The Canoe Trip Mystery

  “Ouch!” he yelled. “It’s burning me!” He got up and waved his hand up and down.

  Jessie rushed to get the first-aid kit.

  “You should probably put your hand in cold water right away,” Aunt Jane suggested kindly. She pointed to the lake.

  After Matt had soaked his finger in the lake, Jessie found ointment and a gauze bandage to put on the burn. “There,” she said, as she finished taping up Matt’s finger. “It should be all right now.”

  “Thank you,” Matt said a little sheepishly. “We didn’t bring any first-aid equipment with us.”

  Bill suddenly gave Matt a warning glance and put his fingers to his lips. Jessie was busy putting away the first-aid kit. Benny and Aunt Jane were putting up their tent. No one saw Matt and Bill signal one another.

  “Good luck on the rest of your trip,” Matt called. “We’re going back to our tent now. We need a good night’s rest.”

  “Yes, and we hope you meet up with the rest of your family tomorrow,” Bill added. They left the campfire for the Aldens.

  “Do you think they really work for the forestry service?” Jessie asked as she laid the sleeping bags inside the tent.

  “I don’t know,” Aunt Jane answered. “But I must say, they didn’t seem to know too much about campfires or treating burns.”

  “They may just have been tired from the storm,” Jessie said. She rummaged in herbackpack for her red wool socks. It got much colder in the evenings.

  “Maybe.” Aunt Jane sounded doubtful. “But I had a funny feeling about them. They didn’t seem as if they were used to the outdoors.”

  “You mean they may not really be forest rangers?” Benny sounded disappointed. He was busy unrolling his sleeping bag.

  “They might be,” Aunt Jane said. “But I’m not sure.” She yawned and got into her sleeping bag. She was already sound asleep when Jessie tucked Benny into his.

  In the middle of the night, Jessie stirred and was soon wide-awake. She heard something rustling outside. What if it’s a bear? she thought to herself. Or maybe it’s a raccoon. That thought was much more comforting.

  Suddenly she saw a very bright light shining outside. At first she was frightened, but then she realized it was probably just Matt or Bill getting up in the middle of the night for some reason.

  Just as suddenly as it had come on, thelight flickered and vanished. It took Jessie a long time to fall back to sleep.

  Meanwhile, Henry, Violet, and Rob had given up trying to find the other canoe in the fog. They went ashore until the fog lifted. Then they decided to go to the next campsite.

  Henry guided the canoe across the lake. Before long, Henry and Violet spotted a low building in the distance.

  “I’m sure that’s the bunkhouse,” Henry said happily. He had been worried they would never find it in the storm. “Now, we can just wait here for the others.”

  “Are you sure Jessie and Aunt Jane know where this campsite is?” Violet asked.

  “Yes, I pointed it out to them on the map,” Henry answered. “And Jessie has her compass.”

  “They’re probably waiting out the storm onshore somewhere,” Rob suggested. He slowly limped toward the building they had seen from the water and disappeared inside.

  Henry and Violet followed with some food and their backpacks.

  “Oh, no,” Henry suddenly said, more to himself than anyone else. Outside the bunkhouse was a wooden canoe with the name Angela carved in big red letters on both sides.

  “It can’t be the same Angela we met in the store,” Violet said. “She had nothing good to say about this canoe trail.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Henry said grimly, opening the door to the bunkhouse.

  Violet looked around and smiled. The bunkhouse had a fireplace in the main room. A soft rug covered the wooden floor. All the bedrooms had wooden bunk beds built into the walls.

  “It will be fun to wait for the others in a place like this.” Violet adjusted her purple hair ribbon.

  “Yes,” Henry agreed. “It is a nice bunkhouse.”

  “Well, I thought I’d have the place to myself this evening,” a familiar voice interrupted.

  “Angela,” Henry said. “We thought you didn’t like to canoe on this lake.”

  Angela had just entered. She wore fancy waterproof shorts, gold jewelry, and a red sweater with white canoes all over it. Violet noticed the color of her watchband matched the red in her sweater.

