儿童英语读物 The Castle Mystery CHAPTER 8 Mysterious Music

When the children came downstairs to help with dinner, Carrie was on the phone.



“Just wait there,” Carrie said, disgusted. “I can’t imagine why you ran out of gas. There was enough in the tank for at least one trip to town. Never mind. I’ll send someone for you right away.”



“What is it, Caroline?” Mr. Alden asked when he saw how upset his old friend was.



Carrie shook her head. “It’s Sandy, of course. Who else would have forgotten to fill the gas tank? What I can’t figure out is why she ran out of gas at all. The tank was low, but she should have been able to make it to town. And why is she calling so late when she left this morning?”



“There, there,” Mr. Alden said. “Henry and I will go for her. Now where was Miss Munson calling from?”



“From a pay phone where the lake road and the highway meet,” Carrie answered.



After Mr. Alden and Henry left, Benny and Violet began to set the table. Jessie checked the pantry, then the refrigerator.



“I guess we’ll have to wait for Sandy to get back with the groceries,” Jessie said. “We can figure out what to make for dinner when we see what she bought.”



Carrie twisted a dish cloth she had in her hands. “Sandy is so unreliable. I wish the Drummond Foundation had let me interview her myself. What good is it to know all about the castle and not be dependable?”



A half hour later, when it was dinnertime, Henry and Mr. Alden walked in the door, with Sandy Munson right behind.



“Hello, Sandy,” Carrie said without a smile. “If we all help unload the groceries from the Jeep, we can get dinner on the table.”



“But there’s nothing to unload,” Mr. Alden told Carrie. “Didn’t Miss Munson tell you she ran out of gas before she ever got to town?”



Sandy looked down at the floor. “I … I’ll go back to town in the morning, Carrie. I’m sorry. I guess I was lower on gas than you thought. Somebody can have my portion of whatever you have for dinner.”



“That won’t be much, Sandy,” Carrie said. “We have very little food. I had hoped to restock today.” Carrie looked around the kitchen at all her hungry helpers. “We can discuss this in the morning.”



Jessie found some eggs to make omelets. Violet sprinkled drops of water on the breakfast rolls to freshen them up before reheating them.



“We can make custard with the rest of this milk and the eggs,” Benny suggested. “Our housekeeper 1, Mrs. MacGregor, showed me how. It’s easy!”



“I’ll help you, Benny,” Sandy offered. She looked ashamed. For a change she tried to cheer up the children instead of scolding them. “There are some custard molds up in this cabinet. They have a pretty snowflake pattern on the bottom. I used to make custard with my mother.”



“How did you know about the custard molds with the snowflake patterns?” Carrie asked.



When Sandy heard this she dropped the tin molds on the floor. “I … well … the other day I was looking for … uh … something else in that cabinet. They’re like the ones I had when I was a little girl.”



The children looked at Sandy closely when she rinsed 2 off the custard tins. This wasn’t the first time she seemed to know more than a newcomer would about some of the things in Drummond Castle. Had she been here before?



Sandy went about helping 3 Benny without saying much. She didn’t speak at all during the skimpy dinner everyone ate. Right afterwards she excused herself and went upstairs. She didn’t even wait for the custard to finish baking. “I’ll be in my room all night,” Sandy said. “I’m sorry about today.”



“I guess I’ll have to go grocery shopping with her tomorrow unless we all want to go on a diet!” Carrie said.



“I don’t!” Benny said, as he spooned up the last of the very good custard.



Carrie ruffled 4 Benny’s hair. “Well you won’t have to. Now why don’t you children run up to your rooms and relax? On your way up, just knock on Sandy’s door. Tell her we’ll leave for town at eight sharp.”



“Okay,” the children said as they went upstairs.



There was no light coming from under Sandy’s door when Jessie gave a knock.



“That’s odd. She doesn’t seem to be there,” Jessie said.



“I guess we’d better find her if we want to eat tomorrow, right Ben?” Henry joked.



“Then let’s look for her,” Benny said.



The children checked some of the other rooms near Sandy’s. All of them were dark or locked.



“Let’s try the other wing,” Jessie suggested. “You never know where Sandy will show up.”



The children got their flashlights and took the long passageway that led to the other side of the castle. The hall was dark and cold, and so were the rooms off of it. None of them had been used for many years. Benny and Violet held hands tightly. Suddenly, the children heard faraway notes of sweet violin music.



Violet hummed softly. She whispered to Benny. “I know this is strange, but when I hear that tune 5, I’m not as scared.”



