Benny Alden wasn’t much for watching sunsets. And he wasn’t one for taking naps, either, like Watch. No, Benny Alden was busy waiting for dinner. He stood at the top of the spiral staircase. He stared down as long as he could without getting dizzy.
“I wish we didn’t have to wait until tomorrow to go exploring,” he said.
Jessie laughed. “Poor Benny. It’s too bad it’s so late now. Carrie said they only keep a few lights on at night to save on electricity. Maybe we can take a walk outside after dinner now that the weather has cleared up.”
“And see the cave?” Benny asked hopefully.
“Maybe,” Jessie answered.
Finally the children heard a bell clang way downstairs.
Henry caught up with Benny, who had hurried ahead. “Living in a castle makes me hungry.”
“So does living in a house or a boxcar or a boat,” Henry teased.
They were halfway downstairs when Violet remembered something. “I need my sweater — castles are chilly places,” she said.
Violet headed back to her room. Castles were scary places, too, she thought. The top of the stairs looked awfully dark. Violet scolded herself. “If I’m going to be staying in a castle, I had better get used to it. I will just watch my feet. Then I won’t notice the dark so much.”
The sunset was almost over when Violet got to her room. She couldn’t help looking at the beautiful evening sky. That’s when she noticed the light in the tower across the way.
Violet got her grandfather’s binoculars and tried to focus them. She caught a blurry glimpse of a man — or a woman? — with short, dark hair. Just when she got the lenses focused, the tower light went off.
Violet put down the binoculars. She grabbed her sweater and raced downstairs to the castle kitchen.
“There you both are!” Carrie said to Violet and a young woman who had just come into the kitchen, too. Like Violet, the woman was out of breath.
Carrie stood over a pot of steaming soup. “Take a seat anywhere.” Turning to the woman, Carrie said, “Sandy, these new visitors are the Aldens.” To the Aldens she added, “Please meet Sandy Munson, my new assistant.”
Grandfather, Henry, Jessie, and Benny stood up to say hello. The other two people at the table did not. A young man kept right on sipping his soup, and Mr. Tooner just stared for a long time at the young woman. His stare gave Violet the shivers.
“Here you go, Sandy,” Carrie said, handing her some soup. “Why are you out of breath? I thought I heard the Jeep pull in quite a while ago.”
Henry and Jessie looked at each other. Henry knew that Jessie was thinking the same thing he was. Sandy was the woman who’d almost run them off the road earlier that day.
The woman brushed back her short brown bangs nervously. “Uh, no. No, I just drove in from town.”
“Well, there are always so many strange sounds around Drummond Castle,” Carrie said. “Who knows what they are? Now you and Violet sit next to each other.”
Violet tried to talk to Sandy. “By any chance is your room across from ours in the other tower?”
The young woman’s hand shook, and she nearly spilled her soup. “Of course not! My room is down on this floor. No one uses the other tower. It’s been closed up since Mr. Drummond died. It’s off limits!”
“Now, now,” Carrie said. “I told Violet and the other children what funny tricks the sunlight plays on the castle. The sunset sometimes reflects off the towers.”
“I don’t think so, Carrie. You see, the sun had already gone down,” Violet explained. “I’m sure there was a real light on in the tower. Then it disappeared.”
“Impossible,” said Sandy.
“Well, let’s make this food disappear.” Carrie said, trying to smooth things over at the table. “Oh, and you haven’t met Tom Brady, yet, Violet. Tom knows everything there is to know about antiques, rare books, paintings, and musical instruments.”
Violet nodded to the young man seated next to Mr. Tooner.
“Violet plays a musical instrument,” Jessie said proudly. “The violin.”
Mr. Tooner’s hand shook so much he dropped his knife. After picking it up, he left the table without a word.
“I’m sorry,” Jessie said. “Did I say something wrong?”
Carrie shook her head sadly. “Well, you probably don’t know about the Drummond violin. It’s been missing since William Drummond III died. Mr. Tooner thinks everyone believes that he’s the one who lost it.”
“Or took it,” Sandy Munson broke in. “After all, he was the only one living here after Mr. Drummond passed away.”
Tom Brady looked at Carrie. “There is no denying what Sandy says. That violin disappeared while Mr. Tooner was working here.”
“Please,” Carrie began. “Let’s not get into this discussion again. We don’t know whether it was lost or whether William Drummond hid it for safekeeping before he died. We truly do not know.”
The Aldens could see that neither Sandy nor Tom accepted what Carrie said.
“We simply must begin to work together,” Carrie said calmly. “There is no other way. I do believe that violin will turn up as we do our work. Why, already I’ve found a few treasures while getting some of the rooms in order.”
Tom Brady listened to Carrie’s speech. He did not look one bit happy about working together with anyone. “Well,” he announced, “my work is very special. Not just anyone should go rummaging through antiques, let alone help fix them.”
Carrie cut him off. “We will organize everything in the morning. The Aldens are good, careful workers. I’m quite sure there is plenty they can do. Maybe tomorrow they can start out with you, Sandy.”
“You mean I have to baby-sit?” Sandy complained. “When there’s so much real work to do?”
“There are no babies in our family, Miss Munson,” Mr. Alden said. “Just hardworking children who know what to do with tools, paint brushes, or a needle and thread. As for me, I noticed that those vines over the stonework porch could use a good pruning. They need to be cut back before any more water seeps into the cracks. We Aldens are ready to go.”
