“I saw Magic,” Benny declared the next morning.
The other children stopped fixing breakfast and stared at him. Grandfather had left for an early-morning exercise class at the Seagull Resort.
“You saw what?” asked Henry.
“Magic, the ghost horse. He was on the beach. And I heard a cry.”
“The horse cried?” Violet set bowls of granola and sliced peaches on the table.
“No,” said Benny. “It sounded like a person. But I didn’t see anybody. Only the horse.”
Jessie frowned as she brought over a pitcher of cold milk. “Benny, are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”
“I got up to look at my sand castle. I saw a horse. It has to be the ghost horse Shad told us about,” he insisted.
“There’s one way to solve this,” said Henry. “After breakfast, we’ll go down to the beach and check for prints in the sand. If the tide’s right, they won’t have been washed away.”
Benny had never eaten so fast. He wanted to prove he had really seen the ghost horse.
When the bowls and glasses were rinsed, the kids headed outside.
It was a great morning. The sun was shining brightly over the slate-blue ocean. A man with a metal detector swept the beach, looking for coins and jewelry. Benny’s sand castle was still there, untouched.
Nearby, where Benny had wet the sand to build his castle, the kids saw the fresh shoe prints of a jogger.
Benny’s heart dropped. Suppose the jogger messed up the horse’s prints.
Then Violet exclaimed, “Look!” She pointed to a small, scooped impression in the sand.
Henry let out a low whistle. “Here’s another one. Benny was right. A horse was definitely on our beach.”
“I think we should call Officer Hyde,” said Jessie. “He’ll know for certain.”
They ran back to the cottage and phoned the lighthouse. Officer Hyde answered and said he would be there shortly.
Violet remembered Grandfather would be having a late breakfast at the Seagull Resort with the rest of his class.
“Let’s not mention it to Grandfather,” she said. “He said he wanted a vacation from mysteries anyway.”
“We didn’t go looking for this mystery,” Henry put in. “It found us!”
When Thomas Hyde arrived, he was eager to see the hoofprints. The children led him to the beach and the trail of prints.
The sanctuary officer knelt down to study the impressions. “These are definitely the tracks of a horse, maybe even a stallion,” he said. “And you said you saw the horse?”
“Last night,” Benny replied. “Maybe it was the ghost of that horse that was killed.”
Thomas straightened up with a sigh and a smile. “So you’ve heard the legend of Magic. Benny, I believe you saw a horse. But ghost horses wouldn’t leave tracks.”
“Benny heard someone cry, too,” added Violet. “But he didn’t see anyone.”
“Horses don’t cry,” said Officer Hyde. “I think one of the horses got out of the pen and came down here. He’s probably back in the herd.”
When Officer Hyde left, the children discussed what they had learned.
“Our vacation won’t be mystery-free,” said Violet.
Benny squinted in the sun. He saw a man with a fishing pole standing knee-deep in water farther down the beach. “Isn’t that Shad?”
“Just the person we want to see,” said Henry. “Maybe he’ll tell us more about this ghost horse.”
They walked down the beach to meet Shad.
“Hey,” he said, giving the traditional island greeting. “How are y’all this mornin’?”
“Fine,” answered Jessie. “Catch anything yet?”
“Naw. Blues are runnin’, but they don’t like me today!” He gave his gruff laugh.
“Guess what,” said Benny. “I saw a horse last night.”
Shad’s eyes widened. “You don’t say. On the beach? It must have been Magic.”
“We found hoofprints in the sand,” added Henry. “The sanctuary officer saw them, too.”
“That young horse fella?” Shad frowned. “He’s okay. But I wish they’d forget about that fence nonsense and let the horses roam free like they used to.”
“But they get hit by cars,” said Violet. “That’s what happened to Magic.”
“Get rid of the cars,” Shad said simply.
“Make people take a ferry here and walk or ride a bicycle anyplace they want to go.”
“Benny also heard a cry, like a person,” Henry said.
“That bridge connecting us to the mainland has ruined this island,” Shad said. He shook his head. “It brings in too many people, too many cars.”
Henry realized they weren’t going to find out more from the fisherman. Shad was only interested in talking about the island. “We’ve got to go,” he said.
“See you around,” Shad said with a wave. “Come visit me on the dock anytime. If I’m not there, I’ll be on the beach.”
As the Aldens crossed over the dune, Jessie made a suggestion.
“Let’s talk to our neighbors. Maybe Winifred Gorman or the college boys saw Benny’s horse,” she said.
