儿童英语读物 The Amusement Park Mystery CHAPTER 9 The Expert

After their late night out the children slept later than usual the next morning.



Henry mixed up a batch 1 of pancakes, Violet broiled 2 the sausages, Jessie poured the orange juice, and Benny set the table.



After they had eaten, they rode their bicycles to the amusement park to tell Joshua about what they’d seen.



Henry pedaled faster to pull alongside Jessie. “Shall we tell Joshua about your phone call?”



Jessie shook her head. “You know, I feel sorry for Joshua. He has enough to worry about. Let’s keep the phone call our little secret.”



“I think you’re right,” Henry said.



When they arrived, they parked their bicycles and walked by the concession 3 stand. Sheila spotted 4 them right away. “Are you back again?” she said in disbelief. “You’d think this place was your second home.”



Jessie glanced at her but didn’t answer. She kept walking. So did Benny, Violet, and Henry. Sheila certainly didn’t welcome them to the park. “Isn’t it funny,” she asked, “that Sheila is so unfriendly?”



“It is,” Henry said.



“Do you think she could be the one who phoned us?” Violet asked.



“It was a man’s voice,” Jessie answered.



“I wonder if we’ll ever find out who it was,” Violet said.



“I’m sure we will.” Jessie’s response was positive.



At last they spotted Joshua. His gray hair ruffled 5 by the breeze, he stood chatting with Ned by the merry-go-round.



“Hi, Aldens,” he called. “Before we open the park, do you want a free ride?”



Violet smiled. “Thanks, but not today, Mr. Eaton. We need to talk to you.”



Joshua gave them a quick look. “Okay, come over and have a seat.” He sat down on the merry-go-round’s platform.



Ned pushed back his hat and stared at them for a few seconds. Then without a word he walked away to the coffee stand.



Benny sat down next to Joshua, but his brother and sisters stood. “Well,” Joshua said, glancing at their faces. “What”s wrong?”



“Last night,” Henry said, “when we drove by the closed park, we—”



“We saw,” Benny interrupted, “the sky lit up with lights.”



Joshua frowned. “What was it?”



“We think someone might have been taking flash pictures,” Jessie explained.



Joshua looked confused. “What is going on?” he said. “I think I need to do something about this!”



Karen, wearing white jeans and a green short-sleeved sweater, stepped out of the House of Mirrors and joined them. “Hi, Dad.” She glanced at the children. “Hello, Aldens,” she said without smiling.



“Hello,” Jessie said, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other. She wasn’t comfortable around Karen. She knew how Karen felt about the merry-go-round and wasn’t sure if she’d care about her father getting to the bottom of this.



“Karen,” Joshua said calmly, “the children told me that someone took flash pictures here last night. Something is definitely going on. Three of my horses have been tampered 6 with!”



Karen raised her eyebrows 7. “Three?”



Boldly, Benny spoke 8 up. “Yes, three! The light gray doesn’t go up and down. The dapple gray has a big scratch, and the chocolate brown’s stomach isn’t painted!”



“Is that so?” Karen replied, hands on her hips 9 and head tilted 10 to one side. A frown crossed her freckled 11 face and her red hair shone crimson-gold in the sunlight. “It doesn’t sound too serious to me. It’s probably all coincidence.”



“It is serious!” Benny exclaimed. “The horses are being hurt!”



Sighing, Karen glanced at her father. “Then I suppose you’ll be checking into this.”



“Those are valuable horses, Karen,” Joshua retorted. His round cheerful face was changed into a scowl 12. “And I intend to find out something today!”



“You’re not going to call the police, are you?” Karen asked, with concern. “That wouldn’t be good for the park at all.”



Joshua shook his head. “First I need to be sure. Last night I couldn’t sleep worrying about this whole thing,” Joshua said. “First thing this morning I carefully examined all the horses … the damaged ones and the perfect ones. I know those horses as well as I know my own name. Now I’m wondering if maybe the damaged horses aren’t Dentzel’s horses —if they might not be fakes. They don’t look like Dentzel horses to me.”



“Fakes!” Karen exclaimed. “I doubt that.”



Joshua spoke rapidly. “One of the horses doesn’t work properly, another is badly scratched, and the third is only partly painted.” Joshua paused to catch his breath. “You can be sure the original horses were not like that.”