  “I had some business up here,” Angela said, “or don’t worry, I wouldn’t be anywhere near this awful place.” She put her enormous backpack on the ground with a thud.

  Rob came out of one of the bedrooms to see who Violet and Henry were talking to. Violet thought he turned very pale when he saw Angela.

  “Hello, I’m Rob Wilson.” He held out his hand.

  “You’re staying here, too?” Angela asked rudely. She ignored his outstretched hand.

  “I could ask you the same question,” Rob answered.

  Angela glared.

  “Will you be staying here tonight?” Henry asked politely.

  “Well, yes,” Angela said. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a miserable night out.”

  She turned back to Rob. “So who are you?” she demanded.

  “I’m a tourist,” Rob answered.

  “From England?” Angela asked.

  “Yes.” Rob looked more and more nervous.

  “How would you have heard about Timberwolf Lake or Catfish Lake in England? This is a very isolated part of the country,” Angela remarked.

  “I live here now,” Rob said. He seemed eager to end the conversation.

  “You’re all canoeing together?” Angela wanted to know.

  “Yes,” Violet said shyly. “We met Rob at a campsite a couple of days ago.”

  “They very kindly invited me to join them when they saw I’d twisted my ankle,” Rob said with a grateful look at Henry and Violet.

  Angela suddenly noticed there were fewer children. “Where’s the rest of your family?”

  “We got separated in the storm,” Henry explained.

  Rob cleared his throat. “So, what sort of business are you doing?” he asked Angela.

  “I’d rather not talk about it,” she snapped. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go rest.” She struggled with her backpack and strode out of the room.

  When Henry and Violet looked at Rob, he was staring down at the floor. He looked as if he’d just seen a ghost. Without a word, he went back to his room.

  Henry and Violet changed out of their wet clothes and had some lunch. Then they walked down to the lake to see if they could spot Aunt Jane’s canoe. Now that the fog had lifted, the lake shone in the late afternoon sun. A small rainbow appeared in the distance.

  “What do you think is the matter with Rob?” Violet asked as they walked along the shore.

  “I don’t know.” Henry sighed. “He seemed so nervous after seeing Angela.”

  “It’s too bad he won’t talk to us,” Violet said.

  “I really wish Angela wasn’t at this campsite,” Henry said. “There’s something very suspicious about her. If the others were here, I’d move on.”

  He reached their canoe and bent down to see if it needed bailing. “Oh no!” he groaned.

  “What’s the matter?” Violet asked. She looked down at the canoe and gasped. Everything in it was gone, even the paddles!

  CHAPTER 8

  A Discovery

  “Violet, look!” Henry called to his sister the next morning. “It’s Aunt Jane’s canoe!” Henry and Violet ran down to the lake. It was early, and the sky was a little pink.

  “Henry, Violet, we found you!” Benny called. He tumbled out of the canoe when it reached shore. Henry held the canoe steady while Aunt Jane and Jessie climbed out.

  “Oh, I’m so happy to see you,” Aunt Jane exclaimed. She gave Violet and Henry a big hug. So did Jessie. Benny hopped up and down excitedly.

  After they’d unloaded the canoe
, the Aldens and Aunt Jane sat down on a log for a snack of graham crackers and peanut butter.

  Henry and Violet told the others about their things being stolen.

  “It was lucky we’d taken most of our food and clothes out of the canoe,” Violet explained.

  “You really think it was Angela who took everything?” Jessie asked.

  “She was gone when we got back to the bunkhouse,” Violet said.

  “So was her canoe,” Henry added. “She just disappeared.”

  Henry didn’t say so, but he suspected Rob, too. Rob hadn’t been in his room the night before, when Henry and Violet got back from their walk. Henry hadn’t seen him all morning either.

  “Well, at least we’re all together and safe.” Aunt Jane said, interrupting Henry’s thoughts. She hugged Violet and Henry for perhaps the fourth time that morning. “I really was worried when we got separated,” she admitted.

