Disappearing Staircase Mystery Read Online Free Page B

He banged the window down. “I’ll go check the other rooms.”
    “Well, we’re finished in here anyway.” Jessie put away the cleaning supplies. “When Henry comes back, let’s go downstairs.”
    “Nobody seems to be in the other rooms, either,” Henry said when he returned. “I could have sworn someone was walking around up here.”
    With Henry leading the way, the children stepped into the hallway.
    Henry saw a red-and-blue blur disappear down the stairs. “Hey!” he called out, before running ahead to the staircase. He looked down the winding banister all the way to the ground floor. “Brian! Wait up.”
    When Brian looked back up, five heads stared back.
    The Aldens raced downstairs and caught up with Brian.
    “You were rushing so fast,” Henry said to Brian. “Were you working on the roof? We heard footsteps.”
    “No, I … uh … just came up to see how you were doing,” Brian told the Aldens.
    “But why did you rush off?” Henry asked. “If you were looking for us, I mean?”
    Again, Brian’s face got nearly as red as his shirt. “I … uh … heard my walkie-talkie. One of the volunteers needed me, that’s all.”
    The Aldens thought this was odd, but none of them said anything until Soo Lee piped up. “There was a ghost on the roof walking around. My cousin Henry chased him away.”
    “It was probably some big blackbirds walking around up there,” Brian said. “The roof tiles are kind of thin. You can hear birds and squirrels walking back and forth.”
    Jessie wasn’t so sure. “These sounds were heavier than that. Is there another room near the nursery where somebody might be working?”
    Now Brian really looked impatient with the Aldens. “You know, I really haven’t got time to answer all these questions. Now that your work is finished up here, why don’t you find the Gardiners? They must have some outdoor work that needs doing.” With that, Brian pointed outside, where the Gardiners were carrying empty boxes into the garage.
    “If you say so,” Jessie told Brian before he went back upstairs.
    “I feel as if Brian is always trying to get rid of us,” Jessie said when the children stepped outside.
    “Not just him—Nan and the Gardiners, too,” Henry added. “They’re always shooing us away. It seems like everyone is trying to keep us from poking around the house too much.”
    “Or from finding them poking around,” Jessie added. “First the Gardiners didn’t want us to help on the auction. Nan just disappears all the time. And Brian gets annoyed every time we find him here and there and everywhere. It’s all very mysterious.”
    “I know,” Henry said. “Let’s go see if the Gardiners want us around or not.”
    The children met up with George and Louella outside the garage.
    “Hi, George,” Jessie said. “Brian thought you could use some help outside.”
    George stared at the children. “Not right now.”
    Louella pointed to the garden shed. “Well, I’ve got something for you children to do. Gather the branches your grandfather had the volunteers cut down. Then stack them near the shed. A tree company is sending over a wood chipper at the end of the week.”

    Soon the children were busy dragging heavy branches across the yard. As they worked, they noticed something curious going on.
    Several times the Gardiners entered the garage with boxes and trash bags. Every now and then a car engine started up, then stopped.
    “I overheard George telling Mabel that the two old cars in the garage won’t start,” Jessie whispered. “But it sounds as if someone is starting one of the cars.”
    “I know,” Henry said. “Well, never mind the garage. Look who’s on the third-floor landing—the window on the right. Isn’t that Louella? Don’t all stare at once.”
    The children took turns squinting at the window Henry was talking about.
    “It sure looks like Louella!” Benny said in a loud whisper. “How’d she get there anyway?”
    “Beats me,” Henry