The Mystery of the Lake Monster

  “It sounds like an owl,” said Benny.

  “It does sound that way a little bit,” Dr. Lin agreed. She didn’t seem so angry now. She gave Benny a little smile. “I remember the first time I heard the bears calling to each other. I wasn’t much older than you are. I think that’s when I decided to become a biologist. But you don’t have anything to worry about. Those bears are very far away. They won’t bother you.”

  She turned to go.

  “Wait,” Jessie blurted out. “That’s not the sound we heard. It was more like a mooing sound, only lower and more growly.”

  Dr. Lin looked over her shoulder with a frown. “I’ve never heard a noise like that. There’s no animal I know of that makes that sound in these mountains. Or anywhere, for that matter. It must have been the wind blowing. . . .”

  Her voice trailed off as the long, low sound rolled across the lake once more.

  CHAPTER 5

  A Monster Hunt

  “What was that?” asked Jessie after the sound had died away. “What kind of animal makes a sound like that?”

  Dr. Lin looked very puzzled and surprised. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never heard an animal call like that one.”

  Benny was very excited. “Dr. Lin! Dr. Lin!” he exclaimed. “Do you think it could have been Lucy? The monster in the lake?”

  “No, I don’t,” Dr. Lin answered firmly. “There is no such thing as a lake monster — not here, not in Lake Champlain, not in Loch Ness. It is scientifically impossible.”

  “Then what made that sound?” asked Violet.

  “I don’t know,” said Dr. Lin. “But whatever made it, I’m sure there is a simple explanation.” She tightened the sash on her bathrobe and turned away again. “It’s late and I’m going to bed.”

  She turned her flashlight onto the trail, following its beam through the trees. A few minutes later they heard the door of her cabin slam shut.

  “Now, who could that be knocking at the door so early in the morning?” asked Grandfather Alden the next day.

  The Aldens had just finished eating breakfast and were washing the dishes and putting them away. Benny dropped a handful of spoons in the drawer and said, “I’ll find out.”

  A moment later he opened the door and Nicole burst in. “Did you hear it?” she gasped. “Did you hear that sound on the lake last night?”

  “The bears calling to each other?” Jessie asked cautiously.

  “No! I know what the bears sound like. This was a completely different sound. Kind of like a weird cow,” said Nicole.

  “Yes!” cried Benny. “We heard and Watch heard and Dr. Lin heard. Grandfather heard, too!”

  Nicole clapped her hands together. “I knew it! I knew it! It’s got to be Lucy,” she said.

  “Dr. Lin says it’s not really an animal. She said there’s some ‘simple explanation,’” Henry said, repeating what the biologist had said to them the night before.

  “What we need to find out is what made that sound,” said Jessie.

  “Or who,” said Violet.

  Jessie nodded. Nicole said, “I know. Let’s see if we can take a canoe out on the lake. Maybe we can find something that way.”

  “Even if we don’t, it sounds like fun,” said Henry.

  “We have to go tell someone at the lodge that we want to use the canoes,” said Nicole. “And get life jackets.”

  When the Aldens and Nicole reached the lodge, Nora was at the registration desk talking to a young man and woman holding suitcases. “I think you’ll like it here in the lodge. Your room is called Lakeview. It’s the second room on the right at the top of the stairs,” she said, handing the young woman a key.

  “Thanks,” said the young woman. The couple went up the stairs.

  Nora turned. “Hi,” she said, smiling. “What can I do for you kids?”

  “We’d like to take out two of the canoes and we need life jackets,” said Jessie.

  “Good idea. It’s a beautiful day for a paddle around the lake,” said Nora. “Come on. I keep the life jackets in our storage house.”

  She led them out of the lodge to a low building next to it. Pushing open the door, she removed several life jackets in various sizes from hooks on the wall. The building was filled with all kinds of tools.

  “Wow,” Henry said admiringly. “This is better than a hardware store.”

  Nora laughed. “We’re a long way from any hardware store out here. Drew or I only go to town once a week, on Thursdays, for supplies. We have to be prepared to fix things ourselves. And you can’t do that without the proper tools.”

