The Camp-out Mystery Read Free Page B

was a bat,” Henry said. He pointed upward where small dark shapes swooped.
    â€œThey’re out catching insects for their supper,” Mr. Alden said. “They’ll be gone soon.”
    â€œIt almost hit me!” Benny said.
    â€œOh, it wouldn’t do that,” Grandfather assured him. “Bats have a very good sense of direction.”
    â€œThey have a kind of radar,” Violet told him. “They bounce sound off objects to locate them.”
    â€œJust so they don’t bounce off me !” Benny said.
    They all laughed.
    Bright stars filled the sky. Everyone leaned back to admire them.
    Using his jacket for a pillow, Benny settled against a tree trunk. “I think I’ll stay up all night and look at the stars,” he decided. But he had no sooner said that than his eyes closed, and in a minute he was asleep.

CHAPTER 5
    Loud Dreams
    V iolet awoke with a start. She thought she had heard something. She sat up in her sleeping bag. On the other side of the tent, Watch was alert, his ears up, listening. Violet seemed to be the only one of the Aldens in the big tent who was awake. She got up and peeked outside. The woods were wrapped in mist.
    Jessie came up behind Violet. “What’s the matter?” she asked her sister.
    â€œI thought I heard something,” Violet said. She and Jessie started toward the dining tent.

    â€œMusic?” Jessie asked.
    â€œLoud music,” Violet answered. “Did you hear it, too?”
    Jessie nodded. “I thought I was dreaming. Where do you suppose it was coming from?”
    Violet shook her head. “I don’t know. At first, I thought it was someone’s radio—another camper’s maybe. But it kept getting louder. It seemed to be coming from just over there.” She pointed toward the trees at the edge of their camp.
    â€œAnd then it faded,” Jessie said. “Maybe someone walked past carrying a radio.”
    â€œI don’t think so,” Violet said. “It was too dark to be hiking in the woods.”
    â€œWhoever it was might know the woods well,” Jessie suggested. “And maybe they had a lantern.”
    â€œBut why would anyone want to play loud music like that in the middle of the night? Especially if they were hiking in the woods?” Violet wondered.
    â€œTo scare animals?” Jessie suggested.
    â€œI don’t know,” Violet said. “It just doesn’t make sense. And I heard something else: someone or something moving around out here. Watch heard it, too.”
    â€œWell, it’s quiet now,” Jessie said.
    â€œAnd it’s getting light,” Violet added. “I don’t think I can get back to sleep.”
    â€œA nice hot shower would feel good,” Jessie said.
    â€œYes,” Violet agreed.
    While the others slept, Jessie and Violet got out clean clothes and followed the path to the bathhouse. It was a big building divided into two parts: one for men; one for women. Inside each section, a line of sinks faced a line of showers.
    When they were dressed in clean jeans and T-shirts, they walked back to camp.
    At the site, Henry was up and setting the table. “I used the plastic tablecloth,” he said. “I thought we should save the blue one for dinnertime.”
    Henry put a bowl of fruit on the table next to the lantern. The red apples, yellow bananas, and green grapes made a colorful centerpiece.
    Benny brought out the cereal boxes. “I can’t find the honey,” he told the others.
    â€œIt was in the big box with the cereal and crackers,” Jessie said.
    Benny shrugged. “I didn’t see it there.”
    Jessie went back to the kitchen tent with him. She glanced into the box, but she didn’t see the squeeze bottle of honey either. She lifted everything out and looked inside. “That’s strange,” she said. “The honey isn’t here.”
    Henry saw something on the ground next to