The Mystery Horse (6 page)

The post office was crowded, and Benny spotted Ms. Jefferies picking up a large manila envelope at the counter. “Look who's here,” he whispered. “And for once, she's smiling!”

Ms. Jefferies turned quickly toward the door and nearly bumped into Sarah and Violet. “Sorry—oh, it's you,” she said, recognizing the children.

“Hi, Ms. Jefferies,” Sarah said politely. “We would have been glad to pick that up for you.” She pointed to the manila envelope, and Ms. Jefferies shook her head and turned pink.

“No, I . . . it's nothing,” she said.

“We always pick up mail for our guests,” Sarah went on. “It's really no trouble—”

“I told you no thanks!” Ms. Jefferies blurted out. She clutched the envelope to her chest and hurried out of the post office.

Benny looked up in surprise. “What was she so mad about?”

Sarah shrugged. “Maybe she was just in a hurry. She might have a lot of stops to make.”

Benny smiled. “Like at Hilary's, for a chocolate ice cream soda,” he said, and everyone laughed.

Later that afternoon, Jessie was delivering fresh towels to the bunkhouse guests. She tapped lightly on Ms. Jefferies's door. When no one answered, she let herself in and left the towels on the sturdy pine dresser. She started to leave when she noticed a pile of photographs on the dresser. Suddenly she realized that they were photographs of Wind Dancer!

But how did Ms. Jefferies get them? Wind Dancer was hardly ever out of the stable! Something very strange was going on. But Jessie didn't want Ms. Jefferies to come in and think she was snooping. She quickly moved toward the door. But in her hurry, she stumbled over Ms. Jefferies's briefcase. Setting the briefcase upright, she noticed the gold initials on the top. “A.S.F.,” she said softly. “Something's not right . . . ” She shook her head and quietly let herself out.

Jessie waited until after dinner to tell Henry and the others what she had discovered. They were as surprised as she was.

“You're sure it was Wind Dancer in the photographs?” Henry asked. He kept his voice low because they were sitting on the front porch of the main house. He and Violet were perched on the porch railing, and Benny and Jessie were rocking on a hand-made swing.

“I'm positive. And the funny thing is that they were just like the pictures you see in magazines.”

“What do you mean?” Violet asked.

Jessie thought for a moment. “Well, they were really clear, and they were taken from all different angles.”

“Maybe Ms. Jefferies is a good photographer,” Henry said.

“But that still wouldn't explain how she managed to get close to Wind Dancer,” Violet pointed out. “He's always locked up during the day.”

“That's true,” Jessie agreed. “And what about the initials on the briefcase?”

“Maybe it belongs to someone else and she stole it,” Benny piped up. “Or borrowed it.”

“Wait, I just thought of something,” Violet said, her eyes big. “What if Ms. Jefferies isn't using her real name?” Everyone turned to look at her. “What if she's using a phony name at Sunny Oaks?”

“That would definitely mean she's up to something,” Henry said grimly.

No one said anything for a long moment. Then, finally, Jessie broke the silence. “What should we do?” she whispered.

“We'll just have to wait and see what she does next.” Henry looked very serious. “And we'll try to watch her as much as we can.”

Since there didn't seem to be anything else to say or do about Ms. Jefferies, Henry and Benny went inside to play checkers, and Jessie and Violet went for a walk.

“Let's go by the stable,” Violet suggested. “I have half an apple I saved for Oliver.”

A few minutes later, the girls were happy to see that the stable was unlocked and Oliver was happily munching hay inside his stall.

“Hey, Oliver,” Violet said as the horse ambled over to greet them. She handed him the apple. Suddenly a sharp noise from the interior of the barn made her jump in surprise.

“What's that?” Jessie cried.

“Sorry to frighten you, girls,” a voice said in the shadows. “I think I just knocked over a pitchfork.” Jed Owens, whom they'd met at the barn raising, strolled out casually from the back of the barn. Jessie and Violet exchanged a look. He was coming from Wind Dancer's stall! What was he up to?

“What are you doing here?” Violet asked.

“Oh, just locking up,” he said vaguely. Violet knew something was wrong. Danny had said that Mr. Morgan always locked up the stable. He
never
would give the keys to someone else.

Jed started to head out the door but changed his mind and stopped by Oliver's stall instead. “Hey, that's funny,” he said, pointing to a small bundle of fur sleeping in the straw. “How did that goat get in here?”

“That's Arnold,” Jessie said, surprised. “He always sleeps with the horses.”

“He does?” Jed laughed. “Doesn't he know he's a goat?”

“Of course he does. But farmers like to have goats sleep in the horse stalls. They calm the horses down.”

“They do?” Jed looked amazed.

“Didn't you know that?” Violet asked.

“Sure . . . I guess I just forgot.” Jed ran his hand through his hair and looked embarrassed.

“We'd better be going,” Violet said. Suddenly she wanted to get back to the main house. First she had felt suspicious of Ms. Jefferies, and now Jed Owens!

It was very late that night when Benny crawled out of bed and went quietly outside. Henry had been teaching him all about the constellations, and he wanted to take another look at the night sky. “There's the big dipper,” he said to himself. “And the North Star and the Seven Sisters . . . ” Suddenly he was distracted by two beams of bright light flashing by the pond. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The lights disappeared for a minute and then swung in a big arc. Maybe it was a ghost! Or a spaceship!

He hurried inside and shook Henry's shoulders. “Henry, wake up,” he pleaded. “There are some really scary lights by the pond.”

“You're imagining things. Go back to sleep,” Henry mumbled into his blanket.

“But the lights . . . I saw them. Honest!”

Henry sat up and peered out the window. “I can't see anything out there.”

“They come and go,” Benny insisted.

