Mystery of the Orphan Train (6 page)

Seeing their puzzled faces, Henry explained, “She said they were old and—”

Jessie’s eyes widened as she caught Henry’s drift. She finished her brother’s sentence for him. “Dog-eared!”

“Oh, I can’t believe we didn’t think of that!” Violet clapped her hands.

“Dog-eared?” Benny repeated, not understanding.

“They say a book’s dog-eared, Benny,” Jessie was quick to explain, “when some of the pages have been turned down at the corners. You know, from people marking their spot.”

“Oh, I get it!” Benny said in sudden understanding. “The turned-down part looks like a dog’s ear, right?”

“Right,” said Henry.

“No wonder we weren’t getting anywhere,” Jessie realized, flipping to the end of the book. “Thane must’ve hidden the clue under a corner of the page.”

They all held their breath, as Jessie lifted the flap. Sure enough, a message had been scribbled under the little dog’s ear.

The Aldens let out a cheer. Figuring out clues was always fun.

“What does it say, Jessie?” Benny gave his sister a nudge.

With a puzzled frown, Jessie read the message out loud:

Blue and yellow,

yellow and blue,

two make one,

a gem of a clue!

“What do you think it means?” wondered Violet.

Jessie shrugged. So did Henry.

“It’s a mystery,” Benny said with a grin. “I love mysteries!”

“It’s not much to go on,” Jessie remarked as she made a copy of the rhyme.

Benny was scratching his head. “What I don’t understand,” he said, “is how two can make one.”

Henry shrugged. “Beats me.”

“I can’t understand it, either,” admitted Violet. “Thane’s clues are tough to figure out.”

The children puzzled over the strange rhyme all morning. They thought and thought, but they couldn’t come up with any answers. Everyone was stumped.

“I have an idea,” Violet said when she caught a whiff of flowers coming through the opened window. “Let’s pack a picnic lunch and go for a bike ride.”

The others were quick to agree. “We could use a break,” said Henry.

After telling Kate about their plans, the Aldens loaded sandwiches, apples, and a large thermos of lemonade into Henry’s backpack, then set off on the bikes Kate kept for her guests. Putting all thoughts of the mystery aside for a while, they pedaled happily through the countryside.

By the time they returned to Wiggin Place, the afternoon sun was getting hot, the rhyme was still a big question mark, and the necklace was still missing.

“Kate’s been tearing her room apart all day,” Violet remarked. “I think she’s beginning to give up hope.” The children were sitting at the umbrella table on the stone patio, sipping ice-cold cranberry juice from tall glasses.

Jessie tugged her notebook from her back pocket. “One mystery at a time, remember?”

Henry agreed. “Let’s take another look at that rhyme.”

Nodding, Jessie read it aloud.
“Blue and yellow/ yellow and blue/ two make one/ a gem of a clue!”

“What about Kate’s necklace?” said Violet, after a moment’s thought. “Isn’t it blue and yellow?”

Jessie was quick to agree. “A bluebird charm on a yellow-gold chain.”

“And the blue and yellow make one necklace,” added Violet, pouring Benny another glass of cranberry juice.

Henry was nodding his head. “You might be on to something, Violet.”

Jessie said, “The clues seem to fit.”

“But Kate’s necklace doesn’t have any gems on it,” argued Benny. “Not even a single diamond. Blue and yellow are supposed to make one gem of a clue. Remember?”

“Good point, Benny,” Henry said, arms folded, leaning back in his chair.

“But … what else could it mean?” Jessie was bending over her notebook again.

“It’s a mystery,” Violet said, laughing a little. “As Grandfather would say, Wiggin Place has more mysteries than you can shake a stick at.”

“And the mysteries aren’t easy to solve,” added Henry.

“Sally Crawford is the key,” said Benny.

The others had to admit their little brother was right. All the mysteries had something to do with Sally.

Jessie started adding everything up on her fingers. “There’s the mystery of Ethan Cape. Didn’t the famous photographer come all the way to Kansas just to take Sally’s picture? And how about the missing necklace? It once belonged to Sally.”

