Guide Dog Mystery (3 page)

“Mrs. Carter’s not here right now. Can we give her a message?” Henry replied.

“That dog out on the lawn. I want to buy her,” the man said.

“But — ” Jessie began.

“She’s a beautiful golden retriever. I simply must have her,” he went on.

“I don’t think she’s for sale,” Henry said, realizing the man must mean Ginger. “She’s a guide dog.”

“What do you mean she’s not for sale?” the man said. “That’s ridiculous. Just tell me the price.”

“I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to ask Mrs. Carter,” Jessie said.

The man looked around the room at the children and drew in a deep breath. Then he turned on his heel and left, as abruptly as he’d come.

“That was strange!” Violet said when the door had shut behind the man.

“It certainly was!” Henry agreed.

“I wonder if he’s the same person I saw in the woods,” Benny said.

“What person in the woods?” Jessie asked.

Benny told the others what he’d seen earlier that day.

“There seem to be some strange things going on around here,” Jessie said.

“Yes. Remember that scene between Jason and that woman — Mrs. Davis — yesterday?” Violet reminded them.

“I’m not sure about this,” Henry said, “but I think we may have another mystery on our hands!”

W
hen Mrs. Carter returned, Henry told her about the strange man who’d wanted to buy Ginger.

“Well,” she said, “sometimes people
do
want to buy the dogs.”

As the Aldens got off the elevator on the second floor, they saw Anna on her way to the dining room. Benny ran to catch up with his new friend. Just before he reached her, she turned around and said, “Hello, Benny!”

Benny stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide. “How did you know it was me?” he asked.

Anna smiled. “I just knew.”

Benny didn’t know what to say.

Anna laughed. “Besides,” she said, “your shoes squeak when you run. I noticed that when I first met you.”

“That’s amazing!” Benny said as his sisters and brother joined him.

“Not really,” Anna said. “Since I can’t see, I have to be more aware of sounds and smells and other things,” she explained. “I know Violet must have just come over, because I can smell her shampoo.”

“Here I am,” Violet said with a grin.

During a dinner of burgers and fries, Anna told them all about her afternoon and introduced them to a few of the other students she’d met that day. Anna and Ginger had gotten along very well, and the next day Jason was going to start their training together. She couldn’t wait.

When they’d finished their strawberry shortcake, Anna and the Aldens went to the lounge to listen to music and talk.

At last, worn out from a busy day, the children went back to their rooms.

‘I’m going to sleep well tonight!” Benny said.

But he was wrong.

A few hours later, Benny sat up in bed. He looked over at Henry, who was sleeping soundly. Benny wondered what had awakened him. In a moment he realized what it was. Outside his window the dogs were barking. They sounded upset.

Benny was just about to look out the window when he heard a soft tapping at the door. “Who is it?” he whispered.

“It’s Jessie and me,” he heard Violet whisper back.

Benny opened the door and the two girls hurried in.

“What’s going on?” Henry asked, rubbing his eyes and sitting up.

“Something’s disturbing the dogs,” Jessie said.

“Or someone,” said Violet, who was standing by the window. “Come here, quick!”

The others hurried over and looked out.

“What is it?” Benny asked.

“I thought I saw someone looking in one of the kennel windows,” Violet said. “But then the person disappeared.”

The children all stood looking out the window as the dogs continued to bark. But all they could see was the dark kennel building.

“Maybe I imagined it,” Violet said after a few moments.

The children kept watching for several more minutes, and then the dogs began to quiet down.

“If someone was there, they must be gone now,” Jessie said.

“Who do you think it was?” Benny asked.

“I couldn’t tell,” Violet said. “Why would someone be lurking around in the middle of the night?”

“I don’t know,” Henry answered. “We’ll ask Jason tomorrow. For now, I’m going to sleep.”

When they asked Jason the following day, he didn’t seem to think that the barking dogs were anything to worry about. “I used to wake up every time they barked, but I don’t anymore. Sometimes it’s a rabbit or a skunk — it’s not usually anything to worry about.”

“What about the person Violet saw?” Jessie asked.

“It was probably just a shadow of a tree or something. I wouldn’t worry about it,” Jason advised.

Then Anna arrived for her first lesson with Ginger, and the Aldens forgot all about the barking dogs. Jason told them to watch from a bench in front of the school. They had to be quiet so they wouldn’t distract Anna or Ginger.

Jason put Ginger’s harness on her and placed Anna’s hand on the handle. While the Aldens watched, the threesome began moving down the walkway.

“Give her lots of praise, and pat her head when she does what you want her to do,” Jason told Anna.

Anna was nervous, and at first she almost tripped over Ginger as they walked. But soon she was moving slowly down the sidewalk. Jason stayed beside them, letting Anna and Ginger lead the way.

“Uh-oh,” Benny whispered when he saw Anna and Ginger heading toward a large rock on the path. But Ginger led Anna around it.

As they approached the tree-lined driveway, a large branch hung overhead. “Oh, no! Anna’s going to bump her head,” Violet whispered. Ginger could easily have walked under the branch, but she had been trained to notice things that might get in the way of the person she was leading. So she carefully led Anna around the branch.

“That’s amazing!” Jessie whispered.

