The Sleepy Hollow Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

way so I can get a better shot?” Margot took
more photos, which attracted the attention of
the people admiring the scarecrows in the
contest. Soon, a crowd of people was gathered
around the damaged scarecrow.
    “Annika, isn’t that your ghost-tour
scarecrow?” a woman asked.
    Annika nodded. “Yes. I don’t know who
would do this.”
    “Why does it say BEWARE ?” a boy asked.
“Does it mean beware of the ghost tour?”
    “No,” Annika said. “I think it’s just
someone playing a joke. My ghost tours are
fun and not scary.”
    “That’s not what I’ve heard,” the woman
said. “I heard the last one frightened several
children.” Annika tried to explain but the
woman wouldn’t listen. “We won’t be going
on it,” she said as she walked away.
    The Aldens helped Annika pick up the
pieces of her scarecrow. They could tell she
was discouraged.
    “Don’t worry, Annika,” Jessie said. “We’re
determined to find out who is playing these
tricks.”
    “Who could have had a chance to move
the scarecrow?” Henry asked.
    “Anyone,” Annika’s face was glum. “I helped
Isiah put it up yesterday. Someone could have
moved it in the night. Let’s go home.”
    Back at the house, the Aldens raked leaves
for Mrs. Vanderhoff. When they were
finished, Jessie got a notebook out of her
suitcase. “Let’s write down what we know
about these terrible tricks and who could
have done them,” she said.
    “Even though Mrs. Vanderhoff thinks Mr.
Beekman wouldn’t play the tricks, we should
add him to the list,” Henry said.
    “And Brett too,” Violet added. “He is very
rude and mean.”
    “We should add the headless horseman to
the list,” Benny said.
    “Benny, you know there’s no real headless
horseman,” Jessie told him. “It’s just a story.”
    “We’ve seen a headless horseman,” Benny
insisted. “He needs to be on the list.”
    “All right, I’ll add him, but we need to think
of other possibilities.” Jessie wrote headless
horseman in her notebook.
    “What about Margot?” Henry asked. “She
wants to get the town named the spookiest
in America. She knows all about how Annika
does the tours. She could have put the cookie
crumbs and the candy worms in the cookie jar.”
    “But Margot is Annika’s sister!” Violet
shook her head. “That would be too mean.”
    “Maybe Margot doesn’t realize it is mean,”
Henry said. “She might think it will help
Annika’s business if the town is named the
spookiest.”
    “When Margot saw Annika’s scarecrow,
she didn’t seem to notice that Annika was
upset,” Jessie added. “Mrs. Vanderhoff said
Margot should have been at home last night
when Annika called. Since she wasn’t there, she could have ridden the horse. I’ll write her
name down too.”
    Mrs. Vanderhoff called them for dinner
before they could think of more names. They
ate quickly so they would be ready for the ghost
tour. After dinner, Mrs. McGregor said, “I’ll
feed Watch and put him up in the apartment
until you get back. Mrs. Vanderhoff and I
are going to visit some of her friends, so we
might not be back until after you are home.”
    “Poor Watch. I’m sorry you have to stay
home,” Benny said.
    “Don’t worry about Watch,” Mrs.
McGregor said. “He’s been chasing squirrels
all afternoon in the backyard. I’m sure he’s
very tired.”
    When everyone had their coats on, they
walked with Annika to the tour’s meeting
point. A group of eight people arrived for the
tour, four adults and four children, two girls
and two boys. The boys were twins. One of
the little girls announced, “I’m the birthday
girl. I’m five.”
    “I’m five too,” the twins said together.
    The other girl said, “I’m almost five. I
think.” She looked up at her mother.
    “Almost,” her mother said. “In a year.”
Everyone laughed.
    Annika wore her cape and carried a lantern
with a candle in it. “I have a box of battery
powered lanterns too,” she said. “Anyone
who might feel