The Mystery of the Black Raven (4 page)

Miss Parker nodded. “You’ll find the raven symbol used a great deal among the various tribes up here. One story says that the raven created the world.”

“How did he do that?” asked Benny, who loved stories.

“The world was all darkness,” said Miss Parker. “The raven opened a box and flew out carrying light in his beak. That light is the sun.”

Next the group went to the Eagles Hall.

“You’re in luck,” said the young man at the ticket booth. “We only have two shows a day and the first one starts in ten minutes.”

The auditorium was quickly filling up with cruise-ship passengers. The Four Rock Miners reunion party found seats in the second row.

At ten o’clock on the dot, an announcer came out to tell them the history of Skagway.

“The town didn’t even exist until 1898,” he began. “Some men found gold in the interior of Alaska, a part of the country along the Yukon River that also bordered Canada. When a ship carrying two tons of gold sailed into Seattle, word spread quickly.”

“How much is a ton?” Benny whispered to Violet.

“A lot,” she whispered back.

“Soon thousands of men and women were headed to Skagway, the closest port to the Klondike region by sea,” the announcer said. “Boat fares in the summer of 1897 soared from two hundred dollars a person to a thousand dollars. By late summer, people were arriving daily on anything that floated. By fall, one hundred thousand people had landed in Skagway. They had to buy supplies for a year and hike to the goldfields, which were six hundred miles away.”

Several people in the audience whistled at the distance.

The man continued his talk. “Many turned back when they saw the steep, dangerous passes they had to cross to reach the Yukon. But a lot of people
did
make it. When they came back, Skagway had grown into a rip-roaring town! There were plenty of places to spend money!”

Then dancers came onstage and danced to piano music.

When the show was over, the reunion party debated what to do next.

“I’m thirsty!” Benny declared. “I want a soda.”

“Good idea,” agreed Miss Parker. “All that listening made me thirsty, too.”

The Sweet Tooth Saloon was their next stop.

Inside, Benny ordered a chocolate shake.

“It’s funny,” said Jessie, scooping ice cream with a long-handled spoon. “Even though it’s kind of cold outside, I can still eat ice cream.”

“I can eat ice cream
anytime
,” Benny said. “Even in a blizzard!”

“Well, we won’t have to worry about that,” said Jennifer Wilson, laughing. “I doubt we’ll see even a snowflake.”

After their midmorning refreshments, no one wanted to eat lunch for a while. And when they did, the Pittmans quarreled about where they should go.

“Let’s try the Prospector’s Sourdough Restaurant,” Grandfather suggested. “The prices are very reasonable, according to my guidebook.”

“Hmmmpf,” Mr. Pittman snorted. “Now I know why the old prospectors were so sour. They had to fork over a lot of dough for everything!”

Benny was confused. “What is he talking about?”

Violet answered as they went into the restaurant. “It’s an expression, Benny.
Dough
is another word for ‘money.’”

They all sat down in the restaurant, which was decorated with local artwork.

Jessie picked up her menu, but couldn’t concentrate. Something Mr. Pittman had said earlier was bothering her.

One of us is a thief.

Suppose he’s right,
she thought.
Which one of us stole the scrapbook and raven?

S
trolling along Broadway after lunch, the Aldens were warm enough to shed their coats and jackets.

Violet breathed in the clean, fresh air. The town was surrounded by the Skagway River, the bay, and the mountains. Ahead of her, Monique stopped at a store.

“I want to go shopping,” she whined to her father. “We haven’t bought anything since we got here.”

“At these prices?” Mr. Pittman cried. “Look at how much those things in the window are!”

Miss Parker was consulting her guidebook. “This is a special shop. It’s the oldest curio store in Alaska. Let’s go in.”

Benny tilted his head back to see the sign. “What’s it called?”

“Kirmse’s,” said Grandfather as they all went inside. “Say,
‘Kirm-zees.’
It might be Russian. Alaska was claimed by Russians way back in the 1700s. Of course, the Native Americans were already here. The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. People thought Secretary of State William Seward was crazy for buying so much land so far north.”

