In the morning, the Aldens made breakfast. Jessie dipped pieces of bread into egg and milk for French toast. Benny set the table. Violet put out the maple syrup and jam, and Henry filled glasses with milk.
After the bread was browned, the children ate the tasty meal and then cleaned up the kitchen.
“Let’s wait in the boxcar for Aunt Jane,” Benny said.
Henry said, “Good idea. I’ll tell Mrs. McGregor where we are.”
Once the Aldens were in their beloved boxcar, they sat on the floor on the colorful cushions.
“You know,” Jessie said, “before I went to sleep last night I kept thinking about the Roth house. I kept wondering if someone was deliberately trying to scare us away — and scare Joe and Alice away, too.”
“What do you mean?” Henry asked.
“Well,” Jessie went on, “maybe someone is behind the singing, and the dress, and all that … doing it on purpose.”
“Who would want to do a thing like that?” Violet asked.
“I don’t know for sure,” Jessie answered, “but look at all the people who might have a reason. Mr. Carter doesn’t want any neighbors. And Mr. Yeats doesn’t want the house changed. And Ms. Evans thinks the house should be a landmark. Maybe one of them thinks we’ll tell Joe and Alice not to buy the house.”
“Yeah,” Benny said, “and Mr. Farley is just plain weird.”
Henry shook his head. “Jessie, no one has a key to the house but Joe and Alice, and now us. So how would someone get in? There has never been any sign of anyone breaking in.”
“Henry is right,” Violet said.
Jessie sighed. “I don’t know.”
Then Violet read to Benny while Jessie and Henry worked on a model airplane, until there was a knock at the door. Benny opened it, and there was Aunt Jane.
“It’s so good to see all of you,” she cried, hugging each one of them.
“We’re awfully glad to see you, too,” Violet said. “We have an extra pillow, so you can sit down with us.”
When they all settled themselves on the pillows, Aunt Jane said, “Your grandfather tells me you’ve been having some mysterious adventures in Joe and Alice’s new house.”
“We certainly have,” Violet said. And she immediately started telling her aunt the entire story of the house and all the strange happenings. She also told her about Mr. Farley and the Carters and Thomas Yeats and Terry Evans.
“And,” Jessie said, “we found Celia’s diary yesterday.”
Then they all had to tell Aunt Jane about the diary. She listened carefully and said, “There certainly has been a lot happening. I think we should go over to the house now and you can show me around.”
They piled into Aunt Jane’s car and rode into Greenfield. As they drove down Main Street, Violet cried out, “Look!”
“What?” Henry asked.
“It’s Ms. Evans, and look at what she’s carrying.”
They all looked at Terry Evans, who was walking down the street. Her arms were full of yellow roses.
“Remember,” Violet said, “we found three yellow roses in the living room at the Roth house. And we didn’t put them there.”
Aunt Jane laughed. “Violet, dear, anyone can buy yellow roses.”
“Aunt Jane is right,” Henry said.
“That’s true,” Violet said. “But it doesn’t mean Ms. Evans didn’t put the roses we saw into the living room.”
When they got to the house, Aunt Jane went over to admire Mr. Farley’s garden, as the children headed up to the porch. Benny pointed to the mailbox. “There’s a letter in it,” he said.
Jessie reached into the box and took out an envelope. On the front was printed THE ALDEN CHILDREN. She opened the envelope, took out a piece of paper, read it, and gasped.
“What does it say?” Henry asked.
Jessie handed the letter to Henry. He read, “Aldens: Go home and stay home.”
“I’ll bet Mr. Carter wrote it. He said he didn’t like neighbors,” Benny said.
Henry said firmly, “We certainly aren’t going to let whoever wrote it scare us away. Are we?”
“No!” Jessie said.
“We aren’t,” Benny agreed.
“I guess not,” Violet said.
Henry looked back at Aunt Jane, who was coming up the front walk. “Don’t mention this to Aunt Jane. She and Grandfather might not want us to come back here anymore — and then we’d never solve this mystery.”
“That certainly is a beautiful garden next door,” Aunt Jane said, stepping up onto the porch. “Come on, let’s go in and you can give me a tour.”
They all went through the house, and Aunt Jane said, “It’s a lovely house. Joe and Alice will be very happy here. And you children have done a lot of cleaning. I can see that.”
“But there is still more we want to do,” Violet said. “We want to finish cleaning out the closets, and we haven’t gone through the big desk.”
“And I have a little more painting to do,” Henry said.
“And I want to finish cleaning the windows,” Benny added.
“Well,” Aunt Jane said, “you still have time. Grandfather says Joe and Alice won’t be here for another couple of weeks.”
There was a knock on the door, and a telephone man came in. “I have an order for a phone to be installed here. A Mr. James Alden left it with the phone company.”
“That’s our grandfather,” Benny said.
“Where do you want it?” the man asked.
Aunt Jane looked thoughtful. “Why don’t you put it in the kitchen? Then the owners can have extensions added wherever they want them.”
The telephone man went into the kitchen, and Aunt Jane and the children sat on the porch steps while he worked. Mrs. Carter saw them there and came over. The Aldens introduced her to Aunt Jane.
Mrs. Carter said, “Your nieces and nephews have certainly been busy fixing up this place. They don’t even seem to be bothered by the rumors of a ghost in the house.”
Aunt Jane smiled. “Of course they aren’t bothered. They are sensible children and certainly don’t believe in ghosts.”
Just then the phone man came outside. “Well, I’ve hooked up the phone and it’s working.”
The man left and Aunt Jane asked, “Do you children want to stay here and work or not? I’m ready to go home.”
Benny said, “I want to be with you, Aunt Jane.”
“Me, too,” the other Aldens said.
“Good,” their aunt said. “We’ll stop in town and have some lunch and then go home.”
They ate in the Greenfield Coffee Shop and then spent the afternoon playing Monopoly and Scrabble with Aunt Jane. None of the children mentioned the nasty letter they’d received.
At the dinner table that night, Grandfather said, “I have some good news for you. Alice called this afternoon and said they are planning on moving earlier than they thought they would. They’ve sold their house and the new owners want to move in next week, if possible.”
“Next week!” Jessie cried out. “We won’t have time to finish everything.”
“Well, just do the best you can,” Mr. Alden said. “I know you’ve done a great deal already.”
Henry sat silently. Then he said, “I have an idea! Suppose we go over tomorrow and stay overnight. That way we can work all day and the next morning, too, without going back and forth.”
Benny looked surprised. “There’s only one bed,” he said.
“We’ll bring sleeping bags,” Jessie said.
“And food,” Benny added.
Violet looked unsure. “You want to stay there at night?” she asked.
“Violet,” Jessie said firmly, “there’s nothing to be nervous about. You know there are no ghosts in that house.”
“I forgot about the ghost,” Benny said.
Grandfather looked uncertain. “I certainly don’t think there are any ghosts in the house, but I’m not sure you children should stay there alone.”
Jessie looked at Aunt Jane pleadingly. Aunt Jane said, “Well, James, there are neighbors on both sides of them. That Mrs. Carter seems like a very nice woman. If they needed anything I’m sure she would be very helpful.”
“And the phone has been installed,” Henry added. “So we can always call you.”
Grandfather smiled. “It’s hard to resist you children. I guess it’s all right. But the least little thing that goes wrong, you will call me. Right?”
“Absolutely, Grandfather,” Jessie said. |