Though Greeny Owen was many years older than the Aldens, he obeyed them without any more protest. He carried the crate of skeletons back to the study, pulled the door shut, and locked it. Then he dropped both keys in Jessie’s waiting hand and went off to get Max.
The children didn’t have Mister Bones just yet, but they had discovered that Greeny Owen was one of their thieves. Now they just had to catch the others.
CHAPTER 10
Alive in Dead Man’s Cave
After the sun went down, the Aldens turned on their flashlights. The beams cast shadows everywhere.
“At least we don’t have to tiptoe around,” Henry said as he and his brother and sisters explored the old house.
The children stayed close together so they wouldn’t waste their flashlight batteries. When they came to Dr. Tibbs’s study, they hesitated at the door.
“We can go in now that I have the keys,” Jessie said to Violet and Benny. “But we don’t have to unless you want to.”
Henry spotted two camp lanterns on a table in the hall. “Mr. Mason must have left those. Let’s turn them on to brighten up this place.” Henry pushed the lantern switches. “There, now it looks almost like a people house, not a skeleton house.”
Jessie found the keys to Dr. Tibbs’s study in her pocket. She unlocked the room.
“Oooh, now I’m not so sure about coming in here,” Benny said, taking Jessie’s hand. “You go first, Henry.”
The children stepped into the room and gazed at the shelves and tables of skeletons. The dim light made the bony shapes seem scarier than ever.
“By the looks of things, about half of the skeletons aren’t here anymore,” Jessie said. “We know Greeny removed an awful lot of them in those crates.”
Violet gazed at the empty window. “I know, but I do think he was telling the truth and that someone else took Mister Bones and some other skeletons. Otherwise, why would he be so upset about them and excited when we told him we were going to get them back?”
Jessie locked the study again. “Let’s look around the rest of the house some more. We’ll come back here during the daytime.” She took one lantern and led the other children down the hall. When she came to the kitchen, she set the lantern down.
Henry walked over to a wobbly kitchen table where papers and notebooks were scattered on top. “Looks as if Hilda and William set up their work in here.” He used his flashlight to get a closer look at the blueprints, notebooks, and papers.
Benny felt braver now that they were in the kitchen and not in the skeleton room. He came over to see what was on the table. That’s when he saw something familiar sticking out from one of the sketch pads on the pile. “Look, the pictures I took! How did they get in here?”
Violet had a suggestion. “I don’t know, but put them in a safe place right now. When we see Hilda again, tell her you found them.”
Benny was glad to have his photos back. “Hey, look at this,” he said, turning the pictures over. “Somebody wrote prices on the back. See? The angel statue picture says three thousand dollars. And the picture with the girl statue next to Violet is seven thousand dollars. Is that a lot?”
Henry frowned. “It sure is.” He took the picture from Benny and put it down next to Hilda’s sketch pad. “The handwriting looks the same.”
“Why do you suppose Hilda took Benny’s pictures?” Violet asked.
Jessie had a thought. “I have a feeling she or William took them so Charlotte wouldn’t have evidence that the statues disappeared while they were in charge.”
“Then I’m glad Charlotte and Grandfather are coming here tomorrow morning,” Jessie said. “There’s a lot to tell them about. Now let’s go upstairs and have our extra sandwiches for dinner. We have a big day ahead, and I want to get to sleep early.”
The next morning, sunlight poured into the tower room, waking the Aldens one by one. They yawned and stretched and sat up in bed.
“I feel like a princess in a tower,” Violet said. “This bed is so tall and so fancy. I slept just as if I were home in Greenfield.”
“Well, I sure didn’t,” Henry said. “I heard noises while it was still dark this morning, but I figured it was just the wind.”
Jessie went over to the window after she heard a car. “Hey, guess who’s coming up the driveway. Grandfather and Charlotte.” She opened the window and waved. “We’re up here.”
The children scrambled into their clothes and ran down the driveway.