“Ms. Gorman’s light was on last night!” said Benny, remembering.
Winifred Gorman was sitting on her deck, having a cup of tea. She didn’t seem pleased to see them.
“May we come up?” Henry asked.
“Might as well,” the artist replied.
The children climbed the deck steps. Winifred didn’t offer them a seat at her umbrella table, so they stood by the rail.
“We wanted to ask you a question,” said Jessie.
“Ask away.” The woman seemed irritated.
“Did you see a horse last night?” said Benny. “On the beach?”
Winifred stared at him from under her hat brim. “A horse on the beach? How could I see that? I was in bed.”
“I saw your light on,” Benny said.
“So? Lots of people leave lights on. That doesn’t mean I was up looking at horses or whatever.”
From where she was standing, Violet was able to see in the wide sliding glass doors. A painting rested on an easel in Winifred’s airy living room.
The painting showed a black stallion on a dune.
“Is that all?” Winifred was saying. “If you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
“Thanks,” Henry said, leading them off the deck. “We won’t bother you anymore.”
On the way to the college boys’ house, Violet told the others what she had seen.
“Where did that painting come from?” Jessie wanted to know. “Yesterday she was mad because none of the horses showed up to model for her. Could she have seen what Benny saw?”
“Maybe she copied the horse from a picture,” Violet said. “Artists do that sometimes. But how did she paint it so fast?”
Those were questions the children couldn’t answer. Maybe the boys next door would have more information.
Jeremy Ross was rinsing sand off his bodysurfing board. He turned the hose off when he saw the Aldens.
“Hey there,” he said, glad to see them. “I was just going in for a snack. Want to join me?”
The kids followed him into the kitchen. Jessie muffled a giggle when she saw the mess. Empty pizza boxes, soda cans, and chips bags littered the counter. It didn’t take a detective to see three messy college kids lived here!
“Where are Drew and Paul?” asked Henry.
“Still surfing. I’m afraid they’re going to get waterlogged,” said Jeremy. He pulled a loaf of bread and a jar of mayonnaise from the refrigerator. A bowl of bananas sat on the counter. The Aldens watched Jeremy make peanut butter, mayonnaise, and banana sandwiches.
“Hey! That’s my favorite!” Benny exclaimed. And, he thought, that was the same sandwich that disappeared from their deck.
“Mine, too,” said Jeremy. “Guys come into my dorm room all the time for a Ross Special. That’s what they call it.”
He asked if they were hungry and quickly slapped together five gooey sandwiches. Benny bit into his with delight.
“By the way,” Jessie began, “did you happen to see a horse last night?”
Jeremy poured them all glasses of milk. “A horse? The only thing I saw was the inside of my eyelids,” he joked. “I was asleep.”
“We were just wondering.” Henry finished his sandwich.
Jeremy didn’t seem interested. “Did I ever tell you guys about the big stunt I pulled last semester?”
Benny shook his head. “What was it?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t read about it in the papers,” the older boy crowed. “It was that great.”
“What did you do?” asked Violet, curious.
Jeremy grinned teasingly. “Tell you someday.”
Jessie picked up their plates and glasses. Jeremy obviously liked to tease. “We should go,” she told him. “Our grandfather will be home soon.”
“Come back anytime,” Jeremy said, opening the door. “Maybe I’ll tell you about the Greatest Stunt in the World.”
“He’s fun,” said Violet as they crossed the wooden walkway. “I wonder what he did.”
“I bet Jeremy is still pulling stunts,” observed Henry. “He could have taken Ms. Gorman’s towel.”
“And my sandwich,” Benny added. “We both like the same kind.”
Jessie wasn’t listening. She was watching a boy with hair so blond it was nearly white. The boy carried a beach chair down the road. Stenciled on the blue canvas back was a bird. She’d seen that bird somewhere.
“Look at that boy,” she said to the others. “Where could he be going with a chair?”
Henry shaded his eyes. “That bird design looks familiar.”
“It’s just like the sign at the Seagull Resort,” Violet said. Last night she’d practiced drawing a bird with one line.
“Violet’s right!” said Jessie. “But where is he going? The resort is down the road. Why would he carry a chair all the way up here?”
“Maybe it got washed up on the beach,” Benny offered.
Henry shook his head. “The current brings things south, not north. The chair would have been found south of here and he’s walking from the north. Whoever he is, he didn’t find that chair around here.” |