Copycat Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online Page B

dark eyebrows shot up.
    Miss Pennink put a hand over her heart. “I simply must sit down,” she said.
    With some help from Jake, she made her way over to a chair.
    “Are you all right, Miss Pennink?” Violet’s brown eyes were wide with alarm.
    “I just need a moment to recover from the shock, my dear.” Miss Pennink smiled a little, but still seemed upset.
    Just then, Jessie caught sight of Jake’s camera. “Oh, are you here to take more photographs? I could get Gwen if—”
    Jake broke in before she could finish. “I just stopped by to see if I left my sunglasses here yesterday,” he explained. “But maybe I will get a picture of Henry and Benny.” And with that, Jake snapped a photo.
    It seemed very odd to Jessie. Why would Jake want a picture of them wearing pants that didn’t fit?
    “So what happened?” Jake asked, his lips curling up into a smile. “Did your pants shrink in the laundry demonstration yesterday?”
    “Somebody did this on purpose!” Benny blurted out.
    “Yes, indeed,” agreed Miss Pennink. “This is Horace’s handiwork. He won’t put up with it, you know. He just won’t stand for this outrage. To be ignored in one’s own home is . . . is . . . well, it simply isn’t right!”
    A little later, when Gwen was pouring Miss Pennink a cup of tea, she said, “You don’t really think that, do you, Miss Pennink? You can’t believe a ghost is responsible for these practical jokes.”
    Sharon, who was sitting beside Miss Pennink, spoke up first. “We both believe it!”
    Gwen frowned. “Sharon, please!” She put a basket of blueberry muffins on the table, then turned and gave her younger sister a warning look. “You’re not helping matters.”
    Jake pulled up a chair. “It is hard to believe a ghost could be doing these things,” he said. “And yet . . .”
    The Aldens looked at one another. They all wondered why Jake was so eager to believe the house was haunted.
    “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” said Benny, reaching for a muffin.
    “Well, if that’s true,” replied Sharon, “then there’s only one other possibility.” And she looked at the Aldens.
    “What do you mean?” Henry wanted to know.
    Sharon narrowed her green eyes. “Well, it seems to me these practical jokes didn’t start until the four of you arrived,” she said in an icy voice. “Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you agree?”
    “What a terrible thing to say, Sharon!” exclaimed Gwen.
    “I’m not accusing anyone,” Sharon replied. And she gave her long blond hair a toss. “I’m simply stating the facts.”
    Violet couldn’t believe it. “You think we’re the copycats?”
    “Aren’t you forgetting a few things?” Jessie asked, looking Sharon straight in the eye.
    “Such as . . . ?”
    “Well, for starters, we don’t have a key to the farmhouse.”
    Henry added, “Or a motive.”
    “Making trouble is all the motive some people need,” Sharon shot back.
    Miss Pennink reached out and put a hand on Sharon’s arm. “Please, we mustn’t accuse one another. This is Horace’s doing. I know because this practical joke is exactly like one Horace played when he was a young boy.”
    “You’ve had a shock, Miss Pennink,” said Gwen. “Are you sure you want to talk about this?”
    Nodding, Miss Pennink took a sip of tea. “I must talk about my great-great-grandfather, since no one else will.” She took a breath. “It happened back when Horace wasn’t much bigger than Benny. His brother Oscar was about a year younger. As the story goes, Oscar was quite small for his age, and for some reason he’d gotten it into his head that he’d never grow any bigger. Well, Horace couldn’t bear to see his brother unhappy, so one night he—”
    “Shortened his brother’s pants?” guessed Benny, who was so interested in the conversation, he still hadn’t taken a bite of his muffin.
    “That’s exactly what he did, Benny!” said Miss Pennink. “In fact, Horace kept this up every night for