Charlotte gave everyone a big smile. “Well, you children were very brave to sleep in a house filled with skeletons and no electricity.”
Benny shook his head. “It’s just half filled with skeletons. Some of them got stolen.”
Grandfather looked surprised. “What do you mean? We spoke with William last evening. He didn’t mention anything missing. Let’s go find him. He’s in the house already with Hilda, I imagine. Their cars are parked below.”
The children went off to look around.
“No one’s here except the rest of Dr. Tibbs’s skeletons,” Jessie said. “But I think I know where they might be. Follow us.”
With the children leading the way, Grandfather and Charlotte followed the shortcut path to the gardens.
Charlotte stared at the empty space where the statue of the girl had been. Her face seemed about to crumble.
Jessie took her hand. “Don’t worry. We know where the statue is,” Jessie said as she linked her arm in Charlotte’s. “We need to cross over the main path, then go into the woods on the other side.”
Shortly before the Aldens came to Dead Man’s Cave, they heard William and Hilda arguing.
“I don’t want any part of this,” Hilda said. “You told me you only had copies made so the old statues could be put away safely. You can’t sell them or even copies of them. They’re not yours.”
The Aldens crept along until they reached Dead Man’s Cave. The rusted door was open, revealing William, Hilda, and Mister Bones, along with several skeletons and statues the children hadn’t seen before.
“Sell what?” Charlotte asked when she stepped forward.
Hilda rushed outside, with William right behind her. He tried to shut the door, but Henry was too quick for him.
“Leave it open,” Henry said.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Hilda said to Charlotte. “I just want you to know that I’m not part of William’s scheme.”
Charlotte frowned anxiously. “What scheme?”
Hilda spoke clearly. “He was going to make copies of your statues and sell the originals. They were made by a famous sculptor named Clover Dodge, and they’re worth a lot of money.” Hilda looked embarrassed. “I didn’t know what was really going on. I only figured it out this morning — I followed him here to tell him I was quitting.” Hilda pointed toward the cave. “The missing statues are all in there.”
Charlotte and the Aldens went in to look around. Sure enough, the Clover Dodge statue sat in a corner, looking sad and out of place. Several statues the Aldens hadn’t seen also filled the dark space. Only Mister Bones and the wild horse skull seemed at home in Dead Man’s Cave.
“Is all this true?” Charlotte asked William, frowning. “How could you do such a thing?”
William Mason scowled and looked down at the ground. “Yeah, it’s all true. I wanted to buy the house myself. It’s a gold mine, with all those statues. And some of the rare bones are just as valuable. But you beat me to it — and you didn’t even know what you had!”
“If you wanted the house yourself, why did you volunteer to help Charlotte?” asked Henry.
“It’s like Hilda said. I figured I could sell the statues and rare bones and make myself some money anyway. I figured you’d never notice if some stuff began to disappear.”
“But we noticed,” said Henry.
William Mason glared at the Aldens. “That’s right, you kids started snooping around. I untied your boat to try to keep you away from the house. I even hid some skeletons and bones in th
e woods, hoping that they’d scare you off — but unfortunately it didn’t work.”
Jessie looked surprised. “We thought Greeny was the one hiding all the skeletons and bones for us to find.”
“I’d never do anything like that,” came a voice from behind them. Everyone looked up as Greeny and Max suddenly emerged from behind the trees. Greeny wore black pants and his T-shirt with the skull on the front and the bones on the back. “I followed you here,” Greeny said. “I had a hunch these kids knew something about where all the missing bones were. I suspected Mason was behind the whole thing! I’ll admit I tried to scare you and your family away from Skeleton Point. I snuck up on these kids the first time I saw them at Skeleton Point and tried to spook them.”
“But you can’t scare us off that easy,” said Benny.
