The Sleepy Hollow Mystery Read online

  “There are many different kinds of crullers, but I think my family’s recipe is the best,” Mrs. Vanderhoff said as they mixed the flour and cinnamon and other ingredients. “The shape is important. First, you take a piece of dough and roll it between your hands until it looks like piece of rope.” She gave each of the Aldens their own dough to work with. Jessie did hers and then helped Benny.

  When everyone had the dough in the right shape, Mrs. Vanderhoff showed them how to fold each piece in two so the dough looked like a braid. “Next we cut them into sections and fry them in hot oil. Be careful because the oil can spatter.” She showed Jessie how to use tongs to put the dough in the oil. “When the doughnuts are nice and brown, we take them out and roll them in sugar.”

  “The most important part!” Benny said.

  “I think the most important part is to taste them!” Henry teased.

  While they were eating the crullers, Mrs. Vanderhoff said, “I want you all to enjoy yourselves while you’re in town. Annika, why don’t you take our guests to the Harvest Festival and the Halloween costume parade in the town square? There will be food booths and music and games. If you’d like to dress up in costumes, you might be able to find something in the attic to wear.”

  “We would like that,” Jessie said. “There are some wonderful old clothes up there.”

  “I’ll help you look for something,” Annika said. “I might wear a costume too.”

  They hurried up to the attic, excited about the parade. “I feel bad that we have to leave Watch shut up while we’re out having fun,” Benny said.

  “Watch can go too,” Annika said as she opened one of the trunks. “Some people bring their dogs dressed up in costumes.”

  One trunk was full of colorful dresses covered in rows of fringe. There were headbands that matched, and each one had a big feather attached. “I think girls from the 1920s wore these sorts of dresses,” Jessie said.

  “That’s right,” Annika said. She put a blue headband on. “The girls who wore these dresses were called flappers.”

  “Flappers? That’s funny,” Benny said. “Did they do this?” He ran in a circle flapping his arms. Everyone laughed.

  “Not like that,” Jessie said, “but I want to be a flapper.”

  “Me too.” Violet picked up a purple dress. “I’d like to wear this one.” The dresses were too long for Jessie and Violet, so Mrs. McGregor helped them pin them up to the right length.

  “This looks like a uniform.” Henry put on a black jacket with gold stripes on the sleeves.

  “That belonged to my grandfather,” Annika said. “He was a pilot during World War II.”

  “Can I be a pilot too?” Benny asked.

  Violet said, “I don’t think there is another uniform. Even if there was, I’m afraid it wouldn’t fit you.”

  Jessie picked up a battered brown hat. “You could wear this and be an explorer. I saw a man’s brown shirt that matches. If we roll up the sleeves, you can wear that too.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Henry said. “I found an old metal water canteen. You could use that as part of the costume.”

  Once Benny had his costume together, Violet said, “Now that we all have costumes, what is Watch going to wear?”

  “How about this bow tie and vest?” Jessie said. “He can be a dog professor.”

  When they were ready, they went downstairs to the shop. Mrs. McGregor clapped her hands at the sight of them. “You look wonderful! Let me take a picture to show your grandfather.”

  Downtown, they found crowds of people. “I smell something good,” Benny said as they walked through the festival.

  “The Apple House Café has a booth here,” Annika told him. “You’re smelling their apple custard tarts. They’re famous for that.”

  “I’d like to try one,” Benny said, “but only if Brett and Mr. Beekman aren’t there. I don’t like mean people.”

  “I don’t see them.” Violet stood on tiptoes so she could see over the crowd. “Some other people are working there.”

  Everyone tried the tarts.

  “These are delicious.” Jessie nibbled on hers slowly, tasting each bite. “I want to learn to make these too.”

  “Mr. Beekman is too mean to give you the recipe,” Annika said. “I’ll ask my mother if she knows how to make them. We should go say hello to Isiah. He’s working in the library booth.”

