As Spence walked off, Benny edged closer to the rough stone ledge and peered over the side. Down below, purple pansies rippled in the breeze. He looked relieved.
As if reading his thoughts, Henry put a comforting arm around his brother. “Not a drop of water in sight.”
“The Chattering Bones haunts the bridge at night,” said Pam, who was standing within earshot. “Remember?”
Henry turned to look at her. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Before Pam had a chance to answer, Jessie called out, “Look at this.” She pointed to a small bronze plaque bolted to one of the stones. Engraved on the plaque were the words JON’S BLUNDER.
“One of the men working on the bridge had it made as a joke,” Norah told them. “It wasn’t long before everyone started calling the bridge Jon’s Blunder.”
Benny frowned. “What’s a blunder?”
“A blunder’s a mistake, Benny,” Henry told him. “A big mistake.”
“Oh!” said Benny, catching on. “And Jon made a big mistake—the bridge wasn’t long enough for the stream.”
Norah laughed. “I’m afraid my great-great-grandfather never heard the end of it.”
Just then, Violet noticed something, too. The shape of a heart had been chiseled into one of the stones nearby. In the middle of the heart was Meg’s name.
They all moved closer for a better look. “Jon carved that heart for Meg on the day he proposed to her,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Right, Norah?”
“That’s right, Margaret.”
“It’s so romantic,” said Violet. She had a dreamy smile on her face as she traced the letters MEG with a finger.
But Benny was more interested in the mystery. “Let’s get started looking for clues,” he suggested.
“Any idea where you’ll begin?” Norah asked as they headed back to the house.
“We thought we’d hike around the property,” said Jessie. “Maybe keep an eye out for Eton’s Loop.”
“Whatever that is,” added Benny.
Mrs. McGregor looked up at the blue sky. “Why not pack a lunch?” she suggested.
“Oh, yes!” put in Norah. “What could be better than a picnic?”
“Nothing!” cried Benny, who loved picnics.
Mrs. McGregor smiled. “There’s a great spot to eat by the stream in the woods.”
“Sounds good,” said Henry.
“Come with us, Pam,” Jessie offered.
Pam put on a little smile. “Thanks, but I never hike that far. Not all the way to the woods.”
The Aldens looked at each other, puzzled. How could anyone turn down a picnic?
As they went inside, Norah said, “By the way, there’s a potluck dinner at the community center tonight, so watch the time.”
“What’s a—” Benny began to say, but Jessie knew the question before he asked it.
“A potluck’s where everybody brings something, Benny,” she explained. “That way, you get to sample different dishes.”
Benny broke into a big grin. “Sounds like fun!”
“A picnic and a potluck dinner in the same day,” said Henry. “That’s a dream come true for you, Benny!”
The Aldens washed and dried the breakfast dishes, then made sandwiches on the counter. Violet buttered the bread. Henry added cold cuts, pickles, and lettuce. Benny slapped on the mustard. And Jessie cut and wrapped the sandwiches that Benny passed to her.
“I wonder why Pam never wants to do anything with us,” said Benny, licking some mustard from the back of his hand.
“I’m not sure,” Jessie said after a moment’s thought. “She’s hard to figure out.”
“You’ve got that right,” said Henry.
“She didn’t even want to help us solve a mystery,” added Benny, who still couldn’t get over it.
“Maybe Pam’s shy around new people,” Violet was quick to suggest.
Jessie frowned as she wrapped a sandwich. She thought there was more to it than that. Pam always seemed so eager to get away from them.
Henry filled a large thermos with lemonade. “I think we should concentrate on one mystery at a time,” he said, and the others nodded.
Jessie loaded their picnic lunch into her backpack. She even remembered Benny’s special cup—the cracked pink cup he had found while they were living in the boxcar.
Then they filed out the door.
“Stick together!” Norah called out to them from an opened window. “We don’t want anyone to get lost.”
“Don’t worry, Norah,” Jessie called back to her with a little wave. “We always stick together.”
The Aldens set off across the fields, following a row of scraggly pines that grew near a rail fence. They made a detour around a weedy pond and stopped by a lone apple tree on a hill to pick wildflowers. By the time they reached the woods, the afternoon sun was getting hot and their flowers were starting to wilt.
“I’m starving,” said Benny, as they followed a winding path covered with pine needles. “Is it lunchtime yet?”
“Got to be!” said Henry. “I’m ready for a break.”
“Mrs. McGregor said there was a good spot for a picnic by the stream,” Violet recalled.
“It must be up ahead,” guessed Jessie. “Let’s keep going a while longer.”
Pine needles crackled under Benny’s feet as he quickened his pace. “Sure hope we find it soon,” he said, rubbing his empty stomach.
