Benny giggled at that idea. “That would be too easy,” he said. “Anyway, if they knew the message came from us, then they would know we were trying to figure them out. We’re going to have to be clever to outsmart them!”
“Yes, we will,” Henry said. “Let’s all keep thinking about it. But don’t forget we need to return the biscuit tin first. After we do that, we can work more on figuring out which pilot is working for the Argents.”
Returning the Sixth Artifact
Before long, the captain’s voice came over the intercom and announced that the plane was nearing McMurdo Station. The children bundled up in their parkas and put on the rest of their warm clothes. Benny put on his goggles and grinned from ear to ear.
“Boy, am I glad we’re covered from head to toe!” Jessie said as they left the plane. The wind was as cold as the inside of a freezer as it blew icy needles at them across the snowy McMurdo Station runway. In the distance they could see boxy, square buildings in front of what looked like a mountain of snow. Everywhere they looked was snow and ice. Their breath clouded in the air.
The Aldens followed the researchers and boarded a red bus that took them from the runway to the buildings that they had seen. McMurdo Station was not just one station building but a small town, with dirt roads covered in snow. Everyone they passed was wearing a parka and hat and heavy-duty boots.
“Jasper told me he would pick us up,” Aunt Jane said.
“Do you want to call him and let him know we’re here?” Jessie asked, offering her phone.
“I would, but there’s no signal here! Jasper and I both remember what it’s like to make plans before cell phones were around. It’s good to do things the old-fashioned way sometimes!”
Aunt Jane was right. They did not have to wait too long. A truck drove up and out came a man in a purple parka. Benny noticed him right away. “There!” Benny shouted and pointed.
The man smiled and tromped over in his snow boots. He gave Aunt Jane a hug.
“Jane, it’s so good to see you! You look well! And you must be Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny!” Jasper shook their hands, which was a funny feeling wearing the parkas and thick mittens. “Welcome to McMurdo Station. I’m Jasper Chandra. I am a historian here at McMurdo…among other things. We all do many jobs here to keep everything up and running. Anyway, let’s get you somewhere warm.”
Jasper drove the truck to a building with a row of flags from many different countries posted out front. When the Aldens got inside, it was much warmer. It was nice enough that they could take off their hats and gloves and unzip their parkas.
“Most of the people doing research here are working on projects in earth and space sciences,” Jasper said. “Because I am a historian, I do much of my research here at the headquarters.”
“Thanks for picking us up,” Aunt Jane said. “I’m sorry it had to be under mysterious circumstances, but the children are working on an important project and their plans can’t be accidentally shared with the wrong people.”
Jasper blinked, looking confused. “Yes, of course, I understand…You do know, don’t you?”
It was the Aldens’ turn to be confused. Jessie tilted her head.
“Know what?” she asked.
Jasper gestured to his purple parka. Then he took an envelope out of his pocket and showed them the back. Stamped on the corner was the Reddimus logo. “I’m afraid there must have been a misunderstanding. I’m a friend of owls…you know, your contact here in Antarctica?”
“What?” cried Benny. “Aunt Jane! You didn’t tell us your friend worked with the Reddimus Society!”
Aunt Jane was just as surprised. “I couldn’t tell you what I didn’t know! Jasper, how long have you known that I was coming, and that my grandnieces and grandnephews were helping the Reddimus Society?”
Jasper laughed. It seemed like he enjoyed surprising them.
“Oh, not long. Yesterday I got this message saying I would see an old friend soon, and that she would be helping four little owls return something that had been stolen. When I heard you were coming this way, I knew it had to be you. Come on, let’s go to my office and sit down.”
Jasper took them to his office, which was modest and organized. He had many books and a few old-looking items sitting out on the shelves. Everything was tidy and taken care of. It was nice to see that the Reddimus Society really did have members all over the world—even all the way in Antarctica.
“Speaking of the item that was stolen,” Jasper went on, “do you know anything about it yet, or will we be going on our own expedition? I wouldn’t want Jane to have all the mystery-solving fun.”
“We know a few things,” said Henry. He took out the camera case and revealed the box with the biscuit tin. He showed Jasper and told him about the semaphore clue and the message it had contained: Shackleton’s Hut. “Do you know what it means, or what the connection might be?”
Jasper had a funny smile on his face. “Yes,” he said. “In fact, I do. It was very clever of our clue-giver to use semaphore to tell you about Shackleton’s Hut. You see, Sir Ernest Shackleton was an expert at using semaphore. He often taught his crew members to signal using flags to pass the time. So I’m happy you solved the puzzle and that it also brings you to visit Shackleton’s Hut.”
“You know what the hut refers to?” Jessie asked.
“Yes. Shackleton had a base on Ross Island, for his Nimrod Expedition. He built a lot of bases, because he went on many expeditions during his career, but this one for whatever reason has gone down in history as Shackleton’s Hut. It is tremendously interesting for a historian like me, and I’m sure the four of you would be glad to see it as well.”
“What about the biscuit tin?” Benny asked. “We are used to returning the artifacts to museums, but I didn’t see any museums on our drive here.”
