“What’s wrong?” Jessie asked.
The girl’s face reddened as she struggled to explain. “I-I was sweeping in there when I realized I forgot my dustpan,” she started. “I left the room for just a minute to get it.”
She paused to take a deep breath. Jessie could see that the girl was not only baffled, but frightened.
“I heard the door slam shut,” the girl continued. “When I came back, the door was locked!”
By now a small crowd had gathered. Even Benny and Violet had come in from the snack table to see what was going on.
A few volunteers tried to open the door. Benny went over and pulled on the knob too. But the door was definitely locked.
“Maybe the wind blew it closed,” suggested one volunteer.
“Or, someone else closed and locked the door,” offered another.
After a few moments, a woman stepped forward to speak to the crowd. She nervously twirled the cord of her name tag.
“I’m a coordinator on this project,” she said. “And I know for a fact that the doors only lock from inside the classroom.”
“Is somebody in there?” Henry asked.
“I don’t think so,” replied the coordinator. “We’ve got someone bringing a ladder to look in the room and check.” She pointed to a small, high window above the door.
The group became noisy as everyone tried to offer explanations for the locked door.
A burly man from the construction crew pushed through the group carrying a ladder. He smiled as he leaned the ladder against the wall next to the door.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this,” he said. He climbed the ladder. Then he peered into the small window. By the time he turned to face the group, his smile had faded.
“The room is empty,” he said in amazement as he climbed back down the ladder. Then he tested the door to make sure it really was locked. The door remained tightly shut.
Henry exchanged a look with Jessie. Something strange was happening, and they had to see for themselves.
“If you don’t mind, may I take a look?” Harry asked the burly man.
“Be my guest,” the man replied. “Maybe you’ll see something I missed.”
Henry climbed up the ladder and peeked through the window. Scanning the room, he realized that nothing unusual stood out. There was definitely nobody in the room, either.
“It’s empty,” he confirmed.
One of the volunteers gasped in astonishment. Another nervously hugged her arms to her chest.
“Was it a…ghost who locked the room?” the red-haired girl asked. “Is the school really haunted?”
The volunteer coordinator stepped forward again.
“It’s getting late,” she announced. “We’ll try to resolve this tomorrow. For now, let’s all head home.”
Everyone gathered their belongings and shuffled out of the school. On their way out, the volunteers exchanged tales about the Hawthorne ghost. They wondered if the old principal was still walking the halls…and locking classroom doors.
“What’s going on?” Violet asked. “There are ghost rumors everywhere. Even at the snack tent!”
“Really?” Jessie said.
Violet nodded. “We were handing out water when one of the volunteers asked us about the furniture.”
“The furniture?” Henry asked. “What about it?”
“It’s been moved!” Benny said.
“That’s right,” Violet added. “Apparently, some of the furniture was found in the basement.”
“And,” Benny continued, “nobody knows how it got there.”
The Aldens headed toward the parking lot. When they arrived, they spotted Grandfather talking with Bob.
“Bob was just telling me some good news!” Grandfather said when they reached the minivan.
“What’s happening?” Violet asked. Everything that involved the art center excited her.
“The arts committee has decided to throw a grand opening party,” Bob said. “It’s scheduled for six weeks from today. And you are all invited!”
“That’s great!” Henry said.
Grandfather nodded. “It’s a nice way to let the community know about the new art center.”
“It’s a tight deadline,” Bob said. “But we can do it!”
“Sure!” Grandfather agreed. “Just stay on track, and everything will be ready in time for the party!”
The Aldens climbed into the minivan while discussing the plans for the grand opening. After waving farewell to Bob, Grandfather drove toward Greenfield.
“How was work today?” he asked. “Do you think the art center will be ready in time for the party?”
Violet frowned. She thought about all of the spooky things that had happened that day.
“The school might be haunted,” she finally replied.
“Why do you think that?” Grandfather asked.
Violet and the others told him what had happened.
“I’m sure there are reasonable explanations,” Grandfather told her.
“I hope it’s not haunted,” Violet added. “The art center is going to be great!”
As they continued driving, Jessie flipped through the pages of her notebook. She didn’t believe in ghosts. But it was clear from her notes that something strange was happening at Hawthorne School. Jessie wondered why Martha had been so irritated when the volunteers mentioned contacting the newspaper. Then there was Room 108. How could the door be locked from the inside when the room was empty?
Benny distracted her from her thoughts. “Something smells good!” he said. He looked around and pulled out a paper bag. WEAVER’S FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOP was written on it in colorful letters. When Benny opened the bag, an aroma of fresh herbs floated into the minivan.
“Weaver’s had a special on herbs,” Grandfather explained. “I think I’ll make my famous spaghetti soon!”
“That is a very good idea!” Benny replied.
Everyone giggled. But as excited as they were about Grandfather’s delicious spaghetti, they were also troubled. The day’s events had been very unusual. The Aldens rode the rest of the way home in silence. They were busy thinking about how the door to Room 108 could be locked.