“I figured that out pretty quick,” Greeny said. He looked down at the ground. “I’m the one who hid those Halloween skulls in your bike helmets,” he said to the Aldens. “And I planted a skeleton by your car, too, Charlotte. I just wanted to save Dr. Tibbs’s collection by keeping people away. But I would never have used any of the real bones to do something like that — they’re too valuable!”
Charlotte moved toward Greeny. They were quite a contrast with each other. Charlotte with her white curly hair, her tweed jacket, and pearl earrings didn’t seem to have a thing in common with Greeny Owen in his skull shirt, ponytail, and skull earring. “I’m glad that you told me, Greeny. I hope that now we can be friends — and I hope you know I care about Dr. Tibbs’s collection as much as you do.”
“Hey, what about Mr. Mason?” Benny asked.
William Mason was slowly backing up, trying to escape from the group without anyone noticing.
When Charlotte turned to look at William Mason, the smile disappeared from her face. “I don’t believe we’ll be needing your services anymore, Mr. Mason. And you can be sure that I’ll be contacting the authorities to inform them of what you tried to do here. I don’t think you’ll be getting any more architecture jobs anytime soon. Now please leave the property — and be thankful I’m not calling the police.”
William Mason opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He spun around and hurried away into the woods.
“Well, children, I guess we’ll need to get all these statues and skeletons back to the house,” Charlotte said, in a happier voice. “Thank you so much for finding them for me! I had no idea that they were made by a well-known sculptor.” She turned to Grandfather. “James, does the name Clover Dodge ring a bell with you?” she asked.
Grandfather looked at his cousin Charlotte as if remembering something long ago. “Dodge? Yes, yes,” Grandfather began. “I vaguely recall the name — that was the name of the original family that owned Skeleton Point — before it was Skeleton Point, that is. But I had no idea she was a sculptor as well.”
A smile slowly lit up Charlotte’s face.
“What’s funny?” Benny asked.
Charlotte sighed. “In some ways, I’m better off than I was before all this happened! I have all these valuable statues back, including the ones I didn’t even know were missing. And now I have experts — Greeny and Hilda — who can help me bring Skeleton Point back to life.”
Benny walked over to Mister Bones. He was hanging just inside the doorway of Dead Man’s Cave. “Did you hear that, Mister Bones? You might be coming back to life.”
The Mystery of the Mummy’s Curse
Created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Illustrated by Hodges Soileau
ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago
Contents
CHAPTER
1. A Secret at the Museum
2. The Mummy’s Curse
3. Mysterious Footsteps
4. The Mummy’s Curse Strikes Again
5. A Thief in the Museum
6. An Overheard Conversation
7. The Feeling of Being Watched
8. A Museum Spy
9. A Scary Surprise
10. The Truth Comes Out
CHAPTER 1
A Secret at the Museum
“Wow, look over there! Is that a T-rex?” Six-year-old Benny Alden was pointing toward a giant skull with long, pointed teeth.
“Yes, Benny, I think it is,” said his twelve-year-old sister, Jessie.
“Cool,” said their sister Violet, who was ten. She came over for a closer look.
“And look at this triceratops skull,” said Henry, their fourteen-year-old brother. He pointed to another skull with horns coming out of the top.
The children were visiting the Dinosaur Room at the Greenfield Museum. “I always loved this room when I was a kid,” said their grandfather, James Alden.
The children had lived with their grandfather ever since their parents died. At first, afraid that he would be mean to them, the children had run away. They had lived in an old boxcar they’d found in the woods. But once they met their grandfather, they found that he was a kind man, and they came to live in his large house. They had been happy there ever since. Grandfather had even moved the boxcar to their backyard, so the children could play in it. And today they were visiting the local museum.
When the Aldens had seen all the dinosaur bones, Grandfather asked what they would like to do next.
“Have lunch!” cried Benny.
“We should have guessed,” said Jessie. “It’s been at least an hour since breakfast.”
Everyone laughed. They knew Benny was always hungry.
“Maybe soon, Benny,” Grandfather said. “But first there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He led them down the hall to a door that read, MUSEUM CURATOR.
