Mystery in the Snow

  Then, Benny said, “Let’s eat.”

  “We just had supper,” Henry reminded him.

  “I know, but I’m getting sleepy,” Benny said, “and I can’t go to bed without a snack.”

  Jessie took down the box of cookies. “I don’t suppose a cookie or two would hurt,” she said.

  “Too bad we don’t have something to drink,” Violet said.

  Benny pulled several cans of juice from his bag. “Ta-da,” he said.

  Henry laughed. Then, he took four cups from the cabinet shelf.

  “I don’t need a cup,” Benny told him as he fished in the duffel. “I brought my own.” He held up the cracked pink cup he had found in a dump when they had lived in the boxcar.

  Jessie gave each of them two cookies on a red paper napkin.

  Henry poured the juice.

  “The juice is warm,” Benny said. “I like it cold.”

  “I can fix that,” Henry said. He took a bowl from the cabinet and went outside. He returned with a bowlful of snow.

  Benny scooped some into his cup. “It’s like a snowcone without the cone,” he said.

  They began talking about the next day’s activities.

  “Whose team will we be on?” Violet wondered aloud.

  “Maybe we’ll be on different teams,” Jessie said.

  “I want to be on Freddy’s team,” Benny said.

  “Why?” Violet asked. “Jimmy’ll be a good captain, too.”

  “But Freddy said her team was going to win,” Benny reminded his sister.

  “Just because she says it, doesn’t make it so,” Jessie argued.

  “I don’t care who wins,” Violet said. “Just being a part of a team will be fun.”

  “There might not be any teams,” Henry said.

  They remembered the locked equipment shop.

  “What do you suppose happened to the keys?” Jessie asked.

  “Maybe someone took them,” Benny said.

  “Why would anyone do that?” Henry asked.

  They could not think of a single reason.

  “Maybe Mr. Mercer put them somewhere else and forgot,” Violet suggested.

  “Let’s hope he finds them,” Jessie said.

  “Or figures out some other way to get into the equipment shop,” Henry put in.

  Benny shivered with excitement. “I can’t wait to find out whose team I’ll be on,” he said.

  They decided to make up their beds and go to sleep. That way, morning would come faster.

  CHAPTER 4

  Flat Tires

  The next morning, the Aldens met Jimmy Phelps in front of the lodge. He was taking off his skates.

  “Is breakfast over already?” Benny asked him. He couldn’t imagine anyone doing too much before eating.

  “No,” Jimmy answered. “I was just working up an appetite.”

  “I’m glad I don’t have to do that!” Benny commented.

  “Benny likes to eat,” Jessie explained.

  Jimmy smiled. His rosy cheeks became even rounder. “I figured that,” he said.

  On their way into the lounge, Henry asked, “Did Mr. Mercer find the keys?”

  Jimmy shook his head. “No,” he said. “I don’t know what he’ll do.”

  Mr. Mercer stood just inside the door. He pointed to a table near the entrance. “Sign your names on those cards,” he said, “and put them into that big box.”

  “Is that the box from the equipment shop?” Jessie asked.

  Mr. Mercer shook his head. “No, the equipment shop is still locked. I’m going into town later to get a locksmith. He can make new keys.”

  “We thought you might have to call off the games,” Henry said.

  “Well, it is a problem not being able to get into the equipment shop. But, I’d never call off the games. Not for a little thing like a missing key,” Mr. Mercer assured them.

  The Aldens went over to fill out the cards.

  Their grandfather got up from his chair near the fire. “Good morning,” he called out.

  “Good morning, Grandfather,” the children responded.

  Freddy came in, pulling off her green knit hat. She was wearing a one piece ski outfit that was bright green, orange, and yellow. And she had on gloves to match!

  “Did everybody sign up?” she called. “I want you all to have a chance to be on my team.”

  Several children who hadn’t filled out the cards formed a line behind the Aldens. Everyone else headed for the dining room. Long tables were set with red-and-white checked tablecloths. At the front of the large, sunlit room, the longest table was filled with food: egg dishes, bacon, sausage, rolls, toast, pancakes, fruit, three kinds of juice, milk, coffee, tea — something for every taste.

