dishtowels,” Violet said, as she removed a photograph from the drawer.

The photo, badly faded with age, showed a dark-haired young woman in a white gown. There was a man in the picture, too. He had a mustache, and his hair was parted in the middle.

Benny had a thought. “I bet that’s the missing picture from the family album.”

Jessie was staring hard at the photo. “Isn’t that Brandon Penner?”

“Got to be,” said Henry.

“How can you be so sure?” Benny asked.

“Remember the photo in the family album?” Jessie reminded her little brother. “The one of Brandon Penner, I mean.”

“Oh, right!” said Benny. “That does look like the man in the album.”

“There’s only one problem,” Jessie said. “Who’s the woman in this photo?”

“Turn it over,” Violet instructed her sister.

Jessie flipped the photograph. She read the words on the back aloud: “The Penners’ wedding day—February, 1904.”

For a moment, the Aldens just stared at one other in stunned silence. Finally, Henry spoke up.

“How can that be Brandon’s wedding day?” he said. “The woman in the wedding dress sure isn’t Dora.”

“Then … who is she?” Benny asked in a hushed voice.

“It must be Abigail,” Violet said as she put the photograph back in the drawer.

Jessie nodded. “Grandfather seemed sure Brandon had married someone named Abigail.”

Benny scratched his head. “But … how can there be
two
brides?”

Jessie shrugged. Benny looked at Henry and then at Violet. They didn’t seem to have any answers, either.

“If Brandon married Abigail,” said Violet, “then who on earth was Dora?”

“I was just wondering the same thing,” said Henry. “I can’t get my head around it. Can you, Jessie?”