At the curb, Ginger stopped and waited for Anna’s command. Jason explained, “Ginger will stop at the curb, while you listen for traffic. If it’s quiet, you can tell her to go forward. But she’ll only move forward if she thinks it’s safe.”

“You mean she’ll disobey me?” Anna asked.

“Yes,” Jason said. “Guide dogs are obedient, but they’re also intelligent. If a situation is dangerous — for instance, if you tell them to step out into a street with cars going by — they’ll disobey you. They’ve been trained to think of your safety first.”

Anna bent and gave Ginger a big hug. “I know I’ll be safe with Ginger,” she said.

The children watched the rest of Anna’s lesson with great interest. It was almost time for lunch when Benny whispered to the others, “Hey, look over there.” He pointed toward the road in front of the school. A big black limousine was slowly driving by.

“Mrs. Davis again!” Jessie said.

The back windows of the car were tinted, so the children couldn’t see inside. They could only see her driver, who was wearing dark sunglasses, in his uniform in the front seat.

“I wonder what she’s up to!” Henry said.

“I hope she’s not going to interrupt Anna’s lesson. Jason would be upset,” Violet said.

The children watched as the limousine started to turn in the driveway.

“Oh, no! Here she comes!” said Jessie.

But at the last minute, it seemed Mrs. Davis changed her mind. There was a skidding noise as the car came abruptly to a stop. The limousine swerved back into the street. Then the engine roared and the car pulled away quickly, sending up a cloud of dust and pebbles.

Jason looked up when he heard the noise. “What was that?”

“It looked like Mrs. Davis’s limousine,” Henry said.

A shadow seemed to pass over Jason’s face. “I think we’ve done enough today,” he said to Anna. “Why don’t you and Ginger take a break?” And with that, Jason walked quickly away.

Once again, the Aldens were left wondering what was bothering him.

T
hat afternoon, the Aldens were sitting with Ginger on the school’s front lawn when a car pulled into the driveway and stopped. A man got out, and the children saw it was the same mysterious man who’d tried to buy Ginger the day before.

“Ah, just who I was looking for,” he said as he walked toward the children. His voice was smooth and friendly, but the Aldens couldn’t help thinking he sounded a little
too
friendly. The man reached out to stroke Ginger’s back, and Henry stepped away, holding her leash firmly. “If you’re still interested in buying Ginger, you’ll have to speak to the director of the school, Mrs. Carter.”

“I should have introduced myself yesterday,” the man said. He smiled broadly, but his smile seemed false. “My name’s Gerard Dominick, and I just happen to be the owner of some of the greatest champion dogs in the country.” He paused, waiting for the children to make some response. When they said nothing, he continued. “This golden retriever would perfectly complete my collection of dogs. I can see that she’s a champion. I’ll make a generous offer — ”

“We told you, you have to ask Mrs. Carter,” Henry repeated.

“Come, come, now,” Mr. Dominick said, taking his wallet out of his pocket. “This dog is worth a fortune! Who’s going to know if you just hand her over to me? You can say she ran away.”

“That’s terrible!” Jessie said. “You’d better leave!”

“Hey, calm down,” Mr. Dominick said nervously. He put his wallet back in his pocket. “All right, all right, I’m going. But I’m not giving up!”

The Aldens watched as Mr. Dominick got back in his car and drove off.

“I don’t like that man at all,” Violet said.

“Neither do I,” Benny agreed.

“Do you think we should tell Mrs. Carter about him?” asked Jessie.

“She didn’t seem too interested yesterday,” said Henry.

“Maybe we should tell Jason,” Violet suggested.

The children went straight to Jason’s room on the fourth floor. They were about to knock on his door when they heard his voice inside.

“It sounds as if he’s on the phone,” Jessie said. “Maybe we should come back later.”

While the children were deciding what to do, they couldn’t help overhearing what Jason was saying on the telephone. “It makes me very uncomfortable. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.” He paused. “All right, if you think so . . . ” Jason sighed. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

The Aldens heard Jason hang up the phone, and a moment later, his door opened. Jason stood in the doorway, very surprised to see the children. His face turned a deep shade of red. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“We just wanted to, um — ” Jessie began.

“There’s something I have to take care of,” Jason said abruptly. And before they could tell him about Mr. Dominick, he was gone.

“I know it isn’t right to listen to other people’s conversations,” said Violet as the children headed back to their rooms, “but did anyone else hear what Jason was saying on the phone?”

“Yes,” said Henry. “I wonder what he was talking about. What could be making him so uncomfortable?”

“It sounds as if he’s going to do something he doesn’t want to do,” said Jessie.

“What could it be?” asked Benny.

“And who do you think he was talking to?” asked Violet.

“Maybe it was Mrs. Davis,” said Henry. “Remember the other day he told her something wasn’t a good idea? He used those same words on the phone just now.”

“Whatever he was talking about, he didn’t seem very happy to see us on his doorstep when he came out,” Jessie pointed out.

“I noticed that, too,” said Violet. “He was acting
guilty
about something.”

The children all thought about that for a moment. At last Benny broke the silence. “This is getting more and more mysterious!”

That night, the children ate dinner with Anna before returning to their rooms and getting into bed. They quickly fell asleep. But once again, they were awakened at midnight by the sound of barking.

“Something’s bothering the dogs again,” Violet said, pushing back her blankets and getting out of bed.

“I wish they would be quiet,” Jessie said groggily.