  “Everything looks so good,” Jessie commented. “It’s hard to know what to choose.”

  Benny took a plate from the stack at the end of the table. “Take some of everything,” he advised his sister. “That way you won’t have to make hard decisions.”

  Grandfather chose a toasted English muffin and a bowl of fruit; the younger Aldens took Benny’s advice.

  After breakfast, Mr. Mercer went to the front of the room. Jimmy and Freddy followed with the box of names.

  “Attention, everyone,” the man said. “It’s time to pick teams. Freddy and Jimmy are our team captains. As your name is called, please come up and join your leader.”

  Everyone started talking excitedly.

  Mr. Mercer hushed them. “I have to go into town to the locksmith,” he said. “So I’ll let your team captains take over.” He left the room.

  Freddy reached into the box and pulled out a card. “Danny Cahill,” she read.

  In the far corner of the room, a red-headed boy, about Benny’s age, stood up. He walked slowly to the front of the room.

  Freddy greeted him with a broad smile. “Welcome to the winning team, Danny,” she said.

  Jimmy picked out a name. He read it to himself; then looked up. He had a funny expression on his face. It was hard to tell whether he was happy about his choice, or sad. “Beth Markham,” he announced. “Last year’s top skater.”

  Beth skipped to the front of the room, her ponytail swinging.

  Two more team members were chosen.

  Benny wiggled in his chair. “I can’t stand the suspense,” he whispered.

  Henry was the first of the Aldens chosen. He would be on Jimmy’s team. Jessie and then Violet were picked for that team, too.

  Benny glanced around the room. He and an older girl were the only ones whose names hadn’t been called.

  It was Jimmy’s turn. “There are only two names left,” he said.

  Benny leaned forward in his chair. “Hurry, hurry, hurry,” he urged silently.

  Jimmy reached into the box. He drew out a card. He looked at it. He even turned it over.

  Benny couldn’t sit still. He popped to his feet. “Hurry, hurry, hurry,” he repeated, but this time, he said the words aloud.

  Everyone laughed. Benny was so embarrassed he sat down again.

  Finally, Jimmy said, “And the last member of our team is…Benny Alden!”

  His new teammates cheered.

  Freddy called the last name, “Nan Foster!” and that team cheered as a short girl, who looked like she was about ten years old, slowly walked up. She seemed to be the only person in the room who wasn’t smiling.

  Just then, Mr. Mercer appeared in the doorway, looking grim. “You’re not going to believe this,” he said.

  “What happened?” Grandfather Alden asked.

  “It’s my truck. The tires are flat,” he responded with disbelief. “All four of them!”

  CHAPTER 5

  A New Mystery

  Mr. Mercer was upset. “I parked the truck out by the skating rink last night. The tires were fine then.”

  “One flat tire I could understand,” Grandfather said. “But four?”

  “That sounds like it was intentional,” Henry pointed out.

  “B
ut who would do something like that? And why?” said Mr. Mercer.

  “First missing keys and now flat tires. Do you suppose they’re connected?” Henry wondered aloud.

  “Probably not,” Jessie said.

  “Todd, do you have an air pump?” Mr. Alden asked.

  Mr. Mercer shook his head. “It’s broken,” he said. “I’ve been meaning to get another one.”

  Grandfather offered to drive him into town. “We’ll get a pump and go to the locksmith,” he said.

  Mr. Mercer agreed, and he and Grandfather hurried to Grandfather’s car.

  Freddy said, “We’ll go on with the tryouts.”

  “There are five events,” Jimmy said. “Skating, skiing, sledding, snow sculpting, and ice carving.”

  An excited murmur shot through the group.

  “Snow sculpting?” Benny whispered to Violet. “Is that like making snowmen?”

  Violet nodded. “I think so.”

  “Then, I’ll try out for that,” he said. He wondered what he would have to do. He raised his hand. “How do you try out for snow sculpting?” he asked.

