The Growling Bear Mystery Read online

  “This is where we usually deliver the towels,” Mr. Crabtree said sharply. “If you clutter up the space, there’s no room.”

  Benny whispered to Violet, “He just picked up Oz’s map.”

  Sure enough, Mr. Crabtree clutched Oz’s map in his hand along with a water bottle and some suntan lotion that had slipped off the dresser. When he realized all four children were staring at him, Mr. Crabtree put everything back in a jumble. Without another word, he left the room.

  “Oz was right,” Jessie began. “Mr. Crabtree sure isn’t too friendly to the guests. Maybe he was hoping nobody would be here.”

  “You’re right, Jessie,” said Henry. “It looked as if he was after the map. If we hadn’t been here, he could have easily picked it up.”

  At five o’clock sharp, the Aldens reported to the front desk of the Old Faithful Inn. Long lines of people were waiting to register. Others stood in line waiting for the inn’s beautiful old dining room to open for dinner.

  The Aldens looked around the bustling lobby. The lodge was such a busy place.

  “I bet there are all kinds of jobs we can do here,” Jessie said. “There’s so much going on.”

  At that moment, an older woman with curly gray hair came over to the children. “Are you the Aldens?” she asked, a bit out of breath. “I’m Eleanor Crabtree. Sorry I’m a little late, but we’re short of help. I got behind on my work.”

  Henry shook the woman’s hand. “We’re the Aldens—Jessie, Violet, Benny, and I’m Henry. Glad to meet you.”

  The woman took a deep breath. “And am I ever glad to meet you! We’re shorthanded this week. I just finished straightening out a problem with our towel deliveries.”

  “Our towels went to another room,” Violet said. “But your husband, Mr. Crabtree, dropped them off right before we came down here.”

  Mrs. Crabtree look relieved and seemed to relax. “I’m so glad to hear that. So I guess you met Lester. He likes to keep to himself. Usually he stays behind the scenes in the kitchen or the laundry room. But today I had to give the staff some extra chores.”

  “Mr. Elkhorn told us you need some extra people to fill in for some college students,” Jessie said. “I hope we can help. We’ve worked in lots of places before.”

  Mrs. Crabtree smiled at the children. “Well, if you can start right now, I’d love you to supervise some young children for about an hour. We offer baby-sitting to parents so they can have a nice, quiet dinner in our dining room.”

  “We like taking care of children,” Jessie said.

  “Because we are children,” Benny added, “we know what they like—games and stories and solving mysteries.”

  Mrs. Crabtree had to laugh. “Then I know Oz Elkhorn sent me the right helpers. I don’t know about solving mysteries, but you’ve solved a lot of problems just by showing up. Anyway, there are about six children you can look after.”

  Mrs. Crabtree pointed up to the first-story balcony. “See those parents and children up in the corner? Well, one of my other workers, a college student named Sam Jackson, is up there with them. Now that all of you are here, you can stay with the children while their parents go to dinner. I need Sam to tidy up some of the rooms instead. Just follow me.”

  As the children climbed the log staircase to the balcony, Mrs. Crabtree explained where everything was and what to do. “There’s a cabinet full of art supplies, books, games, and some toys. The children can draw or listen to stories or play games. And don’t forget our geyser. That’s our biggest entertainment. It goes off in a little while.”

  “May we take the children outdoors to see it?” Jessie wanted to know.

  “Absolutely,” Mrs. Crabtree answered. “You can view it from the porch just outside the balcony area.”

  The children followed Mrs. Crabtree to the corner of the first balcony. That’s when the Aldens recognized a familiar face.

  “Psst,Jessie,” Henry whispered. “Isn’t that the fellow who asked Oz about old maps at the store today?”

  “Sam,” Mrs. Crabtree said, waving to the young man. “Come over and meet the Aldens. They’re going to take over the children’s hour for now. I need you for room cleaning—emptying trash and such. We’re dreadfully behind.”

  “We already met this morning,” Jessie said, smiling at the young man.

  Sam Jackson looked away.

  “At Elkhorn’s?” Henry reminded Sam. “We were in back of the store with Mr. Elkhorn. He was copying something for us.”