“Oh, no!” Benny burst out.



Joshua was silent and then said, “I know what I have to do. There are experts in this field, people who would know if these are the real Dentzel horses or not. I have to find someone to examine my horses.”



“Oh, Dad!” Karen said. “Of course these are the real horses. How could they not be? You paid enough for them.”



“I don’t know,” Joshua said. “But I’m going to find out.”



“Good!” Benny cried.



“I’ll make some calls this afternoon,” said Joshua. “Right now, I need to check on a new part we ordered for the Ferris wheel.”



The next day, the Aldens went for a long bike ride along the Old Orchard 13 Bike Trail.



Finally, Benny’s legs grew tired. “I’m hungry,” he complained.



“I’m tired, too,” Violet said, slowing down.



They wheeled about and headed for home.



Once in the house Jessie dropped in a chair. “I’m too tired to eat lunch,” she said.



“Not me!” Benny said. “I could eat two sandwiches.”



Jessie laughed. When the phone rang, however, she became serious.



“I’ll answer it,” Henry said quickly, striding into the room and picking up the phone.



He listened to a deep voice growl 14 at him, “This is a warning! Stop meddling 15 at the amusement park!”



“Who is this?” Henry shouted. But the phone clicked and the line went dead. For a moment Henry stared angrily at the phone. Then he glanced at Jessie. “That must have been the same caller you had, Jessie. He had a deep voice and warned us to stay away from the park.”



Numbly 16, Jessie nodded. “Oh, Henry, who could it be? These calls scare me.”



Henry smiled grimly. “Don’t worry, Jessie. We’ll find the one doing the phoning.”



“I hope so,” Jessie said in a low voice. Inside, though, she wasn’t sure that they’d ever know who was doing these awful things.



After lunch Violet said, “Let’s go back to the park and see what’s happening.”



Benny asked, “You mean you’re not afraid of mean Sheila or the phone calls?”



“I don’t know if it’s Sheila,” Jessie said thoughtfully. “What about Ned? He never seems too happy to see us.”



“It might be Karen,” Violet said. “She doesn’t care two cents for the merry-go-round. I think she’d do anything to get the money to put in the new roller coaster that she wants for the park. And why was Peter sketching 17 the horses?”



“Let’s go anyway,” Henry said. “I want to see if Joshua found an expert to examine the horses.”



“I doubt if he could locate a person with such special knowledge this soon,” Jessie said. But she stood up.



“I’m ready,” Benny said, one hand on the doorknob.



Bicycling to the park, they went right to the carousel 18. Rides were whirling, and music was blaring on all sides.



Violet was the first to see the tall woman at the merry-go-round. Without a word, she pointed 19 to her.



The big-boned woman was running her hands over the dapple gray. She peered at the horse’s head and examined the body.



“Hi, Aldens,” Joshua said, smiling. “This is Ms. Margaret Macy, an expert on Dentzel horses. I made lots of calls last night. Frank told me about this expert who happened to be staying at the Sunnyside Motel over at Watertown. She was on her way to Boston but I persuaded her to make a detour 20 and come to Pine Grove 21. Wasn’t I lucky to find someone on such short notice?”



Margaret Macy glanced at the children and smiled. Then she went back to her work. She didn’t even pause long enough to say hello. Nodding, she methodically checked the horse’s legs, ears, mouth, and eyes.



Violet thought it was quite a coincidence that Margaret Macy happened to be so near Pine Grove.



They all watched as Ms. Macy examined the three horses that had been damaged. She was very careful and finally she said to Joshua, “You don’t have to worry, Mr. Eaton. These horses are definitely Dentzels. The scratch must have been made by someone who cleans the carousel. As far as the unpainted belly 22 of one horse … well, Mr. Dentzel was human. He could make mistakes, too. The horse that doesn’t go up and down has a mechanical problem, but he is a Dentzel horse.”



Joshua Eaton smiled broadly and shook Ms. Macy’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough. You’ve made me very happy.”



The Aldens were almost as happy as Joshua. Jessie and Violet hugged him, and Benny said, “I’m glad Ms. Macy was near here and could come right away.”