  “You can’t,” Freddy told him. “That and ice carving — if you want to do one of those, just sign up.”

  “And you can sign up for as many events as you want,” Jimmy added.

  A boy about Jessie’s age stood up. He tossed his head to get his long, straight hair out of his eyes. “What if you want to try out for, say, skiing, but you don’t have skis?”

  “You’ll find everything you need at the equipment shop, Matt,” Freddy told him.

  “If and when Mr. Mercer gets it open,” Jimmy said.

  “What if you don’t want to sign up for anything?” Nan Foster asked.

  Freddy stared at her. She seemed so surprised by the question that she didn’t have an answer.

  A boy named Pete, who was sitting next to Nan, rolled his eyes. “We can’t win with people like her on our team,” he scoffed.

  Nan looked as though she might cry.

  “It’s okay,” Jimmy said to her. “Sometimes, people try out for an event, and they don’t make it. That’s okay, too. They get to be assistants. We need everybody.”

  Beth smiled at Nan. “You should try out for something, though. It’s fun,” she said.

  “Where do we try out?” Henry asked.

  “The skating tryouts are in an hour, at the pond. Right afterward we’ll have skiing on the slopes, and then sledding on the smaller hill.” Jimmy held up two pieces of yellow lined paper. “Here are the sign-up sheets.” He looked around to be sure there were no other questions. “That’s it!”

  “Yea, team!” Freddy said.

  “What’re you going to try out for, Henry?” Jessie asked.

  “Skiing,” Henry answered.

  “Anything else?”

  “Maybe sledding.”

  “I’m signing up for ice carving,” Violet said. “How about you, Jessie?”

  “Skating, for sure,” Jessie answered.

  “I’m trying out for everything,” Benny said.

  Henry laughed. “This isn’t food, Benny,” he teased.

  They got in line to sign up.

  Violet was behind Nan. “Oh, Nan,” she said, “you changed your mind about trying out.”

  Nan lowered her eyes. “No, I didn’t,” she said.

  Violet was confused. “But…you’re standing in line.”

  “I don’t want my parents to know,” she explained. “They’d be upset. They want me to have fun.”

  “Don’t you want to have fun?” Violet asked.

  The girl shrugged. “I never have fun,” she answered.

  Violet thought about that. She tried to imagine what it would be like not to enjoy herself. No matter where she went or what she did, she expected to have a good time. And she always did.

  It was Nan’s turn to sign up. Twisting the ends of her red knit scarf, she stared at the paper on the table.

  Violet stepped up beside her. She picked up two pencils. “Here,” she said and gave Nan one. “Let’s both sign up for ice carving. You don’t have to try out for that.”

  Nan looked discouraged. “I don’t know anything about ice carving,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to be the one who loses for the whole team.”

  “I don’t know a thing about it either,” Violet assured her. “Maybe we could help each other.”

  Nan brightened. Then, just as suddenly, her round face clouded. “We’re on different teams,” she said.

  Violet had forgotten that. Because of her brothers and sister, she usually thought about cooperation, not competition. “That won’t matter,” she said. “It’ll be a help just knowing each other. I mean, neither of us knows what we’re doing; that makes us equal.”

  Nan smiled for the first time. “Then, your team’d have an equal chance of losing.”

  Although Violet wouldn’t have put it that way, she agreed.

  Nan signed her name on the yellow sheet that read ICE CARVING. “Thanks,” she said and hurried off.

  When they had all signed up, the children headed back to the cabin to get their skates and skis. Outside, the snow reflected the sunlight.

  Henry fished a pair of sunglasses out of his jacket pocket. “It’s really bright,” he commented.

  “I like the way the snow sparkles in places,” Violet said.

  Benny said, “I like the way it sounds when you walk on it. Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch.”

  Jessie sighed. She liked everything about the snow. It even made the air smell fresher. “It’ll be a good week,” she said.

  They walked along in silence, each thinking about all that had happened since they had arrived at the lodge.

  Finally, Henry said, “You know, I think the missing keys and the flat tires are connected somehow.”