  “That booth that says library,” Benny said. “I see a girl dressed as an elf, but not Isiah.”

  Annika greeted the girl and asked, “Isn’t Isiah supposed to be working?”

  The girl slammed down a box of bookmarks. “Yes, but he didn’t show up. I can’t believe he didn’t even call.”

  “He’s been doing that too often,” Annika said. “If I see him, I’ll remind him he’s supposed to be working. We should go. It’s almost time for the parade.”

  “Look at those funny costumes.” Benny pointed to some adults dressed as zoo animals walking by the booth. They were all carrying musical instruments.

  “That’s the band that leads the parade,” Annika said. “We can follow them to the starting point. I wonder where Margot is. I thought she’d be here taking pictures. ”

  All the children and pets participating in the parade gathered at one end of the street. The band struck up a tune. The children began to march as the bystanders clapped for them.

  They were halfway down the block when Violet stopped. “There’s the headless horseman.” She pointed up the street where a figure wearing a big black cape sat on a large black horse. It looked like there was no head above the cape.

  “Maybe it’s part of the parade,” Henry suggested. “They could have someone dress up in costume to make the end of the parade more exciting.”

  “There’s something strange about the horse,” Jessie said. “It has red all around its eyes and mouth. And the coat is too shimmery for a normal horse.”

  Other children around them began to point as the horse and rider came closer.

  “That horse is scary,” a little girl dressed as a fairy said.

  Watch growled.

  The horse reared up and gave an angry neigh.

  CHAPTER 7

  The Horseman Strikes Again

  The musicians in front slowed down, and the music trailed off. The children behind them slowed too.

  “I don’t think that person is part of the event,” Violet said.

  The horse began to move toward them, slowly at first, just like on the ghost tour.

  “I don’t like this,” Benny said.

  The rider kicked the horse’s sides until it broke into a run, charging right at them.

  “Get out of the way!” Jessie gasped. Most of the children and the musicians scattered off the street. But Jessie noticed that two smaller children weren’t moving. They were too confused.

  Jessie picked up the girl in the fairy costume and carried her to safety. Henry took hold of the little boy in a superhero costume. He led him to the sidewalk just as the rider drew close. The rider pulled the horse to a stop, reached under the cape and took out a white pumpkin.

  The father of the little boy ran up and grabbed his son, taking him away into the crowd. Jessie looked around for a parent to claim the little girl she held in her arms. She heard a woman yelling, “Samantha! Where are you!”

  “Mommy, I’m here,” the girl cried.

  Before Jessie could find the woman, Violet said, “Uh-oh. I know what’s going to happen.”

  The horseman raised the pumpkin up and then tossed it toward them. The pumpkin hit the ground right in front of Jessie and Violet. It split open, and dark red liquid spattered out. The rider kicked the horse again rode away down a side street.

  The girl Jessie held screamed and began to cry. Her mother came up and took her from Jessie. “It’s okay,” the woman told the girl, but she was crying too. “Thank you!” she said to Jessie.

  A boy in a fireman costume held out his hand. “I’m bleeding!”

 
; “No,” Benny said. “It’s just paint. See?” Benny took his finger and wiped off a speck of paint from the boy’s hand.

  “Are you all right?” Annika called as she hurried over to them. She looked over her shoulder and turned back to the Aldens. “The mayor doesn’t look happy.”

  Henry turned to see a big man in a dark suit stomping across the street toward them.

  The man stopped in front of Annika. “How could you arrange a trick like that?” he asked. “That is not the way to get business for your tours. Look how you’ve frightened the children with your stunts.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Annika protested. “I don’t know who was riding that horse.”

  “You expect anyone to believe that?” The mayor shook his finger at her. “I don’t want anything like this happening again. If it does, the town council might not let you use your wagon after all.” He turned and walked away.

  Annika called after him. “It really wasn’t me!”

  The mayor didn’t respond.

  “What did he mean about the wagon?” Jessie asked.