“Come in,” called a voice inside, after they knocked.
Grandfather pushed open the door to reveal a small office where a dark-haired man was sitting behind a desk. The man was tall and thin with a friendly smile on his face. He stood up when he saw the Aldens and came over to say hello.
“James Alden!” the man said, reaching out to shake Grandfather’s hand. “My father told me you still lived in Greenfield.”
“It’s good to see you, Pete,” Mr. Alden said. “Children, this is Peter Miller. I’ve known him since he was born. His father is an old friend of mine. When he told me Pete had come to the museum to work as the curator, I had to stop by and say hello.”
“And these must be your grandchildren,” said Mr. Miller. “Don’t tell me—the tall one is Henry, Jessie is over here, Violet has the purple shirt on, and this must be Benny.”
Benny grinned. “You got it!”
“Would you like to join us for some lunch, Mr. Miller?” Henry asked.
“That sounds great,” Pete said. “But please don’t call me ‘Mr. Miller.’ I’m Pete.”
“When did you become the curator here?” Grandfather asked as they walked down the hallway to the museum cafe.
“And what is a cur—what’s that word again?” Benny asked.
“A cu-ra-tor,” Pete said slowly. “It’s the person at the museum who puts together the exhibits.”
“Which exhibits did you put together?” asked Jessie.
“I’m working on my first one,” Pete said. “It’s very exciting.”
“What’s it about?” Violet asked.
Before Pete could answer, Benny called out, “Hey, look! A mummy!” Everyone turned to see where Benny was pointing. On the wall was a poster of an Egyptian mummy.
“That answers Violet’s question,” Pete said. “That poster is for our new exhibit about ancient Egypt. It’s called ‘Enter the Mummy’s Tomb.’”
“Will there really be a mummy?” Benny wanted to know.
“You bet,” Pete said as they reached the café. “Let’s get some lunch and I’ll tell you all about it.”
A few minutes later, Pete and the Aldens sat down to eat. The children had chosen sandwiches and fruit, and the two men were having soup.
But for once, Benny wasn’t interested in food. “Please tell us abou
t the mummy,” he begged Pete.
Pete began speaking in a low voice. “The director of the museum wants to keep the details of the exhibit a secret,” he explained. “But I don’t think anyone will hear me.”
“Why are you keeping it a secret?” Jessie asked quietly.
“Well, it’s not really a secret,” Pete said. “We’ve announced the exhibit in the newspapers and put up posters around town. But this is the biggest exhibit ever to come to the Greenfield Museum. We want to make sure we’ve got it all set up perfectly before we let out any details.”
“You must know a lot about Egypt if you made an exhibit about it,” Benny said.
“Actually, the exhibit was put together by the Egyptian Museum,” Pete said. “We’re renting it from them. Museums often share exhibits. We’ve also hired an expert on Egypt to help set it up.”
Pete paused to eat a spoonful of his soup. Henry looked around and noticed that a young woman sitting near them had stopped eating her lunch and was watching them closely. Henry wondered why.
“Do you know what a mummy is?” Pete asked Benny.
“It’s a dead person wrapped in bandages, right?” Benny said.
“That’s about right,” Pete said. “In ancient Egypt, they believed that when a person died they would still need their body. So they figured out a way to preserve it. They did such a good job that some mummies have lasted for thousands of years.”
“Wow, that’s old!” Benny said in an awed voice.
“Some mummies, especially the mummies of kings, are decorated with beautiful masks and fancy painted coffins. Some have gold and jewels on them. But our mummy isn’t quite that fancy. Our exhibit will also show lots of things Egyptian people made and used thousands of years ago.”
Henry was very interested in the exhibit. But he couldn’t help thinking that someone else seemed to be, too. The woman sitting nearby was still watching them. She had finished eating, but she continued to sit at her table looking toward the Aldens. Henry wondered if she could hear what they were saying.