Guide Dog Mystery (5 page)

He didn’t want to let the others down. What if something important happened and they missed it because Benny couldn’t stay awake? He knew he had to do something or he would fall asleep.

Benny went into the bathroom. He turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face. That helped a lot.

He went back to his seat by the window feeling better, but soon his eyelids were heavy again. He leaned his elbows on the windowsill and put his head in his hands. He wanted so much to put his head down — just for five minutes. What could be the harm? Benny crossed his arms on the windowsill and rested his head on top.

Suddenly he woke with a start. His arm had slipped off the sill. For a moment, he didn’t know where he was. Then he remembered. He was supposed to be keeping watch. How long had he been asleep? he wondered.

Benny peered at the clock and saw that it was twelve o’clock. He smiled. It was time to wake up Henry, who was doing the next shift.

Before he woke Henry, Benny took one last peek out the window. There were no lights in the rooms across the way. He checked the kennel off to the left. And then he spotted something. From behind a tree, a shadow moved.

The shadow moved again, and this time Benny was sure he’d seen it. As if to prove this fact, the dogs began barking.

“Henry, Henry, wake up!” Benny called, his eyes glued to the window.

Henry stirred slowly. “Is it my shift already?” he asked.

“Yes, but I think I see something!”

Henry bolted out of bed and in a moment he was standing next to his brother. The two boys looked out the window.

“I saw a shadow by the kennel, and — ” Benny began. “Look! There’s a light moving around in the kennel! Someone’s in there!”

Henry ran to get the girls while Benny kept watch.

When the girls joined them, they all agreed. It appeared that someone was snooping around in the kennel with a flashlight.

“If they’re using a flashlight, I’m sure they’re not supposed to be there,” said Jessie.

“I bet it’s the person who stole Jason’s key!” cried Jessie.

“We’d better go tell somebody!” Benny said.

“Jason!” said Henry.

The children ran out of the room and all the way down the hall. They ran and ran, around two corners, to Jason’s room.

“Jason! Jason! Wake up!” the Aldens called as they pounded on his door.

In a moment the door was opened by a very sleepy-looking Jason. “What is it?” he wanted to know.

“Come quickly! Someone’s broken into the kennel!” Jessie said.

Jason looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Jason!” Henry said. “There’s no time to explain. Come on!”

Jason sighed heavily. “You kids and your imaginations.”

“It’s not our imagination,” Jessie said. “But if you don’t believe us, we’ll go by ourselves.” The children started down the hallway.

“All right, I’m coming,” Jason said, following them.

When they reached the kennel, they found the door was open, and the sound of barking dogs was deafening. As they peered into the dark building, they could see a flashlight shining down the hallway ahead of them.

Jason flicked on the overhead light, and the Aldens saw someone down the hall duck behind a large box. “Hello? Is there somebody there?” Jason called out. “Please come out at once!”

There was no response at first. Suddenly a figure darted out and began running down the hall away from them.

“He’s heading for the back exit,” said Jason. “I’ll go around that way and try to head him off!”

The others ran down the hall after the figure. But before they could catch him, he’d run out the back exit. The heavy door slammed shut behind him.

The Aldens pushed open the door and looked out. There was a rustling in the woods. Jason stood next to the door, out of breath.

“Whoever it was, he took off into the woods before I could get to him,” Jason said when he’d caught his breath.

“We’d better make sure the dogs are okay and that everything is in order,” Jessie said.

The Aldens helped Jason go through the building and check each dog. Zach, Ginger, and the other dogs were all in their individual pens, just as they were supposed to be.

“Let’s get back to bed,” Jason said.

“Wait a minute,” called Violet, who had gone back to take another peek at Ginger. “What are all these scratch marks on the gate to Ginger’s pen?”

Jason came over to take a closer look. “That’s odd,” he said. “It looks as if someone was trying to break into her pen. There’s a special latch on every pen so that the dogs can’t get out. I guess the person who was in here was after Ginger.” Jason twisted the latch and opened the gate. Ginger came out and began sniffing at Jason. “Are you okay, girl?” Jason said, rubbing her back. When he was satisfied that she was unharmed, he led her back into her pen.

“What are we going to do? The person that sneaked in here probably used your key,” Henry said. “He could come back.”

“I’ll camp out here tonight,” said Jason, “and I’ll talk to Mrs. Carter in the morning. We’ll have to have the locks changed.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Violet asked.

“We’ll bring you some blankets and a pillow,” Jessie suggested.

“We could stay with you,” Benny offered.

“No sense in all of us staying up,” Jason said.

After making sure that Jason was settled for the night, the Aldens returned to their rooms.

“It’s a good thing you were on watch, Benny,” Jessie told her brother.

“I can’t believe you were able to stay awake so late,” Violet said.

“Aw, it was easy,” Benny said, hiding a smile.

“I shouldn’t tell you this, but we all thought you’d fall asleep for sure,” Jessie said.

Benny gave her a look. “What? I can’t believe you’d think that.”

Violet noticed that Henry had been walking along quietly beside them. “Thinking about something, Henry?” she asked.

“What?” Henry had been deep in his own thoughts. “Oh, well . . . I was just wondering . . . did anyone else think that Jason acted strangely tonight?”

“Not really,” Jessie answered. “What do you mean?”

