The Mystery of the Black Raven (6 page)

Violet got her pan out of her pack. “Okay, Grandfather. How do we do this?”

James Alden pulled the shovel from the strap in his own pack. “There’s a trick to it. I want everyone to watch.”

The reunion group gathered around as he shoveled a scoop of gravel from the water’s edge. Then he added a scoop of water to the gravel in the pan. Squatting, he swirled the water in the pan.

Then he carefully poured off the gravel and water, frowning at the silt remaining in the bottom of the pan.

“Nothing,” he pronounced. “Not a grain of gold. But that’s how you do it. Swirl the water in the pan, but not too fast. Gold is heavier than water, but you don’t want to dump it out with the other rocks and sand.”

“Let me try!” Benny said eagerly. Taking the shovel, he filled his pan.

“Not too much,” Grandfather instructed, dumping out the excess. “You have to be able to swirl the water.”

Soon everyone had a turn at the shovel and was busy swirling his or her pan.

“This isn’t easy,” Jessie remarked. “I keep tipping my pan over!”

“Imagine doing this all day long, day after day,” said Miss Parker. “That’s what many of the old miners did.”

Violet emptied her pan. “What does the gold
look
like?”

“Bright, shiny, and yellow,” Miss Parker answered. “It can be tiny flecks or a nice big nugget.”

“Well, those old-timers certainly didn’t get rich doing this,” Mark said, filling his pan for the third time.

Grandfather nodded. “You’re right, Mark. Panning wasn’t the most effective way to find gold. Besides panning, miners also used the rocker method.”

“What’s that?” asked Benny. He pictured the rocking chair back home.

“The rocker was a special device,” Grandfather replied. “Miners built a box on a curved base. On top of the box was a wire screen. Stones bigger than half an inch couldn’t go through it. One miner shoveled gravel on the screen, then rocked the box as another man added water to wash stones through. Below the screen was a piece of cloth. Smaller gold nuggets would drop on this cloth and they could pick them up.”

“That sounds like hard work, too,” remarked Henry.

“It was,” said Miss Parker. “People thought when they got here they could simply pick gold nuggets out of the creek beds. They found out otherwise.”

Benny was swirling very carefully. He wanted to be the first to find gold! But every time he poured off the water and rocks, there were no bright yellow flecks on the bottom.

“Hey!” squealed Monique. “I think I found some!”

Everyone crowded around as Monique held out her pan. In the saucerlike bottom were tiny bits of bright stones.

“Congratulations,” Grandfather declared. “You have definitely struck gold!”

“Oh, my gosh!” Monique danced around. “What should I do with it? Is it mine to keep?”

“It ought to be, given the cost of this trip,” said Mr. Pittman. He offered Monique his handkerchief. “Here, put the stones in this.”

“As the guide said, any and all gold you find is yours,” Grandfather told her. He helped Monique tie a knot in the corner of the handkerchief so the grains wouldn’t fall out.

“I can’t believe it!” Monique was still saying. “I found gold!”

Jessie was amazed that something had excited the other girl. For once Monique wasn’t acting bored and mopey.

But her brother jeered, “Don’t go bananas over those itty-bitty little specks.”

“You’re just jealous because
you
haven’t found any!” Monique retorted.

Suddenly Violet felt sorry for Monique. Her brother wasn’t acting nice at all. “Monique, did you swirl your pan a certain way?” she asked the other girl. “Maybe we’ve been doing it wrong.”

“Well—” Monique began.

But Mark tossed his pan down. “Oh, this is for babies.”

“
I’m
not a baby,” Benny said. He wished he had been the first to find gold, but he was glad for Monique. Now he was determined to be the
second
one to find gold.

The kids spread out down the beach while the grown-ups found a sunny spot to have lunch. Benny had to be called twice before he quit panning long enough to eat.

When it was time to go back to the hotel, Benny still hadn’t found a single grain of gold.

