“Uh-oh!” said Benny. He paused as they entered the library. “We didn’t bring our library cards.”
“That’s okay, Benny” Henry told him. “We can look through some books right here. We don’t need a card for that.”
The lady behind the information desk looked up. When she recognized the Aldens, she smiled and waved. The children were regular visitors to the library.
Jessie led the way to a long table in the middle of the room with a row of computers on it. “Let’s browse through the computer catalog,” she said quietly. “We can do a subject search for any books with nursery rhymes in them.”
“Sounds good,” said Henry.
It wasn’t long before Jessie had found eight titles. In no time at all, they were able to locate the books in the children’s section.
As they claimed an empty table by the window, Jessie reminded everyone, “We’re looking for a nursery rhyme about a sheep and a cow and a—”
“Haystack,” finished Benny, taking a seat next to Violet.
“Right,” said Jessie, and she sat down beside Henry.
Benny opened a book. Then a frown crossed his round face.
Violet pulled her chair closer to her younger brother. “Why don’t we work together,” she suggested. She knew Benny would have trouble with the harder words.
Benny looked relieved. “Two heads are better than one,” he whispered. “Right?”
Violet smiled. “That’s just what I was thinking.”
They hadn’t been there very long before Jessie spotted a silver-haired man across the room. He was wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt. Although his back was to them, he looked familiar.
Just then the man turned around. He stared right at Jessie, then he turned on his heel and hurried away. At that moment Jessie realized where she’d seen him before—he was the man who’d ducked behind the trees the other day!
Jessie tried to collect her thoughts. Why had the mystery man disappeared so quickly again? Had he followed them to the library?
The other Aldens still had their heads bent over their books, so Jessie decided not to say anything. She didn’t want to frighten the younger children. After taking a long and careful look around, she breathed a sigh of relief. The man was nowhere to be seen.
Although she kept glancing over her shoulder, Jessie returned her attention to the nursery rhymes. A short time later, Violet and Benny found a rhyme with a cow in it. But the cow was jumping over the moon. And there wasn’t any mention of sheep or haystacks. Then Henry showed them one about Little Bo Peep losing her sheep, but that wasn’t right, either.
“Maybe I was wrong,” Jessie whispered. “Maybe those lines weren’t from a nursery rhyme.”
Henry suddenly looked up. “You weren’t wrong,” he said. “Listen to this.” He began to read quietly from the book.
Little Boy Blue,
Come blow your horn.
The sheep’s in the meadow,
The cow’s in the corn;
But where is the boy
Who looks after the sheep?
He’s under a haystack,
Fast asleep.
“Hooray!” Benny cried, almost shouting. Then he clamped a hand over his mouth.
He had forgotten where he was for a moment.
“You were right after all, Jessie,” Violet whispered, looking at her sister with admiration.
Jessie agreed that they’d found another piece of the puzzle. But where did it fit into the mystery?
Henry didn’t know, either. “But I have a feeling,” he said, “that if we can figure out what this Little Boy Blue clue is trying to tell us, then we’ll know where to find the hollow tree.”
Jessie thought about this for a minute. Then she nodded. “I think you’re right, Henry.”
Outside, Benny said, “I can’t wait to tell Sam about this!”
“Let’s tell him right now,” suggested Violet, and the others nodded.
As they rode their bikes back through town, Henry noticed that Jessie was unusually quiet. He could see something was troubling her. “Is anything wrong?” he asked.
Jessie slowed her bike to a stop at a red light. When she was sure the younger children were out of earshot, she told him about seeing the mystery man again.
“Are you sure it was the same man?” he asked.
“I can’t be certain,” admitted Jessie. “But I think so.”
“You might be right, Jessie,” Henry said thoughtfully. “But even if it was the same man, it could just be a coincidence that he happened to be at the library, too.”
Jessie had to agree Henry had a point. “Maybe I am making too much of this. I suppose it could be a coincidence.” But there was a small part of her that didn’t believe it for a minute.
“Watch is a good buddy of mine,” Sam said when the Aldens arrived with their dog. “Feel free to bring him along with you anytime.”
At the sound of his name, Watch ran over to the couch where Sam was resting. The little dog jumped up and began to lick Sam’s face.
Sam laughed as he scratched Watch between the ears. “What’d I tell you?” he said, looking over at the Aldens.
“Watch always likes coming here,” said Henry.
Benny was bouncing up and down in his chair. “Guess what.” He couldn’t wait to tell Sam all about their day. “We figured out two clues already!”
“Did you really?” Sam asked, surprised to hear this.
The children took turns telling Sam all that had happened. Henry finished by saying, “The first few lines really were from a nursery rhyme. The one about Little Boy Blue.”
“What . . .?” Sam looked startled. For a moment, he just stared off into space as if in a trance.
Henry and Jessie exchanged glances. Why was Sam surprised by the nursery rhyme?
“Is anything wrong, Sam?” Violet asked.
Sam didn’t answer.
“Sam?” Jessie asked.
Suddenly Sam jerked his head around. “Oh!” He seemed to have forgotten for a moment that he had company. “I’m sorry. I . . . I was lost in thought.”
“Is everything okay?” Henry wondered.
Sam didn’t answer right away. He had a faraway look in his eye. “Everything’s fine,” he said at last. “I just couldn’t help remembering something. You see, that was my brother’s favorite nursery rhyme. When he was small, I mean. That’s how Simon got the nickname Blue.” Sam smoothed his droopy mustache. “We all had colors for nicknames back then. Everybody called me Red, and Thomas was Brown. And then of course there was Pinky.” Sam’s voice had dropped so low, the Aldens could hardly hear him.
“Was Pinky your dog?” asked Benny.
“I don’t let the past bother me anymore,” said Sam as if he hadn’t even heard Benny’s question. “No point in crying over spilled milk.”
“Oh,” said Benny, still not sure who Pinky was.
Violet felt awful. It was plain that the past did bother Sam. Their visit was supposed to cheer him up. Instead, Sam’s eyes were suddenly filled with sadness.
The children tried to change the subject. They asked Sam about washing windows instead, and he gave them some tips. By the time the Aldens were ready to leave, he was his usual cheery self again.
“I’ve got a hunch,” he told them, “if you can figure out that Little Boy Blue clue, it’ll lead you right to the hollow tree.”
Jessie nodded. “That’s what we thought, too.”
But outside, Violet said, “It’s a very strange clue. How are we ever going to figure it out?”
The other Aldens looked at one another. Nobody had an answer for that question. |