“They called his purchase ‘Seward’s Folly,’” Miss Parker added.

“What does
folly
mean?” asked Violet.

“A
folly
means ‘a foolish mistake,’ usually costing a lot of money,” Grandfather answered. “But people soon changed their minds when they learned about Alaska’s tremendous resources.”

Monique patted back a huge fake yawn. “Please, no more history lessons!”

“Look at this,” said Jennifer Wilson. She was peering into a case that displayed items not for sale. “That’s so beautiful.”

Jessie leaned over to get a peek. “What a pretty necklace,” she commented, admiring the dainty chain of the world’s tiniest pure gold nuggets.

“I’d love to have that,” Jennifer said with a sigh.

“No, here’s the one we need,” her husband said. He pointed to a watch chain made from the largest nuggets. “This chain is the heaviest and most valuable in the world, it says. If we sold that, we could buy a house and all the furniture we want!”

After glancing over the lovely items in the store, the group left.

“When are we going to do something
fun
?” complained Mark.

“This
is
fun,” said Miss Parker. “I’m having a great time just seeing the town. Aren’t you? Skagway is nothing like Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where I live.”

“It’s not like Greenfield, Connecticut, either,” agreed Grandfather. “But in answer to your question, Mark, tomorrow we’re going gold hunting—”

“Yippee!” Benny cried.

“—then we’ll take a few trips out of town. The four days will be over before you know it,” Grandfather said.

“Not soon enough for me,” Monique muttered.

But Jessie heard her. She couldn’t understand why the older girl seemed so determined not to have a good time. Her brother was the same way.

Walking back to the Totem Lodge, the Alden children stayed together.

“You notice something?” Henry asked his brother and sisters.

“What?” said Benny.

“All anyone talks about here is money,” Henry said. “Gold and money.”

“Henry’s right,” said Jessie. “I think the town is neat, but everybody seems mostly interested in the gold part.”

Violet tied the sleeves of her light jacket around her waist so she wouldn’t have to carry it. “Maybe the theft of Grandfather’s scrapbook and raven has something to do with money.”

“Good point,” Jessie said. “The thief could have taken those things to sell.” Then she paused. “But the scrapbook isn’t really worth anything, is it? It’s just old photos.”

“And those raven statues are everywhere,” Benny put in. “Look, there’s one in that window.”

The raven he pointed to was bigger than the Four Rock Miners’ statue, but the soapstone carving looked very similar, even down to the etched wing feathers.

“Miss Parker told us how important the raven is to Native American tribes,” Jessie said. “So we can expect to see ravens all over the place.”

“Then money wasn’t the reason the thief took the scrapbook and statue?” reasoned Violet.

Henry shook his head. “I don’t think we can rule out anything in this mystery. The strangest part is, how did anyone break into Grandfather’s room while he was
in
it?”

“That,” said Jessie, “is a mystery within a mystery.”

Later, the Four Rock Miners reunion members met at the Northern Lights Pizzeria for dinner.

“Now, this is more like it,” said Mrs. Pittman when they sat down and studied the menus.

“I love pizza,” Benny said.

“You love
any
food,” Violet said, laughing.

“Well—I’m not crazy about beets. Or brussels sprouts,” Benny said seriously. Even the Pittmans laughed at that.

The restaurant was warm from the pizza ovens. Soon everyone was munching slices of pizzas topped with pepperoni, sausage, or mushrooms.

Mark bit into a piece, dragging the cheese way out. His sister giggled when the cheese string broke and stuck to his nose. For once, the Pittmans seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Mr. Pittman talked louder and louder, as the place filled with other diners. “Let me tell you something, boy,” he said to Steve Wilson, clapping him jovially on the back. “I’m going to
be
somebody someday. Mark my words, Wilson.”

