The Canoe Trip Mystery (2 page)
Uncle Andy looked at his watch. “From here, the drive to Wolverine State Park should only take about two hours. You should be on the lake by three in the afternoon,” he told his wife.
“It stays light late now,” Violet reminded her aunt. “We'll have time.”
Grandfather paid the bill. Everyone except Uncle Andy piled into the station wagon. He stood and waved as they drove off.
On the outskirts of Silver Falls, they passed big red barns, potato fields, and small towns with low brick buildings. Farther and farther north, the children began to see pine forests. Timberwolf Lake shone in the distance.
“Oh, it's so beautiful up here,” Violet said.
“The air smells so fresh,” Henry added.
“Grandfather, we have to turn at the next junction,” Jessie said, looking at the map. Grandfather turned onto a wide dirt road and followed the signs to Wolverine State Park. He stopped the car in front of a dock on Timberwolf Lake and helped his grandchildren and Aunt Jane unload all their equipment.
Everyone was busy. First Henry and Aunt Jane took the canoes off the top of the car and carried them to the water. Grandfather put the paddles and tents inside them. Benny carefully carried the waterproof bags of food from the car. Jessie and Violet packed the sleeping bags, life preservers, food bags, backpacks, and first-aid kit into the canoes. They were careful to put an equal load in each one.
Henry tied a long piece of rope to the front of each canoe. Jessie and Violet pushed both canoes into the water, while Henry and Aunt Jane held the ropes and walked the canoes toward the dock.
Benny took off his sneakers and socks and dipped his toes in the water. “Ooh, it's cold!” he cried.
“The water hasn't had time to warm up yet. It's only spring,” Violet said gently. She felt sorry for her brother. She knew how much he wanted to go swimming.
“Benny, you won't have to get your feet wet if you get into the canoe from the dock,” Jessie said as she tied the canoe lines to the dock.
Henry and Aunt Jane got into the canoes first and tried to hold them steady. With Grandfather's help, Violet carefully climbed into Henry's canoe. Jessie and Benny joined Aunt Jane.
Grandfather untied the canoes and threw the ropes to Henry and Aunt Jane. “Goodbye,” he waved. “I'll meet you at the dock in White Pine in a week.”
“Good-bye, Grandfather,” his grandchildren called loudly. Benny waved. He was the only one not paddling. But he sat very still in the middle of the canoe, watching Jessie paddle in front of him. Aunt Jane sat behind Benny, steering with her paddle.
Aunt Jane took the lead and the two canoes moved slowly across the lake.
Pine and birch trees lined both sides of the rocky shore. Canadian geese flew overhead. The still, blue lake stretched ahead of the canoeists for miles.
“Look,” Jessie said, pointing to a family of ducks. “The mother is leading her ducklings out on the lake to look for food.”
“How old are they?” Benny asked.
“They may not be more than a day old,” Aunt Jane answered. “Ducks can swim as soon as they are born.”
“Really?” Benny said. He looked very impressed.
“Look at all those islands,” Jessie said, pointing with her chin toward the small rocky islands in the middle of the lake.
“We won't go too much farther today,” Henry called to the other canoe, when the group had been paddling for more than an hour.
“That's good,” Benny cried. “I'm hungry!”
The forests began to thin into a clearing. In the distance, the Aldens could see the remains of an old wooden house. In front of the house was a field filled with blue, pink, and purple wildflowers.
“This might be a good campsite,” Henry called to the others. “We could explore.”
The Aldens and Aunt Jane paddled ashore and pulled the canoes out of the water. They tied the ropes around a trunk of a large pine tree and took out their backpacks, sleeping bags, and a small bag of food for dinner and breakfast.
A dirt road wound through the field and into a small pine forest. Aunt Jane suggested they set up camp near a stream under the pine trees.
“Somebody else also thought this would be a good campsite,” Jessie said. She pointed to a heap of ashes on the ground.
“Henry and I will go back and get the tents out of the canoes,” Aunt Jane said, putting her pack and sleeping bag on the ground.
“Benny, Violet, and I can gather wood for a campfire,” Jessie suggested. “By the way, where is Benny?” she asked, as she turned around to look for her brother.
“He went to explore the old house in the clearing,” Violet said. Both girls found Benny poking a pile of stones with a stick.
“This might have been a chimney once,” Jessie said. The walls of the house had been made of wood, but now they lay in a pile of rubble.
“There's lots of wood here for a fire,” Violet pointed out.
“Yes, let's gather some,” Jessie said, stooping to pick up some wooden planks. “Watch out for the poison ivy,” she warned her brother and sister. A thick patch grew alongside the house.
“I saw it. Henry showed me what it looked like in a book,” Benny said proudly. “I didn't go near it.”
Violet went into the forest near the house to gather smaller sticks and twigs.
She came running back to her brother and sister with a pile of sticks in her arms. “Come see what I've found!” she called to them.
Jessie and Benny followed her into the woods and stopped before a very large rock. Someone had painted a message on it.
“Look, there's writing on it!” Benny leaned forward to see better.
“Yes,” Jessie agreed. “It looks like a riddle.”
In a clear voice, Violet read:
“Silver and gold coins, so well hidden
To seek and find them, you are bidden.
A cat with whiskers but no feet
Guards them near his silver sheet.
”
“What does âbidden' mean?” Benny looked at his sisters.
