Mystery at Peacock Hall (7 page)

Jessie spoke up. “Roscoe knew we were here. Maybe he tried to scare us away.”

“But we don’t scare that easily,” Benny said.

Violet explained to David that they had been involved in several mysteries.

“But this mystery is the hardest of all,” she concluded. “We need to find the hidden treasure to save Peacock Hall. So far we don’t even know what it is, much less
where
it is.”

“Soon Cousin Althea will be without a home,” Jessie added. “And Tate. Where will they go?”

Then she realized that David and Heather wouldn’t have a home, either, if Peacock Hall was auctioned for taxes.

Now the Aldens had to help
two
families find a home.

In one day.

T
he cry of the peacock awakened Benny early Friday morning.

“It’s the last day!” he cried, leaping out of bed.

“I know,” Henry said. He threw back his quilt and jumped up. “We have a lot to do.”

A knock sounded at their door.

“Come in,” Benny called, already dressed.

Violet and Jessie stood in the doorway.

“Ready to search?” Jessie asked, but she knew the answer. If there was anything the Aldens enjoyed, it was a challenge.

“Got to eat first,” Benny said sensibly. “We can’t hunt for the secret on an empty stomach.” He sounded so serious, the others laughed as they went downstairs.

Althea fixed them pancakes with link sausages. “You just missed your grandfather,” she said. “He had an early breakfast, then left to go to the bank.”

“Is he going to borrow the tax money?” Henry asked.

“He’s going to try,” Althea said. “My cousin Celia certainly married a nice man. I’m so glad you all are here. No matter what happens.”

“You’ll have many more days in this house,” Jessie said.
If we find the secret of Peacock Hall in time
,she thought.

Althea wouldn’t hear of them cleaning up, so the children ran upstairs.

An hour later, they had searched every square inch of the bedrooms they and Grandfather were using.

“I don’t suppose this is the treasure,” Benny said, producing a bent gold cuff link.

Henry studied the object in better light. “It’s not even real gold.”

“The only room left up here is Cousin Althea’s,” Jessie said. “We’d better ask permission first.”

She and Violet went downstairs to the kitchen.

Althea listened to their request. “Certainly you may look in my bedroom. But I think I would have found the secret if it were in my own room! I’ve lived in this house for more than fifty years!”

“She has a point,” Violet said to Jessie as they went back upstairs. “Althea must know this place better than anyone. Why hasn’t she found the treasure?”

“Maybe because she doesn’t know what she’s looking for,” Jessie brought up. “That’s been
our
main problem.”

The children felt shy in Althea’s bedroom. They looked quickly.

But, as in the other rooms, their search proved fruitless.

Hot, dirty, and tired, they went downstairs.

Althea took one glance at their grimy faces and poured them glasses of lemonade.

“You are a sight,” she pronounced. “Benny even has cobwebs in his hair. Go outside. It’s a gorgeous day, but it may not last. Spring can be fickle around here.”

“We really can’t afford to waste time,” Henry said earnestly. “It’s lunchtime now. Only five more hours until . . .” He hated to finish the sentence.

Althea waved an unconcerned hand. “You children shouldn’t take on my worries. You are guests in my house, even if it is the last day as
my
house.”

“Let’s all go outside,” Jessie suggested, “and eat lunch by the fish pond.”

“Wonderful!” Althea agreed.

As they made a lunch of tuna salad sandwiches, bananas, and peanut-butter cookies, everyone’s spirits lifted. By the time Henry had spread an old blanket on the grass near the fish pond, they were all laughing at Benny.

“Benny, you know you can’t turn a cartwheel!” Violet giggled, watching her little brother tumble in the grass.

“Wait!” he cried. “I’ll get it
this
time!”

But he sprawled on the lawn, collapsed in giggles.

As Althea passed the sandwiches around, a shiny blue car pulled into the driveway.

Marlene Sanders got out, carrying a briefcase. She smiled when she saw Althea Randolph sitting on the blanket.

