“And the bakery hasn’t closed,” Henry said. The building next to the pet store was lit up as well. The sign over it had cupcakes painted on it and the words The Eggleston Bakery.
“I don’t think it’s a bakery now,” Jessie said. “Benny, can you read the banner in the window?”
Benny looked up at the sign. “Yes! It says ‘Alice Alden for Mayor.’ Why is her sign in there?”
“That’s Alice’s campaign headquarters,” Grandfather said. “She told me she had rented space in an empty store.”
“But that means there is no bakery and no café in town. That’s awful,” Benny said.
“Alice and Joe should be able to tell us what’s happened,” Grandfather said as he parked the car in front of the building.
“Can we bring Watch inside?” Violet asked.
“Yes, but you should put his leash on him,” Grandfather said.
“Here.” Henry handed a leash back to Violet.
Violet reached down to hook it to Watch’s collar, except there was no collar. “We’ve got a problem,” she said. “I can’t put a leash on him. His collar is missing.”
“Look on the floor of the car. Maybe it fell off,” Henry suggested. He took a flashlight out of the glove compartment and gave it to Jessie.
She shined it under the seats. “I don’t see it.”
“Maybe it fell off when he was running around in that field,” Benny said.
“We can go back and look for it tomorrow,” Grandfather said. “It’s too dark now. I can take him to Joe and Alice’s house after we go in and say hello.”
“I’m not so sure I want to go back out to that creepy place,” Benny said.
“It won’t look so spooky in the daytime,” Jessie assured him. “Come on, let’s go see Soo Lee.”
Inside the former bakery, there were several people busy making telephone calls and putting flyers in envelopes.
“It still smells like a bakery,” Benny said. “I think I smell cake.”
Violet sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything, Benny. You might be imagining the cake smell.”
A bald man wearing a suit and a bow tie noticed the Aldens standing in the doorway. He came over to them. “I don’t know who you people are,” he said, “but if you are looking for the bakery, it closed a few months ago.”
Soo Lee spotted them. “They’re here! They’re here!” she cried. She jumped up and down with excitement and ran over to hug everyone.
“You know these people?” the man with the bow tie asked the girl.
Alice and Joe hurried over. “Mr. Eggleston, it’s fine,” Alice told the man. “Let me introduce you to more of my family.” She made the introductions and then asked Mr. Eggleston, “Didn’t you want to get something out of the kitchen?”
“Yes, I did,” the man said. “I hope you are sticking to our agreement and not letting anyone go into my kitchen. I don’t want any of the equipment damaged.”
“No one has been in there,” Alice said. “You don’t need to worry.”
Mr. Eggleston didn’t seem convinced. He frowned and went through a door behind the empty display counter. At the same time Grandfather’s cell phone rang. He excused himself to go outside and take the call.
“Why did the bakery close?” Jessie asked.
“The town has fallen on hard times,” Joe said. “Two of the factories closed down so lots of people lost their jobs. People are moving away to find jobs in other places, so that means there isn’t enough business for the stores in town.”
Mr. Eggleston came back out of the kitchen carrying an old notebook in time to hear Alice add, “That’s why I wanted to run for mayor. I have some ideas which could help.”
“Someone needs to do something,” Mr. Eggleston said. He frowned at Alice. “I’ve heard you have some extreme ideas on how to save the town.”
“Not extreme. Bold ideas. Come to the speeches tonight and hear what I have to say. Your support would be a big help.”
“I suppose I’ll come, though I was going to copy some of my old recipes so they won’t be lost.” Mr. Eggleston brushed some dust off the notebook.
“It won’t take long,” Alice said. “I’m glad to hear you’re going to save those recipes. Mr. Eggleston made the best cakes in town,” she told the children. “I miss his grandmother’s spice cake he used to sell in the bakery.”
This made Mr. Eggleston smile. “I do have some wonderful recipes. My grandmother and my great-grandmother were very good cooks,” he said. “We’ll see if I ever get to use the recipes again. I should be going. Now remember, don’t let anyone go back in the kitchen,” he said to Alice.
“I won’t,” she promised.
After Mr. Eggleston left, Benny said, “I wish the bakery was still open. Spice cake sounds good. Did the factories close and the movie theater burn down because of the curse on the town?”
Alice looked confused so Violet explained. “We saw the Appleville sign about the town curse.”
“Oh dear, I thought the sign was supposed to be repaired today,” Alice said. “I’m so angry at whoever painted on it. I wish we could find out who did it and why. The sheriff doesn’t have any clues.”
The Alden children all looked at each other. Henry spoke up. “Maybe we can help find out.”
“I know you are good at solving mysteries, but I don’t think you can solve this one,” Joe said.
“What about the curse on the town?” Benny asked.
Joe ruffled Benny’s hair. “Don’t worry about that. It’s just an old story that’s been floating around for years.”
“What story?” Benny asked.
“I’ll tell you later, but now we need to go or we’ll be late,” Joe said.
Grandfather came back in. “I’m sorry. I was hoping to stay until after your speech before I had to drive back to Greenfield, but my flight tomorrow morning has been changed. I need to get home tonight. Is it all right if I take Watch to your house?” He explained about the missing collar. “I can put the children’s suitcases inside and their bicycles in your garage.”