“It means telling someone to do something,” Jessie answered.
“Oh,” Benny said. “So, whoever wrote this message is telling us how to find a hidden treasure.” Benny beamed.
His sisters smiled back at him.
“You know, Grandfather was wrong,” Benny said. “We
have
found a mystery on the canoe trail.”
J
essie, Violet, and Benny rushed back to their campsite. Henry and Aunt Jane had already put up the tents. Aunt Jane was washing her hands in the stream.
“We'll have the hot dogs tonight,” she said, reaching into the bag of food.
For once Benny wasn't interested in talking about food. “Aunt Jane, we found a riddle written on a rock near the old house,” he almost shouted.
“A riddle?” Aunt Jane said.
“Really?” Henry asked. “What did it say?”
Jessie and Violet remembered it word for word and were able to repeat it.
“Can you show me where it is?” Henry asked.
“Maybe we should wait until after dinner,” Jessie suggested.
“I am hungry,” Benny admitted.
“So am I,” Aunt Jane said.
“Why don't we wait,” Violet told Henry. “It will still be light after dinner.”
“Yes, and then we can look for more clues,” Jessie added.
Henry and Jessie built the campfire.
Aunt Jane explored the campsite. “Lots of people must camp here. Look at the remains of all these campfires.” She pointed to several piles of ashes on the ground.
“Yes, it's funny we haven't met any other canoeists so far,” Jessie said. She pulled a large worn blanket from her backpack.
“This reminds me of when we lived in the boxcar,” Benny said, as he helped Jessie gather a big pile of pine needles to put under the blanket. Violet picked some wildflowers. “Things should look special for our first meal on the trail,” she said. She put the flowers in her tin cup and placed them in the middle of the picnic blanket.
Jessie took five plates, cups, forks, and spoons out of the bag of cooking utensils and set them on the blanket. Aunt Jane wrapped five potatoes in aluminum foil to put on the coals. Benny helped Henry punch holes in the hot dogs with a fork. Violet cut up some of Mrs. McGregor's fresh homemade bread for buns.
Soon dinner was ready and everything was delicious. They finished a loaf of Mrs. McGregor's homemade bread, ate up all the hot dogs and potatoes, and drank lots of water from the stream. Then they had fresh fruit and homemade brownies for dessert.
After dinner, Jessie boiled a big kettle of water and they all helped wash and dry the dishes. When everything had been put away, they walked to the big rock in the woods.
“Every word in a riddle means something,” Aunt Jane said as she looked at the riddle on the rock.
“Silver and gold coins, so well hidden
To seek and find them, you are bidden.
A cat with whiskers but no feet
Guards them near his silver sheet.
”
“I wonder if they're talking about those coins that were stolen,” Henry said.
“Could be,” said Aunt Jane.
“Somewhere in this riddle is the clue to where the coins are hidden,” said Jessie.
“They're âwell hidden,'” Henry said. “That doesn't tell us much of anything.”
“You don't know,” Aunt Jane answered. “Remember, every word in a riddle tries to tell you something.”
“What do you think they mean by a cat with whiskers but no feet?” Benny asked. He looked a little discouraged.
“Wait a minute,” Henry said. He had just thought of something. “Maybe they're talking about a place. Think of a place near here with the word
cat
in it.” Henry looked teasingly at his brother.
“Catfish Lake!” Violet and Benny said at the same time.
“Good,” Aunt Jane said. “Catfish certainly have whiskers but no feet.”
“The silver sheet is the lake,” Jessie said. “You knowâwhen the water is calm it looks like a smooth silver sheet.”
“Now we know the coins are hiddenâwell hiddenânear Catfish Lake,” Henry said.
“When will we be on Catfish Lake?” Benny asked.
“In a couple of days, at most,” Henry answered.
“I think we've solved the riddle,” Benny said.
“But we haven't found the coins yet,” Henry said, laughing.
“Maybe there are more clues near the abandoned house,” Violet suggested.
Aunt Jane and the Aldens searched the grounds around the house until it became dark. They found more piles of ashes in the woods.
“Someone sure is doing a lot of burning,” Violet said.
“Yes, it might be campers making fires,” Aunt Jane said.
“Or maybe only one person is making all these fires,” Henry said.
“Maybe he or she is trying to burn any clues that might lead us to the coins,” Jessie added.
Aunt Jane and the children nodded. It seemed there was nothing to do but go back to their campsite.
That night, all the Aldens fell asleep right away. Around midnight, Benny stirred. He thought he heard a sound.
Owowowowooooo
â¦
owowowooooo.
â¦
Benny blinked and sat up in his sleeping bag. “Did you hear that?” he asked Henry.
But Henry was still sound asleep. It was very dark in the tent. Staying in his sleeping bag, Benny rolled across the floor until he could touch Henry's back.
“Henry,” Benny whispered loudly. “Wake up! I think I hear a wolf outside the tent.”
“Wolf,” Henry muttered in his sleep. Then Benny heard the sound again, only this time it was louder.
Owowowooooo
â¦
owowowooooo.
â¦
This time Henry woke up. “Did you hear that wolf?” Benny asked.
“It sounds very far away,” Henry said. “Try to go back to sleep, Benny. I'll stay awake for a little while and keep watch. Still, there are no wolves in this part of the country anymore. I'm sure there aren't.” But not even Henry sounded so sure anymore.