  Now Mrs. Crabtree looked confused. “You went to Elkhorn’s this morning, Sam? I thought you just picked up supplies at the depot down the road. I wondered why you were gone so long when I needed you here.”

  Looking at the Aldens, Sam tightened his lips. “I . . . uh . . . had to pick up a spare part for my car. Anyway, the important thing is that I came back in time for the children’s hour. Here I am. I was just about to read the kids a story. Afterward I’m going to take them out to the porch to watch the geyser.”

  Mrs. Crabtree checked her clipboard. “Well, plans have changed a bit. This is a perfect job for the Aldens right now since I haven’t the time to show them around. They can do housekeeping and deliveries another day when they’re more familiar with the lodge.”

  Sam Jackson looked upset with this change of plans.

  “Don’t worry, Sam,” Mrs. Crabtree went on. “I’ll post you back here again. Now please be down in the laundry area in ten minutes to pick up the room keys and a cleaning cart. In the meantime, why don’t you introduce the children to the Aldens.”

  After Mrs. Crabtree left, the Aldens waited for Sam to say something. At first he didn’t move or speak. Some of the smaller children began to look worried.

  “I want my mommy and daddy,” a small boy said. “They’re down there having dinner. I want to see them.”

  Violet bent down to make the little boy feel better. “There, there. You know what? Before we see your mommy and daddy we’re going to read you a story. Then well go see the geyser.”

  “I saw the geyser already,” a little girl said, twisting the end of her pigtail around her finger. “I want to see my mommy and daddy, too, not the geyser.”

  Jessie came over to the little girl. “I’m Jessie. Can I guess your name? Is it . . . Tiddledeedo?”

  The little girl gave a tiny smile and shook her head.

  “Is it Mousymiss? Or Sunnypup?”

  “Her name is Becky,” Sam Jackson said sharply. “They don’t have silly names like that. That’s Davy, Lauren, Scotty, Emily, and Katy.”

  The little girl named Katy looked up at Sam Jackson. “How come you can’t play a game like you said?”

  The Aldens looked at Sam Jackson. He took a long time answering, this time in a softer voice. “Sorry, Katy. Mrs. Crabtree doesn’t want me here anymore. I have to go clean rooms. These other people will play a game with you, okay? I’ve got to leave now.”

  “Oh, look,” Jessie said before Sam left. She picked up a book lying on top of the bookcase. “Here’s a book called The Tale of the Lost Cabin Miners. Would you children like me to read that to you? Did you know there’s a lost cabin way up in the mountains of Yellowstone?”

  “And we’re going to find it!” Benny told the excited children.

  Sam Jackson walked over to Jessie. “That book doesn’t belong here. Somebody must have left it here by mistake. I’ll put it in the Lost and Found box.”

  Sam held his hand out.

  Jessie looked at the book and gave it to Sam. “Here,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t want to take a book that belongs to someone else.”

  Sam grabbed the book, turned, then disappeared down the steps.

  “Is Sam coming back?” the little boy named Davy asked.

  “He’ll be back another day,” Violet said as she set up the gameboard and pieces Sam had taken out for the children. “Now, who wants to play a game with Benny and me?”

  “We do!” four of the children said.

  Now that the Aldens
were there to keep them busy, the children didn’t have too much time to think about missing Sam or their parents.

  The other children squeezed themselves between Jessie and Henry on one of the inn’s long cozy couches. Jessie began to read a story about a moose named Mike and an elk named Elkie who lived together in Yellowstone but couldn’t get along.

  The hour flew by. The Aldens took the children out to the porch overlooking the geyser area. After Old Faithful went off, the children’s parents came back for them.

  “Can you play with us tomorrow?” little Davy asked Violet. “And the day after that, too?”

  “I hope so,” Violet answered.

  The redheaded girl named Lauren pulled on Jessie’s sleeve. “Where are you going with your brothers and sister?”

  Jessie smiled. “Back to our room to change. Then we’re going to meet our grandfather in the dining room and have a great big dinner.”

  The parents of the little ones thanked the Aldens.