“Lovely day, isn’t it?” she said to the older woman. “What glorious weather for your last picnic at Peacock Hall!”

“Can I help you, Ms. Sanders?” Althea inquired formally.

“Yes, you can sign these papers.” Marlene Sanders put her briefcase on the edge of the goldfish pond and opened the brass clasp. She took out some long typewritten pages.

“What papers?” Althea asked.

“For the sale of your property.” Uncapping a pen, Marlene handed it to Althea.

Althea pushed the papers and pen away. “You don’t take no for an answer, do you?”

Marlene sighed. “It would be so much easier this way, Mrs. Randolph. You’d make a lot of money and could find a nice place in Charlottesville.”

“I’d rather live in the peacock pen than let your company turn this place into a golf course!” Althea said angrily. “Please go. It
is
still my property!”

“But only till five o’clock!” Marlene said, stuffing the papers back into her leather briefcase. Her high heels clipped smartly along the walk as she marched to her car.

“That woman doesn’t give up,” Althea murmured, watching the car leave. “I’m sorry she spoiled our picnic.”

“It’s okay,” Jessie told her. “
We
don’t give up, either! We still have almost five hours to look for the treasure.”

As they ate, dark clouds rolled in. The air turned chilly.

“That awful woman brought bad weather with her,” Althea joked.

After helping carry the picnic things back indoors, the children resumed their search on the first floor.

“Let’s start in the living room,” Henry suggested. “It’s the biggest room. It’ll take us the longest.”

“Can we build a fire?” Violet suggested, shivering. Even though she was wearing a sweater, the room was cold.

Henry nodded. “Benny, let’s get some wood.”

Tate’s woodpile was by the garage, but the boys saw no sign of the gardener. Henry wondered if the old man had gone to town to find a place to live.

“Is this enough?” Benny asked him. He could barely carry the large stack.

“Great. Now let’s hurry back inside.”

The girls had already pulled back the fireplace grate. Henry knelt and began stacking logs.

Benny, who couldn’t see where he was going, tripped over a chair leg. His pile of wood went flying.

“Oh, no!” he cried as a stick hit the right side of the fireplace mantel. “Did it hurt anything?”

Violet peered at the corner of the wood paneling. “There’s a scratch in the paint, that’s all —” But as she spoke, a piece of carved molding fell to the floor. “Uh-oh!”

Henry picked up the molding with its circular carvings. “I bet we can glue this back —” He stopped, staring in amazement.

The corner of the fireplace slowly creaked open, revealing dark, dusty space inside.

Violet gasped.

“A secret room!” Benny exclaimed, hopping up and down. “We found a secret room! I bet the treasure is in there! Where’s my flashlight?”

Jessie had it. She shone the beam inside the space. “It’s completely empty!” she cried, disappointed.

“How can it be empty?” Violet demanded. “Did someone find the treasure before us?”

At that moment, the peacock called outside.

“Oh, be quiet,” Benny told the bird. If the peacock knew the secret of Peacock Hall, he wasn’t much help.

Henry still gazed at the fireplace. What did that panel remind him of? Something he’d seen . . . and then it hit him.

“This is like the fireplace at Monticello!” he declared.

   “The little elevators!” Benny said, remembering the dumbwaiters.

Jessie was caught up in the excitement. “Then there’s a matching panel on the other side! Let’s look!”

“Do we have to hit it with a stick of wood to get it to open?” Benny wondered.

Henry smiled. “I doubt it. That would be a pretty awkward way to get into those secret rooms.”

Violet was studying the ovals carved into the molding. “Benny you were right! The peacock
did
have the answer!”

“What do you mean?” Benny asked.

“This mantel has ‘eyes’ like the peacock’s tail,” she replied. “I bet there’s a hidden catch in one of these circles.” Gently she pushed the molding.

A door popped open.

Holding her breath, Jessie shone the flashlight inside the cavity. “I’m afraid to look!”

Benny wasn’t. He leaned in and pulled out a white china vase with flowers and birds painted all over.