“No, there aren’t any museums like the ones you might visit in other parts of the world,” Jasper said. “However, Shackleton’s Hut, as well as other sites here in Antarctica, are protected by different organizations as historical sites. They are preserved the way we found them. So, in a way, visiting them is like visiting a museum, because everything is just the way it was.”
Jasper pulled out a memo from his desk and showed it to the Aldens.
“I received this a few months ago. Someone was doing an inventory of Shackleton’s Hut and found that several items were missing. It’s strange for things to go missing out here because almost no one would fly all the way here just to steal a few items. However, some people must have known that some of the items are valuable. And the biscuits that were stolen—which I imagine you have in that tin right there—are very valuable indeed. Other biscuits like them have been sold for thousands of dollars.”
Benny gasped. “A thousand-dollar cracker! Boy, I’m glad I didn’t eat it!”
“It sounds like we’re here to return the biscuit tin to Shackleton’s Hut then,” Violet said. She handed the tin to Jasper. “I’m sure you’ll take good care of it!”
Jasper nodded, but he didn’t take the tin.
“You know, it would be a shame for you to fly all the way here just to leave without seeing anything. Why don’t you come with me to Shackleton’s Hut and return the tin in person? I think you would all enjoy seeing the hut, especially if you’re interested in history like I am.”
“That sounds wonderful!” Jessie exclaimed. “Aunt Jane, is it all right?”
“Absolutely!” Aunt Jane said. “After reading all of Jasper’s emails about this place, there’s no way I would leave without seeing at least some of it with my own eyes.”
“Excellent. Then I’ll make arrangements for the helicopter,” Jasper said. “The forecast for tomorrow looks good, so we should be able to fly out first thing in the morning.”
“Are there hotels in Antarctica?” Benny asked. It had been a long day, and he was getting tired.
“Not really. But we have dormitories, and Tricia mentioned you would need a place to stay.”
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Jasper took them to a brown building a short drive away from the research headquarters. The dormitory building was raised up on concrete blocks. It was a very simple building, but the inside was warm. Jasper had the keys for two dorm rooms that were across the hall from each other, and he gave them to the children and Aunt Jane.
“A cafeteria, laundry, and showers are in the building, so make yourselves at home,” he said. “And for Jane, a coffeemaker! Now, I need to wrap up a few things so I can take the time off tomorrow to visit Shackleton’s Hut with you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jasper said good-bye, and the children unlocked the doors to the two dorms. The rooms were small, each with one set of bunk beds and a couch. Henry checked his watch while Violet and Benny explored the rooms. Jessie and Aunt Jane took off their coats.
“I just noticed…it’s night, but the sun is still shining,” Henry said.
Jessie pulled the curtains back from the small window. “You’re right. I didn’t realize it because I’m still a little jet-lagged from all our flying.”
“How are we going to go to bed if the sun is up?” Benny asked, yawning. It didn’t actually look like he was going to have any problems falling asleep. Jessie smiled and pulled the curtains shut. They were so heavy that all the light from outside was blocked.
“They’re used to it here, remember? These light-blocking curtains will make it just as dark as nighttime in Connecticut.”
Jessie was right. With the curtains shut, it was easy to fall asleep—especially after all they’d done that day.
The next morning, the weather was fair, with the sun shining just as it had the previous evening. They got ready for their day, and just as Aunt Jane was finishing her morning coffee, they heard a friendly honk. Violet looked out the window and saw Jasper’s truck waiting outside. They bundled up and went out into the chilly morning to meet him.
“Good morning!” Jasper said as they climbed in the warmed-up truck. “The pilot said the weather is all clear, so we’re good to go.”
Neither the children nor Aunt Jane had ever ridden in a helicopter before. They forgot all about the cold when they saw it on the helipad. They wore earmuffs over their hats so the thrumming sound of the helicopter’s engine didn’t hurt their ears. Jasper waved to the pilot once they were on board, and the helicopter lifted off the ground and headed for Shackleton’s Hut.
Riding in a helicopter was much different from riding in an airplane. The cabin was so small that it seemed much more like they were flying than it did when they looked out the window of an airplane. Antarctica was covered in white snow as far as the eye could see. When the helicopter began to descend, Benny pointed out the window.
“Look at all the penguins!” he said.
There were penguin colonies up and down the coast. It was fun to see the penguins in their natural habitat after seeing them at the aquarium.
“That must be the hut,” Jessie said. On a rocky, snow-covered area near where the penguins were roosting was an old-fashioned, rectangular wood house.
“It looks just like a cabin in Connecticut,” Aunt Jane said.
The helicopter landed and the children followed Jasper across the packed ice that crunched under their feet. Penguins darted around them squawking. “They sound like they’re warning their friends we’re coming!” Benny said and laughed.
Inside the hut reminded Jessie even more of a cabin in the woods, though they were far away from the woods in Connecticut where they had camped in their boxcar. Like the boxcar, the hut was a single room. The walls were made of wood panels and lined with shelves. All of the shelves had jars and cans of food. On one end of the room was an old, iron stove. It was dim inside because there were no lights, and it smelled like cedar, old sleeping bags, and dust.