  “That was fun,” Violet said as she and her brothers and sister strolled down the dim hallways that led to their room. “I hope we do that job every night—I mean if Sam Jackson is busy.”

  Benny looked up at Violet. “Know what? That was fun, but I’m hungry. I wish we could eat when the parents eat.”

  The older children laughed.

  “Then we wouldn’t be able to work,” Jessie said. “Our jobs come first, then our dinner.”

  Henry unlocked the door. The room was cleaner than they’d left it. Even their suitcases and hiking boots were lined up in neat rows.

  “I guess somebody from Housekeeping came by again,” Jessie said, picking up two pieces of paper lying on the bed. “Oh, somebody dropped off our job schedule. It looks as if we have to be at the laundry area tomorrow afternoon. That gives us time for a morning hike. I’m glad Mrs. Crabtree sent over this floor map, too. The lodge is so big, it would be easy to get lost.”

  “Jessie,” Henry said in a quiet, serious voice. “Speaking of maps, have you seen our copy of Oz’s map?”

  “It was right on the corner of the dresser when we left,” Jessie told Henry.

  Henry checked under the dresser, then under the bed. “Well, it’s not here now.”

  The children searched high and low one more time. But Henry was right. The copy of the Lost Cabin Trails map had vanished.

  “You don’t think Mr. Crabtree would have taken it, do you?” asked Jessie.

  “I don’t know, Jessie,” said Henry. “I don’t know.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Lost in the Woods

  The Aldens didn’t need an alarm clock at the Old Faithful Inn the next day.

  Henry pulled the covers over his head. “What’s that spotlight?” he said with a groan.

  Benny hopped out of bed, and pulled back the curtains. “It’s the geyser. Neat!”

  Jessie and Violet crawled out of bed. Sure enough, Old Faithful was faithfully shooting steam into the air. Each time the geyser shot up, it blocked the rising sun like a shadow.

  Violet leaned on her elbows to watch the geyser. “It’s awfully pretty in the morning with the sun coming up and all,” she said.

  After the geyser gurgled back into the ground, the rising sun shone steadily.

  “I smell bacon,” Benny announced soon afterward.

  “First the geyser, now bacon,” Henry said. “I guess it’s time to get up.”

  The children took turns taking hot showers and climbing into their hiking clothes.

  Jessie checked under the bed one more time for the missing copy of Oz’s map. “I sure wanted to hike the Lost Cabin Trails today. I guess we can do some of the other hikes instead.”

  “Look,” Benny said in an excited voice. “I tied my hiking boots by myself.”

  “Shhh.” Jessie put her finger to her lips. “Remember what Grandfather said. The walls are thin. We don’t want to wake up the whole lodge.”

  Quietly, the children filled their water bottles and backpacks with everything they would need on their hike. They were so quiet, they could hear some people whispering in the hallway.

  “Just stay away from them, that’s all I can tell you,” a woman’s voice said. “If anyone finds out, our whole plan will fall apart.”

  Benny put his ear near the keyhole. He heard footsteps fading away. He opened the door, but no one was there.

  “Good morning, Aldens!” Mrs. Crabtree said when the children arrived in the dining room awhile later. “Your grandfather is sitting over by the fireplace. I’ll meet you this afternoon—at three in the laundry area, then at five up on the balcony. The children loved you last night. They requested more Aldens tonight. Have a wonderful breakfast.”

  The children joined their grandfather. He was dressed for his fishing trip.

  “Well, I’m ready for a couple of days of fishing,” Grandfather Alden said, putting down his cup of coffee. “And the four of you look all set for your hike on the Lost Cabin Trails.” Then he noticed his grandchildren’s disappointed faces. “Oh, my. Did I say the wrong thing?”

  “Oz’s map disappeared,” Jessie explained. “I thought we put it on the dresser next to our hiking gear. When we came back last night, we couldn’t find it. We’ll have to go hiking someplace else until we get another copy.”

  Mr. Alden put down his coffee cup. “Not to worry. I received a phone message from Oz last night. He’ll be arriving here in about an hour. I have just enough time to give him a call right now. I’m sure he can make another copy of the map and bring it along.”

