Mystery at Skeleton Point (8 page)

The next morning, sunlight poured into the tower room, waking the Aldens one by one. They yawned and stretched and sat up in bed.

“I feel like a princess in a tower,” Violet said. “This bed is so tall and so fancy. I slept just as if I were home in Greenfield.”

“Well, I sure didn’t,” Henry said. “I heard noises while it was still dark this morning, but I figured it was just the wind.”

Jessie went over to the window after she heard a car. “Hey, guess who’s coming up the driveway. Grandfather and Charlotte.” She opened the window and waved. “We’re up here.”

The children scrambled into their clothes and ran down the driveway.

Charlotte gave everyone a big smile. “Well, you children were very brave to sleep in a house filled with skeletons and no electricity.”

Benny shook his head. “It’s just half filled with skeletons. Some of them got stolen.”

Grandfather looked surprised. “What do you mean? We spoke with William last evening. He didn’t mention anything missing. Let’s go find him. He’s in the house already with Hilda, I imagine. Their cars are parked below.”

The children went off to look around.

“No one’s here except the rest of Dr. Tibbs’s skeletons,” Jessie said. “But I think I know where they might be. Follow us.”

With the children leading the way, Grandfather and Charlotte followed the shortcut path to the gardens.

Charlotte stared at the empty space where the statue of the girl had been. Her face seemed about to crumble.

Jessie took her hand. “Don’t worry. We know where the statue is,” Jessie said as she linked her arm in Charlotte’s. “We need to cross over the main path, then go into the woods on the other side.”

Shortly before the Aldens came to Dead Man’s Cave, they heard William and Hilda arguing.

“I don’t want any part of this,” Hilda said. “You told me you only had copies made so the old statues could be put away safely. You can’t sell them or even copies of them. They’re not yours.”

The Aldens crept along until they reached Dead Man’s Cave. The rusted door was open, revealing William, Hilda, and Mister Bones, along with several skeletons and statues the children hadn’t seen before.

“Sell what?” Charlotte asked when she stepped forward.

Hilda rushed outside, with William right behind her. He tried to shut the door, but Henry was too quick for him.

“Leave it open,” Henry said.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Hilda said to Charlotte. “I just want you to know that I’m not part of William’s scheme.”

Charlotte frowned anxiously. “What scheme?”

Hilda spoke clearly. “He was going to make copies of your statues and sell the originals. They were made by a famous sculptor named Clover Dodge, and they’re worth a lot of money.” Hilda looked embarrassed. “I didn’t know what was really going on. I only figured it out this morning — I followed him here to tell him I was quitting.” Hilda pointed toward the cave. “The missing statues are all in there.”

Charlotte and the Aldens went in to look around. Sure enough, the Clover Dodge statue sat in a corner, looking sad and out of place. Several statues the Aldens hadn’t seen also filled the dark space. Only Mister Bones and the wild horse skull seemed at home in Dead Man’s Cave.

“Is all this true?” Charlotte asked William, frowning. “How could you do such a thing?”

William Mason scowled and looked down at the ground. “Yeah, it’s all true. I wanted to buy the house myself. It’s a gold mine, with all those statues. And some of the rare bones are just as valuable. But you beat me to it — and you didn’t even know what you had!”

“If you wanted the house yourself, why did you volunteer to help Charlotte?” asked Henry.

“It’s like Hilda said. I figured I could sell the statues and rare bones and make myself some money anyway. I figured you’d never notice if some stuff began to disappear.”

“But
we
noticed,” said Henry.

William Mason glared at the Aldens. “That’s right, you kids started snooping around. I untied your boat to try to keep you away from the house. I even hid some skeletons and bones in the woods, hoping that they’d scare you off — but unfortunately it didn’t work.”

Jessie looked surprised. “We thought Greeny was the one hiding all the skeletons and bones for us to find.”

“I’d never do anything like that,” came a voice from behind them. Everyone looked up as Greeny and Max suddenly emerged from behind the trees. Greeny wore black pants and his T-shirt with the skull on the front and the bones on the back. “I followed you here,” Greeny said. “I had a hunch these kids knew something about where all the missing bones were. I suspected Mason was behind the whole thing! I’ll admit I tried to scare you and your family away from Skeleton Point. I snuck up on these kids the first time I saw them at Skeleton Point and tried to spook them.”

“But you can’t scare us off that easy,” said Benny.

“I figured that out pretty quick,” Greeny said. He looked down at the ground. “I’m the one who hid those Halloween skulls in your bike helmets,” he said to the Aldens. “And I planted a skeleton by your car, too, Charlotte. I just wanted to save Dr. Tibbs’s collection by keeping people away. But I would
never
have used any of the real bones to do something like that — they’re too valuable!”

Charlotte moved toward Greeny. They were quite a contrast with each other. Charlotte with her white curly hair, her tweed jacket, and pearl earrings didn’t seem to have a thing in common with Greeny Owen in his skull shirt, ponytail, and skull earring. “I’m glad that you told me, Greeny. I hope that now we can be friends — and I hope you know I care about Dr. Tibbs’s collection as much as you do.”

“Hey, what about Mr. Mason?” Benny asked.

William Mason was slowly backing up, trying to escape from the group without anyone noticing.

When Charlotte turned to look at William Mason, the smile disappeared from her face. “I don’t believe we’ll be needing your services anymore, Mr. Mason. And you can be sure that I’ll be contacting the authorities to inform them of what you tried to do here. I don’t think you’ll be getting any more architecture jobs anytime soon. Now please leave the property — and be thankful I’m not calling the police.”

William Mason opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He spun around and hurried away into the woods.

“Well, children, I guess we’ll need to get all these statues and skeletons back to the house,” Charlotte said, in a happier voice. “Thank you so much for finding them for me! I had no idea that they were made by a well-known sculptor.” She turned to Grandfather. “James, does the name Clover Dodge ring a bell with you?” she asked.

Grandfather looked at his cousin Charlotte as if remembering something long ago. “Dodge? Yes, yes,” Grandfather began. “I vaguely recall the name — that was the name of the original family that owned Skeleton Point — before it was Skeleton Point, that is. But I had no idea she was a sculptor as well.”

A smile slowly lit up Charlotte’s face.

“What’s funny?” Benny asked.

Charlotte sighed. “In some ways, I’m better off than I was before all this happened! I have all these valuable statues back, including the ones I didn’t even know were missing. And now I have experts — Greeny and Hilda — who can help me bring Skeleton Point back to life.”

Benny walked over to Mister Bones. He was hanging just inside the doorway of Dead Man’s Cave. “Did you hear that, Mister Bones? You might be coming back to life.”

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.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND
THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY