“Too bad the rest of us have to sleep in a house with a roof you can’t see through,” Grandfather joked. “You’ve done a wonderful job with this greenhouse, Charlotte. We certainly spent a lot of happy hours in here when we were children. Now it’s my grandchildren’s turn to have some fan in here.”
“I hope so,” Charlotte said. “Now come inside my real house for some cookies and lemonade. You children must be starving.”
“I sure am,” Benny said as if he had completely forgotten the ice cream cone he’d polished off just a little while before.
The children followed Charlotte through the back garden and into her kitchen. Just as everyone sat down, the phone rang.
“Help yourselves,” Charlotte said before she went to answer it.
The children passed around a basket of oatmeal cookies. While they munched, they could hear Charlotte speaking with someone about Skeleton Point and the Aldens.
“You’ll love Cousin James’s grandchildren,” they heard Charlotte say. “They are very grown-up and love hard work. They once fixed up an old boxcar in the woods and lived in it.”
Charlotte looked a bit more thoughtful when she returned. “Sorry I took so long. That was Hilda Stone. She’s an artist who just opened a studio in Shady Lake. William hired her to assist with the artworks that came with the Skeleton Point property,” Charlotte said. “I must say, the two of them have some very definite opinions about the work out there and how it should be done. Sometimes they forget that I’m the owner!”
“Violet’s an artist, too,” Henry said. “If you need any drawings or pictures, Violet’s the one to ask.”
Charlotte nodded. “That’s just what your grandfather told me on the phone. I’d love to have you children photograph and draw some of the artworks at Skeleton Point so I can have some before-and-after pictures. The statues are just crumbling to pieces, especially lately. That’s how all the Walking Skeleton stories got started.”
Benny put down his cookie. “A lady at the general store said the Walking Skeleton takes arms and hands from the statues so it can turn into a person again!”
“That’s one of the tales going around, but, of course, it’s just a story,” Charlotte said. “I really don’t know how the statues got damaged recently. They are quite old and already worn away by the weather. But now a few pieces are missing — not just falling off, but disappearing. I do hope you can all keep an eye on the property.”
This gave Jessie a good idea. “We gave Benny an instant camera for his birthday. If we take pictures of the statues and something happens to them, maybe we can figure out when it happened and who was around at that time.”
“Excellent,” Charlotte said. “I’ll be dropping off a job list tomorrow morning with Hilda and William. I’ll make sure to tell them to let you children photograph and sketch around the property. That will give them more time to do other things.”
“Here’s to catching the Walking Skeleton!” Jessie said.
The Aldens clinked their lemonade glasses.
CHAPTER 3
Skullduggery
By the time the Alden children tucked themselves into bed in the greenhouse, a steady breeze was blowing in from Shady Lake. The children gazed up through the glass ceiling and walls. Branches on Charlotte’s willow tree gently swayed back and forth, back and forth. Soon all four children were sound asleep.
But they did not sleep through the night. At four in the morning, a crack of thunder shook the greenhouse. Seconds later, streaks of lightning lit it up.
Jessie sat up first, after she heard some barking. “Watch!” she said, when she thought she saw a dog outside the greenhouse. She rubbed her eyes. “Oh, we’re at Charlotte’s, not at home.”
Soon loud plops of rain pelted the greenhouse.
Henry pulled his pillow around his ears. “What a racket!”
Benny scrunched himself way down into his sleeping bag. “Make the noise go away.”
Violet leaned over from her cot and patted Benny. “They’re only raindrops. Oh, no, what’s that?” Violet asked when she saw something move outside the greenhouse.
By the time Jessie looked out, the lightning was over and everything was completely dark again. “I think the lightning played tricks on our eyes. We’d better go back to sleep.”
The noisy raindrops gave way to a gentle rain, and everyone fell asleep again. An hour and a half later, the greenhouse filled with light.
“It’s only five-thirty,” Henry said when he checked his watch. “It’s so bright in here.”
Jessie yawned and stretched. “I dreamed Violet saw somebody with a dog outside during the storm. I thought Watch had followed us to Shady Lake.”
The Aldens quickly dressed and rolled up their sleeping bags. They had a big day ahead.
Charlotte was enjoying a cup of coffee with Grandfather when the children entered the kitchen. “Good morning,” Charlotte said, passing around a basket of blueberry muffins. “Take as many as you like,” she told the children. “Cousin James said you brought your bikes with you and want to bike out to Skeleton Point today instead of having us drive you there. It’s several miles each way on the bike path. You’re welcome to take out my rowboat, too. It’s the yellow one tied to the dock below Skeleton Point. You’re going to need a lot of energy for all your activities, so eat up.”
“We will,” Henry said as he buttered his muffin. “Are you and Grandfather going to come with us?”
“Not today, children,” Grandfather answered. “Charlotte and I have another cousin who lives upstate. She’s been feeling poorly, so we’re leaving for a few days, after Charlotte stops off at Skeleton Point.”
Charlotte put down her cup. “I’m going to meet with William and Hilda on the way. I’ll tell them I want you children to photograph and sketch the gardens and the house inside and out.”
After the children made their lunches, they went to get their bikes in Charlotte’s toolshed. That’s when they got an awful shock.
“What’s this?” Henry asked when he pulled his helmet from his bike bag. “Did you guys play a trick on me?” Inside Henry’s helmet, a plastic Halloween skull grinned back at him.
“Hey! There’s a skull in my bike helmet, too! And in yours and yours,” Benny said, pointing to the grinning plastic skulls inside his sisters’ helmets. “Somebody played a joke, but it wasn’t me.”
When Charlotte came out, she didn’t find the joke quite as funny, though she tried to laugh about it. “Goodness. I guess I can always use them at Halloween for my trick-or-treaters.”
Benny turned one of the skulls upside down to see if anything was inside. “We got the trick but not the treat.”
Charlotte laughed. “Well, if you children need more treats than what I left out for your lunches, stop at the general store. The bike path runs right behind it. You’ll see a sign for it.”
“Goody,” Benny said. “I saw lots of snacks there yesterday.”
The children put on their helmets and set off for the bike path. Since it was still early, they had it to themselves for a while.
Jessie checked the small bike mirror on her handlebars and saw a jogger in the distance. “I guess runners use this path, too,” she told the others. “There’s somebody behind us.”
When Henry turned around to take a look, the jogger took off into the woods. “Whoever it was is gone.”
The children rolled along, making good time on the smooth, empty path.
“There’s the sign for the general store. Should we stop?” Jessie teased, even though she already knew the answer.
“I saw gorp fixings in the store — nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips,” Henry said.
“Good, gorp,” Benny said about the delicious, healthy snack they often brought on their outings.
The general store was already busy with people buying fishing tackle, getting mail, drinking coffee, and picking up groceries and the morning newspaper.
Jessie led the way to the camping section. “Here are t
he nuts and raisins. Benny, you and Violet go over to the baking aisle for the chips. I brought along some zip bags so we can mix up some gorp for each of us.”
When Benny and Violet came to the next aisle, a young woman was blocking the way. She and one of the cardplayers the children had seen the day before were so busy talking, they didn’t see the children standing there.
“Have you lived here a very long time?” the young woman asked the man, who was wearing a fishing vest today. “I’m trying to get information about those statues out at Skeleton Point. Nobody seems to know how old they are or where they came from.”
“Or where some parts of the statues are going,” the man told the young woman. “Lots of fool stories are going around about somebody — or something — damaging the statues. Stay away from them, I say. Those old statues have been out there forever — before I was born, anyway. Leave ’em be. Why do you want to know?”
The young woman hesitated, then stopped to read the label on a jar of honey. “Um ... just curious.”
With that, the young woman left the store without buying anything.
“Newcomers!” the man told Benny and Violet when he saw them standing there. “Always asking questions. You’d think from that young lady that Shady Lake was nothing but old statues covered with moss. What about our fishing? Why, our trout are practically jumping out of the lake.”
“They are?” Benny asked, hoping to find out where he could see some of these jumping trout.
The man left without answering Benny.
“All set?” Jessie said when she and Henry joined the younger children. “Let’s go pay for everything.”
While the children stood in line, they heard a grinding sound nearby. One of the clerks was making keys for a customer. “Here’s the extra key you wanted, Greeny.” The worker handed over a new key and a brown bag. “Bring it back if it doesn’t fit this lock you just bought.”
“That must be Greeny Owen!” Henry whispered to his brother and sisters.
“I guess even on the island you have to be careful to keep your cabin locked up, huh?” the clerk asked.
“Um... right.” Greeny pocketed the key and put the bag in the small backpack he wore over his T-shirt and jogging shorts. He stepped away from the counter and left.
“I think Greeny was the jogger I saw in my bike mirror,” Jessie said quietly.
Henry agreed. “I bet you’re right. I wonder why he ran into the woods when I turned around. It was almost like he was following us but didn’t want us to see him.”
After the children made up their gorp bags, they returned to the parking lot.
Benny poked Henry then Jessie. “See that lady getting in the red car? She was being nosy about the statues when she was talking to that fisherman,” Benny said.
Henry watched the woman back out her red car and head down the road. “There sure are a lot of people besides Charlotte interested in those statues.”
CHAPTER 4
The Aldens Have a Dog Day
After a long bike ride, the Aldens finally came to Skeleton Point. Just as the children slowed down, a familiar dog bounded from the bushes and barked. Then he began to sniff around.
“He smells our ham sandwiches,” Benny guessed.
“There, there, Max,” Jessie said softly.
The dog tilted his head the way Watch always did when someone knew his name and spoke gently to him.
Jessie carefully reached into her bike bag. She found her ham sandwich and tossed a piece of it to Max. This calmed him right away. When the dog whined for more, Jessie tossed another piece farther off. The children didn’t have to worry about the dog now.
“I’m glad that worked,” Jessie said. “I wonder if Greeny knows his dog is loose.”
The next thing the children heard was somebody yelling and whistling. “Max! Maxilla! Get over here!”
“What kind of a name is Maxilla?” Benny wanted to know.
Henry laughed. “It’s part of a jawbone. I guess it’s a good name for a dog whose owner wears a skull shirt.”
“Max!” the children heard again. This time the dog dashed off into the woods to join Greeny.
A few minutes later, when the children rounded the point, they saw Max and Greeny about to get into a rowboat. Then Greeny disappeared into some trees and returned with a blue milk crate. That, too, went into the boat. He whistled for Max to jump in. Soon he and Max headed out to an island a short distance from shore.
“I wonder why he docked at Skeleton Point instead of closer to the general store,” Henry said. “From the looks of it, that milk crate seemed pretty heavy.”
Jessie wondered the same thing. “Do you think it came from Skeleton Point?”
Violet didn’t want to believe anything bad about Greeny. “Maybe he had some personal things he had left with Dr. Tibbs and came by to get them back.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Henry said. “We’ll have to keep an eye on Greeny Owen.”
A few minutes later, Henry pulled his bike off the path. “We’ll never get our bikes up these steps. Let’s tie them up to some trees.”
After the children locked their bikes, they began their climb up the wooden steps that went to the top of Skeleton Point.
“Hey, look, there’s a shortcut off this path,” Benny said when the children had gone halfway. “Can we see where it goes?”
“Sure,” Henry said. “After you.”
When he came to a small clearing at the far end of the overgrown gardens, Benny spotted someone up ahead sitting on a rock. “Who’s that?”
The children walked toward the person.
“Maybe it’s Hilda Stone,” Violet said. “I hope so. I’d like to meet a real artist.”
Something seemed odd to Jessie. “It’s funny that person doesn’t hear us and turn around. Hello!” she called out. “We’re here.”
“She’s as still as a statue,” Violet whispered.
Benny ran ahead. “It is a statue — of a girl sitting on a rock,” he said. “We sure got fooled.”
Violet went up to the statue. The small figure seemed to be gazing at the lake. “She looks so sad. I wonder who it’s supposed to be. This one isn’t broken like the others.” Violet walked around the statue, studying it from every side. “There’s a name carved on the back: Clover Dodge.”
“Can I take a picture of you next to it?” Benny asked Violet.
“Sure.” Violet sat next to the statue. “That’s what we planned to do anyway. Later I want to sketch this one. It’s beautiful.”
“Say cheese,” Benny said, but Violet just sat peacefully looking out at the lake, not thinking of cheese at all.
A few minutes later, the children huddled around Benny to wait for the instant picture to appear.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful,” Jessie said to Violet. “I wonder who Clover Dodge was.”
The children walked toward the house. Along the way, they posed next to some of the other statues.
“Hey, my camera’s stuck!” Benny complained when he aimed it at Henry, who was imitating the stone lion near the house.
Jessie came over to take a look. “That’s because you’re out of film, silly. Let’s go inside. By now Charlotte must have dropped off the job list. I don’t see any cars, but maybe William and Hilda parked by the road.”
This time, when they passed Mister Bones in the window, the children waved at him as if they were used to seeing full-sized skeletons every day.
“Hi, Mister Bones,” Benny said. “I’ll have to take your picture another time.”
Inside, the whole house seemed to creak with every step the children took.
Henry led the way. “Ugh. What was that?” he asked when something brushed against his face. “I hope it wasn’t a bat.”
The children looked up.
“Eew, it’s a long, dusty cobweb,” Jessie said.
The children crept along, trying not to walk into any more sticky cobwebs. They soon found the room with Mister Bones
hanging in the window. Every corner of Dr. Tibbs’s study was full of all kinds of skeletons and skulls — little mouse skulls, the skull from a horse, and many bird and animal skeletons of different sizes.
Violet went over to a delicate bird skeleton.
“Don’t even think of touching that,” a voice said.
The children whirled around. In the doorway, the sunlight streaming from behind outlined a person’s shape. The Aldens couldn’t quite see who it was.
“What are you doing in here?” the person demanded.
Jessie stepped forward. “We’re waiting for someone. This is our grandfather’s Cousin Charlotte’s house. She told us to come here. We’re meeting her friends, Hilda Stone and William Mason.”
“I’m Hilda Stone,” the person said.
“Great!” Jessie said. “We were looking for you, and here you are! We didn’t see any cars outside.”
As the tall, brown-haired young woman stepped forward, the children could see she seemed unhappy when she saw them standing there. “I parked my car on the road and walked up a little while ago. The driveway is chained off so trespassers won’t drive onto the property and poke around where they don’t belong.”
Henry swallowed hard before he spoke. “Charlotte gave us permission. I’m Henry Alden. These are my sisters, Jessie and Violet, plus my brother, Benny. Charlotte asked us to help out, just like you.”
Hilda Stone took a long time before speaking. “Well, William Mason hired me because I’m a trained artist. A historical house, with so many art treasures, requires experts, not children running about.”
Benny felt brave even though Hilda Stone was a little bit scarier than Mr. Bones. “We weren’t running. We took our bikes, then we walked up the path, nice and quiet. Plus, I took pictures of all the statues with my camera.”
Henry nudged Benny so he wouldn’t say anything more. “What Benny means is we’d like to give Charlotte pictures of the property so she knows what has to be fixed.”