Joe hugged her. “You’ll be great.”
“Yes,” Soo Lee said. “We’ll clap really loud for you when you are done.”
“Thank you,” Alice said. She bent down and kissed Soo Lee on the forehead and then walked toward the stage.
Jessie noticed a boy about her age watching them. He was wearing a train conductor’s hat over his curly red hair. On the brim of the hat were the words Vote for Ford. He held a stack of conductor hats.
“Hello, Logan,” Joe said when he saw the boy.
“Hi, Logan,” Soo Lee said. “Are you still helping out at the toy store? I’ve been saving my money to come in and buy a new art kit.”
“Hello,” the boy replied. His greeting wasn’t very friendly and he didn’t answer Soo Lee’s question. He frowned when he saw the Alden children.
“I’d like to introduce you to some of my family,” Joe said. He acted as if he hadn’t noticed the boy’s reaction. He introduced the Aldens and then told them, “Logan is Mr. Ford’s grandson. I’m glad to see you are helping your grandfather with his campaign,” he said to the boy.
The boy didn’t reply. He just stood there.
“There’s the sheriff. I want to talk to him. I’ll be right back,” Joe told the children. “Why don’t you look for seats so we can all sit together.”
As soon as Joe had moved away, Logan blurted out, “My grandfather would make a better mayor than your cousin. I don’t even know why she is running. You should tell her not to waste her time.”
“Alice would be a good mayor!” Benny cried.
“She won’t get enough votes,” the other boy said. “Everyone is going to vote for my grandfather.” He held up his stack of hats and said to Soo Lee, “I thought you were going to hand out hats too. I don’t see any.”
“Someone took ours,” she said.
“Too bad,” Logan replied, though none of the Aldens thought he sounded as if he meant it. “My grandfather says giving people campaign items is a great way to get them to remember to vote. I have to go hand out ours. They’re for people who are going to vote for my grandfather, so you wouldn’t want any.” He walked over to another group of people and offered them hats which they took. The Aldens noticed many people in the crowd were wearing the conductor hats.
“I really wish someone hadn’t taken Alice’s hats,” Benny said. “I like hats.”
“That boy is not very nice,” Violet said to Soo Lee.
“He usually is nice,” Soo Lee replied. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s always friendly to customers when he’s working at the toy store. I wish we had my mother’s hats and buttons! How are people going to know to vote for her?”
“Hats and buttons aren’t really what get people to vote,” Henry said. “They are a nice reminder, but what matters most are the candidate’s ideas. Alice will be able to tell everyone here her ideas and that’s what is important.”
“I see Mr. Eggleston,” Jessie said. “He’s sitting up in the front row. This will be a good chance for Alice to convince him to vote for her.”
They watched as a few more people came into the big room. “There’s the woman who was out at the old house,” Violet said. She motioned to a woman in red who walked by them. The woman carried a fabric tote bag. The fabric had images of different kinds of songbirds on it. As she tried to walk around a small group of people, something fell off her coat onto the floor. She didn’t notice and kept walking.
“I’m going to go get it for her before someone steps on it,” Violet said. She hurried over and picked up the object. It was a pretty pin of a bluebird. The bluebird was made up of small pieces of colored glass so the pin sparkled in the light.
“Excuse me,” Violet said as she took it over to the woman. “This fell off your coat.”
The woman seemed flustered when she realized Violet was speaking to her, but took the pin and said, “Thank you,” in a soft voice. She hurried out the door.
“I guess she’s not staying for the speeches,” Violet said as she rejoined the rest of the Aldens.
“We should sit down,” Henry said.
“There are some good seats over there,” Jessie replied. She led them over to row of seats and they sat down.
Charlie Ford walked up on stage and waved. He looked just like his picture on the billboard right down to the train conductor’s hat on his head. Everyone quieted to hear what he had to say. Mr. Ford first spoke about how long he had lived in the town and about the town’s problems. Then he said, “Elect me for mayor and I will see this town gets back on its feet. I’ve always believed in not rushing into anything and that’s why we need to be careful how we bring this town around.”
People clapped at this. Mr. Ford continued, “There is a company that wants to buy one of our old factory buildings and use it for a new factory which will bring jobs to our community. Just imagine a brand new factory that needs workers. And everyone knows we have workers who need jobs. Vote for me and we’ll all keep this town chugging along!”
Everyone clapped again. A few people, including Logan, cheered.
“I have to admit he gave a good speech,” Joe said.
“Alice will give a better one,” Benny declared.
“I’m excited to hear her plan for the town,” Jessie said.
Alice walked to the center of the stage. The Aldens thought their cousin looked a little nervous. She shuffled her papers, cleared her throat, and said, “Good evening, everyone.” She shuffled her papers again and one fell on the floor. Someone in the crowd behind the Aldens laughed.
Violet turned around and saw it was Logan. “Logan is a rude boy,” she whispered to Jessie.
Alice picked up the paper and said, “Good evening,” one more time.
“We can’t hear you very well,” someone in the audience called.
