Pilgrim Village Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

off, and the door was shut tight. The sign in the window said “Closed.” There was no sign of Eric.
    â€œOh, well, let’s go back to our cabin. We can come here tomorrow and ask Eric what he was planning to show us,” Jessie said sensibly.
    â€œGood idea,” Henry said.
    As they walked back to the cabin, Henry grew quiet. Suddenly he turned to Jessie. “Let me see that note again.”
    Jessie handed him the note, and Henry looked at it quickly. “That’s what’s wrong. This isn’t Eric’s handwriting.”
    â€œIt isn’t? How do you know?” asked Benny.
    â€œI saw his notes about Thomas Heath-cliff’s journal,” Henry reminded them. “Eric’s handwriting was small and messy. This handwriting is big and fancy.”
    â€œAre you saying you don’t think Eric wrote this note?” asked Jessie.
    â€œThat’s right,” said Henry. “Someone else did. Someone who wanted us to be at the farmhouse tonight.”
    â€œBut why?” Violet wanted to know. “Nothing was happening there.”
    The children walked along, trying to think of an answer to Violet’s question.
    Suddenly Jessie stopped walking. “Maybe this has nothing to do with the farmhouse.”
    The others stopped walking also, and looked at her.
    â€œWhat do you mean, Jessie?” Violet asked slowly.
    â€œMaybe someone just wanted to get us out of our cabin!” Jessie exclaimed.
    The children all stared at her for a minute, and then realized what that meant.
    â€œOh, my gosh,” exclaimed Violet.
    â€œLet’s go!” Henry cried out.
    The children took off, running as fast as they could back to their cabin.
    When they got there, it was just as they had feared. The door of the cabin was open slightly. Someone had gone inside while they were away.
    Henry quickly lit the lantern. When he saw the state of the cabin he gasped and stepped backward.
    â€œWhat is it?” Jessie asked. Then her mouth dropped open as she saw what had made Henry gasp.
    The cabin was a complete mess. Someone had turned over all the furniture, torn the sheets and quilts off the bed, and dumped everything on the floor.
    â€œOh no,” Violet said. “Who could have done such a terrible thing?”

CHAPTER 9
    Who Wrote the Note?
    T he Aldens had no idea who would have made such an awful mess in their cabin.
    â€œShould we go inside and clean it up?” Benny asked, hoping the answer would be no.
    â€œI think we’d better go tell Linda first,” said Jessie.
    The Aldens went next door to Linda’s office. She was sitting at her desk, working on a pile of papers. She glanced up and motioned to the children to come in, before going back to what she was working on.
    â€œI’m just finishing a letter I was writing,” she said without looking up. “I saw you in the little schoolhouse. Did you enjoy it?”
    Their visit to the schoolhouse seemed very long ago to the children.
    â€œYes,” Henry said. “But something awful has happened since then.”
    Linda looked up quickly. Now she saw the serious expressions on the children’s faces. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
    â€œIt started with this note,” Jessie began, handing the note to Linda.
    She read it quickly and then looked up. “Yes?”
    â€œWe went to the farmhouse to meet Eric, but he never showed up. So we went back to our cabin.” Jessie took a deep breath, trying to think of a gentle way to break the bad news to Linda.
    But before she could, Benny burst out, “And it was wrecked!”
    â€œBenny!” Jessie said.
    â€œWell, it was,” Benny insisted.
    â€œWrecked?” Linda repeated. “What do you mean?”
    â€œSomeone sent us this note to get us out of our cabin,” Henry explained. “And while we were gone, they came in and turned over all the furniture.”
    â€œThey took the