儿童英语读物 The Finders Keepers Mystery CHAPTER 2 Treasure in the Attic

“What?” said Henry. He looked at Jessie. “You saw a ghost?”



Jessie shook her head. “I don’t know what Benny saw,” she said. “We took the shortcut 1 past the old Bidwell house. I heard a shutter 2 fall or something, and the next thing I knew, Benny was running so fast I could barely keep up.”



The back door opened. Mrs. McGregor peered out. “Dinner is ready and your Grandfather is waiting,” she said in her sternest voice — which wasn’t very stern at all. In fact, Mrs. McGregor was, as usual, smiling.



For a moment, Benny forgot ghosts. “Brownies?” he asked.



“For dessert,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Come in now and give me those groceries and wash your hands.”



“And then you can tell us all about the ghost,” Henry said.



By the time they’d gotten to dessert, Benny had told his family all about the broom on the porch, the shutter that had banged open, and the ghostly light at the window.



“I’ve never heard of ghosts who sweep porches,” Grandfather said, his eyes twinkling. “But you are very smart to notice all those things, Benny.”



Benny wasn’t afraid now. He was safe at home and eating dessert with his family. He nodded. “I know,” he said. “It’s because I’m a good detective.”



That made the others laugh.



“It does sound mysterious,” Violet said thoughtfully. She looked at Jessie. “You didn’t see anything suspicious or scary?”



Jessie shook her head. “No. I was too busy trying to keep up with Benny.” She made a face at her younger brother. He grinned and made a face back.



“Let’s go over to the old house tomorrow and take a look,” said Henry.



“Go back?” said Benny. His smile disappeared.



“Sure. It’ll be daylight, and we’ll all go together. We’ll take Watch, too,” Henry said.



“Don’t worry, Benny,” Jessie added. “I’m sure there’s a simple, logical explanation for what you saw.”



“And no ghost,” Violet said.



“Okay,” Benny said reluctantly. “We’ll go tomorrow — but I sure hope you’re right.”



The next morning, right after breakfast, the four children and Watch walked to the old Bidwell house. This time, they didn’t use the shortcut. Benny was careful to let the others go first as they pushed open the rusty 3 gate and headed up the front walk.



“Look,” said Henry. He pointed 4 to a battered 5 green van parked in the shadows in the overgrown driveway.



“I guess we didn’t notice that last night,” Jessie said.



“I don’t think a ghost would drive a van, do you?” Violet asked her little brother.



“Probably not,” Benny admitted.



“And look,” Violet said. “The geraniums in the pots on each side of the front door look as if they’ve just been planted.”



“They have,” said a voice.



All of the Aldens jumped, which surprised Watch into giving a quick bark.



“Hi there,” said the voice. Henry turned and saw that it belonged to a young woman leaning out of an open window at one end of the porch. The woman’s black hair was pulled into a long braid. She had brown eyes and she was smiling. “Are you my new neighbors?” she asked.



“Not exactly,” Jessie said. “We live a couple of blocks away. But last night we noticed, well, that something about the house was different, so we came over this morning to check it out.”



“Two blocks over is still close enough to be neighbors,” declared the woman. “Come on in.” Her head disappeared from the window, and a moment later the front door swung open.



“Hi,” she said. “I’m Lina Diaz.”



“We’re the Aldens,” said Benny. “Is this your house?”



“It is,” said Lina. “I inherited it from my cousin. But he didn’t live here — the house has been empty for a long time.”



“I know,” said Benny.



“Oh,” said Violet. She frowned. “But if you’re Lina Diaz, why does everyone call this the Bidwell house?”



“Well, it used to be owned by a woman named Hope Bidwell. She was my great-great-aunt,” explained Lina. “The house is still full of old-fashioned things. Would you like to come in and take a look?”



“It’s not haunted?” asked Benny.



“No!” said Lina. “At least, I’m pretty sure it’s not. I spent last night here and didn’t see a single ghost.” She gave Benny a reassuring 6 smile.



The Aldens followed Lina inside. The open windows let in fresh air and sunshine, but it still looked as if no one had lived in the house for a long time. Everything was dusty. Watch sneezed as he trotted 7 after them.