Mr. Alden’s little speech seemed to upset Tom and Sandy. They didn’t look up from their plates again until they heard Carrie mention Violet’s interest in the violin.
“Well, it would be lovely to have you children find the Stradivarius while you’re here,” Carrie said to Violet. “Maybe you could play it.”
Sandy’s face suddenly lit up. “Oh, yes, I would love to hear it played again.”
Carrie looked surprised. “Whatever do you mean, Sandy?”
Sandy pushed herself away from the table. “Just that I … uh I … like violin music, too. That’s all I meant. Now I’d better finish unloading the Jeep.”
“That’s odd,” Carrie said. “This is the third time Sandy has mentioned wanting to hear the Stradivarius again. I’m sure she’s never heard such an instrument even once.”
“A Stradivarius,” Violet breathed. “My violin teacher told me how wonderful they sound.”
“Did your violin teacher tell you how valuable they are?” Tom asked in an unfriendly voice. “Not that a child could ever play such an instrument. Even famous musicians are lucky to get their hands on one.”
“Tom is correct about that,” Carrie said. “It’s sad that such a treasure is missing.”
The word “treasure” perked up Benny right away. “Why do you think the Stradi … Stradi … whatever it’s called is in this castle? Maybe Mr. Drummond sold it and didn’t tell anyone.”
“Nonsense!” Tom Brady said loudly. “He kept track of that violin like his own child. He saved every clipping about the auction where he bought it and careful records about when he lent it out to well-known musicians. I’m an expert in rare instruments myself. I can tell you that the Drummond Stradivarius has never shown up.”
When Tom and Grandfather went upstairs, the children stayed and helped Carrie clean up.
“Why does Tom talk in such an angry voice?” Benny asked.
Carrie sighed. “He was upset when the Drummond Foundation hired me to coordinate the castle restoration. They hired Tom first. But the trustees put me in charge when he refused to work with anyone else. He is an expert on old things. But you can see we need more than that. We need several people who can work together.”
Benny could not understand this. “Why can’t everybody work together? That’s what we do! See, the dishes are done already!”
Carrie Bell smiled. “That’s what I mean. It’s just taking Tom awhile to get the idea. I also have to train Sandy Munson. She’s been here a week. I need to teach her to take care with her work and slow down.”
“We know,” Jessie said. “She almost ran Grandfather off the road today in her Jeep. I don’t think she even saw our car.”
Carrie shook her head. “I’ve had to warn her several times about being careful on the lake road. She’s just too quick. She is always jumping ahead of herself. She begins a job in one room, then I find her in another. She is never where she is supposed to be.”
“How did Sandy get the job as your assistant?” Jessie asked.
“The Drummond Foundation told me she had done a great deal of research on Drummond Castle,” Carrie explained. “I must admit that from her first day here she knew where things were. I believe she will be a good worker. If we can only get her to stay with one job at a time! Maybe you children can show her the patient way to do things.”
Henry could see that Benny wasn’t looking too patient himself. “Do you need us for anything else tonight?” Henry asked. “We’d like to take a walk around the castle if that’s okay with you.”
Carrie smiled at the children. “Why, of course. I keep several flashlights by the kitchen door here.” Carrie clicked on a light switch. “This spotlight will help you see where you’re going.”
The children stepped outside. The fog was completely gone. A big silvery moon was rising over the lake.
“Now it looks like a fairy tale castle,” Violet whispered.
The children walked with Watch out to the cliff.
“Not too close, Benny,” Jessie warned.
“I know, I know,” Benny answered. “Grandfather told me about not going near the edge of a cliff that time we climbed Old Flat Top. He said a boy should be told a thing only once, and he was right!”
Jessie laughed. “Then I won’t have to tell you again.”
The cool night air soon reminded the children of their cozy beds up in the tower. Violet pulled her sweater tighter against the whistling wind.
When the children went to explore the side of the castle, the wind off the lake died down. That’s when everyone realized there was another sound in the air.
“Listen,” Violet whispered. “It’s a violin. It’s playing a pretty piece called ‘Redbird.’ I know that tune!”
Henry pointed his flashlight in the direction of the music. There was nothing but blackness where the sound was coming from. “The music sounds as if it’s coming from the cliff. That’s very strange.”
“A lot of things about this castle are strange, Henry,” Violet said in a worried voice. “When I went back for my sweater tonight, I saw a light coming from the other tower that is supposed to be locked. And it wasn’t the sunset. I also heard footsteps coming from that direction right before Sandy Munson came down into the kitchen.”
Henry shone his flashlight in different directions. “We need to explore the castle when it’s light out. I’d like to check that footpath over there. See?”
The children followed the flashlight beam to where the cliff seemed to dip down.
Benny looked over, but all he could see was blackness. “Maybe that’s how we get to the caves,” Benny said. “Can we go looking tomorrow, Henry? Can we?”
“Sure thing, Benny,” Henry answered. “Now let’s head back. Careful where you walk.”
The ground was slippery on the way back to the castle. The children watched every step they took so they wouldn’t fall. Had they looked up just then, they might have seen one more odd thing. Up in the tower someone else was watching their every step, too.
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