  “I don’t know how Angela did it,” Violet said, still puzzled. She shook her head. “She had so many things with her already. She took our tent, our sleeping bags, our life jackets…”

  “I brought extra inflatable life preservers in my backpack,” Jessie reminded her. “We’ll be all right.”

  Henry agreed. “We don’t have too much further to go,” he said. “We can all sleep in one tent if we have to. Our big problem will be finding new paddles.”

  “Why don’t we try to find some long poles in the woods?” Jessie suggested.

  “That might work,” Henry said, but he sounded doubtful. “Still, it would be hard to find just the right size and shape. Even if we did, it would be hard to grip rough wood for a very long time.”

  “We have two paddles in our canoe,” Aunt Jane reminded him. “Just take one of ours. We can both manage with only one paddle.”

  Henry looked serious. “The only problem is we have some small rapids to cross just before White Pine. It might be hard to dothat with only one person paddling.”

  “I think we’ll be all right,” Aunt Jane said. She was an excellent canoeist, and she knew Henry was very skilled as well.

  “It looks like another storm is coming,” Jessie remarked. “We might as well stay at this campsite another night and not try to cross rapids in this weather. We still have time before we’re supposed to meet Grandfather.”

  “Good idea,” Violet said. She stood up and wiped the cracker crumbs from her lavender shorts. “Besides, now that we’re finally on Catfish Lake, we should be looking for clues to solve that riddle.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Benny said.

  “Oh, my goodness, there’s Rob,” Aunt Jane said. “I’d forgotten all about him.”

  Rob slowly limped toward them from the bunkhouse. He looked very pale, and there were big dark circles under his eyes.

  “It seems like his ankle is worse,” Aunt Jane said softly.

  “You’re here!” Rob exclaimed to Aunt Jane, Jessie, and Benny as he came closer.

  “Yes, we made it,” Aunt Jane laughed. “It was lucky Henry and I planned our route before we left. I knew he would be heading to this campsite.”

  “Would you like some peanut butter and crackers?” Violet asked shyly.

  Rob rubbed his eyes and sat down beside Aunt Jane. He looked very worried. “No, thank you. I think I’ll just make myself some coffee. I’m not very hungry.”

  “Did you know we were robbed?” Henry asked him.

  A little more color seemed to drain from Rob’s face. “No, I had no idea,” he said.

  “They took everything we left in the canoe,” Henry explained.

  “Even the paddles,” Benny added.

  “Angela?” Rob asked.

  “We’re not sure.” Henry looked closely at Rob. “But she’s gone now.”

  “What a shame.” Rob shook his head.

  “We’re staying here another night,” Benny announced. “There are some things we want to look for in the woods.”

  Henry gave Benny a warning look, but Rob didn’t seem to notice.

  “Okay,” Rob said, but his thoughts seemed faraway. “I’ll be in the bunkhouse if you need me. I need to catch up on some sleep.”

  As they walked through the woods in back of the bunkhouse, Jessie told Henry all about meeting Matt and Bill.

  “They didn’t act like forest rangers,” Benny added.

  Henry sighed. “I think we should sit down and talk about all this.” He pointed to some big boulders under the trees. When they were all seated, he told Jessie, Benny, and Aunt Jane how mysterious Rob had been acting.

  “He hasn’t been himself since we ran into Angela,” Violet added.

  “That doesn’t mean he took our stuff,” Jessie said. She hated to think that Rob might be a thief.

  “I can’t prove he took anything.” Henry sighed. “All I know is he wasn’t in the bunkhouse all evening. After he met Angela, wedidn’t see him again until this morning.”

  “He didn’t seem to like Angela any more than we did,” Violet added.

  “No, but I think he knows more than he’s letting on,” Henry remarked.

  Jessie pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of her rain jacket. “I think we should make a list of all the people we suspect,” she said.

  “It seems like no one wants us on this trail,” Violet said. “But I still think Angela is the most suspicious.”

  “I think so, too,” Benny added.

  “But,” Henry said, “how would she have had time to take all our things, pack them away somewhere, and get away?”

  “I’ll put Angela on the list along with Lorenzo, Rob, Matt, and Bill,” Jessie said. “All of them, except maybe Rob, have tried to talk us out of continuing our trip.”

