儿童英语读物 Mystery Behind the Wall CHAPTER 5 A New Clue

Violet came to the door of Rory’s room. She had put Stephanie’s journal away. It was time to call Benny and his guest to dinner.



“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You two boys look as if you haven’t a friend in the world.”



Benny said, “We thought maybe Stephanie had some other hiding places in her room. But we can’t find a thing.”



“Not even any dust under the bed,” Rory said.



“Well, it was a long time ago,” Violet said. “I’m not surprised. But dinner is ready. Maybe you’ll have some ideas later.”



But no one had any new ideas even though they talked about the mystery at dinner.



Jessie said, “I wonder who Miss Rachel was. Do you suppose she’s still living in Greenfield?”



“I guess she’d be an old lady now,” Benny said.



Mr. Alden smiled at Benny and Rory. “Why don’t you boys go for a bike ride and forget about mysteries?” he asked. So the boys did that.



But the next morning Rory and Benny began to think about hidden coins again.



The boys stood around in Rory’s room.



Suddenly Benny said, “Rory! There might be something we missed.” He rushed back to the closet.



Rory stared. He didn’t have any idea what Benny meant.



“Let’s push the clothes out of the way,” Benny said. “Now where’s that loose board? Here it is.”



Rory watched while Benny poked 1 his fingers up into the space. The boys had already looked in the space below the hole. But they hadn’t tried to reach up. Now Benny was reaching upward instead of downward.



Henry came in Rory’s room just then. “Need help?” he asked.



“Ouch!” Benny said. “I’ve hurt my finger. Something got under my fingernail.”



“Be more careful,” Henry said.



“Something’s up there where I can just reach it,” Benny said. “Something with a sharp corner, I’d guess.”



Before anyone could stop him, Benny was trying again to move his fingers around in the small opening. All at once he touched something.



“It’s a little card!” Benny exclaimed as he pulled a small piece of cardboard 2 out of the wall.



“A card,” said Rory. “Is anything written on it?”



“Don’t rush me,” said Benny, breathing hard. “I have to get the card in the light.”



Rory and Henry crowded around Benny. They all looked at the card. The message written on it said, “Ask Miss Rachel for blue cloth.”



“That’s Stephanie’s writing,” Benny said. “It’s like the writing in the journal.”



Henry said, “Maybe she wrote that to remind herself to buy the cloth for the coin case.”



Benny read the message again. He shook his head. “I don’t think she would write a message to herself. She would remember that cloth.”



“Yes, she would,” Rory agreed.



“Does the card have anything on the other side?” Henry asked.



Benny turned it over. “Something was written and erased 3,” Benny said. “I can’t read it.”



Henry asked for the card and looked at it. He shook his head.



“Let me look at the card again,” Benny said, holding out his hand.



He looked at the front, then he turned the card over. He walked to the desk in Rory’s room and sat down. He pulled open a drawer and took out a pencil.



“What are you going to do?” Rory asked.



“Watch,” Benny said. He scribbled 4 over the card with the pencil, working very lightly.



As the others looked over his shoulder, they saw the outline of white letters begin to show.



“See?” Benny said. “Stephanie pressed hard when she wrote on this side of the card. She erased the writing, but the hard strokes stayed. I think we can read what she wrote.”



“You’re right,” Henry exclaimed.



Soon Benny read slowly, “L.S. First clue. Go to 5 Birds.”



For a moment the boys were too surprised to talk. Then Henry said, “The words ’First clue’ sound like a puzzle. Didn’t Stephanie say she was going to make a puzzle?”



Benny said, “L.S. Now what could that mean?”



Rory spoke 5 up. “I have an idea. I think the S. is for Shaw. Now I wonder about that L. Let’s ask Granda. He’s still home.”



When Grandfather looked at the letters he said, “Yes, I think the S. stands for Shaw. Stephanie’s father was named Leland Shaw. That would be your L.S.”



“That’s right!” Benny exclaimed. “Stephanie wrote in her journal that she was going to make a puzzle for her father. He told her to make up a puzzle, and she thought he might as well play, too. Her father isn’t around to get this note, so now the clue is meant for us. That’s what I think.”



“Well,” agreed Henry, “let’s try it.”



“You know what this reminds me of?” said Benny. “It reminds me of an old game we used to play, a treasure hunt.”



“We have treasure hunts in Canada,” Rory said. “I know what you mean. Somebody hides a treasure but gives the hunters a note saying ’Look in the hole in the oak 6 tree.’ Then the players look in that hole and find another note. No treasure. Just a note that says ’Look under the cushion in the porch 7 rocker.’”



Benny interrupted, “Then there is another note that says ’Look in the top drawer in the kitchen.’ And then—”



Henry smiled at Benny. “We know that game, and this does remind me of it. Maybe that’s where Stephanie got the idea.”



Benny said, “So Stephanie planned a treasure hunt for her father. Perhaps she didn’t know they were going away. She left all the notes, and there was nobody to find them.”



Rory said, “But what does this clue mean? It says go to five birds. It doesn’t make any sense. How can we do that? Those birds can’t be alive today—even if there were any then.”



“Why do you think Stephanie erased that clue?” Henry asked.



“I think the clue was too easy,” said Benny. “She had to think up a harder one for her father.”



“This one sounds hard enough for me,” said Jessie. “I certainly can’t think what five birds would mean. Stephanie ought to have given her father some address.”



“Hey!” said Henry suddenly. “That’s just what this is—an address!”



“You might be right, Henry,” said Jessie. “Five birds. It does sound like an address.”



“Well, suppose it is an address,” said Benny. “I’ve never heard of it. Greenfield is such a small town, and I thought I knew every street in it.”



“But I think I have seen it, Ben,” Henry said thoughtfully. “One day when I was riding my bike, I was looking for a shortcut 8 across town. Well, I turned into a short, narrow street that had only two stores on it. I think the street was called Birds Lane. I remember the name because it was so different and because one of the stores was called the Wren 9 Shop. The Wren Shop and Birds Lane go together, so it is easy to remember.”



The family agreed, laughing.



Suddenly Grandfather said, “Possibly you can find your Miss Rachel there, even if the name is Wren.”



“You know something, Granda!” exclaimed Rory. “You know something we don’t. What is it?”



“Go and see for yourself,” said Mr. Alden. “You all need exercise.” And with that, Mr. Alden would not say more.



“Well, let’s find Violet, and we’ll all ride our bikes to the other side of town,” said Jessie. “We have to look for Birds Lane.”



Rory and Benny ran to find Violet. The boys explained about the clue on the little card.



Violet said, “Wait a minute, Benny. Don’t be in such a big hurry. What blue cloth do you think Stephanie meant?”



Jessie said, “I’d guess the same kind of cloth she used for the coin cases. But I can’t imagine anyone would have any of that left. It was years ago.”



Benny shook his head. “I know. But it won’t do any harm to go and see where 5 Birds Lane is. Maybe someone will remember Miss Rachel. We can try.”



Rory added, “It’s the only clue we have. We have to try it.”



Violet said, “If Stephanie meant that special blue cloth, let’s take the coin case along. Just in case we need it. I’ll get it.”



In a very short time the Aldens and Rory were pedaling 10 down the broad main street of Greenfield. They looked at every street sign, hoping to find Birds Lane.



It was a beautiful day, and not too hot to enjoy a long bike ride across town. But none of the children were thinking about the pleasant ride. Every one of them was thinking about old money, money made of copper 11 and silver, brass 12 and tin.