“And don’t forget about Thane Pace,” put in Violet. “He saved Sally’s life.”

Henry added, “Even the rhymes were meant for her.”

“I wish we knew more about Sally’s secret,” Jessie said, lost in thought. “The one she wanted to share after Ethan Cape’s visit.”

“Speaking of Ethan Cape,” said Violet, reaching for a book on the empty chair beside her, “looks like somebody’s reading his biography.”

“Probably Kate,” guessed Henry.

“I’m sure you’re right, Henry.” Violet began to thumb through the pages. “Wow, there’s all sorts of photographs in here.” Her eyes were shining. “Ethan was a genius with the camera.”

“Sounds like a good book,” Jessie remarked. “Maybe you can borrow it when Kate’s finished.”

But Violet was only half-listening. She had come to something that made her stop and stare. “This is strange,” she said in a puzzled voice. “Here’s a photo taken in the olden days.”

Benny, Jessie, and Henry crowded around to take a look. A middle-aged woman in a high-necked blouse and long skirt was sitting at a table shaped like a half moon. She was wearing a white apron and matching cap.

“That lady must have been a cook,” observed Benny. “At least, that’s how she’s dressed.”

Henry nodded his head. “That’s what I was just thinking.”

Jessie looked at her sister. “What’s strange about that, Violet?”

“Well, maybe this is just a weird coincidence,” said Violet, “but isn’t there something about this photograph that looks familiar?”

Jessie took a closer look. “Now that you mention it,” she said, “it reminds me of Sally’s photograph. The one taken when she was Benny’s age.”

Peering over Violet’s shoulder, Henry nodded. “There’s a half-moon table in both pictures.”

“But that’s not all,” put in Violet. “Did you notice the background?”

Jessie looked. “Oh, my goodness!” she cried. “An oval window with frosted glass!”

“And wallpaper with big roses all over it,” added Benny.

Jessie nodded. “That can mean only one thing.”

Benny looked at her. “What?”

“The cook’s photograph was taken right here at Wiggin Place.”

Henry shook his head. “This is getting weirder and weirder.”

“What does it say under the picture, Violet?” Jessie asked.

As Violet scanned the small print, her eyes widened.

“What is it?” Henry asked.

Before Violet could answer, the professor stepped out onto the patio. When he caught sight of the book Violet was holding, he rushed over and snatched it away. “How dare you!” He sounded upset. “You have no business touching my grandfather’s book! It’s a good thing I came back early.”

Violet’s eyes widened in alarm. “But I thought—”

The professor walked away before Violet could finish. Then he suddenly wheeled around to face them again. “This must never happen again,” he said in an icy voice. “I’m warning you, you’ll regret it if it does!” And then he was gone.

The Aldens looked at one another in disbelief.

“It was just a mistake,” Violet said in a small voice, “I didn’t know the book belonged to the professor’s grandfather.”

Jessie patted her sister gently on the shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Violet,” said Jessie, trying to comfort her. “The professor wouldn’t even give you a chance to explain.”

“Wait a minute,” said Henry. “Didn’t the professor say he wasn’t interested in Ethan Cape?”

Jessie nodded slowly. “Why would he pretend he wasn’t?”

“That’s just what I was wondering,” said Henry.

No sooner had the professor gone inside, than Lindsay stepped out the door. “I thought I’d find you here,” she told the Aldens with a smile. “I just wanted to let you know I’ll be leaving in the morning.”

The children were surprised to hear this. “You mean you won’t be working here anymore?” Benny wondered.

“Oh, I’ll be back, Benny,” Lindsay assured the youngest Alden. “I’m just going to take a few days off to attend my cousin’s wedding.” She sat down in the empty chair beside Violet. “I really wasn’t planning to go at all, you know. I told my cousin if I could do it in one day that’d be different. But it’s too long a drive for that. I just couldn’t pull it off. And how could I leave Kate with a houseful of guests any longer than that?”

Jessie and Henry exchanged glances. That must have been the phone conversation they’d overheard in the woods!