“Ohhh,” Violet gasped. “I bet it’s worth a lot of money.”

Henry saluted his little brother. “Benny Alden, I do believe you’ve found the Randolph treasure. And with time to spare! It’s only two o’clock!”

“The peacock helped, too. We just couldn’t figure out what he was saying.” Benny frowned at the vase. “Is this really the treasure? It’s just an old —”

At that moment, a figure rushed through the doorway.

“I’ll take that, thank you!” Roscoe Janney snatched the vase from Benny.

“Hey!” Benny cried. “That belongs to the house!”

“Which will be mine by the end of the day.” Roscoe held the vase high out of reach. “And everything in it will be mine, including this vase.”

Violet felt a rush of anger. “Cousin Althea doesn’t want to sell the house to you!”

“It’s either that or be evicted,” Roscoe said, shrugging. “I know Aunt Althea. She’ll never allow the sheriff to cart her by the road.”

“We found that vase,” Henry told the young man evenly. “You don’t have any claim on it.”

“I’ve been coming to this house ever since I was Benny’s age,” Roscoe admitted. “I never found the secret of Peacock Hall. But you kids did in less than a week! In fact, you messed up my search the other night.”

“That
was
you at the window!” Violet accused.

“I’d been sneaking in here whenever I wanted. I didn’t know which bedrooms you were in, and I tried to break into the wrong one.” He grinned. “A little mistake.”

Suddenly a voice snarled behind him. “Well, don’t make any more mistakes, Roscoe Janney!”

Roscoe whirled in surprise.

The priceless vase slipped out of his hands.

E
veryone watched in stunned amazement as the vase hit the floor and smashed into shards.

“Look what you did!” the woman screeched at Roscoe.

“What
I
did!” he yelled back. “You made me drop it!”

Before she turned around, Violet smelled the sweet aroma of lavender. Then she recognized Marlene Sanders’s sharp voice.

“You were the one who pushed me in the gift shop,” she said to Marlene. “I thought it was Heather Olsen, but you wear lavender, too. It’s in your hand lotion.”

“So what if I did?” Marlene flared. “You kids are constantly poking into things that aren’t any of your business.”

Benny stared at the vase, the secret of Peacock Hall, smashed on the floor. All their searching and looking, now in a million pieces.

Althea rushed into the room. “What’s all this shouting —” She stopped when she saw her great-nephew and Marlene Sanders. “What’s going on here?”

Roscoe jerked his head toward the open panels on either side of the fireplace. “These kids found what I’ve been looking for since I was their age.”

“You still
act
like a kid,” Althea said coldly. Then she went over to examine an unlatched door. “Very clever. Like the panels in the dining room at Monticello. Maybe Zachary Randolph had the design copied here at Peacock Hall.”

“Benny discovered the secret door,” Henry told her. “We were putting wood in the fireplace and he accidently hit the panel.”

“We didn’t find anything in the first one.” Jessie took up the story. “But we figured there must be one on the other side. When we opened it, there was a vase inside.”

“Obviously worth a fortune,” Marlene snapped, glaring at Roscoe. “And this idiot dropped it!”

Now Roscoe turned on her. “Why did you have to barge in? I took everyone to Natural Bridge so the house would be empty and you could steal that old piece of paper. If you had waited until later like we planned, we’d have the vase
and
the house!”

Marlene dug furiously in her handbag and pulled out the yellowed receipt. “Here! A lot of good this does us now! Without the vase, this is worthless!”

The paper fluttered like a feather to the floor near Benny’s feet. He picked it up. He still couldn’t read the funny writing. Then he tilted his head and suddenly the two marks at the bottom made sense.

He remembered what had been sticking in his mind the last few days.

The final clue.

Roscoe and Marlene were still arguing.

“You bungler!” she yelled at him. “Who climbed into the wrong window the other night?”

“You thought I should search one last time,” Roscoe said. “I practically broke my neck when that kid saw me.”