After dinner, all the Aldens sat out on the wide green lawn and enjoyed the soft, cool evening breeze. When the children told Mr. Alden they wanted to visit Aunt Jane, he agreed right away. He thought it was a fine idea.
“You haven’t been away this summer at all,” he said. “I’ll call her right now.”
Aunt Jane thought the visit was a fine idea, too. “I’ll be especially happy to see you because Uncle Andy is away on business and I’m really lonesome,” she told Jessie on the phone.
It was arranged that the Aldens would take the one o’clock bus the next day and Aunt Jane would be waiting at the bus stop for them.
In the morning they all packed small, brightly colored suitcases. Benny made sure his pink cup was in his. At one o’clock Grandfather drove them to the bus station and waved good-bye. At three they were in Elmford where Aunt Jane was waiting for them. They couldn’t wait to get to Aunt Jane’s old farmhouse, thinking of the cold water in the pond not far from her house, and how they’d enjoy splashing in it.
When they had unpacked and played in the creek for over an hour, they all joined Aunt Jane in her big kitchen. Benny tore lettuce for a dinner salad. Henry mashed potatoes. Violet cut string beans, and Jessie and Aunt Jane shaped turkey patties. Aunt Jane was very aware of healthy eating and tried to get the Aldens to enjoy her menus … even the turkey patties instead of hamburgers. They never told her they weren’t crazy about the turkey patties.
Violet and Jessie exchanged a glance. Then Jessie quickly told Aunt Jane the story of their finding the portrait and then seeing Mrs. Harkins’ picture in the newspaper. Aunt Jane was astounded.
“Your grandmother’s necklace has been missing for years. I can’t believe Mrs. Harkins’ necklace is the same one,” Aunt Jane said, looking at the Aldens.
“Do you know Mrs. Harkins?” Henry asked.
Aunt Jane shook her head. “A little. We aren’t really friends, but in a small town like Elmford, everybody knows almost everybody else.”
“Could you call her and ask if we could talk to her?” Jessie asked, wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing. She waited eagerly for Aunt Jane’s answer.
“I don’t know,” Aunt Jane replied. “I’m not sure she’d want to be questioned by four strange children she’s never met.”
“Try,” Violet pleaded. “Please!”
“Please,” Benny repeated.
“All right,” Aunt Jane agreed. “I’ll call her.”
Aunt Jane went into the sitting room next to the kitchen and made her call. She came back and said, “Mrs. Harkins said you could come by at eleven tomorrow morning. She didn’t seem too happy at the idea, but she did say she’d see you. She said to be on time.”
Benny threw his arms around Aunt Jane. “You’re a good aunt.”
After breakfast the next morning, Aunt Jane told the Aldens exactly where Mrs. Harkins lived. They had all visited Aunt Jane so many times that they knew their way around town very well. They took the bikes Aunt Jane kept for them and rode through the green countryside, passing well-kept farms and small houses. The air smelled sweet and fresh.
“Look! Cows!” Benny shouted, pointing to three cows grazing lazily behind a wire fence next to the road. “I like farms,” he said positively.
“You just like cows, because they give you the milk you love so much,” Jessie said, laughing.
The children pedaled slowly so that they arrived at Mrs. Harkins’ just at eleven. They remembered her instructions to be on time. Her home was a large, redbrick house with white shuttered windows. A maid answered Jessie’s ring and took them into a large, comfortable living room. Mrs. Harkins stood waiting for the Aldens.
She was a small, attractive woman of about fifty. “Well,” she said. “Your aunt said you wanted to talk to me about a necklace … or something like that. Why would four young children be interested in a necklace?”
Jessie took the newspaper picture out of her pocket and showed it to Mrs. Harkins. “The necklace you’re wearing—” she began.
“Why don’t we all sit down,” Elizabeth Harkins said, leading them all into the living room. “We’ll be more comfortable.”
“The necklace—” Jessie continued.
“It looks like our grandmother’s,” Benny blurted out.
Mrs. Harkins frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Violet reached into her knapsack and smoothed out her drawing of the Alden necklace. “You see, our grandmother had this necklace. We think it looks like the one you wore to the dance.”
Suddenly a man appeared in the doorway. “Elizabeth,” he said firmly, “please come in here.”
Mrs. Harkins stood up. “Excuse me. My husband wants to talk to me.”
She walked into the next room. First there was just a murmur of voices. Then the sounds were louder, as if the Harkins were arguing. The Aldens looked at each other.
“Maybe we should leave,” Violet said. “I think we’ve upset them.”
Mr. Harkins then said, loud enough to be heard in the next room, “Be careful!”
Mrs. Harkins came back and sat down again. “I really only have a couple of minutes to talk to you children. What do you want?” Her voice was cold.
Henry said, “We just were wondering if your necklace could possibly be—”
Mrs. Harkins interrupted him. “The necklace isn’t mine.” Now she smiled. “The Elmford Museum lent it to me to wear to the dance, because it was a charity affair for the hospital. I don’t know anything about the necklace at all.”
She stood up and held her hand out to Jessie. “It was very nice meeting all of you. Now I have an appointment I must get to. I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Outside the house, Benny said, “She wasn’t very friendly. Was she?” He looked very puzzled.
Henry put an arm around Benny’s shoulders. “You’re right, Benny. She wasn’t.”
“What do we do now?” Violet asked.
“Eat!” Benny said. “I’m hungry.”
Jessie turned to Henry. “Remember that nice little coffee shop on Main Street? Let’s go there for lunch.”
“Good idea,” Benny said.
In minutes they were seated in a booth in the small coffee shop. “First let’s order, then we can talk about Mrs. Harkins,” Violet said.
When the waitress stopped at their table, Benny ordered a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, chocolate cake, and milk. He smiled when he finished ordering.
“Can you eat that much, Benny?” Jessie asked.
“Sure can. Watch,” Benny answered.
Henry ordered a grilled cheese and a cola. Jessie had tuna fish and a milk shake and Violet ordered a hamburger and milk. Then Jessie said, “I don’t understand, if Mrs. Harkins doesn’t even own the necklace, why was she so cold to us?”
“And why did Mr. Harkins tell her to ‘Be careful’?” Henry asked.
“Well, I think the next thing to do is go to the museum and talk to someone there,” Jessie suggested.
“We’ll do that right after lunch,” Henry said.
As soon as they finished eating, the Alden children biked to the small museum. When they got there, they saw a sign on the door that read:
CLOSED ON MONDAY
HOURS: TUES-SUN. I 2-5.
“Oh, no!” Violet cried out. “Maybe we should have called first.”
“Now what should we do?” Benny asked. “I’m getting hot.”
Henry glanced down the street where he saw a small movie theater. “How about a movie to escape the heat? It should be cool in there.”
“Well,” Benny said, thoughtfully, “if the movie’s not mushy. I don’t want to sit through a mushy movie.”
Jessie laughed. “It isn’t mushy at all. It’s a western.”
“Let’s go!” Benny shouted.
“I’ll call Aunt Jane and tell her we‘ll be home later,” Violet said. |