His shoulders bowed, he stowed his pan in his pack.

Henry was about to go cheer up his brother, but Monique reached Benny first. She offered the knotted handkerchief to him.

“You deserve this,” she said. “You’ve worked harder than any of us today. I bet you shoveled a hundred times!”

Benny’s eyes were round. “You mean it? I can keep your gold?”

“As a present from me,” said Monique.

“Are you sure you want to give it away?” Henry asked.

She shrugged. “It’s mine. I can give it away.”

Benny ran ahead to show Grandfather.

Henry walked alongside Monique. “That was very nice. Benny will never forget it.”

“He’s a cute kid. You’re all nice. I know my family can be a pain sometimes—” She stopped, smiling. “I was hoping we could be friends.”

“Well … sure,” Henry replied. Monique chatted all the way back to the hotel, but Henry was suspicious. Why the sudden change? Was Monique friendly because she wondered what the Aldens knew about the theft?

What was even more odd, he decided, was that Monique and Mark never once said anything about the theft of the scrapbook and raven statue. Did that mean
they
were the thieves?

It had been a long day,
Jessie thought. That afternoon the group did more sightseeing, then had dinner at the Dockside Restaurant.

It was fun eating and watching the cruise ships leave, all lit up like Christmas trees. But she was glad when they were finally back at the lodge for the evening.

After Grandfather fetched their keys at the front desk, the children said good night and walked up to the third floor.

Jessie put the key in the lock and turned it. As she pushed open the door, she had a strange feeling.

“What is it?” Violet asked, switching on the lamp.

Jessie stood perfectly still. The room looked just as it had when they had been there earlier. The housekeeper had made the twin beds and vacuumed the rug. But something was different…

Then she noticed what was wrong. She and Violet kept their hair ribbons and barrettes in two piles on the dresser. The piles had been moved. Not much, but pushed aside. It was as if someone had been in a hurry, looking for something.

“Someone has searched our room,” Jessie declared.

From across the hall, Henry and Benny bounded over. “Look what we found!” Benny cried.

Henry held out a folded sheet of hotel stationery. In printed letters were the words:

GO HOME IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU!

J
essie stared at the note. “Something really weird is going on here,” she said. “You guys better come inside.”

Henry and Benny went into the girls’ room. Benny still carried the knotted handkerchief Monique Pittman had given him.

“The stuff on our dresser has been moved,” Violet told the boys. “Jessie spotted it first. We usually keep our hair ribbons in two piles by the lamp.”

Benny nodded. “They look kind of messy now.”

“Exactly,” Jessie said. “Like someone brushed them aside—”

“While he or she was searching the dresser drawer,” Henry finished. “Looking for what, I wonder?”

Jessie shook her head. “And now this note! What does it mean?”

“Someone wants us out of here,” Benny said soberly.

“They also want something we have,” Violet added. “But
what
?How can anybody think we have the scrapbook or raven? Why would we take it from Grandfather? That would be silly.”

Henry thought about the night before. “Wait a minute! Violet, you heard someone outside this door last night when Miss Parker was here.”

“When she was talking about that old letter—” Violet clapped a hand over her mouth. “Do you think the person who listened came back today to take the letter?”

“But it belonged to Miss Parker,” Jessie said with a frown. “She took it back with her. I saw her put the envelope in her tote bag. So that doesn’t make sense.”

“Unless,” Benny said, “the person who listened didn’t hear everything. Maybe he only heard
part
of what we were talking about.”

“Good point,” Henry said, nodding. “What is it Grandfather says? ‘Eavesdroppers seldom profit.’”

“What does
that
mean?” asked Benny.

“It means eavesdroppers can’t often use the information they overhear. It doesn’t do them any good,” Jessie replied. “Okay, we have someone who wants Miss Parker’s letter. Only he thinks it belongs to us, so he searched our room for it. When he didn’t find it, he got mad and put a note under your door. Why not
our
door?”