  “I had to get special permission from the town council to use it in the woods. If the council changes their mind, I’ll have to change the whole tour. The wagon ride is one of the best parts of it. I don’t know what to do.”

  “We have to find out who is playing these tricks and make them stop,” Jessie said.

  “Let’s see if we can find any clues,” Henry suggested. “I wish we had thought to run after the horse to see where they went.”

  “I don’t think you’re going to find any clues,” Annika said. “There won’t be any footprints on the street to follow.”

  “You might be surprised,” Benny said. “We’re good at finding clues.”

  The four of them walked to where they had first seen the horse. They searched up and down for anything that could be a clue. The street was empty.

  They were ready to give up when Jessie cried, “I found something!” She brushed her finger across a lamppost. When she held it up, they could see it was covered with something black and glittering. “The horse must have brushed against the post, and this is what made it all shimmery.”

  Violet touched her sister’s finger. “It’s a little sticky, like glitter glue.”

  Benny pointed at something on the street a few feet away. “What’s that? He darted forward and picked it up. “It’s a sugar cube, like the ones we saw at the café.”

  “Why would anyone carry sugar cubes?” Violet asked.

  “I don’t know, but it’s a clue,” Henry said. “Let’s go tell Annika.”

  Before they could tell her, Margot came rushing up. “I can’t believe I missed all that! How exciting! I hope my boss got pictures of it.”

  “Margot, it was terrible,” Annika said. “The mayor thinks I arranged it. I told him I didn’t, but I don’t think he believes me.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about the mayor.” Margot smiled. “As soon as we win the contest, he’ll be happy about anything that helps the town seem scary. He’ll even thank you.” She waved at someone in the crowd. “There’s my boss. I’ll see you later.”

  “I’m ready to go home,” Annika said. “The festival is ruined for me.”

  Back at the Vanderhoffs’, Jessie got her notebook again. “We can’t take anyone off our list with this latest trick. Brett, Mr. Beekman, Margo, and Isiah were not at the parade when the horseman appeared. Any one of them could have been the rider.”

  “We aren’t making much progress,” Violet said.

  “I think we should look for clues on the ghost walk,” Henry suggested. “And we should go now when there is still daylight.”

  “Good idea,” Jessie said. “There have to be more clues somewhere.”

  “We can bring Watch,” Benny said. “He’d like a walk.”

  They found the starting point for the ghost tour and walked down the path into the woods. “It isn’t scary during the daytime,” Benny said. “How are we going to know where we first saw the horse and the rider?”

  “We had been walking a while,” Henry said. “I remember the path went around a bend a little ways before we saw the horseman.”

  They found the right spot and searched carefully but didn’t find anything.

  “I think there are too many leaves.” Benny scuffed through some. “And too many people have been walking through here.”

  “I’m sorry we didn’t find anything, but it is very pretty here,” Violet said. “I’d like to come back and sketch this part of the path. Look at that big tree. I like how the branch hangs over the path.” She pointed and then lowered her arm, frowning. “There’s something up in that tree that doesn’t belong there.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Missing

  “I don’t see anything,” Jessie said.

  “It’s right above the big branch.” Violet walked under the tree and pointed. “That black thing.”

  “I see it.” Henry went over to the tree trunk. “I think I can climb up there.” He found enough handholds and footholds to get up in the tree, and finally he crawled along the branch over the path.

  He stopped and held up a short black plastic tube. “This is interesting,” he said. “It’s tied to the branch.” He reached inside, and withdrew two red glowing circles like big scary eyes.

  “How did you do that?” Benny asked.

  “There are two holes cut in this pipe.” Henry lowered it down so it hung over the path. “Inside is a red glow stick with an on off switch.”

  “So that’s how someone made it look like the horse had big glowing eyes,” Jessie said. “It wasn’t on the horse at all. Someone reached up and took it down when they rode the horse under it.”

