The Ghost Ship Mystery (7 page)

“Where are we going, Jessie?” Violet wanted to know.

Jessie turned down a narrow cobbled street. “Spooner Cooke’s Scrimshaw Shop.”

Henry smacked his forehead. “I was thinking that very thing, Jessie. Mr. Cooke got so angry when we wouldn’t show him the things we found out at Howling Cliffs. Maybe he was the one in the alleyway yesterday, trying to see if we had anything valuable. I wonder if he had something to do with the robbery.”

Jessie rushed ahead of everyone. “I didn’t want to mention him in front of the police officer in case I’m wrong. Let’s just stop by his shop and take a look around.”

The children stopped when they got to the shop.

“Well, who’s going in there first?” Benny asked nervously.

“I’ll go in first,” Violet said, to her brothers’ and sister’s surprise. “I like the pretty things in his shop. If I’m nice to him, maybe he’ll be nice to me.”

“That’s the way to go, Violet,” Henry said, proud of his sister. “Mr. Cooke can’t help being nice to you.”

Violet stepped inside the tiny shop. Every space was crammed with bone and tooth carvings from the great whaling days of Ragged Cove.

“What is it, miss?” Mr. Cooke asked when he saw Violet standing there.

Violet pointed to a small piece of scrimshaw in a glass case. “I’d like to look at that pie crimper for our housekeeper, Mrs. McGregor.”

The man took another look at this bright little girl. “How did you know this was a pie crimper? Most folks don’t have any idea of how it’s used. Half of ’em think it’s some kind of toy. You seem to know something about old things.”

Violet smiled her sweet smile. “I use a wooden one like it when I bake with Mrs. McGregor. Ours isn’t nearly as pretty as this one with the little unicorn decoration. How much is it?”

“Two hundred dollars, I’m afraid,” Mr. Cooke said. “It’s very unusual, one of my finest pieces. I’d almost hate to part with it.”

Violet’s face fell in disappointment.

“Does your housekeeper do needlework? I have some antique whalebone needles in back,” Mr. Cooke told Violet when he saw how disappointed she was. “They’re quite reasonable.”

“We both do needlework,” Violet said. “I would like to see the needles.”

Violet waved in Henry, Jessie, and Benny when Mr. Cooke went into the back room. “He’s nice,” she whispered. “He doesn’t seem a bit like a thief.”

The children tried to memorize every piece of scrimshaw in the shop. None of it looked like anything they’d seen at the museum.

“I don’t see any parrot carvings,” Benny whispered.

“Did you say parrot carvings, young fellow?” Mr. Cooke asked when he came out front. “Sorry, the only one I’ve ever seen is carved on a whale tooth right in our excellent museum.”

Benny stepped up to the counter. “Well, we’ve seen it, too. Yesterday, we found another one in that postbox. Only it was carved on a small, flat piece. And guess what? It was the same parrot Miss Coffin had when she was small like me! We gave it to her for the museum.”

“Well, you are a remarkable boy,” Mr. Cooke said. “I’m going to give you a small reward for giving what you found to the museum.”

“You are?” Benny said. “Heck, it was easy. All I did was climb this ledge. It was pretty high. Higher than this shop almost, and there it was. This old box with all these old things in it. The parrot picture, some bent-up old spoons, and some whale toys.”

“Whale toys?” Mr. Cooke said. “Well, I have some whale toys. Here’s an antique top. What do you think of that?”

Benny gave the top a spin on the counter. “I think I like it better than the parrot tooth.”

Mr. Cooke handed Violet a small painted Chinese box. “And for your sister here, I have something special. Go ahead, open it, young lady.”

Violet opened the box. Lying inside on a piece of satin was a matched set of bone needles from tiny to big. “Oooh,” Violet breathed. “They’re beautiful. I’ll put them right into my sewing bag when I get back to the inn. Thank you.”

“And thank you children for bringing your things to our Sailors’ Museum,” Mr. Cooke said to everyone. “I’m on the board there. We haven’t many funds to buy things. So it helps when we get donations. I especially would like to see the parrot carving you found in the box.”

“Why?” Benny wanted to know.

Mr. Cooke smiled. “Because I knew that parrot when I was a boy! Miss Coffin and I were best friends. Both our families used to spend the summer out on Plum Island where I live now. Prudence moved to town a few years ago when the ferry service slowed down. She hardly ever leaves the museum anymore unless I motor her out to the island on her boat. Myself, I’m a rowing man. Well, I’ll go over and talk to her about your find.”

Jessie stared at Mr. Cooke. “You mean you didn’t hear about Miss Coffin? She reported that there was a robbery at the museum last night, but now no one can find her.”

Mr. Cooke held onto the counter. His pink face grew pale. “Prudence is gone?”

Mr. Cooke pulled down a sailor’s pea coat from a hook by the front door. Underneath was a blue wool sailor cap just like Benny’s. The children stared at the hat.

“I’ll have to go look for her,” Mr. Cooke said. “This is terrible. She never leaves that museum. Something must be very wrong. You’ll have to leave. I’m going to close up and look for her.”

Mr. Cooke put up his “Closed” sign and locked the door to his shop. The children watched him go down the narrow street away from town.

“Why is he heading toward the beach?” Jessie wondered.

By the time the children followed Mr. Cooke, he was gone, and so was his little rowboat.

At lunch the guests at the Black Dog Inn could talk of nothing but the museum robbery.

“If you ask me,” one guest said, “the police should question Miss Coffin first. After all, she lives at the Sailors’ Museum.”

“Humph!” another guest said. “What about investigating the biggest scrimshaw dealer in these parts, Spooner Cooke? He’s another strange one, always in that rowboat of his at odd hours.”