  “That means we have a mystery,” Jessie said.

  “I hope you’re wrong, Jessie,” Benny said. “We’ll be too busy to solve one!”

  CHAPTER 6

  The Tryouts

  A little while later, Benny sat on a bench at the edge of the skating pond. He was trying to lace up his skates. His hands were clumsy inside his gloves. When he took his gloves off, his fingers got too cold. “I’ll never get these laces tight enough,” he complained aloud.

  Jessie was already skating. Henry and Violet had gone to look at the ski run. Benny sighed. There was no one to help him.

  From the next bench, an older boy called, “Having trouble?”

  It was Matt, the boy with the hair in his eyes. But now, his hair was off his face, held back by a wide black headband.

  “It’s these laces,” Benny said.

  Matt walked over on his racing skates. “Here, let me help,” he said. Then he bent down and carefully laced up Benny’s skates.

  “I think these skates may be too small for you,” he said.

  Benny was surprised. “They fit last year.”

  Matt laughed. “Well, maybe they shrank,” he teased.

  “Skates don’t shrink,” Benny said.

  “No, but feet grow.”

  Benny laughed. “Oh,” he said. “I forgot about that.”

  “You can get a bigger pair at the equipment shop when Mr. Mercer gets new keys,” Matt told him. Then, he sped off.

  Benny looked at the skaters. Jessie was practicing her forward crossovers. Beth was doing jumps. Jimmy was skating backward. All the people on the ice were excellent skaters. Benny was good, but not that good. He decided not to try out for skating.

  Violet and Henry came back in time for the tryouts. Many of the adults came out to the rink to watch the six skaters. Mr. Alden strolled up to the children. He had just returned from driving Mr. Mercer to town.

  “The locksmith is making the new keys,” he said. “The equipment shop will be open in time for the ski tryouts.”

  Jimmy put his skaters through their paces quickly. Matt was the best racer; Jessie and Beth the best figure skaters.

  Freddy and her group came along. Th
ey sat on a bench near the Aldens to put on their skates. Freddy watched Jimmy’s skaters carefully. She saw every turn, every pivot, every jump. She did not smile.

  “Freddy doesn’t look very happy,” Benny observed.

  Finally, Jimmy was ready to announce his choices. The skaters formed a circle around him.

  “Beth, Matt, Jessie, and me.” Jimmy pointed to each as he called out their names. To the two losers, he said, “You’re both very good. If I could choose more than four skaters, you would have made it, too.”

  The Aldens admired his kindness.

  “Now, there’s a good leader,” Mr. Alden said.

  Jessie skated over.

  Everyone congratulated her.

  “The ice makes it easy to skate well,” she said. “It’s smooth as glass.”

  Freddy stepped onto the ice. “Come on,” she said to her group. “Let’s show them some real skating.” But she still didn’t smile.

  Grandfather went back to the lodge to warm up. Most of the other adults decided to do that, too.

  Jimmy headed for the ski hill. His team trekked along beside him.

  “Have you been captain before?” Henry asked.

  Jimmy shook his head. “No, this is the first time.”

  “Do your parents know you’re captain?” Jessie asked.

  Jimmy looked at her in a strange way. “Why do you want to know?” he asked.

  Jessie sensed that she had asked the wrong question. “Oh, no reason. I just thought if they knew…” her voice trailed off.

  “I’d want them to be here if I were captain,” Benny said.

  Jimmy didn’t respond.

  “Don’t you miss them?” Benny persisted. “I miss Grandfather when we’re away from him.”

  Jimmy picked up his pace. “It’s only for a week,” he said. “And, besides, I like being on my own. Especially here. Who wants parents watching every move you make?”

  The Aldens were surprised by his harsh tone. Jimmy had seemed so gentle.

  After a brief silence, he added, “Don’t get me wrong. My parents are terrific. It’s just that they can be…overprotective sometimes.” His voice had lost its sharp edges.

  They came to the ski hill. The run started high above them and ended near a long, low, log building.

  “Wow!” Benny exclaimed. “That’s no hill! It’s a mountain.”