  “Look at these old horns with the balloons on one end,” said Benny.

  “Benny, wait,” Nora began, but it was too late. Benny had picked up one of the horns and squeezed it. A blast of sound made Benny drop the horn to cover his ears. Watch yelped in surprise.

  “Owww,” said Benny. “What was that?” He took his hands away from his ears.

  Nora picked up the horn. “It’s an air horn, Benny,” she told him. “We have it in case we need to signal for someone out on the lake.

  “And speaking of the right tools . . .” Nora went on. She reached up and took a very small life jacket off a hook. “We even have a life jacket for dogs.”

  “Watch knows how to swim,” said Benny.

  “Yes, and so do you, Benny, but you know that you are always supposed to wear your life jacket when you are in a boat,” Henry said.

  “I know,” said Benny. “Come on, Watch. I’ll help you put your life jacket on.”

  “By the way, you didn’t hear any noises coming from the lake last night, did you?” asked Jessie, trying to sound casual.

  “No,” said Nora quickly — almost too quickly, Jessie thought. Nora added, “Well, you’d better get started if you want to enjoy paddling around the lake before it gets too hot. Just leave the life jackets on their hooks when you are finished. The door is usually unlocked.”

  She turned and walked quickly back to the lodge. Jessie stared thoughtfully after her.

  “What is it, Jessie?” asked Henry.

  “Nora didn’t even ask what kind of noise, or when we might have heard it — or why I was asking,” said Jessie.

  “Do you think she did hear the noise and doesn’t want anyone to know?” asked Violet.

  “It’s possible,” said Jessie. “Especially if she thinks it could be bad for business.”

  “There is only one thing to do,” Henry declared.

  “What?” asked Nicole.

  “Go find Lucy — or whatever was making that noise,” said Henry.

  When the Aldens and Nicole got back to the beach, they saw Jason stretched out on a towel in the sand. He was wearing his bathing suit and reading. He had on dark glasses and a baseball hat pulled down over his eyes.

  “Hi,” said Benny.

  “Mmm,” said Jason without raising his gaze from his book.

  “Want to come with us on a canoe trip around the lake?” asked Henry politely.

  Jason glanced up. “Oh. Are you going to look for monsters?” He laughed.

  Violet said, “Even if we don’t see Lucy, it will be fun.”

  “Thanks anyway,” said Jason, “but I’ll stay here.” He pointed to the camera that Nicole was holding and added, “When you take Lucy’s picture, tell her to smile.” He rolled over on one side and kept reading.

  Henry, Benny, and Watch got into one canoe. Jessie, Nicole, and Violet took the other. They paddled out into the deep blue lake. The water was very still.

  When they were in the middle of the lake, they heard the hum of a car motor from the direction of the lodge.

  “Sound travels far across the water,” commented Jessie.

  Violet raised the binoculars she had brought along and trained them on the lodge. “Someone just drove up to the lodge,” she reported.

  A door slammed.

  “That’s Drew, coming out of the front door of the lodge. Now a woman in khaki pants and a plaid shirt is g
etting out of the car. She and Drew are shaking hands,” Violet said.

  “It’s probably another guest,” said Nicole.

  “I don’t see any luggage,” said Violet. “Wait! Nora just came out of the lodge. She’s got her hands on her hips. She looks angry. It looks as if she and Drew are arguing.”

  Everyone in the canoe turned to squint at the lodge. But although they could see the building, without the binoculars they couldn’t see much else.

  A car door slammed. Then the lodge door slammed once, then again. The car motor started, then faded away.

  “What happened now?” cried Benny.

  “The woman in the plaid shirt gave Nora something and she threw it down. Then the woman got in her car and drove away, and Nora went back into the lodge. Drew followed her,” Violet said. She lowered the binoculars.

  “Wow, it’s just like a play,” Nicole exclaimed.

  “Only you couldn’t see it,” Benny said.

  “Would you like to use the binoculars?” Violet asked Nicole.

  “Yes,” said Nicole. “I think we should all take turns using them. We can keep a lookout for Lucy.”