“Good evening,” Alice said in a louder voice. “My friend Mr. Ford has a good plan, but I believe I have a better one. Imagine having something that will draw thousands of visitors from all over the country.” There were some excited stirrings and murmuring from the audience. She continued, “An organization wants to build a replica of a historic village and farm right here in Appleville for the public to visit. The group wants visitors to be able to visit to see how people lived a hundred years ago.” She smiled. “It will be full of houses, shops, and craftspeople demonstrating how things used to be done.”
More people began to talk. Someone next to Jessie said, “That’s different. I never expected something like that. Imagine thousands of visitors coming through our little town.”
Jessie whispered to Violet and Soo Lee, “That’s exciting! I’d love to visit a place like that.”
Alice continued, “The organization has been scouting sites and are interested in the Eggleston land. The town has held on to that land for a long time. It’s time to put it to a good use. It will be a wonderful opportunity for our town and many jobs will be created. We’ll need workers to help build the village and then people to work there once it has opened. There will also be summer camps for children to learn about taking care of farm animals, candle making, spinning, weaving, and woodworking.”
“Those camps sound awesome,” Violet said. “Maybe we can go to some of them. I’d like to learn how to weave.”
“We’ve heard they want to take over the whole town!” Someone shouted from the audience. “Tell us the truth!”
“I was just getting to that,” Alice said. “The group does not want to take over the whole town. However, they do want to take over Main Street and all its wonderful old buildings. They would restore them to their original condition and use them as they once were in this town one hundred fifty years ago. It would all be part of the attraction. There will be an ice cream parlor, a general store, a hat store, and many more. Their work would preserve the buildings. We know many of them are practically falling apart.”
“What about our businesses?” Charlie Ford asked. “My toy store has been in our family for generations.”
“We want to keep our store!” Logan yelled.
“That does mean the existing stores will have to move to a new location. But there is a—” Before Alice could finish her sentence, all the lights in the room went out.
CHAPTER 5
Who Is Albert Hund?
It was dark in the room. The only light came from the red glow of the emergency exit signs. “Stay here,” Henry said. “I’m going to check something.”
A little girl cried, “I don’t like the dark!” People began to talk and move around. A chair was knocked over and made a clanging sound.
“Ouch!” someone else cried. “You stepped on my foot.”
The lights came back on. Henry stood in the back of the room next to them. “Someone must have turned off the lights,” he said. “They came right back on when I tried them.”
Mr. Eggleston was by the door next to Henry. “What’s this?” Mr. Eggleston said, pointing to a chair that had been placed right in the middle of the doorway. “It wasn’t here before.”
There was a stack of flyers on it. Henry picked one up.
“What does it say?” a woman called from the audience.
Henry read it aloud. “Vote for Albert Hund. He’ll buy the land from town and give it back to an Eggleston. Save the town from the curse!” He held up the flyer so everyone could see it. Across the top of it was a picture of a vulture feather.
“Who’s Albert Hund?” a man asked. “I don’t know anyone by that name in town.”
No one answered. People left their chairs and came over to Henry to get their own copy of the flyer. No one could stop talking about it and the mysterious Mr. Hund.
A woman said to Mr. Eggleston, “What’s this all about? It was your family’s land. Who is Albert Hund? Is he a relative of yours?”
Mr. Eggleston was flustered by the question. He glanced around at all the people waiting for him to answer. “I have no idea,” he said. “I’ve never heard of Albert Hund. Even though it was my family’s land once, that was years ago. I don’t want it back. I just want my bakery.”
“Excuse me,” Mrs. Draper said from the stage, trying to get the crowd’s attention. Not many people seemed to be listening. Most were already leaving. By the time Mrs. Draper got everyone to quiet down, there were few people left in the room.
“I don’t see Mr. Eggleston or Mr. Ford here anymore,” Joe said in a low voice. “I wish they could hear what Alice has to say.”
Alice looked around to see who was still there. “Thank you for staying,” she said. “I wanted to tell you about the plans for the existing businesses,” she said. “It could be a positive step for those of you whose businesses are on Main Street. The organization will help build brand new stores a few streets away. One of their architects will work with store owners to design exactly what they need. The town will have a new, thriving business district and people pouring into town to visit the historic village.”
Joe clapped at this and the rest of the Aldens joined in. Only a few other people did too.
Alice smiled and then once the clapping stopped, said, “If you have any more questions, I’m happy to answer them. I hope you will tell all your friends who couldn’t be here tonight about the village. Thank you.”
People gathered up their belongings to leave. They were still talking about Albert Hund and the strange flyer.
Alice left the stage and came over to the rest of the Aldens.
“This means we know who took Alice’s campaign buttons and hats,” Jessie said, pointing at the feather on the flyer. “Albert Hund.”
“We may know who took them but we don’t know who the man is,” Henry said.
“Do you know Mr. Hund?” Violet asked Alice. “Joe says he doesn’t know him.”
“I’ve never heard of him,” Alice said. “There’s also another mystery about him. Mrs. Draper said his address is listed as the old house on the Eggleston land. I didn’t think anyone lived there, but maybe someone has recently moved in.” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m tired and I can’t worry about the man now. All I can do is concentrate on my own campaign. Let’s go home.”
