The Mystery at the Calgary Stampede by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online Page B

Skyride before we go home,”
said Violet.
    “We have a mystery to solve,” Jessie
reminded her.
    “But we need a break!” said Benny. “We
can have a break and ride the Skyride.”
    Stampede Park had a sleepy feel to it that
morning as if the excitement of the first two
days was over. “It’s almost like having the
place to ourselves,” said Henry.
    “Maybe we should take a break,” Jessie said,
and she pointed to the ride. “Look at the line
for the Skyride!”
    “What line?” asked Benny.
    “Exactly!” said Jessie.
    Only three people were waiting for the
ride, and the Aldens took their places behind
them.
    Soon they were up in the sky, Violet and
Henry sitting together, and Jessie and Benny
in the gondola behind them. Violet loved the
feeling as they swept up into the air—like
taking off in an airplane. The ride paused for
a moment, and the seats bobbed up and down
a bit. She didn’t feel too good about that,
but then the ride started up again and went
gliding over the fairgrounds.
    Henry smiled at Violet. “All right?” he asked.
    Violet gave a little wiggle of happiness. “Yes!”
    Below them was a mosaic of colors. They
could hear laughter and chatting, music
and singing, and animals bleating and
mooing. Smells of popcorn and hotdogs
wafted their way.

    “Hey!” called Jessie.
    Violet had almost forgotten that Jessie
and Benny were in the gondola behind.
She turned to see her sister pointing down
at someone.
    Mr. Sutton was behind a building going
through a garbage dumpster.
    Violet twisted in her seat to watch him as
the Skyride moved along.
    Jessie and Benny were watching too.
    “What do you think he’s doing?” Henry
asked.
    “I don’t know,” Violet said.
    They watched until Mr. Sutton was out of
sight.
    “The ride is almost over,” said Henry.
“We’ll try to find him.”
    Everything looked a bit different once
they were on the ground, but the Aldens set
off quickly and managed to find the building
they’d spotted on the ride. As they rounded
the corner, Mr. Sutton was just disappearing
around another corner, his shoulder bag
looking heavy. He had another full bag in
his hand.
    “Follow him!” said Henry.
    The Aldens followed Mr. Sutton through
the crowds of fairgoers. The grounds had
been almost empty when they arrived, but
now the fair was filling up, so they had a
hard time keeping their eyes on him. He
was heading toward the Saddledome, the
huge stadium shaped like a saddle. It was in a
corner of Stampede Park that the Aldens had
not yet explored.
    Jessie chuckled and took his hand. “It’s a
good thing our Mr. Sutton has on a dinosaursized
cowboy hat, otherwise we’d never be
able to follow him like this!
    Mr. Sutton took a quick left through
another long barn, and then another quick
turn left between horse stalls. They children
almost lost him, but Violet spotted him and
called out, “Over there!”
    Then they were all in front of the
Saddledome with its red entranceway.
    “ Now what is Mr. Sutton doing?” said
Jessie.
    Mr. Sutton didn’t go into the building.
He walked farther along and paused near a
concrete column covered with posters. The
Aldens moved closer and watched.
    He was taking down a poster from the
column. Then he took another. The children
circled him.
    “Mr. Sutton?” said Henry.
    The old man started, but when he saw
Henry, he smiled. “Isn’t this a nice one?” he
said and held out the poster for the children
to see. “Someone missed this poster,” he said,
and Jessie looked closely at the thick, colorful
paper to see what he meant. He pointed to
the date on it. The date was from the previous
summer. “Here, you hold it while I put this
one back.”
    She held the poster while he replaced the
newer poster.
    “This one,” he explained, pointing to the
one he’d just put up again, “was covering that
one. A poster left over from last summer is a
treasure!” he said, his eyes shiny. He took it
from Jessie and carefully rolled it up and