Violet was studying Henry’s note. She knew that handwriting…

“Mark wrote this,” she blurted.

“Are you sure?” Henry asked.

“Remember last night when his dad was talking about being somebody? Mark began doodling on his paper napkin,” she answered. “He wrote his name, then drew ravens.”

Henry tapped the note. “If Mark wrote the note, then maybe he’s the guy who broke into your room.”

“And maybe the same one who stole the scrapbook and statue,” Jessie concluded. But the pieces didn’t fit. “Why would he do that? And why tell us to get out of town?”

“As a joke?” Violet suggested. “I’ve tried to like those two, but it’s hard.”

Benny held up his handkerchief. “But Monique gave me her gold! I think she wants to be friends.”

“That’s what she said,” Henry said. “Still, I have a funny feeling about her and Mark. I think they might have another motive.” Henry put the note in his shirt pocket. “Well, we’re not going to solve this mystery tonight. Tomorrow everybody needs to be extra alert. Remember, we can’t trust anybody yet.”

No matter how nice they seem,
he thought as he led his little brother across the hall to their room.

“What do we have to do today, James?” grumbled Mr. Pittman over juice and scrambled eggs the next morning. Even a hearty breakfast couldn’t put him in a good mood.

Miss Parker rose to Grandfather’s defense. “We should be grateful. James has saved us the trouble of planning. He’s helped us make the most of this trip.”

Across the table, Mark rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right,” he mumbled.

Henry was watching him closely. He believed Mark Pittman might be the key to the mystery.

“Actually, we’re going on a train ride today,” said Grandfather.

“Oh, boy!” Benny exclaimed. He loved trains as much as big boats.

“This will be an all-day excursion,” Grandfather went on. “We’ll see some of the countryside the miners had to hike through to get to the goldfields.”

“Is there a food car on the train?” Benny wanted to know.

Grandfather laughed. “No, this is a small steam train without a dining car. The hotel is packing lunches again.”

Edie Pittman was touching up her lipstick. “I hope they give us better food than last time.”

“I’m sure the staff will be happy to fix you a different lunch,” Grandfather told her. “They’re used to accommodating special diets. In fact, there’s the bellhop now, with the cart. You can request whatever you like.”

The white boxes were already packed in the nylon backpacks, but Howie was happy to take one back to the kitchen and have a special lunch fixed for Mrs. Pittman.

The grown-ups waited in the lobby with their packs while Mrs. Pittman’s lunch was being prepared. Mark and Monique disappeared upstairs to their room.

The Alden children found Miss Parker alone.

“How’s the case coming?” she asked.

“We’re stuck,” Jessie confessed. “We need to know if you still have that letter you showed us.”

The teacher picked up the gray tote she used as a purse. “It’s in—” Her mouth formed an O of surprise as she checked the side pocket. “It’s gone! My letter is gone!”

“Are you sure it’s not in your room?” asked Jessie.

“Yes,” the older woman replied. “After all that’s happened, I keep the letter with me. At least I thought I did.”

The children looked at one another. This was getting serious. The thief had succeeded in stealing Miss Parker’s letter. What would the thief take next?

At last the group was ready to leave. They walked down Broadway, turning on Second Street. The weather was gorgeous—sunny, with cloudless blue skies.

The White Pass and Yukon Rail Depot was also the information center for the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. While Grandfather and the other adults purchased tickets, the children wandered around the exhibits. Old photos of sourdoughs and prospecting tools were displayed on the walls and in cases. Then they went back outside.

Soon a steam engine puffed down the tracks.

Benny jumped up and down with excitement. “What a cool train!”

“Yes,” agreed Steve Wilson. “Those old steam trains aren’t anything like modern ones.” He looked excited himself.

Jennifer giggled when Steve yelled like a conductor, “All abooooarrd!”

“Pretty good!” said the real conductor. “Step aboard, folks. We’re about to take a trip back in time.”