“It’s going to take a lot of work to get this place back in shape,” said Lina. “Fortunately that’s one of the things I’m good at. I’m an architect, and it will be fun to work on my own house.”



“It’s a nice house,” Violet said politely. She looked around shyly.



Lina laughed. “It was once,” she said, “and it will be again. I’ve been going through it and labeling things I want to keep and things I don’t want. I was just about to take a look in the attic 8 and have some lemonade. Do you want to join me?”



“Yes, please,” said Jessie.



“Which do you want to do first? Have lemonade, or look in the attic?” Lina asked.



“The attic,” Jessie said at once. The others nodded eagerly.



So Lina led the way up a flight of stairs in the back of the house to a door on a dusty landing. She pushed the door open, and Watch sneezed again. So did Benny and Violet.



“Very dusty, isn’t it?” said Lina. She pulled a flashlight from her pocket and used it to find a light switch. A dim light came on. “Oh, dear,” Lina said in dismay.



The attic was fall of dust — and all kinds of boxes, chairs, tables, lamps, and mysterious, lumpy objects hidden by sheets and blankets. To walk, each of them had to turn sideways to squeeze between piles of furniture and boxes.



Henry said, “I’ll go open the curtains on that window over there to let in some more light.”



“Good idea,” Lina said. “But be careful.”



Henry wriggled 9 between two boxes, his feet kicking up dust. A moment later, he’d opened the sagging 10, faded curtains. Sunlight poured into the attic, and dust swirled 11 from the curtains, thick as smoke. It was Henry’s turn to sneeze.



“No one’s been in this room for hundreds of years, I think,” said Benny. “Like in a fairy tale.”



“I don’t know about hundreds of years, but it’s been a long time,” agreed Lina. “There are probably all sorts of great treasures up here.”



Benny’s eyes lit up. “Pirate treasure?” he said excitedly.



Lina laughed. “I was thinking more of old junk that would be interesting to uncover. But, you know” She trailed off.



“What?” Benny asked.



“Well, people say my Great-great-aunt Hope had a hidden treasure,” Lina said casually 12.



“What do you mean?” asked Violet.



“I mean, she hid something valuable in this house. Nobody knows what it was. It could have been the money she saved for her wedding or a silver tea set that she inherited. Whatever it was, nobody ever found it. The story probably isn’t even true.”



“A treasure! Let’s start looking now!” Benny exclaimed.



“Hold on, Benny,” Henry said. He smiled at his younger brother. “We can look for treasure, but we can also help clean the attic.”



“That would be just as good as finding treasure, getting all this cleaned up. And then I could have a yard sale,” Lina said.



Jessie’s eyes sparkled. “A yard sale? We’d love to help!” she said.



“We can get started right away,” Violet volunteered.



Lina was surprised. “Are you sure? It’s a lot of work.”



Henry smiled at her. “That’s what neighbors are for.”



“Well, okay then,” said Lina. “And thanks.” She paused and looked around. “Let’s have some lemonade and cookies first.” She glanced down. “And a bowl of water for Watch. Then we’ll go to work on this attic.”



The Aldens and Lina worked hard all afternoon. They dusted and swept. They opened and organized boxes full of books and shoes and even old hats. Lina decided 13 that she could use lots of the old furniture, so Henry and Jessie helped her clear out one corner of the attic where she would store it until she needed it.



After just a few hours, they had used up all of Lina’s soap and polish. Violet helped make a list of cleaning supplies they would need for the next day. “I’ll get poster paper and paint, too, for the yard sale signs,” Lina said, making a note on the list.



As he worked, Benny kept an eye out for hidden treasure.



But of all the things they found, nothing seemed to be of much value. Benny was very disappointed.



Just when he was about to give up hope, they uncovered an old cedar 14 trunk in the back corner of the attic.



“A treasure chest!” Benny cried. Lina unhooked the latch 15 and lifted the trunk’s heavy lid. A faint odor of cedar reached Benny’s nose. He caught a glimpse of faded green silk lining 16 the curved top of the trunk.