“Of course,” Joe said. He told Grandfather where they kept the spare key.
Grandfather said good-bye and went back out the door. After he left, Joe asked the children, “Could you help carry some of the boxes of buttons and hats out to the van? We’re going to hand them out at the town hall where the candidates are giving their speeches. All the hats are in a box over there and the boxes filled with buttons are stacked by that table. It will take two of you to carry a button box. They are heavy.”
“Violet, do you want to help me with a button box?” Jessie asked her sister.
“Yes,” Violet said. “I can’t wait to see what they look like.”
“You take one side and I’ll take the other,” Jessie said. When Jessie and Violet lifted the box, it didn’t take any effort at all. It was very light.
Jessie shook her end. There was no rattle of buttons from inside the box. “Something is wrong,” she said. “I don’t think there are buttons in here.”
Henry took the box from them and shook it. There was no noise from inside. “That’s strange,” Henry said. He set the box down and pulled off the tape holding it closed. When he opened up the flaps, they could all see it was empty inside.
“There’s nothing in there but bubble wrap,” Violet said.
“What about the hats?” Jessie asked.
Soo Lee opened the box labeled “hats.” “There aren’t any hats!” she cried. “Just bubble wrap in here too.”
Benny reached in the box. “There’s something else.” He pulled out a piece of paper and a big black feather. The paper read, Drop out of the race. Save the town. The feather fell out of Benny’s hand onto the floor.
CHAPTER 3
The Story of the Feather
“I don’t like this,” Benny said. “There was a big black bird on the town sign and now there’s a big black feather here.”
Alice took the paper from Benny. “What a te
rrible thing for someone to do! All my hats and buttons! I don’t know how my dropping out of the race would save the town,” Alice said.
“That piece of paper is nonsense,” Joe said. He was angry. “I can’t believe someone stole our campaign supplies. I’m going to report this to the sheriff.”
“Could you tell us about the curse now, Alice?” Henry asked. “It seems as if the painting on the sign and the missing hats and buttons are part of the same mystery.”
“We’re going to need all the information we can get in order to solve it,” Jessie added.
“I’ll tell you, but like I said, it’s just an old story,” Alice replied. “A long time ago there was a gang of thieves who stole items from stores and houses in town. No one knew who was doing it until a black feather was found underneath a broken window. There was one man who always wore a black turkey vulture feather in his hat—a man named Jim Eggleston.”
“Eggleston? That’s the name of the man who owns the bakery,” Violet said.
“Yes, Mr. Eggleston’s grandfather was Jim Eggleston’s younger brother. Jim Eggleston was arrested along with the rest of his gang of thieves and they went to jail for a long time. Without Jim’s help, his mother and his younger brother couldn’t keep their apple farm going. The bank took it over and then it was sold to someone else,” Alice said.
“So what about the curse?” Benny asked.
“I’m coming to that,” Alice said. “When Jim got out of jail, he came back to town to see his mother who was trying to earn a living by selling cakes and cookies out of her house. He was so angry that the bank had taken their farm that he told everyone he put a curse on the town. He said the town would suffer until an Eggleston owned the land again.”
“The town is suffering,” Violet said.
“So the curse worked,” Benny said, his eyes wide.
Alice shook her head. “The town is suffering now, but it did well for many, many years. It’s the Eggleston farm that hasn’t done well. Every time a new owner bought it, something bad happened and the owners couldn’t keep it. The last owner finally donated the land to the town and moved away. I don’t know why someone would bring up that old story now.”
“We know one person who might bring it up,” Jessie pointed out. “There is someone who doesn’t want you to be mayor. We saw the sign for the man running against you.”
“Charlie Ford would never do anything like this,” Alice said. She took the paper and the feather and threw them into a garbage can. “He’s a very nice man and popular in town. His family has owned a toy store here for years and years. It’s only a few stores down from here. Even though we are running against each other, we are friends. It must have been someone else.”
“We should try to figure out how someone could have done this,” Henry said. “Who knew the boxes were here?”
“And how did they get in? Do you keep the door locked when you aren’t here?” Jessie asked.
Alice thought for a moment. “I think we keep it locked. Sometimes we run out for coffee or sandwiches and I suppose we aren’t as careful as we should be. But this is a small town and we don’t have anything anyone would steal,” Alice told them.
“Who has keys?” Violet asked.
“Just me. And Mr. Eggleston of course. I don’t know if he’s given a key to anyone else,” Alice said.
“Is there a back door?” Henry motioned to the door to the kitchen. “Through there?”
“Yes, but we never use that door since Mr. Eggleston doesn’t want us in the kitchen. I’m sure it’s locked,” Alice replied.
“I should check it,” Joe said. He hurried through the kitchen door and returned a moment later. “It’s locked. We’ll have to be more careful with the front door in the future.”
“How many people know you kept the buttons and hats here?” Henry asked.
