couldnât believe Capâs cabin was haunted ⦠by what?
At the table Cap turned to Henry. âSo now youâre a carpenter,â he said. âDid you get the barn back in shape?â
Henry nodded. âI like carpenter work.â
âI sure appreciate all youâre doing,â Cap said, reaching for the bowl to take another serving of applesauce.
âAnd I appreciate applesauce,â Benny said, taking the bowl from Cap to serve himself again.
That night before going to bed, they turned on the big new floodlight. The yard and barn were almost as bright as day.
Jessie had heard the scary whistling sound the first night they spent in Capâs cabin. She and Henry and Benny had all seen the flickering light. Benny had kept talking about a strange scraping sound. Later Henry had heard the whistling, and Violet had heard it the morning she saw the strange creature running off into the dark woods.
After Henry put up the big floodlight, everything stopped. For several days there was no strange whistling sound, no light, no scraping sound, and no more sign of the awkward dark creature that Violet had seen.
Henry was puzzled. âDid we imagine all that stuff?â he asked.
âThat canât be it,â Violet told him. âThe holes were real, and Cap talked to me about that whistling.â
âMaybe that strange creature got scared when Violet saw it out by the barn that morning,â Jessie suggested.
âOr maybe itâs been afraid to come back since you put that floodlight up,â Violet said.
âOh, I donât like those ideas at all,â Benny said.
The others stared at him. âWhy not?â
He shrugged. âThat would mean we havenât helped Cap at all. Those things could come back and scare Cap again, or make him have another accident after weâre gone.â
Jessie sighed. âBenny hit the nail on the head again,â she said. âWhatâs more, this trip was only supposed to last ten days. We only have about three days left.â
âMaybe Grandfather will be too busy to come get us on time,â Violet said hopefully. âGrandfather always keeps promises,â Benny told them.
The mailman hadnât stopped at Capâs cabin once since the children came. The very next day he stopped out in the road and tooted his horn twice. Cap looked up in surprise. âThatâs a change,â he said. âI donât get much mail. You boys want to run and get it for me?â
After Henry took the letter, Benny carried it back to Cap on the porch. âHowâs the old man doing?â the mailman asked Henry. âI was sorry to hear about his fall.â
âHeâs getting better every day,â Henry told him.
âI thought about stopping but I always run late. Then when I saw that he had help out here, I quit worrying.â
âYou mean us?â Henry asked. He hadnât thought of them as âhelp,â but he liked the way that sounded.
The mailman shrugged. âMaybe Iâm wrong. I keep seeing a strange man on the road. I thought he worked for Cap.â
Henry frowned. âWhat does this man look like?â
âSober fellow, never smiles,â the mailman said. As he described the man, Henry caught a quick breath. The mailman was describing Mr. Jay from the riverboat perfectly.
âTell Cap to get well soon,â the mailman added, putting his car in gear and starting off. Henry walked back to the porch thoughtfully. It was one thing for Mr. Jay to hang around town and act strange, but hearing that he was walking up and down Capâs road really bothered Henry.
Capâs letter was from Mr. Alden. He read it aloud. Grandfather Alden had gotten the childrenâs message from Mrs. McGregor and appreciated hearing from them. He told Cap not to worry about the kids, that they were doing what they liked to do best. He said to expect him this coming Saturday. He was
Learning to Kill: Stories