Mystery of the Runaway Ghost Read Online Free PDF Page A

When the waitress came back to the table, Fran ordered a cheese sandwich and an iced tea. Henry chose fish and chips, and orange juice. Jessie and Violet both ordered corned beef sandwiches, cole slaw, and milk. Benny decided on a hamburger, French fries, and chocolate milk.
    “Tell us more about the artist who painted the runaway ghost,” Violet said, turning to Fran. “Did he ever become famous?”
    Fran laughed. “Oh, no. I’m afraid that painting isn’t worth much to anyone but me. The artist was a friend of Selden and Anne’s. His name was Homer and that’s about all we know about him. I don’t even know what his last name was!”
    “How do you know his first name?” Benny asked.
    “Well, he signed it on the painting,” Fran replied, “and my great-great-grandfather mentioned him a lot in the diary he kept. They were very close. So many of the entries say ‘Homer and Anne and I did this and, Homer and Anne and I did that.’ They had great fun together!”
    “Well, he was a wonderful artist,” Jessie said.
    “You know, there’s an old photograph of Homer around somewhere,” Fran informed them. “He’s standing with Selden and Anne on the front lawn of Shadowbox. They’re all holding croquet mallets.”
    “What’s a croquet mallet?” Benny wanted to know.
    “It’s for croquet, an old-fashioned game, Benny,” explained Henry. “The mallets are used to hit wooden balls through little arches called wickets.”
    Benny grinned. “Sounds like fun.”
    Fran smiled at the youngest Alden. “As I recall, there’s an old croquet set up in the attic. If you don’t mind rummaging around for it, you’re welcome to give it a try.”
    The Aldens didn’t mind at all. As soon as they got back to Shadowbox, they hurried up to the attic. “Whew!” said Benny. “It sure is hot up here.”
    Henry nodded. “Like an oven,” he said as he glanced around at the clutter of dusty books, cardboard boxes, broken toys, and lumpy old chairs.
    “Let’s split up,” Jessie suggested in her practical way. “Then it won’t take so long.”
    Benny sat down to poke around in a box of comic books and jigsaw puzzles. Henry opened the drawers of a dusty old dresser. Jessie sorted through a hamper filled with odds and ends. And Violet searched in a trunk covered with faded stickers from faraway places.
    It wasn’t long before Benny let out a cheer. “I found it!” he said, holding open the lid of a wooden box. “At least, I think I did.”
    Henry went over to take a look. “Way to go, Benny!” he said, glancing down at the box filled with mallets and balls and wickets.
    “Omigosh!” Violet was still standing over the old trunk, her eyes wide.
    “Is anything wrong?” Jessie asked her sister.
    Violet stammered, “It’s a … a trunk !”
    Jessie, Henry, and Benny looked from Violet to the trunk and back again. They seemed puzzled.
    “What’s strange about that, Violet?” Benny wanted to know. “Lots of attics have old trunks in them.”
    “But … it’s a trunk and it’s up in the attic!” Violet sounded excited.
    Henry suddenly understood. “The elephants’ trunks were pointing up!”
    “Now that you mention it,” said Jessie, “a trunk can be an elephant’s long nose — ”
    “Or it can be a big chest for storing things,” finished Violet.
    “ The thing you hold/Is the thing you seek! ” cried Benny. “We were supposed to seek another trunk! That’s where the next clue must be.”
    “Got to be,” agreed Henry.
    Violet, Benny, Henry, and Jessie searched carefully through the trunk. It was filled with old-fashioned clothes that smelled of mothballs. But when they were finished, all they’d found was an envelope bulging with old photographs. Jessie tucked the envelope into her back pocket to show Fran.
    “Looks like we struck out,” Violet was forced to admit.
    “I don’t get it.” Jessie looked down at the trunk. “According to the clues, this should be the spot.”
    “Then