They had reached their rooms. Jessie opened the door to the girls’ room and they all went inside and sat down on the beds to talk for a moment.

“Remember when we first told him someone had broken into the kennel?” Henry asked. “He kept saying he didn’t believe us, before he finally came along. I wonder if he was stalling.”

“Why would he do that?” Violet asked.

“Maybe he
knew
someone was going to break into the kennel,” Henry said slowly. “Maybe he wanted to make sure we didn’t get there before they finished whatever it was they were up to.”

“Then why did he come with us after all?” Jessie asked.

“He knew we were going, so he had to come,” Henry said. “Then when we got there, remember he went around the outside to head off the person inside? He said he couldn’t catch the person — but maybe he wasn’t even trying.”

“But he seemed so out of breath,” Violet said.

“That’s just it,” Henry said. “I wonder if it was all an act.”

“Do you think that’s why he offered to keep guard?” Jessie asked.

“And he didn’t want us to stay with him. . . .” Benny said.

“I can’t believe Jason is up to anything bad,” Violet said.

Jessie sighed. “It’s possible. But we really haven’t got any proof.

“Tomorrow we’ll have to do more detective work.”

T
he next day was bright and sunny, and while eating a breakfast of fresh orange juice and waffles they saw Jason in the dining room, huddled over a cup of coffee.

“Did anything else happen last night?” Benny asked.

Jason assured them that the rest of the night had been quiet.

“It’s a beautiful day out,” Violet noted, looking out one of the large dining room windows.

“Perfect for Anna’s first trip downtown with Ginger,” Jason said. “Let’s meet in the lobby in fifteen minutes. After we walk around downtown, we’ll visit Greenfield College, where Anna will be going to school in the fall. Ginger needs to get used to being on the campus with all the students.”

“We’ve driven past the college with Grandfather,” said Violet. “It’s very pretty.”

“I have an idea,” said Henry. “Maybe we could picnic on that big green lawn.”

“That sounds great!” Jason said.

“We can pick up some food while we’re downtown,” Benny suggested.

“I’ll go to the kitchen and see if we can borrow the other things we’ll need,” Jessie said. She was back in a moment with a red and white checkered tablecloth, some napkins, and a knife for cutting bread and cheese and fruit.

A short while later, the group was heading downtown. The children walked a slight distance behind so they wouldn’t disturb Anna and Ginger’s lesson.

Jason had prepared Anna for the trip by showing her a special map of town. The streets were marked with raised lines so that she could feel where they were. He had also asked her which stores she usually visited, so that she and Ginger could practice going in those.

“We’re on Main Street now,” Jason told her. “Let’s walk to the pet shop on the corner of Spruce and Elm. That’s a place you and Ginger will be going to often.”

“That’s where we buy things for Watch!” said Benny.

They all began walking. When they reached the first corner, Ginger stopped right at the curb.

“Good girl,” Anna said.

“Listen for the traffic,” Jason told Anna.

A couple of cars went by.

“It sounds quiet now,” Anna said.

“Then tell Ginger to move ahead,” Jason said.

“Forward,” Anna said, and they all crossed the street.

At each corner Ginger would stop and wait for Anna to listen for the traffic and decide which way she wanted to go.

When they reached the pet shop, Jason showed Anna how to enter the store with Ginger.

As the Aldens paused outside, Benny moved closer to his sisters and brother and whispered, “I think someone’s following us.”

“You do?” Jessie asked. She looked behind them. The only person she saw nearby was a tall figure in a long raincoat and hat. The person was standing at a pay phone making a call. Jessie couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. “Do you mean that person on the phone?”

“That’s the one,” Benny said. “I noticed him as soon as we got into town, and he’s been with us this whole way.”

“Are you sure?” Henry asked.

“Yes,” said Benny.

“Now that you mention it, there is something odd about him,” Violet said. “Why is he wearing a raincoat and hat on this beautiful, sunny day?”

“Look at the way he’s standing,” Jessie pointed out. “Head down, hat pulled low, back toward us — as if he doesn’t want to be seen.”

“Or recognized,” Henry added.

“Who do you think it might be?” asked Violet.

“I don’t know,” said Benny. “Maybe Mr. Dominick. He’s tall and thin.”

“So is Mrs. Davis,” said Jessie. “It could be a woman, you know. You really can’t tell.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him — or her,” said Henry.

A few minutes later, Anna, Jason, and Ginger came out of the shop. Anna was carrying a small paper bag. “Look what I got,” she told the Aldens.

They crowded around as she pulled something out of the paper bag. It was a new collar for Ginger, made of soft brown leather.

“She’s been wearing the same collar since she was a puppy,” Jason said.

“The leather is all lumpy and cracked,” Anna added.

“I think she’ll really like the new one,” Violet said.

‘I’ll put it on her tonight when we get home,” Anna said, as she and the others began walking.

When they’d gone a few blocks, Jessie took a quick peek over her shoulder. The mysterious person was close behind them. Each time one of the Aldens looked back, the person would duck into a doorway or pause on a corner. But he — or she — never gave up.

The next stop was the grocery store. The Aldens followed Jason, Anna, and Ginger inside.

“Let’s get some things for our picnic,” Jessie said, picking up a basket.

First Ginger led Anna up the produce aisle. Just like outside, Ginger was a good guide. She carefully led Anna around a display of watermelons in the center of the aisle.