“Yes,” said Lina. “You could say that.”



They all crowded around and peered inside. There in the trunk, as ornate and colorful as a necklace of jewels, was a carefully folded quilt.



“Oh,” said Violet in awe 17. “It’s perfect.”



Carefully Lina lifted out the quilt. It was folded in layers of tissue paper, and Violet gathered these up while Jessie and Henry helped Lina spread the quilt over a nearby chair.



“What a beautiful quilt!” said Lina. “It’s like something from a museum!”



“Look! More quilts,” Benny said, leaning over the trunk’s edge.



Lina and the Aldens unfolded five more quilts from the old trunk, each more amazing than the one before. They admired the splashes of color and the tiny, even stitches that held the quilts together.



“Who could have made all these?” Violet wondered aloud.



“My great-great-aunt, Hope Bidwell,” said Lina.



“How do you know?” asked Benny.



“Well, my grandfather had a quilt she made, and he always told us about how talented Aunt Hope was at quilting. She sold some of her quilts to make a little extra money when this house was still a farmhouse 18. The rest she made for the family as gifts for weddings or christenings or birthdays,” Lina explained.



“Look at this!” exclaimed Jessie, pointing. In the corner of one of the quilts, the letters HB were embroidered 19 in green. “HB — Hope Bidwell! She signed it with her initials.”



“Green was her favorite color, my grandfather said.” Lina smiled. “It’s mine, too. Apparently 20, Hope’s wedding quilt had lots of green in it.”



“Wedding quilt?” said Violet.



“The quilt she made for her marriage. It’s sort of a legend in our family, even more than her hidden treasure. Hope was going to marry her true love, you see,” Lina explained. “Robert, his name was. After their engagement, Robert went on a trip. While he was gone, Hope sewed a beautiful quilt that they would use when he came home to marry her.”



“But he didn’t come home,” Jessie guessed.



Lina nodded. “Very good, Jessie. No, he didn’t come home. The very day Hope finished her wedding quilt, word came that Robert had died of a sudden illness. Hope was overcome with grief. All she had left of him were the letters he’d sent. And nobody ever saw that wedding quilt again.”



Violet clasped her hands together. “Oh, what a sad story,” she said.



“I know,” said Lina. “I was sort of hoping Robert’s letters might turn up in the attic. That and her wedding quilt would mean so much to me.” She sighed. “But these other quilts are pretty wonderful, too.”



“Hey, wait!” Benny said, his voice muffled 21 as he leaned down into the chest. “There’s one more quilt in here!”



Lina rushed over and lifted the last quilt from the trunk. This quilt wasn’t beautiful like the others. It was made of rough gray wool, and it didn’t have careful, perfect stitching or embroidery 22 on it as the other quilts did. It looked as if someone had just wanted to finish it in a hurry.



“Oh,” said Benny disappointed. “That’s not the wedding quilt. It’s not pretty at all. It doesn’t belong with these other quilts.” He dropped his end of the old quilt on a chair. Lina smoothed the rough fabric 23 and set the quilt aside.



“Maybe it was just an everyday quilt and these were special quilts for company,” said Lina. She reached out to touch a velvet 24 patch on the nearest quilt. “I know these are special. I wish I could learn more about them.”



“We could look them up at the library,” said Jessie. “Quilts, I mean.”



“And you could call a museum,” said Violet. “The State History Museum, maybe?”



“Good ideas,” said Lina. “I’ll call the museum first thing tomorrow.”



“And we’ll go to the library as soon as we finish helping 25 you get ready for your yard sale,” said Jessie.



“Meanwhile, we should put these quilts back in the trunk,” Henry said.



“Yes, to keep them safe,” agreed Lina.



The Aldens and Lina carefully folded the quilts and set them back into the trunk. Lina spread the gray everyday quilt on top of the others, then closed the lid.



As they left the attic, Lina glanced back at the cedar trunk. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, “when my grandfather told me stories about Great-great-aunt Hope’s hidden treasure, I thought it must be gold or silver or jewels. But these quilts are a treasure.”



“Yes,” said Violet softly. “They are.”