Miss Parker interrupted in her gentle voice. “You’re special already, Earl. You have a fine family. There’s no further need to prove yourself.”

“Yes, there is,” Mr. Pittman insisted, suddenly becoming surly. “And I’ll do it, too!”

Violet, who sat across from Mark, watched him doodle on the napkin. Staring at the drawings upside down, she recognized birds with large heads and big beaks. Why was Mark drawing ravens?

Grandfather spoke up. “Well, I think my grandchildren are ready to call it a night. I know I am. We’ll see you tomorrow morning at breakfast. Be ready for a big day!”

As they walked back to the Totem Lodge in the nippy air, Benny asked his grandfather, “Why is Mr. Pittman always so grumpy?”

“Oh, some people have trouble seeing happiness, even when it’s right in front of them,” replied Grandfather.

“Well, his kids certainly aren’t much fun,” Henry put in. “All they do is mope and complain.”

“I hope they won’t be mopey when we go gold hunting,” Jessie put in.

“Gold hunting is cool,” said Benny. “How can anybody be mopey over
that
?”

Jessie kept her thoughts to herself. If there was a way to spoil the outing, Mark and Monique would find it.

Back at the lodge, Grandfather reported in at the front desk. Howie the bellhop was on night duty. He nodded to Grandfather and the children.

“Mr. Alden,” said the evening desk clerk, “I’ve spoken to the maid who cleaned the third-floor rooms today. She didn’t find a scrapbook or a raven statue under the beds or on the closet shelves.”

“That’s what I thought,” Grandfather said with a sigh.

The clerk went on, “Of course, she isn’t permitted to go through the dressers or the guests’ personal belongings.”

“Of course,” Grandfather agreed. “I’ll speak to the rest of our group. Thank you for your help.”

As they walked up to the third floor, Henry asked, “Are you going to ask the others to look in their luggage?”

“I hate to do it,” Grandfather said. “It automatically assumes that one of us is a thief. Miss Parker and I both believe it’s too soon to invade people’s privacy. We’d have to bring the bags in one room and go through them with the others watching. To do that, we’d need everyone’s agreement.”

Jessie could imagine the fuss the Pittmans would make. “Do you think the scrapbook and raven will turn up before we leave?” she asked.

“I’m hoping that will happen,” said Grandfather. “If you children want to stay up and read or talk, go ahead. I’ll see you in the morning.”

After saying good night to their grandfather, the Aldens gathered in Violet and Jessie’s room to discuss the case.

“Suppose one of the others
did
steal the scrapbook and raven,” Henry proposed. “What good will it do? Sooner or later, everyone gets a turn to keep the items. Why steal them out of turn?”

“Unless there’s something we’re overlooking,” said Jessie. “Maybe the person who took the scrapbook and raven isn’t really interested in those old things, but instead is trying to get back at Grandfather.”

“For what?” asked Benny. “Everybody loves Grandfather.”

Violet smiled. “Not everyone knows Grandfather the way we do. Remember, the other people here have never met him before this trip.”

“I’ve been thinking about Mr. Pittman,” Jessie said. “Remember how he told Steve he would be somebody someday? Suppose he took Grandfather’s things to be famous.”

“How would that make him famous?” Benny asked.

Jessie opened her mouth to comment, but just then there was a knock at the door.

She slid off the bed to answer it.

Miss Parker stood in the doorway. Quickly glancing up and down the hallway, she whispered, “May I come in?”

“Sure.” Jessie held the door open for the former teacher.

Miss Parker’s face was flushed, as if she’d been running.

“Are you okay?” Violet asked.

“I’m fine, thanks,” the older woman replied. “I’ve just been talking to your grandfather. I still feel terrible that the scrapbook and raven were stolen. Your grandfather told me you children are very good detectives and have solved a number of mysteries.”

“That’s true,” stated Benny.

“But this case is tough,” admitted Jessie.

Miss Parker pulled something from her gray tote bag. “I believe I have something that might help. I should have shown it to you sooner!”