  “Good idea,” Henry said.

  They paddled on. They saw a squirrel drinking from the edge of the lake. They saw a hawk circling high above. But although they paddled around the lake all morning, they didn’t see any sign of a lake monster.

  The children put their life preservers back into the storage building. They were on their way to the cabin when Violet bent down and picked up a small rectangle of ivory-colored paper. “Look,” she said.

  “What is it, Violet?” asked Jessie.

  “It’s a business card,” Violet told them.

  “ ‘Mountain Home Real Estate,’ ” she read from the card. “ ‘Geena Bush, Broker.’ ”

  “That must be who came to visit Drew and Nora,” said Nicole.

  “I don’t think she came to visit Nora,” said Jessie thoughtfully. “Not if Nora was angry to see her.”

  “You’re right,” said Henry. “Nora doesn’t want to sell Lucille Lodge. But Drew sounded as if he might when we overheard them arguing. Remember?”

  “Did this broke lady get in trouble for coming to see Drew?” asked Benny.

  “Broker, Benny,” said Violet. “Yes, it looks as if she did. This card must be what she tried to give Nora and what Nora threw down.”

  Jessie said slowly, “If Lucy isn’t real — and we haven’t found any scientific proof that she is — do you suppose that Geena Bush could have something to do with the rumors . . . and with the sounds we heard last night?”

  “Or Drew?” suggested Henry.

  “But if Geena Bush had driven up to the lake last night, we would have heard her car. Remember how sounds carry across the lake?” said Nicole.

  “True,” said Jessie.

  “What if Drew and Geena Bush are working together?” said Violet.

  Henry nodded. “It could be. Maybe he sneaked out last night and hiked to one side of the lake to make the sound.”

  “What we need are more clues,” said Jessie. “But how do we find them?”

  “We keep looking,” Benny said. “It’s a mystery and we’re good at solving mysteries. We will solve this one, too!”

  The Aldens had finished dinner and were sitting on the screened porch of their cabin. A soft rain that had been falling for the last two hours had just stopped.

  They were glad to sit on the cozy porch and rest. It had been a long hard day, and they were a little discouraged because they were no closer to solving the mystery of the lake monster. No one was talking very much.

  “Grrr,” Watch growled suddenly.

  “What is it, Watch?” asked Violet.

  Watch pressed his nose against the screened porch and peered down into the darkness. “Grrr,” he growled again.

  “Watch hears something, don’t you, boy?” asked Henry. He patted Watch’s head. Watch wagged his tail, but he growled again.

  “Maybe it’s a bear,” said Violet, sounding a little scared.

  “I doubt that,” Grandfather Alden said. “It is unlikely a bear would come this close to the cabin. More likely it is a raccoon or opossum. Or it could just be rain dripping from the leaves.”

  “But you have to stay inside, Watch, whatever it is,” said Jessie. She paused. Then she said softly, “What if it is Lucy?”

  Watch ran to the other end of the porch. He pressed his nose against the screen and peered intently into the night. He uttered a short, sharp bark and looked over his shoulder as if to say, C’mon!

  Henry walked back through the cabin and picked up the largest flashlight from the table by the door. He went back to the porch and clicked it on, throwing a powerful beam out into the night.

  In the beam of the flashlight, they could see trees and a glint of water and the lighter color of the lakeshore. But nothing was moving.

  Henry turned the beam in the direction that Watch was now peering. No one could see anything.

  “There’s nothing in that direction, Watch, except the other cabins and the lodge,” said Henry.

  Watch stood on guard for a long moment after that. Then he turned and trotted back to Jessie and jumped up onto her lap. Henry clicked the flashlight off.

  “Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” said Grandfather. He stood up and stretched and yawned. “Time for bed. I’m going to do a little fishing tomorrow and I want to get an extra-early start so I can be back in time for a late breakfast with you all.”

  “Yes, and we have work to do, too,” said Benny.

  “That’s right, Benny,” said Jessie. The Aldens went back into Black Bear Cabin to get ready for bed. Benny was the last one to leave the porch. He stared out through the screen, trying to see through the night to the lake.