This last comment about Spooner Cooke upset Violet. She put down her soup spoon and spoke up. “Mr. Cooke only rows his boat at different times because of the tides and weather. We visited him just a little while ago. He was as nice as could be.”

“Nice to children?” one person asked with raised eyebrows. “As long as we’ve been coming to Ragged Cove he hasn’t let a child so much as look in the window of his shop.”

Benny reached into his pocket, pulled out his scrimshaw top, and whirled it next to his clam chowder bowl. “Well, today he gave me this as a present. And he gave Violet a whole bunch of needles. All kinds.”

Mrs. Pease came around with the soup pot. “There are different sides to everyone,” she said. “Now, who wants seconds on chowder?”

For once Benny didn’t want seconds. “I’m saving room for apple pie,” he said, giving Mrs. Pease a big smile.

“Well, you’d better start your pie now,” Mr. Pease said when he overheard this. “I just found out Captain Hull is setting out on a whale watch with a bus group that came down from Bassville. I asked him for a few more tickets for some of our guests. So whoever wants can have a whale of a good time.”

“Let’s go find some whales!” Mr. Alden told his grandchildren.

When the Aldens arrived at the docks, a tour group was boarding the
Jonah.
The children and their grandfather stood at the end of the line with tickets in hand. The line moved slowly up the gangplank.

Mr. Alden handed Captain Bob their five tickets. “Hi there, captain. I finally finished my business, so I can go out and see some of those whales my grandchildren told me about.”

Captain Bob stared at the Aldens. “Uh . . . gee, Mr. Alden, where did you get these tickets?”

Mr. Alden took a closer look at the tickets. “Why, from you, of course. Mr. Pease said you gave him some for the Black Dog guests. That’s us, you know. Is something wrong?”

The captain’s face reddened. “It’s just that I don’t have any room today, sir. This tour group from Bassville pretty well fills the boat. I’ll be going out in a couple days. I’ll take you then.”

Mr. Alden shook his head. “We have to be on our way tomorrow, so this is our last chance.”

Several other tourists overheard Mr. Alden. A man stepped forward from his group to speak to Captain Bob. “Let these folks take our place. Our group has decided to come back tomorrow when it’s sunnier.”

“Then we can take their places, captain, wouldn’t you say?” Mr. Alden asked.

A shadow seemed to pass over the captain’s face. Finally, he took the Aldens’ tickets and stuffed them into his pocket. “Life jackets are over there,” was all he said before he rushed below deck.

The Aldens settled themselves on a bench at the front of the
Jonah.
“I can’t imagine why Captain Bob didn’t want our family on board,” Mr. Alden said. “He seems out of sorts for some reason.”

One of the passengers leaned on the railing near the Aldens and pointed toward Howling Cliffs. “Look. There are those lights again. Didn’t I tell you, Millie, that I saw some lights over that way before the last storm?”

The children jumped up to see what the man was talking about. Sure enough, flickering lights shone over the water near Howling Cliffs.

The man went on. “Captain! Captain! Aren’t those lights supposed to be from that wreck the uh . . . .”

“The
Flying Cloud
,” Jessie finished. “Or the lights have something to do with the weather. They only come out when there are storm clouds.”

“What’s your opinion on that, Captain Bob?” the man asked. “You’re the expert in these waters.”

Captain Bob just piloted the
Jonah
straight ahead, as if there were nothing unusual at all about lights coming from nowhere.

“Leave him alone,” the man’s wife whispered. “He’s looking out for whales, not ghosts.”

Everyone nearby except for Captain Bob had a good laugh over this comment. Just as Jessie had said, once the clouds disappeared, so did the strange lights.

“Whale off! Whale off!” Benny cried a while later. “Look, Captain Bob. There’s a pod of whales.”

All the passengers moved to the front of the boat. Everyone could see the shiny gray backs of at least six whales.

“Oh, look!” Violet cried with delight. “There’s a baby whale on its mother’s back! How wonderful!”

“It’s a whale calf,” Captain Bob said from behind the wheel of the
Jonah.
His voice seemed gentler now that there were whales nearby. “That’s how the young ones ride around until they’re old enough to leave their mothers. They stay safe that way. Whoa!” he yelled out suddenly. “Everybody sit down on the benches or go below deck! There’s a big whale ready to breach right by us!”

Mr. Alden motioned for Henry, Violet, Jessie, and Benny to head below deck.

“What’s ‘breach’ mean, Grandfather?” Benny asked, holding on to the rail of the narrow stairs.

“That’s when a whale suddenly breaks to the surface,” Mr. Alden explained. “That one came awfully close to this boat.”

“My tummy feels funny,” Benny said as the
Jonah
rocked back and forth.

“I bet that big whale made some big waves,” Henry said. “That’s why the boat is rocking like this.”

Everyone tried to hold on to each other when the
Jonah
made a sharp turn. Some metal dishes slid and crashed to the floor. Several cans of food rolled around. Cabinet doors opened. Out fell books, ropes, boxes, and tools. The boat pitched back and forth for several long minutes before it settled down.

“Let’s put away some of these things that fell out,” Jessie said.

Mr. Alden and the older children started to pick up all the objects that had fallen to the floor. They returned everything to its proper place. Then Jessie noticed something way under the table.

“Look at this,” Jessie whispered to Henry. She held up a black, leather-covered book that said:
Diary: Captain Coffin
on the front.

The Aldens heard
the Jonah’s
engines stop. They looked up and saw Captain Bob’s black rubber boots on the stairs.

“Everybody and everything okay down here?” Captain Bob yelled down below. “Hope nobody got seasick.”