“Doesn’t it smell wonderful here?” Violet said, looking back at her older sister.
Jessie filled her lungs with the spicy scent of pine. “It sure does.”
Just then, Benny stopped so quickly that Henry almost bumped into him.
“What’s wrong?” Henry asked.
Benny stood frozen to the spot.
“Benny?” Jessie said in alarm. “Are you okay?”
The youngest Alden put a finger to his lips signaling for the others to be quiet. “Listen!”
No one spoke for a moment. Then Henry nodded. So did Jessie and Violet. They heard it, too. A rushing noise.
“That’s water rushing over rocks,” stated Henry. “The stream must be close by.”
It wasn’t long before they reached a stream that wound its way through the woods.
They quickly made themselves comfortable on the grassy bank. Then Jessie passed out the sandwiches while Henry poured the lemonade.
“Mrs. McGregor was right,” Violet said as she unwrapped a sandwich. “This really is a perfect spot for a picnic.”
Jessie looked around. “It’s a perfect spot for a bridge, too,” she said, taking the lemonade that Henry handed her.
“You’re right, Jessie,” said Henry. “I bet this is just where Jon Eton was going to put that old stone bridge.”
“I wonder if …” Violet began and then stopped herself.
“Are you wondering if one of the workmen really did steal Meg’s brooch?” Jessie asked. “I don’t blame you, Violet. I can’t help wondering about that myself.”
“Annette seems so convinced,” said Violet.
Henry suddenly had a thought that hadn’t occurred to him before. “Maybe it wasn’t one of the workmen who stole the brooch.”
“What are you getting at, Henry?” Violet looked confused.
“Maybe Jon took Meg’s brooch.”
“I suppose so.” Violet frowned. She didn’t want to believe Jon Eton would steal his wife’s family heirloom.
“If only we could figure out Meg’s verse,” said Jessie. She pulled her notebook from her back pocket and read the words aloud one more time.
When last goes first,
and first goes last,
Eton’s Loop will show you
a clue from the past.
But nobody had any idea what the verse meant. It still didn’t make any sense.
Violet couldn’t help noticing that her little brother was unusually quiet. She could tell something was troubling him. “Is anything wrong, Benny?”
Benny’s eyes were fixed on the water flowing swiftly over the rocks. “I heard it last night,” he said softly.
“Heard what, Benny?” Jessie asked.
“Water rushing over rocks!”
The others stopped eating and stared at him. “I didn’t know what it was,” Benny told them. “But now I do.”
“You couldn’t have heard this stream last night, Benny,” Henry argued. “It’s too far away from the house.”
Benny shook his head. “It wasn’t this stream, Henry. It was the ghost—the ghost of the Chattering Bones!”
“Oh!” Violet put one hand over her mouth in surprise.
But Henry wasn’t having any of that. “There’s no such thing as ghosts, Benny” he said for the umpteenth time. “Not even ghost streams.”
Violet glanced at Henry. She knew her older brother was right. And yet, Benny’s words still gave her a chill.
“Benny are you sure you weren’t dreaming?” Jessie wanted to know.
“I thought maybe I was,” Benny admitted. “I even forgot all about the weird noise for a while—until we got closer to this stream.” He looked over at his brother and sisters. “It wasn’t a dream last night. I’m sure of it.”
“There’s only one way to settle this,” said Jessie. “If it happens again, we’ll all check it out together.”
Violet added, “That’s a promise.”
“There must be an explanation for what you heard, Benny,” said Henry. “We just have to figure out what it is.”
Benny gave his brother and sisters a grateful smile. They always knew how to make him feel better.
After lunch, the four Aldens slipped off their socks and shoes and stood ankle-deep in the icy cold stream. The water was so clear they could see to the bottom. Sidestepping the rocks, they waded downstream. By the time they got back, their pockets were bulging with interesting pebbles.
When they stepped onto the mossy bank again, Violet spotted something half-hidden in the long grass nearby. “Look at this,” she said, holding up a braided green headband.
“I bet somebody’s looking all over for that,” said Jessie.
“Pam always wears headbands,” Benny pointed out as he put on his socks.
Henry nodded. “Maybe it’s hers.”
“Possibly,” said Jessie. “But not likely.”
Violet agreed. “Pam never hikes this far, remember?” She slipped the headband into her pocket, hoping to find the owner.
Henry looked at his watch. “I guess we should head back.”
“Right,” said Jessie, remembering the potluck dinner. “It’s a long hike.”
With that, the four children followed the path out of the woods, still no closer to solving the mystery. In fact, they didn’t have the faintest idea how they were going to solve it. All they knew was that they had to try. |