  “Well, Matt and Bill didn’t really try to stop us,” Benny said.

  “No,” Jessie agreed. “But they seemed suspicious. They said they were forest rangers, but they didn’t act like real rangers,” Jessiereminded her brother. “And they asked a lot of questions.”

  “Do you think Lorenzo is really a scientist?” Benny asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jessie answered. “There are certainly people on this trail pretending to be things they aren’t.” Jessie wrote scientist with a question mark next to Lorenzo’s name.

  “It’s funny, everyone’s acting so strange,” Violet remarked. “What do they think we know?”

  “Or what do they think we’ll find out?” Henry said.

  “Let’s see.” Jessie was still busy writing. “I believe Lorenzo was the only person we talked to about the riddle.”

  “That’s right,” Henry nodded. “And we didn’t talk to anyone about the coin robberies.”

  “We won’t know anything about the coins unless we look for some clues,” Benny reminded his family. Everyone agreed. Benny ran on ahead and disappeared in a grove of pine trees.

  Jessie put away her paper and chased afterhim. “We don’t really know what we’re looking for,” she said as they both stopped to catch their breath.

  They were surrounded by pine and oak trees. The trees were so tall, they blocked out what little light there was that day.

  Benny walked on ahead while Jessie waited for Violet to catch up.

  “I wish it weren’t so overcast,” Violet commented when she reached her sister. “It makes this forest look very eerie.”

  “There’s a big meadow up ahead,” Benny said, running back to his sisters. “I also saw another old house.”

  “Really? Let’s go see it,” Jessie said. By then Henry and Aunt Jane had joined them. Together, they all walked quickly through the woods to the meadow.

  The meadow around the house was large and overgrown. Clumps of buttercups and daisies grew near the house.

  “Oh, look at all these beautiful flowers!” Violet said. Her eyes were shining.

  “Oh, Violet, don’t waste time pickingflowers. Come see the big old house.” Benny took his sister’s hand.

  “Okay. Benny, I’m coming.” Violet laughed and ran toward the
house with her brother.

  “Careful, those steps don’t look too safe,” Aunt Jane warned Benny and Violet.

  The house was built of wood and painted a faded mustard yellow. It had white shutters and a porch that sagged. The porch steps were broken and so were many of the windowpanes.

  “This house must be about one hundred years old,” Henry said.

  Benny climbed onto the porch. “I don’t think anyone lives here,” he said.

  “No, it looks abandoned,” Henry agreed.

  Benny pulled on the ornate doorknob. “It’s locked,” he reported. He tugged some more, but soon gave up and went around to the back.

  “Hey!” he called to the others. “I’ve found something else!”

  They found Benny standing by an oldstone well near the back of the house.

  “That’s an old well, Benny,” Henry said. “It must belong to the house. It was probably built before there was running water.”

  “That’s it!” Violet’s eyes were shining. The others looked puzzled.

  “What’s it?” Henry asked.

  “Remember the riddle?” Violet asked. Jessie smiled and pulled a piece of paper out of her big pocket.

  “‘Silver and gold coins, so well hidden,’” she read.

  “Of course,” Henry smiled. “The coins are hidden in a well!”

  “And we are near Catfish Lake,” Jessie reminded them all.

  Henry leaned over the edge of the well.

  “Can you see anything?” Benny asked a bit impatiently.

  “Be careful,” Aunt Jane warned Henry.

  “Don’t worry, Aunt Jane,” Henry said. He was leaning so far into the well, his voice sounded muffled.

  “Well, do you see anything?” Benny repeated.

  “No,” Henry answered. “Maybe I should go back for my flashlight.”

  “I have an idea,” Jessie said. “Why don’t we first see if any of these stones are loose?” She began prying the stones on the top.

  Henry, Violet, Benny, and Aunt Jane set to work helping her. To Benny it seemed as if more than an hour had gone by before Violet shouted, “I found a loose stone.”

  The others crowded around her. The loose stone was three rows down from the top of the wall.