The Canoe Trip Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online Page A

He looked very worried. “No, thank you. I think I’ll just make myself some coffee. I’m not very hungry.”
    â€œDid you know we were robbed?” Henry asked him.
    A little more color seemed to drain from Rob’s face. “No, I had no idea,” he said.
    â€œThey took everything we left in the canoe,” Henry explained.
    â€œEven the paddles,” Benny added.
    â€œAngela?” Rob asked.
    â€œWe’re not sure.” Henry looked closely at Rob. “But she’s gone now.”
    â€œWhat a shame.” Rob shook his head.
    â€œWe’re staying here another night,” Benny announced. “There are some things we want to look for in the woods.”
    Henry gave Benny a warning look, but Rob didn’t seem to notice.
    â€œOkay,” Rob said, but his thoughts seemed faraway. “I’ll be in the bunkhouse if you need me. I need to catch up on some sleep.”
    As they walked through the woods in back of the bunkhouse, Jessie told Henry all about meeting Matt and Bill.
    â€œThey didn’t act like forest rangers,” Benny added.
    Henry sighed. “I think we should sit down and talk about all this.” He pointed to some big boulders under the trees. When they were all seated, he told Jessie, Benny, and Aunt Jane how mysterious Rob had been acting.
    â€œHe hasn’t been himself since we ran into Angela,” Violet added.
    â€œThat doesn’t mean he took our stuff,” Jessie said. She hated to think that Rob might be a thief.
    â€œI can’t prove he took anything.” Henry sighed. “All I know is he wasn’t in the bunkhouse all evening. After he met Angela, wedidn’t see him again until this morning.”
    â€œHe didn’t seem to like Angela any more than we did,” Violet added.
    â€œNo, but I think he knows more than he’s letting on,” Henry remarked.
    Jessie pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of her rain jacket. “I think we should make a list of all the people we suspect,” she said.
    â€œIt seems like no one wants us on this trail,” Violet said. “But I still think Angela is the most suspicious.”
    â€œI think so, too,” Benny added.
    â€œBut,” Henry said, “how would she have had time to take all our things, pack them away somewhere, and get away?”
    â€œI’ll put Angela on the list along with Lorenzo, Rob, Matt, and Bill,” Jessie said. “All of them, except maybe Rob, have tried to talk us out of continuing our trip.”
    â€œWell, Matt and Bill didn’t really try to stop us,” Benny said.
    â€œNo,” Jessie agreed. “But they seemed suspicious. They said they were forest rangers, but they didn’t act like real rangers,” Jessiereminded her brother. “And they asked a lot of questions.”
    â€œDo you think Lorenzo is really a scientist?” Benny asked.
    â€œI don’t know,” Jessie answered. “There are certainly people on this trail pretending to be things they aren’t.” Jessie wrote scientist with a question mark next to Lorenzo’s name.
    â€œIt’s funny, everyone’s acting so strange,” Violet remarked. “What do they think we know?”
    â€œOr what do they think we’ll find out?” Henry said.
    â€œLet’s see.” Jessie was still busy writing. “I believe Lorenzo was the only person we talked to about the riddle.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Henry nodded. “And we didn’t talk to anyone about the coin robberies.”
    â€œWe won’t know anything about the coins unless we look for some clues,” Benny reminded his family. Everyone agreed. Benny ran on ahead and disappeared in a grove of pine trees.
    Jessie put away her paper and chased afterhim. “We don’t really know what we’re looking for,” she said as they both stopped to catch their breath.
    They were surrounded by pine