“I was determined to keep the whole wedding thing to myself,” Lindsay went on. “Only Kate found the invitation in my apron pocket and put her foot down. There’s no way she’ll let me miss a family wedding.”

Violet nodded in sudden understanding. That’s what Lindsay had shoved into her pocket when they’d startled her that first day—the wedding invitation!

Benny stared at Lindsay. “You were talking on the phone about something old and blue.”

“Oh, you heard that, did you?” Lindsay was smiling. “It’s a tradition for brides, Benny. ‘Something old, something new…’”

“‘Something borrowed, something blue!’” finished Violet, in a singsong voice.

“Exactly!” Lindsay laughed. “My cousin has her heart set on borrowing a lace hanky that’s been in my family for years. It has tiny blue flowers on it.”

“Something old and blue,” said Jessie, catching Henry’s eye. He nodded. They could cross Lindsay off their list of suspects.

Lindsay pushed her chair back. “Well, I’d better check on dinner. I’ve got a roast chicken in the oven.”

“We’ll help,” Jessie offered, speaking for them all. “We can set the dining room table.”

“It sure is funny about that photograph,” Henry said as he set plates around the table.

“Are you talking about the lady in the white cap?” asked Benny.

Henry nodded. “I wonder who she was.”

Violet had an answer. “Margaret O’Malley. At least, that’s what it said under the picture.”

“Margaret O’Malley?” repeated Jessie, as she smoothed out the tablecloth. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on where she’d heard it.

Violet went to shut the opened door. “The painting of the Emerald Isle, remember?” she reminded them in a hushed voice. “Margaret O’Malley was the artist.”

Henry’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, that’s right!”

“She must have been the family cook,” said Jessie, every bit as surprised as her older brother.

Benny nodded. “Kate said she worked here when Sally was growing up!”

“That’s not all.” Violet set a vase of daisies in the middle of the table. “Margaret O’Malley’s photograph was taken in 1904.”

“Are you sure?” Henry looked uncertain.

Violet nodded. “Quite sure, Henry.”

“But … that’s the same year Sally’s photograph was taken,” Jessie realized, her eyes huge.

“Sitting at a half-moon table,” added Henry, “when she was a little girl.”

“There’s no doubt about it,” Violet concluded. “Those photographs were taken at the same time—right here at Wiggin Place.” She nodded her head slowly as it began to sink in. “And I bet they were taken by the same person!”

The Aldens looked at one another. Had Ethan Cape stayed at Wiggin Place more than once?

“According to Kate,” Henry said after a moment’s thought, “Sally never met Ethan Cape until she was much older—a grandmother.”

“All the same, I’m pretty sure Ethan was here before that,” Violet insisted, “when Sally was a little girl.”

Benny placed the napkins around the table. “Do you think Ethan met Thane Pace back then?”

“I guess it’s possible,” Henry had to admit. “They were both here around the same time.”

“Can you believe it?” Violet couldn’t help laughing. “The mysteries are starting to connect!”

“Seems that way,” agreed Jessie.

Henry had a suggestion. “Let’s keep a lid on this for now. At least until we can make some sense of it.”

After dinner, the Aldens challenged Kate to a game of Scrabble. They were hoping it would take her mind off the missing necklace for a while, but it was no use. Before long, Kate called it a night, leaving the four children to finish the game on their own.

While Benny was having a turn, Jessie spoke up. “Kate tries to be cheery, but …”

“She’s afraid she’s seen the last of her necklace,” finished Violet, who had pulled her chair closer to her little brother’s. She knew he might need help with the harder words.

Henry noticed Benny eyeing the popcorn. “Find any words yet, Sherlock?” he asked, passing the bowl of popcorn across the kitchen table to him.

Benny shifted the letters around on the wooden tile-holder. “Well, it looks like I can spell APE.”

“Way to go, Benny!” praised Violet. “And guess what? If you add the letter C, you can turn APE into CAPE.
⁵⁵

Benny broke into a smile. “Cool!”