“Can you believe it?” Jessie couldn’t help laughing. “There might really be a troll under a bridge!” She couldn’t get over it.
The four children were up bright and early the next morning. They were talking about the mystery while they made breakfast.
Benny placed napkins around the table. “I wonder what message it’s guarding.”
“We’ll find out soon,” said Henry, who was standing at the stove. “We’ll head over to the bridge after we eat.”
“I wish Grandfather had joined us for breakfast,” said Violet, when they sat down at the table. “He hasn’t had a chance to see the photographs yet.” She reached for the envelope of photos on the table. “There was one that turned out especially well.”
“You mean the one of the bald eagle?” asked Henry, swallowing a mouthful of eggs. “That was my favorite.”
Violet shook her head. “No, I mean the one with Benny sleeping on the ferry.” She looked through the envelope. “Here it is.” She held it out to Henry. “Benny looks so cute with his head on Grandfather’s lap.”
Henry couldn’t help smiling. “You were lost in dreamland, Benny,” he said. Then his eyebrows suddenly furrowed. “Take a look at the man in this photo. The one sitting at the back of the ferry.”
The others pushed back their chairs and went to look over Henry’s shoulder.
Jessie’s eyes widened as she looked from the photo to Henry and back again. “That can’t be Uncle Andy, can it?”
“Where?” Benny asked.
Jessie tapped a finger, pointing to a man in the back row. He was sitting in the shadows, reading a newspaper.
“It does look a lot like Uncle Andy,” Violet had to admit.
Henry nodded. “Enough like him to be his twin brother. At least, from a distance,” he quickly added.
“It is Uncle Andy,” declared Benny. He sounded very sure.
Violet’s lips curled up into a smile. “It can’t be, Benny. Uncle Andy’s in Connecticut.”
“Besides,” put in Jessie, glancing down at the photo, “it’s hard to tell what this man really looks like. After all, he’s half-hidden by a newspaper.”
Henry shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to chalk it up to another look-alike sighting.”
Violet giggled as she sat down again. “I guess it was your turn to see a double, Henry.”
With that, the four Alden children finished breakfast. After leaving the kitchen spick-and-span, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny headed down to the lobby.
“Hi, kids!” Toby called out to them. “Where are you off to today?”
Jessie didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t trust the hotel clerk with the truth. “Oh, we’d thought we’d take a look around the Fremont neighborhood.”
“Well, that’s quite a distance to walk,” Toby informed them. “It’ll be easier if you hop on the bus at the corner.”
“Thanks, Toby,” said Henry. Then they hurried away.
The children walked towards the bus stop, past smartly dressed men and women hurrying to work. They hadn’t gone far before Benny noticed a souvenir shop. He stopped to look at the display of T-shirts in the window.
“I bet you want a T-shirt with the Space Needle on it,” said Jessie, reading his mind. “Right, Benny?”
Benny looked over at his oldest sister expectantly. “Do we have enough money?”
“We’ll, Grandfather did give us some extra money for souvenirs,” Jessie told him.
Inside the store, Benny made a beeline for the salesclerk. “Excuse me,” he said. “I was wondering if you have any T-shirts with the Space Needle on the front?”
His brother and sisters exchanged smiles. They could always count on Benny not to waste time on small talk.
“Yes, right over here.” The smiling young woman held up a T-shirt. “This one should fit.”
Benny beamed. “Thank you very much!”
“I really like that purple T-shirt with the ferry on it,” said Violet. Purple was Violet’s favorite color, and she almost always wore something purple or violet.
Jessie glanced around. There were so many T-shirts, it was hard to choose. After much thought, she chose one with the Monorail on the front.
“I think I’ll get the Seattle Mariners,” said Henry, who was a big baseball fan.
“I’m guessing you’re from out of town,” the salesclerk remarked as she rang up their purchases.
Violet answered shyly, “Our grandfather’s here on business.”
The young woman counted out the change. “And you’re off to see the sights?”
Benny piped up, “Wealready saw the Space Needle and the underground city. Now we’re checking out the troll.”
The salesclerk did not seem surprised to hear this. “The Fremont Troll always gets a lot of visitors.”
The Aldens all looked at each other in surprise. “You’ve heard of the troll?” Jessie questioned.
“Oh, of course! It’s one of the most popular art pieces in Seattle. Kids love to climb all over it.” The salesclerk slipped their T-shirts into a bag.
“How about that?” Henry was shaking his head in disbelief as they stepped outside. “The riddle’s leading us to a sculpture.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” said Violet, who took a great interest in art.
It wasn’t long before the children were on a bus heading towards the Aurora Bridge.
“I can see the bridge up ahead!” Benny cried out. He was craning his neck and pointing out the window.
Henry pulled on the bell. As the bus slowed to a stop, the Aldens quickly got off. There was no stopping the youngest Alden. The others gave chase as Benny led the way under the bridge. They all came to a sudden stop when they caught sight of a huge concrete sculpture of a one-eyed troll.
For a few moments no one spoke. Then Violet said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Neither have I,” said Jessie.
“And look at that!” cried Benny, staring wide-eyed. “The troll’s crushing a car in his hand.”
“Awesome!” Henry couldn’t stop shaking his head.
For a while, they put all thoughts of the mystery aside as they climbed all over the gigantic sculpture. Violet took a snapshot of Benny standing on the troll’s head, and another one of Jessie and Henry sitting on the monster’s shoulder. Finally, Benny spoke up.
“I wonder where that message could be?” he said, scratching his head.
Jessie slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. “We almost forgot why we came!”
The children began making a careful search. They circled the troll once … twice … three times looking for the message. But no luck.
Henry scratched his head. “Maybe somebody beat us to it.”
“Oh, Henry!” cried Violet. “I hope not.”
But sharp-eyed Benny had spotted something the others hadn’t. In a flash, he crawled under the troll’s hand. He came out holding a small white box tied up with a red ribbon.
“What would we do without you, Benny?” Jessie gave him a hug.
Benny beamed. “I’m pretty good at finding things.”
“You sure are,” agreed Henry. The Aldens sat down together on a concrete slab.
Sure enough, they found another note inside the box. Jessie wasted no time reading it aloud.
“If you catch sight
of fish flying high,
make your way to a bank
standing nearby.”
“Flying fish?” Benny wrinkled his forehead. “That’s kind of weird.”
Violet agreed. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Nothing about this mystery makes sense!” Henry pointed out.
“It’s almost as if—” Violet stopped in mid-sentence when Jessie put a finger to her lips, signaling for her brothers and sister to be quiet.
“What is it?” Henry asked in a hushed voice.
“I’m not sure,” Jessie told him, glancing around uneasily. “I just have the strangest feeling we’re being watched.”
The Aldens all stopped and looked around. They saw a young couple taking pictures of the troll, but they didn’t see anything suspicious.
Benny leaned closer to the others. “Maybe the troll has his eye on us,” he whispered, half-joking.
“That troll has a hubcap for an eye, Benny,” Henry pointed out, laughing a little. “I don’t think he can see much.”
Jessie put a comforting arm around her little brother. “I’m sure nobody’s watching,” she said. She didn’t want him to worry. But she really wasn’t sure at all. |