Henry rumpled his brother's hair. “There's nothing to be afraid of. It's probably all those ghost stories Mrs. Morgan told tonight. Let me know if you see more lights, though.”

“Okay.” Benny sighed and climbed the ladder to the top bunk. Mrs. Morgan had told some scary ghost stories earlier that evening around the camp fire. But this was different. He really
had
seen those lights!

It was bright and sunny two days later, and everyone was excited over the Cooperstown Fair. Benny ate his breakfast in record time, and then raced over to the vegetable patch to pick his prize cantaloupe. He had decided to leave it on the vine until the very last moment so it would grow as much as it could. As he trudged back to the main house, he shifted his tool belt around his waist, and glanced idly toward the pond. He
knew
he had seen lights at the pond the other night. But what did they mean?

Violet and Jessie helped Mrs. Morgan load pies and jams into the back of the pickup truck, and Henry helped Danny pour his apple cider into brown jugs. When everything was ready, Mrs. Morgan took a final look around the kitchen. “Have we forgotten anything?” she asked the Aldens.

“Plenty of paper plates and plastic forks,” Benny piped up.

Mrs. Morgan looked puzzled. “What for?”

“So we can eat the pies when the judges are finished with them!”

Mrs. Morgan smiled. “There's plenty of food at the fair, Benny. And don't worry. I'll save you a slice of every one of our pies that wins a prize.”

“And even the ones that don't,” Benny said, and everyone laughed.

Half an hour later, the Morgans pulled up into a grassy area next to the Cooperstown County Fairgrounds.

“Here we are!” Sarah sang out. “And look how many people showed up!”

“There's a good turnout this year,” Mr. Morgan said approvingly. He pointed to dozens of colorful display booths set up in neat rows. The narrow aisles between the booths were jammed with visitors, and children scampered everywhere.

The Aldens scrambled out of the back of the pickup truck, and Benny gave a low whistle when he spied the top of a Ferris wheel. “Wow! I didn't know there would be rides. It looks just like a carnival!”

“They always have a few rides at the fair,” Sarah told him, “but the homemade goodies are the best part.”

The Morgans waved to a young girl leading a pinto pony out of a horse van. “She's showing her horse in the ring for the very first time,” Sarah said to Violet. “If you want, we can go to one of the competitions. They go on all day long.”

“That would be wonderful.” Violet clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Remind me to stop by Mrs. Ames's booth,” Mrs. Morgan said. “I'd like to buy some of those needlepoint key rings she makes.” She smiled at Jessie. “They make wonderful Christmas gifts.”

“Let's go, everybody,” Mr. Morgan said. He unloaded Danny's cider from the back of the truck and handed Benny his cantaloupe. “Who's going to carry the pies?”

“The Aldens will help me,” Mrs. Morgan said. “Take two each, and nobody drop them!” she pleaded.

Violet helped arrange the sparkling jelly glasses and pies on a long picnic table covered with bright blue felt. Several people stopped to buy pickled watermelon rind and blueberry jam.

“We have to pick one of these apple pies to be judged,” Mrs. Morgan said to Violet. “Which one do you think is the best?”

Violet looked at the pies and pointed to one with a delicate latticework crust. “That one,” she said proudly. She remembered how Mrs. Morgan had taught her to cut the pie crust in thin strips and lay them crisscross over the apples.

“Please keep an eye on things while I drop it off,” Mrs. Morgan said, heading for the judges' table.

Violet was busy for the next hour as people lined up to buy preserves. She had just sold the last jar of peach-ginger preserves when she spotted a tall, dark-haired man walking across the fairgrounds. There was something familiar about his face, and she squinted, concentrating. She knew she had seen him before, and then suddenly it came to her. He looked just like one of the men who had tried to kidnap Wind Dancer! She tried to get a better look at him, but someone drove a pickup truck down the midway, blocking her view.

She needed help, but who could she ask? Henry had gone back to Sunny Oaks to fetch more cider, and Jessie was helping Sarah sell corn dolls. Then she spotted Benny, clutching a giant wad of pink cotton candy, standing right in front of her!

“Benny!” she cried. She dashed around the table, hugging him in relief.

“What's going on?” His face was sticky from the candy and he tried to wriggle away.

“I need you to help me,” she said, bending down so her face was close to his. “I think I just saw one of the men who tried to steal Wind Dancer.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Benny gulped.

“I think so, but I have to stay here at the booth, so I need you to find out. He's wearing a cowboy hat, and he's over by the leather goods booth. It's the place with all the belts and saddles. If you hurry, he'll probably still be there.”

Before she could say another word, Benny handed her his cotton candy and scooted away. His heart pounding, he zigzagged past a boy leading a Shetland pony, and nearly got caught in a line of prize hogs being moved into a pen. Still running, he darted past a popcorn stand and skidded to a stop when he spotted the leather goods booth. There was the man in the cowboy hat! His back was turned to Benny, and he was talking to another man.

Benny sneaked up to the side of the booth and dropped to his knees. He waited until no one was watching and then dove under the heavy cloth that covered the display table. Luckily it drooped almost all the way to the ground, and he knew that no one could see him. The two men were still talking, and Benny crawled quietly toward the sound of their voices.

“I think we should do it at night,” one of the men was saying. “There are too many people around the stable during the day.”

“You're right. But I'd sure like to get the key to that stall. It would make things a lot easier.”

Benny cautiously peered out from the narrow slit between the cloth and the muddy ground. His nose was just inches away from a pair of black leather cowboy boots with silver toes. Those were the same boots the man named Ryan had been wearing the day he tried to steal Wind Dancer!

Benny scurried backward until he was at the end of the display table and then bolted out from underneath. He ran all the way back to Violet, who was telling the Morgans about the man she'd spotted.