  “We can take it and show Annika,” Benny said.

  “Why don’t we leave it here and keep watch to see who is using it,” Henry suggested. “If someone tried to scare Annika’s tour once, he or she will probably do it again.”

  “But that means we’d have to wait in the woods in the dark.” Benny looked around at the trees. “I don’t know if I want to do that.”

  “You wouldn’t have to, Benny.” Jessie hugged him. “You could go on the tour with Annika. Let’s go tell her the plan.”

  They hurried back to the house and told Annika about the glow stick and explained their plan to find out who was using it.

  “That’s a terrible trick,” she said. “I don’t know who would go to that much trouble to scare my groups. I have some other bad news. The people who were supposed to go on the tour tonight canceled. They have small children and they said they heard it was too scary. I’ll never earn enough money for a new roof now.”

  “What about tomorrow night? Are some people scheduled to go on the tour then?”

  “There are,” Annika said. “If they don’t cancel.”

  “You’re worrying too much,” Mrs. Vanderhoff said. “We’ll manage somehow. I don’t want you to spend your time dwelling on these tricks. I want you to have fun too. Why don’t you take our guests to see a play? A theater group in town has turned the Legend of Sleepy Hollow story into a play.”

  Annika was quiet for a moment and then said, “That’s a good idea. You’ve all been trying so hard to help me that I feel bad your vacation hasn’t been more fun. I’ll call Isiah too. He’ll want to go see the play now that the tour has been canceled.”

  They met Isiah in front of the theater. He wasn’t dressed in a costume, but he was wearing an old-fashioned brown suit with a brown hat.

  “I like your fedora,” Violet told him. “Old hats are fun to wear.”

  “Thank you,” Isiah said. “I’ve got a whole hat collection. I’ve also got tickets for all of us.” He handed everyone one a ticket.

  When they had gone inside and found their seats, Jessie looked around. She saw a familiar face.

  “Isn’t that Brett?” she asked Annika. “That man next to the stage wearing headphones?”

  “Yes,” Annika said. “When we were in high school, Brett
and his friends did the sound and lighting for the school plays. I don’t like Brett, but he was good at that work. I didn’t know he was helping the theater group.”

  “Is this play going to be scary?” Benny asked.

  “A little,” Henry said. “It’s just a play though. The headless horseman scares a man named Ichabod Crane.”

  “Ichabod? That’s a very funny name,” Benny said.

  “Ichabod is a good part. I should have been cast,” Isiah said. “I tried out for the play, but I didn’t get the part. I think Brett convinced the director the role should go to one of his friends.”

  The lights in the theater dimmed and the play started. Several times during the show, the spooky sounds and lights startled the audience. When a big dark shadow that looked like a headless horseman chased Ichabod Crane, Benny whispered to Jessie, “This is not just a little scary, it’s very scary.”

  After the play was done and the lights came back on, Jessie said, “That was very good. I felt like I was right in the forest.”

  “I did too,” Violet said. “Even though there wasn’t a real horse, that shadow made me afraid.”

  Annika said, “I have to admit Brett and his friends did a good job with the sounds and lights.”

  “Don’t tell him that,” Isiah said. “It’ll go to his head, and his head is big enough already.”

  “It looks like a normal size to me.” Benny sounded puzzled.

  Everyone else laughed. “Having a big head means someone thinks they are better than everyone else,” Jessie explained.

  They were putting on their coats when someone behind Isiah yelled “Boo!”

  Everyone jumped.

  It was Brett. He laughed and slapped Isiah on the shoulder. “Isiah, you are still as jumpy as ever. I remember how scared you used to be when the theater went dark. When you go home tonight, you should watch out. You never know what’s waiting for you.” He laughed again and turned away.

  “Brett and his friends need to grow up,” Jessie said.

  “They do,” Isiah agreed. “They used to think it was funny to turn off the lights in the theater when no one expected it. It wasn’t funny to anyone else.”