When they reached the house, Watch greeted them happily by wagging his tail. Soo Lee knelt down and put her arms around him. “I’m so glad you brought Watch,” she told her cousins. “He’s such a nice dog.”
“He is a nice dog,” Joe agreed. “Now since we’ve had quite a busy day, I think we deserve some hot chocolate and popcorn.”
“Yay!” Benny said. “I could eat a whole bowl of popcorn.”
“I’ll make plenty,” Joe promised. It didn’t take long for the smell of buttery popcorn to fill the house.
When it was ready they all sat around the kitchen table drinking their hot chocolate. Joe said, “I told the sheriff about the missing campaign buttons and hats. He said since we couldn’t be sure the door was locked all the time, there isn’t much he can do.”
“It has to be Mr. Hund,” Jessie insisted. “It would be too much of a coincidence for someone to put a black feather in the box and to put one on the flyer.”
“We don’t have a way to prove that,” Joe said. “Especially since we don’t know Mr. Hund.”
“We’ll find out who he is,” Henry declared.
“It can’t be that difficult,” Violet added. “It’s a good mystery for us.”
Watch came over and put his head on Jessie’s lap. “We can’t forget about finding Watch’s collar. We need to do that first,” she said.
“How are you going to find it?” Alice asked. “Do you know where you lost it?”
Henry explained to Joe and Alice about the flat tire by the town sign and Watch chasing the dog at the old house.
“It was a spooky old house too,” Benny said. “I wish we didn’t have to go back out there.”
“That’s the Eggleston land we’ve been talking about,” Alice said. “It only looks spooky because no one lives there and it’s become run-down. The forest area is very pretty most of the year. It’s a magnet for all kinds of birds. People go there to hike and bird-watch. Even if you don’t find Watch’s collar, it will be a nice bike ride for you.”
“It will be muddy though,” Joe warned. “Not only has it been raining on and off all week, but that section of forest is actually a red maple swamp. The ground is wet much of the year. It’s a special ecosystem. That’s why there are so many species of birds there. You might see quite a variety.”
“That will be fun!” Violet said. All the Aldens liked bird-watching.
“It will be fun,” Alice yawned. “Excuse me. I’ve had a long day.”
“Me too,” Joe said.
“If you want to go to bed, we’ll clean up,” Jessie told them.
“Thank you, Jessie,” Alice said. She gave an even bigger yawn. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
After Joe and Alice had gone upstairs, Henry said, “I think it’s time we made a list of all the strange things happening. It might help us figure out more about this Albert Hund. Alice may not be worried about him, but I am.”
“I agree,” Jessie said. “I’ll get my notebook.” She ran up to the bedroom she and Violet were sharing and took her notebook and a pen out of her bag. It was full of notes from other mysteries the Aldens had solved. Jessie was glad she had brought it along. When she got back downstairs, she opened up the notebook and said, “I’m ready.”
“First, someone painted on the town sign about the curse,” Henry said. Jessie wrote that down.
“Someone took the campaign buttons and hats,” Soo Lee said.
“And left a feather,” Benny added.
“Someone turned off the lights and interrupted Alice’s speech,” Violet said.
“And someone left the flyers where everyone would see them,” Jessie said as she finished their list and put down her pen.
Henry looked it over. “Why wouldn’t Albert Hund give a speech? It’s almost like he doesn’t want anyone to know who he is.”
“Albert Hund wants to stay a myster
y,” Soo Lee said.
“I’ll write that down too,” Jessie said. She picked her pen back up. “That is the strangest part of all.”
“There is more than one person who doesn’t want Alice to be mayor. I don’t like that Logan Ford,” Violet said. “He wants his grandfather to win, so he might have stolen Alice’s buttons and hats.”
“Would he know about the curse?” Henry asked. “Whoever stole them left the vulture feather.”
Soo Lee nodded her head. “He’d know. Everybody has heard that old story.”
“Did anyone see Logan near the door when the lights went out?” Benny asked.
“He was sitting behind us when Alice started to speak, but I didn’t pay attention to what he did after he laughed at her,” Violet said.
“But I don’t think Logan would have anything to do with the flyers for Mr. Hund. Another person running for mayor would only take more votes away from his grandfather,” Jessie said.
“What about Mr. Eggleston?” Henry asked. “Maybe he really does want to get his family’s land back. Maybe he’s helping Albert Hund. Mr. Eggleston could have put the flyers there when the lights went out.”
“That’s true. He was standing right beside Henry by the door when the lights went back on,” Violet said.
Benny picked up the empty popcorn bowl and peered in it like he was hoping to see more popcorn appear. “What do we do next? Our list doesn’t help much.”
“Tomorrow morning we need to walk up to that house and ring the doorbell,” Jessie said. “Once we know what Mr. Hund looks like, we can keep an eye out for him and make sure he doesn’t do anything else that will hurt Alice’s campaign.”
CHAPTER 6
The House in the Woods
The next morning it was cold and cloudy outside. After breakfast the children went out to get their bikes. “Does everyone have gloves and hats?” Jessie asked. “It’s going to be cold, especially if the sun doesn’t come out.”
Even though Benny had on a warm coat, he was shivering at the thought of going back to the spooky house. “I wish Watch could go with us,” he said.