  “Benny,” Henry called. “Come on. It’s time for bed.”

  “Coming,” answered Benny. He leaned close to the screen. “Good night, Lucy,” he said softly before going inside to join his family.

  CHAPTER 6

  Enormous Footprints

  “Benny? What are you doing up so early?” Jessie whispered the next morning.

  “Are you awake?” asked Benny. He was dressed. Watch was standing beside Benny with his paws on the edge of Jessie’s bed. He was staring at Jessie, and she noticed that his leash was attached to his collar and that Benny was holding the other end of it.

  Jessie yawned and rubbed her eyes. She said, “I guess I am now.”

  “Good,” said Benny. “Grandfather left a little while ago to go fishing. That’s when Watch and I woke up. Let’s go down to the lake. We can see if we can find what Watch was barking at last night.”

  In the bunk across from Jessie, Violet mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over, pulling her covers up over her head.

  “Shhh,” said Jessie. She yawned again. “Whatever was out there is long gone, Benny . . . but okay. I’ll meet you on the steps of the cabin in five minutes.”

  Jessie left a note saying where she and Benny had gone in case Violet and Henry woke up before they got back. She went outside and walked with Benny down the path that led from the cabin to the lake.

  A faint mist rose from the water. The leaves were wet on the trail from the rain the night before. Drops of water rolled off the leaves they brushed against. The sun had not yet come up over the mountains to begin to dry up the puddles.

  “Let’s whisper,” said Jessie. “Remember how sound carries? We don’t want to wake up everybody on the whole lake.”

  Benny nodded. “Hear that, Watch?” he said.

  Watch wagged his tail briefly and pulled on the leash. He was panting a little; he was excited.

  The empty beach curved away from them. It was made of rocks and coarse sand. Benny Watch, and Jessie walked slowly up and down the beach, but they didn’t see any footprints. The rain had washed the shoreline clean.

  “Maybe Watch heard a bird flying by,” said Jessie. She stifled a yawn.

  Just then,
Watch began tugging hard on the leash. “What is it, Watch?” asked Benny. He let Watch lead him down the beach toward the canoes. Suddenly Watch veered off and pulled Benny toward a thick clump of bushes.

  “Whoa. Slow down,” said Benny.

  Watch didn’t slow down. He stopped and stared at the low bushes.

  “Look,” said Jessie. “Those bushes are all mashed and the branches are broken as if something big had crashed through them.” She started forward to examine them. But Benny stopped her.

  “Look.” He gasped. “Look at those footprints!”

  There was a trail of huge footprints on a smooth swath of sand just at the edge of the bushes.

  Keeping a tight hold on Watch, Benny leaned cautiously forward. Jessie did, too.

  The footprints weren’t human. They had four long toes with webbing between them. The toes ended in claw marks. The prints were huge, easily a foot long.

  “These are Lucy’s footprints,” said Benny, forgetting to whisper. “I know it!”

  “They could be, Benny,” said Jessie, forgetting to whisper, too.

  “Then Lucy is real,” said Benny. “I knew it! That’s what Watch heard last night. It was Lucy!”

  “We need to make a cast of a footprint as soon as possible,” said Jessie. “And take a picture. Watch and I will stay here to guard the footprints and you go get Henry and Violet — and the wax candles we saved in case we found footprints.”

  “I’ll be right back!” Benny promised.

  He ran back to the cabin. Benny threw open the cabin door with a loud crash.

  “Wake up!” he cried. “We’ve found Lucy!”

  Henry ran out of the bedroom in his pajamas. His hair was sticking out all over his head. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked Benny.

  Violet ran out of her bedroom hopping on one foot and trying to pull a slipper onto the other. “What happened?” she said.

  “Lucy,” said Benny.

  Violet looked quickly around as if she expected to see the lake monster in the cabin.

  “Where?” asked Henry.

  “Down by the lake. Bring the candles! Hurry!” Benny said.

  “They’re coming,” he reported to Jessie as soon as he ran back to join her. A few minutes later, Henry and Violet came running out onto the beach. Violet had her camera around her neck.