Grandfather dropped them off at Hawthorne School early the next morning. The first thing the children did was go to the door of Room 108. They found volunteers gathered there. Now the door was wide open! Everyone was curious.
“Did someone unlock the door?” Benny asked.
“No!” the volunteer coordinator replied. “It was just…open when we got here.”
Jessie spotted Martha standing next to Mrs. Koslowski.
“Good morning,” Jessie said.
But Martha and Mrs. K didn’t hear Jessie. They were too busy discussing the Hawthorne School ghost.
“Do you think it’s the ghost of the principal?” Martha asked.
“What if the uncovered chalkboard upset her?” Mrs. K continued.
“We shouldn’t have moved anything,” another volunteer added.
“I also heard that furniture has been turning up in odd places,” another volunteer continued. “Bob said that some of the old desks were in the basement.”
“Really?” Martha asked. “Bob noticed the furniture had been moved?”
“Yes,” the volunteer confirmed. “And he doesn’t know how it got there.”
Jessie thought Martha had a strange expression on her face. She seemed uneasy, but she didn’t say anything else.
“Maybe the locked door was a sign that the Hawthorne ghost doesn’t want to be disturbed,” Mrs. K suggested.
Jessie stepped back and motioned to her brothers and sister to follow her.
“What’s going on?” Violet asked, once they were away from the crowd.
“Let’s find a private place to talk,” Jessie suggested.
They followed her down the hallway. Just as they turned a corner, they saw a glimpse of a figure quickly ducking into a classroom.
“Was that Ansel?” Henry
asked.
“It sure looked like him,” Violet said. “Where did he go?”
“Why isn’t he helping the volunteers?” Jessie asked.
Henry shrugged.
“He’s very mysterious,” he replied.
They continued until they reached a set of swinging double doors.
Jessie peeked through a small crack between the doors.
“It’s the gym!” she said. “Let’s sit down in here.”
Benny swung open the doors and rushed through them.
“Wow,” he said. “I’ve never been in here before.”
The gym floor was grubby and strewn with old leaves that had blown in through one of the broken windows, but even so, the Aldens could see the gym floor still had some of its old shine. Instead of being spooky, the big room was bright and pleasant, with the sunlight coming through the grimy skylights overhead.
“It’s just like our gym at school!” Jessie exclaimed. “Only dustier.”
“That’s for sure,” Henry said.
Tattered nets hung from the basketball hoops. The scoreboard looked broken, and the leather mats hanging along the wall were stiff and cracked. Paint peeled from the bleachers, which looked too rickety to sit on. But there was a pair of low, sturdy benches by the door.
“Let’s sit down,” Jessie suggested.
The Aldens sat facing one another on the wood benches.
“Something strange is definitely happening around here,” Jessie said. “Did you hear about the desks that showed up in the basement? A couple of the volunteers were talking about them.”
“Maybe Bob moved them?” Henry suggested.
“That’s the thing,” Jessie continued. “I just heard the volunteers say that Bob doesn’t know how they got there. Nobody does.”
Violet shivered. “Everyone thinks it’s the ghost, don’t they?”
“Well,” Jessie said. “Martha looked upset when she heard about the furniture in the basement. But I’m not sure what that means.”
“Maybe it means she believes in the Hawthorne School ghost,” Violet said.
“But there’s no such thing as ghosts,” Benny said. “Right?”
“Right!” Henry replied.
“So who’s causing all of the strange things to happen?” Benny asked.
“That’s what we have to figure out.” Henry replied.
The children looked around the gym. Even though it wasn’t spooky like the rest of the school, there were so many unanswered questions.
Henry stood up. “Let’s get to work,” he suggested. “There’s still a lot to do before the grand opening.”
“And today, we have granola bars at the snack tent!” Benny added.
Everyone laughed as they got up and walked out of the gym. When they were back in the hallway, Jessie stopped to face her brothers and sister.
“There may not be a ghost,” she said. “But we should all keep an eye out for anything unusual.”
As they were about to head to their jobs, they head a sharp cry that stopped them short. The noise had come from above them.
“What was that?” Violet asked.
“That,” Jessie said, “was a scream!”
CHAPTER 5
A Mysterious Warning
“Let’s go,” Henry said. He pointed to the floor above them. “It’s coming from upstairs!”
When the Aldens reached the second floor, they heard voices coming from Room 214. They went into the room, where a group of volunteers—including Martha and Mrs. K—were talking nervously. A few of the volunteers looked pale and frightened.
“What’s going on?” Henry asked. “We heard someone scream.”
The volunteers were huddled in the front of the classroom. Martha stepped aside so the Alden children could see the chalkboard. She waved at it, motioning for them to step forward for a closer look. When they did, they saw a message written on it. The cursive handwriting looked very much like the writing found on the old hidden chalkboard in Room 107. The same fancy handwriting that Mrs. K had admired.
“What does it mean?” Jessie asked. She opened her notebook and wrote down the exact words of the message.
Stay away! Whoever dares unlock my secret will be sorry!
