Boardwalk Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online

not your fault,” Wendy said. “We know that there are false rumors going around.”
    “Someone is trying to ruin Hanson’s,” Jessie said.
    “Why would someone do that?” asked Tori.
    Just then, the lifeguards stood up in their stands and began to blow their whistles. They began to wave at all the swimmers to get out of the ocean. Everyone jumped up and ran to the water’s edge to see what was going on.
    “There’s something in the water!” a woman cried, picking up her toddler.
    “Maybe it is a whale!” Benny said.
    “It’s big, whatever it is,” said a man. “There are three strong lifeguards dragging it out of the water.”
    Suddenly, there were gasps from the crowd. The lifeguards came out of the water and the people all moved out of their way. They were carrying the zombie from the haunted house!
    “It’s our zombie!” Benny cried.
    “This is yours?” asked a dark-haired lifeguard.
    Wendy stepped forward. “It is from Hanson’s amusement pier,” she said. “It belongs to my father.”
    “How did it get into the water?” asked the lifeguard. “You cannot dump things you do not want in the ocean. That man over there hurt his ankle banging into your zombie. He could not see it beneath the waves.”
    An older man sat on a blanket in the sand. He rubbed his ankle as he talked with one of the lifeguards. “I’m fine,” the man said. “It’s just a little bruise. No need to make a fuss.”
    “We’re so sorry that anyone got hurt,” Wendy said. “But we did not dump the zombie in the ocean.”
    “Someone stole the zombie from the haunted house!” Benny said. “The thief must have put the zombie in the ocean.”
    The lifeguard looked concerned. “A thief? You should call the police,” he said. “They should investigate this.”
    “No!” Will said quickly. “We do not need the police.” He looked at Wendy. “I’m sure it was just a prank.”
    Wendy nodded. “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” she said. “We will take the zombie back to the haunted house right now. No one else will get hurt.”
    Henry, Will, Zach, and Hunter lifted the zombie. Saltwater ran out of holes in his metal shoes and from his eyes.
    “It looks like the zombie is crying,” Benny said.
    “Yes, it does,” Wendy agreed. “I feel like crying, too. I feel so bad.”
    Hunter put his arm around Wendy. “You don’t have anything to feel bad about,” he said. “This is not your fault.”
    Wendy looked down at her feet. “In some ways . . .” she began.
    “Let’s go!” Will said. “Let’s get this zombie back right away!”
    After the older kids had left with the zombie, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny cleaned up the sandwich wrappers and napkins from their picnic and folded the towels.
    “I sure could go for some ice cream,” Violet said.
    “That’s a great idea, Violet,” Jessie said. The children headed up toward the boardwalk.
    “Where shall we go?” asked Benny. “There are so many different places!”
    Just then, someone called out to them. “Hey, kids!”
    Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny turned. Mrs. Reddy was hurrying toward them.
    “I heard that Carl Hanson is so upset with the things going on at his amusement pier that he threw his own zombie into the ocean! Isn’t that terrible?”
    Violet’s lips were pressed tightly together while Mrs. Reddy spoke. “Mrs. Reddy,” Violet said. “I am sure that Mr. Hanson would not have thrown his own zombie into the ocean.”
    “Well then, how did it get there?” she asked. “When I ran the amusement pier, none of the ghosts or zombies from my haunted house ever went missing. And none of my property ever ended up in the ocean! And did you hear that some poor man got hurt by the zombie in the ocean? I heard that a wave threw the zombie on top of the man and he got knocked out. He almost drowned!”
    “We were there on the beach,” Henry replied. “The man only banged his ankle into the zombie under the water.”
    Mrs. Reddy clicked