But a moment later all the children were scared. When they reached the spiral staircase to the second tower, they saw a light moving up the stairs. The children stood at the bottom looking up the corkscrew turns. At each turn the light went higher and higher. Finally it disappeared at the top.



“Let’s go up,” Henry said. “Follow me.”



The children crept up the stairs without making a sound. The staircase was just like the one to their own room in the other tower. They didn’t need much light. They held on to the twisted iron railing and made their way up, step by step.



When they reached the landing, they expected anything but what they saw.



Nothing — except a locked door.



There was no one at the top of the stairs.



“How can that be?” Jessie asked. “The door is locked. The light that was here is gone.”



Henry jiggled the doorknob.



“It’s no use,” he said. He banged on the door. “Hello! Hello! Is anyone there?”



No one answered.



“Beats me,” Henry said, tapping his forehead in amazement 6. “Let’s see if we can get Mr. Tooner to let us in. He has the key.”



Going down was less scary. The children turned on their flashlights. They didn’t whisper, and they didn’t tiptoe. It didn’t matter whether anyone heard them now.



The children followed a path outside that ran along the cliff to Mr. Tooner’s house. They thought they heard violin music again, but it was hard to tell with the strong wind blowing across the lake.



“Do you think Mr. Tooner will mind our visit?” Violet asked.



Henry looked thoughtful. “I think he would want to know if anyone is up in the tower who shouldn’t be.



The path ended at a small stone house. The children peeked 7 in the window. Mr. Tooner was putting away a music stand.



Henry rang the doorbell. Mr. Tooner came to the window and looked out. He made a face and began to close the shutters 8. Then he realized the Aldens were at the door.



Although Mr. Tooner didn’t smile, he didn’t look mad anymore either. “Is there any trouble?” he asked the children.



Violet stepped up to the door. She had a feeling Mr. Tooner liked her. “We think somebody’s up in the tower room. We followed somebody all the way up the stairs, but the door was locked when we got there.”



“Turn around! Look up there!” Mr. Tooner pointed 9 up at the tower. “By golly, there is someone up there. A light is on.”



Before they knew it, the Aldens were following Mr. Tooner to a small door at the back of his house. It opened into a cave passageway.



“Does this cave lead to the castle?” Jessie asked.



“See for yourself,” Mr. Tooner said. He turned on two small overhead lights that brightened the passageway.



“Neat!” Benny said. “You can go back and forth 10 to the castle without going outside.”



The passageway was quite short. Soon the children were following Mr. Tooner up the tower stairs. At the top, he pulled out his key ring and unlocked the door.



There was no electricity in this part of the castle. The children and Mr. Tooner used their flashlights to search the cluttered 11 room.



“Whoever was here must be gone by now,” Henry said. “Sorry to bother you with this, Mr. Tooner.”



“That’s all right, my boy. I saw that light, too,” Mr. Tooner said. “Somebody must have made a copy of my keys, that’s all I can think.”



“Come on — let’s go,” Jessie said.



“I just want to see if I can see the moon through the chimney,” Benny answered, standing 12 in the fireplace and looking up. “But there’s no chimney in this funny fireplace. Whoops 13 — ”



The other children heard a thud and ran over to see what had happened to Benny. But he had disappeared!



Then they heard his voice, from the other side of the wall. “This is a fake fireplace! If you push it, there’s another room!” Benny yelled. “Lean hard, like I did, and it will turn around.”



The children and Mr. Tooner did just that. They managed to push themselves into a moonlit room the same size as the one they had just been in. Like the other room, this one was filled with old furniture, books, and toys. Mr. Tooner and the Aldens poked 14 around as best they could in the dim light. Suddenly, while their backs were turned, they heard the creaking of the revolving 15 wall.



“Oh no!” Jessie cried out. “Whoever was in here just got out.”



Everyone pushed at the movable wall, and it revolved 16 again. They were back on the other side. But they were too late. The mysterious person had disappeared.



“Guess I’ll lock up. Not that it does much good if somebody’s got the key.” Mr. Tooner sounded upset. “I only hope whoever copied this key didn’t copy any others. Mr. Drummond trusted me to keep an eye on things, and that’s what I’ve done. But now …”



Violet patted Mr. Tooner’s hand. “It’ll be okay. You did a good job. We can help you find whoever it is who got in here.”



Everyone wanted to cheer up the old man. “We’ll help you put in some new locks,” Henry said. “We’re handy with tools.”



“A secret room, a secret room,” Mr. Tooner repeated. “I thought I knew every corner of this castle.”



“There, there,” Violet said. “Tomorrow we’ll try to figure out who really does know every corner of this castle.”