She wondered who would send such a warning.
“When I was working in here earlier, the chalkboard was blank!” Martha explained. She took a few deep breaths before she continued. “I stepped away for just a few minutes to get a bottle of water from the snack tent. When I returned…I saw the message!”
Martha shivered.
“It must be the ghost,” she said nervously.
One of the volunteers, an older lady with graying curls, was also visibly shaken by the eerie message. She stared at the chalkboard and blinked several times. She seemed to be trying to convince herself that she was really seeing the strange words.
“The legend must be true,” she finally said. “The Hawthorne School ghost doesn’t want us here!”
For a few more moments, she continued to gaze at the chalkboard. And then suddenly, she began collecting her bags and belongings.
“I’m not sticking around to find out what’s going on here,” she said as she slipped on her jacket. Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she marched out of the classroom.
A short woman with blond hair had been watching the group. She abruptly stood up from her chair. “I think I’ll join her,” she said. She gave an apologetic glance as she left the room.
Another volunteer started to gather his belongings. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” he said. “But this is very strange!” He rushed out the door.
The Alden children looked at one another. If many more volunteers left, the art center wouldn’t be finished in time for the grand opening. Everyone seemed shaken by the message. But the Aldens knew that time was ticking. They had to find out who was behind this…and fast!
“I’m sure a ghost isn’t responsible for this message,” Jessie said. She remembered her grandfather’s advice. “There must be a reasonable answer.”
She looked over at the remaining volunteers, who were still staring at the message and talking among themselves. Martha looked uneasy. She put a hand against the wall to steady herself, and Jessie thought that she might faint.
“Are you OK?” Jessie asked. She jumped out of her seat so Martha could sit down.
“Thanks,” Martha replied. “Would you mind handing me my bottle of water? It’s over there in my bag.” She pointed to a large leather tote bag sitting on the window ledge.
“Sure,” Jessie said. She went over to the bag and looked inside. There she saw a box of business cards that had accidentally opened up. A dozen identical bright-green cards had spilled out and were scattered all throughout the bag. Jessie could see they were Martha’s business cards, and as she pulled out the water bottle she couldn’t help but read one that was facing up.
Jessie quickly closed the bag, then went over to Martha and handed her the water.
“Thank you,” Martha replied, still sounding a little upset.
“I hope you feel better,” Jessie told her.
Martha managed a small smile.
Jessie went back over to her brothers and sister. They needed to talk about the strange message on the board.
“Follow me,” she whispered to her siblings, as they all left Room 214 and quietly closed the door.
“Do you think a ghost is really haunting these classrooms?” Violet asked as soon as they were out in the hallway.
Jessie was about to reply when the door opened behind them. They turned to see Martha leaving the classroom. She still had a strange look on her face and was walking quickly. As she slung her tote bag over her shoulder, a small piece of paper fell out, but she didn’t stop. Jessie ran to pick it up, but by the time she had it in her hand, Martha had turned a corner. She was out of sight before Jessie could call to her.
Jessie looked down at the piece of paper. It was one of the bright-green business cards she had seen in Marth
a’s bag.
“What is it?” Violet asked.
Jessie tucked the card into her back pocket and looked at her sister and brothers. “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll show you over lunch. It’s time for our break, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” said Henry, checking his watch.
“I knew it was time for lunch even without a watch,” Benny said, rubbing his tummy.
Violet checked the backpack she was carrying that held their food. Mrs. McGregor had made them each a brown bag lunch.
“I have an idea!” she said. “Let’s find the lunchroom in this school! There has to be one, right? We can eat our sandwiches there, just like kids did in the old days.”
Before long, they had found a door with a sign that said cafeteria.
The lunchroom looked a little bit like the one from the Aldens’ own school. But the walls were covered in faded posters from the 1950s, showing black-and-white pictures of food. Jessie stood in front of a picture of a sandwich cut into neat triangles.
“It’s a…cream cheese and pickle sandwich?” she said. She raised her eyebrows. “Yikes!”
The pickles in the picture were gray, and they didn’t look very good to Jessie.
“I don’t know,” said Henry. “That sounds delicious! Except I would want olives instead of pickles.”
“Really?” said Violet. “I can’t imagine! The food was really weird in the fifties. Look!” She pointed to an old bulletin board with a tattered menu pinned to it.
“Today’s lunch,” she read aloud. “Milk, minced meat, mashed potatoes, beet relish, and tapioca pudding.”
“Beet relish?” Benny asked. He wrinkled his nose. “I’m glad Mrs. McGregor made our lunch!” All the same, he was fascinated by the old menu and made Violet read the whole thing to him.
They sat down at one of the long tables. Benny opened his bag and let the contents spill out. He smiled when he saw Mrs. McGregor’s famous turkey sandwich. She also had added carrots and a little tub of peanut butter. “My favorite!” Benny cheered, when he discovered the freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies.
The group was silent while they ate their sandwiches. Then Jessie pulled the small card from her pocket and stared at it.