  The children placed their breakfast orders after Mr. Alden left to call Oz. While they waited for their food to arrive, they spotted Sam Jackson cleaning tables nearby. When Sam looked up, the children waved, but he turned away.

  “Why doesn’t Sam like us?” Benny asked.

  Violet looked thoughtful. “Maybe he likes taking care of the children instead of picking up dirty dishes or cleaning rooms.”

  The other children thought about Violet’s comment. They wanted to work with Sam, but he didn’t want to work with them.

  The children’s meals soon arrived, and they began eating.

  Mr. Alden looked upset when he returned. “There may have been a theft at Elkhorn’s,” he told his grandchildren. “When I asked Oz whether he could make another copy of his grandfather’s old trail map, he told me he’s been looking for it since yesterday. He still hasn’t found it. He’s bringing you one of his old guidebooks that shows the trails.”

  Henry took a deep breath. “There’s something about that map.”

  At that very moment, everyone heard a crash nearby. Sam Jackson had dropped a tray of silverware right next to the table where the Aldens were sitting.

  Henry leaned down to help Sam.

  Sam shooed Henry away. “I’ll clean up this mess,” he said. “This is my job. You have my other job. Isn’t that enough?”

  “Sorry,” Henry said. “I just wanted to help.”

  Sam turned his back on Henry without another word.

  A short while later, the Aldens passed Sam on their way out of the dining room. He was eating his breakfast now, in the small snack bar next to the big dining room. And he wasn’t alone. He was with a young woman in a ranger uniform.

  “Isn’t that the ranger we saw at the Yellowstone gates when we arrived?” Jessie asked Henry. “The one who said nobody could go into the park without stopping at the gate?”

  Henry took another look. “Could be.”

  Benny pulled on Henry’s arm. “Do you think they were talking in the hallway this morning outside our room?”

  Before Henry could answer, Benny noticed someone else. “Oh, look who else is here.”

  Oz Elkhorn was standing by the registration desk and chatting with Mrs. Crabtree. Map or no map, he was pleased to see the Aldens.

  “Hello there,” he said. “What a morning! First Granddad’s map is missing. Then I got caught behind a trailer coming up the mountains. Anyway, I found something for you. It
’s an old guidebook with most of the Lost Cabin Trails on it. The cabin isn’t marked on it, but at least you have something to get you started.”

  Oz waved the children over to the window where the light was brighter. He opened a worn-looking hiking book. “See, here’s where the trail starts, not too far from the lodge. Now, if I’m not mistaken, Granddad’s map showed the lost cabin to be up this way, going south. You could take a look around, anyway. Maybe our maps will turn up in the next day or so.”

  The children studied the guidebook.

  “Well, let’s go,” Jessie said.

  Grandfather looked over Henry’s shoulder. “After I leave, why don’t you ask that ranger whether the trails are open. Now let’s have some hugs. The tour bus for my fishing trip is about to depart. I’ll see you after a couple of days of fishing.”

  The children lined up for good-bye hugs.

  “So long, children. So long, Oz,” Mr. Alden said. “Oz, will you do a last-minute check before my children head out hiking?”

  Oz turned to the children. “Sure thing. Let’s see. Water bottles?”

  “Check,” the children answered.

  “First aid?”

  “Check.”

  “Trail mix?”

  “Check.”

  “Rain ponchos?”

  “Check.”

  “Guidebooks, compass, binoculars?”

  “Check. Check. Check.”

  Oz put his hand on Benny’s shoulder. “Then head for the hills, young man.”

  Benny looked up. He had a question, too. “You forgot to ask us if we have one other thing.”

  Oz was curious. “What is that?”

  “Bear bells!” Benny cried. He shook his wrist so the bear bells jingled.

  “Check!” Oz said.

  CHAPTER 6

  Mud Pots and Other Oddities

  When the Aldens set out for the Lost Cabin trailhead, they noticed a ranger heading toward the Visitors’ Center.

  “Hey, let’s ask that ranger if the trails are open,” Henry suggested. He tapped the ranger on the shoulder. “Oh, hi,” he said timidly to the young woman, when he realized who she was.