“Because of how cold it is, many of the things here have been preserved remarkably well,” said Jasper while the children and Aunt Jane looked around. “It is amazing what Shackleton accomplished, especially in his day and age.”
“It’s like we’ve stepped back in time,” Violet said. “Look, there’s even some old socks still hanging here to dry!”
After they were done exploring the hut, Henry took out the biscuit tin.
“Let’s find where this goes and put it back,” he said.
They searched along the shelves until Benny found a tin that matched the one Henry was holding.
“They had a whole stack of biscuits,” Benny said. “They were probably keeping them to sell when they got back from their exploring.”
“They probably weren’t worth thousands of dollars back then,” joked Henry. He carefully placed the biscuit tin from the Reddimus box on the top of the stack. They all gazed at the stack of tins in the old pantry shelf and smiled.
“Good work,” Jasper said. “I’m very proud of you for coming so far to return this item. Thank you on behalf of all members of the Reddimus Society.”
It seemed almost silly that Jasper would thank them for returning a tin of biscuits, but looking around, the Aldens knew that it meant a lot. History was not always grand and dramatic. The tin of biscuits in the remote hut were very different from the Egyptian pyramids and the Great Wall of China. Still they were an important part of history, and now the little part that had gone missing had been returned, and the historical monument was whole again.
They waved good-bye to the penguins, and the helicopter took them back to McMurdo Station, where they warmed up and rested before their flight back to Christchurch. Jasper treated them to hot cocoa, and Aunt Jane had a nice cup of hot coffee. While they waited, they told Jasper about their travels so far. He whistled with admiration.
“By the time you are done, you will have seen more of the world than me!” he said. “Mrs. Silverton will be very proud. Perhaps they will ask you to join the Reddimus Society.”
“That would be a great honor,” Henry said. “But first we would have to finish school.”
“I don’t want spring break to end,” Benny said.
Jessie laughed. “Oh, Benny. If our spring break has been so wonderful, just imagine what our summer vacation will be like!”
Jasper drove them back to the airfield when it was time for their flight. He waved good-bye and made sure they boarded safely.
“Safe journey!” he called. “And good luck with the last artifact!”
The Man in the Red Hat
The flight back to Christchurch was rough. The plane shuddered and rocked, and the flight attendants made an announcement over the speaker system.
“Because the weather is changing, please wear your safety belts at all times.”
Benny squeezed Aunt Jane’s hand when the turbulence shook the whole plane.
“We’ll be fine, Benny. These planes are sturdy and can handle any kind of weather.”
“If you say so,” Benny mumbled. He wasn’t feeling so great.
“Benny, I’ve got something good to distract you,” Henry said. “I think I have a plan to test Emilio and Mr. Ganert. Do you want to hear the plan?”
“Yes!” said Benny. He wanted to talk about anything but the bumpy plane ride. “Tell me the plan!”
“Jessie was talking about how different people do different things based on how they understand messages. I think we can use messages to find out which pilot is sending information to the Argents.”
“We use messages to trick the spy into saying so?” Benny said and squeezed Jessie’s hand again.
“But the spy won’t do a spy thing while we’re watching,” Violet said. “That would give them away.”
“Right,” Henry said. “But what’s the one thing the spy has been trying to do?”
“Steal the artifacts!” Benny said.
“And how has the spy been doing that?” Henry asked.
“By reading our messages and figuring out the answers to all the riddles,” Jessie said, catching on. “If we wrote fake messages and pretended the messages were from the Reddimus Society, both the pilots would think the
y were real. Then, the real spy would try to take advantage of that. But that still doesn’t help us figure out which one is the spy.”
“That’s why we will write two fake messages,” Henry said. “Like the Shackleton message. The messages will be mostly the same, but slightly different. We will make it seem like the next step is an easy chance to trick us into giving up the last artifact. I’ll show you.”
Henry took out two notes he had been working on. He had written them in very fine penmanship. The first note said: Go to the airport hotel restaurant. You will be approached by a man in RED hat. Give him the seventh box. He will deliver it for you.
The second note said: Go to the airport hotel restaurant. You will be approached by a man in GREEN hat. Give him the seventh box. He will deliver it for you.
“They’re the same except for the color of the hat,” Violet noticed.
“Precisely. Now, if you were an Argent spy and you saw that we were given this first set of instructions, what would you try to do?” Henry asked with a clever smile.
“I would hire a thief to wear a red hat and go to the hotel restaurant,” Jessie said. “But if I were the Argent spy and I received the second note, I would hire a thief to wear a green hat.”
Henry nodded. “We will give Mr. Ganert the first message and Emilio the second.”
“So, we just remember which pilot gets which message,” Violet finished. “And then when we go to the restaurant, if we are approached by someone in a red or a green hat, we will know which pilot is trying to steal the artifact from us!”
“Because really there is no man in a hat coming to deliver the box for us!” Benny exclaimed. It was a complicated plan, and he was happy with how clever it was. “If it’s a man in a green hat, we’ll know Emilio is trying to steal the artifact. But if it’s a man in a red hat, we’ll know the spy is Mr. Ganert.”