“Several people,” Alice said. “My helpers, but they’re my friends. Mr. Eggleston was here when the boxes were delivered. Some of the people who work in the stores nearby might have noticed. I mentioned them to Charlie Ford and his grandson. I teased them that their conductor hats wouldn’t be the only hats in town. I think those are the only people.”
“Alice, we really do need to leave,” Joe said. “It wouldn’t be good to be late for your speech.”
“No it wouldn’t,” Alice said, picking up a folder. “I don’t want to forget my speech. I’ll worry about the buttons and the hats later.”
Once they were in Joe’s van, Benny asked Alice, “If you win the election for mayor, does that mean you get to be sort of like the queen of the town?”
Alice laughed. “No, being a mayor is not like being a queen. The mayor works with the members of the city council to make the town run better.”
“It would be fun to be a queen,” Violet said.
“Then I could be a princess!” Soo Lee said. “Though being the mayor’s daughter will be fun too.”
“I have to win first,” Alice reminded her. “We’ll all vote for you,” Benny said. “There are four of us and Joe and Soo Lee. That’s six votes. And when Grandfather comes back, he can vote too. That’s seven.”
“I’m sorry, Benny,” Alice said. “As much as I’d like your votes, I’m afraid you children aren’t allowed to vote in this election. It’s a rule that you have to be eighteen years old. You also have to be a resident of the town to vote for mayor, so your grandfather couldn’t vote either.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Benny was disappointed. “But you have lots of friends, so they’ll vote for you,” he said.
“Some of them will. I won’t be angry if they decide to vote for Charlie Ford instead. They should vote for whoever they believe has the right plan for the town, not just because they are my friends. The bigger problem is getting people to vote at all,” Alice replied.
“Why not?” Violet asked. “I think it would be fun to vote. I can’t wait until I’m old enough.”
“Some people don’t think their votes matter,” Joe explained. “They don’t believe one vote would make a difference but it does.”
“And sometimes people think it’s too much of a bother to vote,” Alice added. “If it’s cold that day or rainy, they don’t want to make the effort. I hope people in Appleville will want to vote.”
“Your speech tonight will convince them!” Soo Lee said.
“I hope so,” Alice told her. “I’m so glad you will all be there to listen.”
When they reached the town hall parking lot they were surprised to see people just standing outside in the cold.
“I wonder if someone forgot to open the doors,” Alice said.
Joe pulled into a parking spot and then the Aldens saw the problem. A big tree had fallen across the sidewalk. There was a large hole in the lawn where the roots had been.
“Not our oak tree!” Alice cried. “That tree has been there since the town was founded.”
Joe sighed. “It was old and it’s been losing branches for a couple of years. I hate to see it go though,” he said.
They got out of the car and joined the crowd. One young woman standing near them clasped her hands together and said, “It’s one more bit of bad news for the town. Who knows what will happen next?”
“We’ll plant a new tree,” Alice assured her. “And maybe we can have this one made into some park benches and tables. Wouldn’t that be a good use for it?”
The woman smiled. “You always look on the bright side, Alice. Good luck tonight!”
“Thank you,” Alice replied. They all went inside to a large auditorium. An older woman carrying a clipboard hurried over to them.
She peered at Alice over a pair of glasses perched at the end of her nose. “There you are, Alice. You are almost late. We need to keep to the schedule.”
“I’m here now, Mrs. Draper. And ready to go.” Alice introduced the children and then explained to them, “Mrs. Draper is the head of the Board of Elections for the town. She makes sure elections run smoothly.”
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p; “I try,” the woman said. She glanced around the room. “I was hoping for a better turnout, but I suppose we should be grateful anyone is here at all. Mr. Ford will speak first, then you.” Mrs. Draper looked at the clipboard and frowned. “And then…who is this?” the woman said as if she was talking to herself. “Excuse me, I need to check on something.” She hurried over to the young man who had handed her the paper.
After a few moments Mrs. Draper walked up on stage and asked for everyone’s attention. The small crowd got quiet. “I’ve been notified we have a new candidate for mayor, Mr. Albert Hund,” the woman said. “Mr. Hund? Are you here? Would you like to speak?”
No one answered or came forward. The crowd began to murmur. A man standing near the Aldens asked another man in front of them, “Who is Albert Hund?”
“I don’t know anyone by that name,” the man replied.
“Joe, do you know Albert Hund?” Violet asked.
“I’ve never heard of the fellow,” Joe said. “Though we haven’t lived here long enough for me to know everyone in town.”
“It’s odd that so many people here don’t know him,” Jessie said. “Appleville is such a small town. Someone must have met him.”
“It is odd, and it means we know someone else who doesn’t want Alice to win the election,” Henry said. “Mr. Hund, whoever he is.”
CHAPTER 4
Alice Takes the Stage
Mrs. Draper held up her hand again and waited for the crowd to quiet down. “It appears Mr. Hund is not here, so we’ll move right along. Mr. Ford will speak first and then Mrs. Alden. Afterward, both candidates will come up on stage and answer questions. We’ll get started in just a few minutes. Please take your seats.”
“I’m going to go up front and sit with Mr. Ford until it’s my turn to talk,” Alice said. “I’ll see you afterward. You can sit anywhere you like.”