Meg Mackintosh Solves Seven American History Mysteries (10 page)

“A walnut from a walnut tree. A house on a lake. Now the pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fit,” said Meg. “Let me see that map again.” Then she compared the map to the scene sewn on the doll's petticoat. “Maybe this isn't just a pretty design,” she said.

“What are you talking about?” asked Peter. “I thought the lantern was the mystery artifact. What's the doll got to do with it?”

“A lot more than we thought,” said Meg.

Just then Gramps pulled up in front of the Hubbard House Museum.

“The doll's dress is a map! A camouflage map for the Underground Railroad!” Meg exclaimed. “Look! We crossed the Ohio River and then went to a Quaker Meeting house. Our final destination is a house that looks like this on a lake! But what does the walnut mean?” Peter wondered.

“Look at the trees in front and the address,” said Gramps. “We're on the corner of Lake and Walnut streets. Walnut trees have probably been around here for a long time.”

When they entered the museum, they realized their deductions were correct. The Museum Director told them that the code word for the Hubbard House was
‘Mother Hubbard's,'
and it was a destination for many runaways on the Underground Railroad.

“I think our doll has found her home,” said Meg. “I think she belongs in a cupboard here at Old Mother Hubbard's. And she had to belong to a girl with the first initial ‘E'. See the ‘E' embroidered at the edge? The mystery child must be Eve.”

“Eve must have been a slave running for freedom. I bet her mother made the doll for her as a camouflage map,” added Peter.

“Why don't we call the doll Eve, after the owner,” Meg said, giving the old doll a squeeze. “Welcome home, Eve. This is a good place for you to stay and tell your story.”

“Scottsbluff is the next stop on the history mystery tour,” Peter Mackintosh said as he studied the map.

“What exactly is a bluff?” asked his sister Meg.

“It means to deceived,” Peter said with a grin. “For instance, we don't have very far to drive today.”

“I think
you're
bluffing,” Meg said as she looked over his shoulder at the map. “We have hundreds of miles to go!”

“You're right,” said Gramps from the driver's seat of the minivan. “And a
bluff
is a high, steep cliff.”

“How much longer?”
Meg teased.

“Why don't you two figure it out,” Gramps suggested. “We're in Cleveland. Figure out how long it will take to get to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, if we drive 400 miles a day? We'll go straight on highways.”

“Let's see,” said Peter. “The scale of the map is one inch equals 200 miles, and we have to go about six inches.”

“Six inches on the map means about 1,200 miles. If we divide 1,200 miles by 400 miles a day, that gives us three days of travel time,” Peter figured.

Meg added up the distances between major cities on the map. “We could stop in Chicago and Omaha and reach Scottsbluff the third day.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Gramps agreed. “That will give you plenty of time to read and to write in your journals.”

On the third morning, Meg got out her notes on the seven mystery artifacts and children. Then she pestered Gramps to give them a clue for
The Warning at Scottsbluff
mystery. It didn't take him long to give in.

Clue 1

“What sort of clue is this?” demanded Peter and Meg when they first glanced at the clue. “Hey, it's in Morse code!” they exclaimed together. Meg quickly found her table for Morse code in her detective handbook.

“The Oregon Trail!” exclaimed Peter.

“You're right,” Meg agreed. “The mystery has to be about the Oregon Trail!” She scanned the map. “Scottsbluff is along the way.”

“That's got to be it,” said Peter. “Hey, once we get to Lincoln, Nebraska, we're practically following in the same path.”

“And we're almost to Lincoln,” said Gramps. “I'll stop for coffee, and you can have the next clue.”

It was a piece of paper, yellow and brittle with age and ripped so they couldn't read all of the words.

Clue 2

“It looks like a page from a diary or journal,” suggested Meg. “From what I can make out, it's about traveling on a wagon train.”

“It sounds like something tragic happened along the way,” Peter said.

“Gramps, do you have another clue? We're stumped.”

“Not yet,” Gramps shook his head. “We're not even half way there! I've got an idea. Why don't you make a list of what you would bring if you were moving across the country?”