Midnight Mystery Read Online Free Page A

Alice Putter’s own inventions. It fits right in. Let’s try it out.”
    Violet turned a winder, and the curtains came down. “Perfect,” she said. “It works just the way the directions say. All it needs is a bird inside.”

    Benny wasn’t too interested in birdcage curtains. He pressed a button beneath a globe, and the globe began to rotate slowly. When he recognized the shape of the United States, Benny pressed the button again, and the globe stopped. It was neat, but he liked his flashlight hat much better. Finally, he decided to see if there were any good books to read on the nearby shelves. “Kids’ books!” he said when he found some colorful old children’s books. “May I look at them, Jessie?”
    “Sure,” she answered. “Ms. Putter said we could use anything in the house.”
    To his delight, Benny discovered that all the books on one of the low shelves were for brand-new readers like him. He ran his fingers along the books. He stopped when he came to one with a missing spine. As he pulled it out, he saw that it wasn’t like any of the others on the shelves. This one was homemade, with handmade drawings and handwritten instead of typed words. “Hey, here’s a book somebody made,” he said.
    The other children came over to take a look. The cover was decorated with hand-painted clocks, birds, animals, clowns, and toys. There was no author’s name on it. But handwritten on the first page were the words: To My Grandchildren.
    “It’s just a riddle book,” Benny said, a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the missing plan book. He read the title: “Read Me a Riddle.”
    “So read us a riddle!” Henry said back.
    Benny closed his eyes and picked a riddle at random. He opened them again, and read the riddle slowly.
    “When the moon’s at twelve o’clock.
    Pounce upon the stroke,
    The time to act is at the chime,
    When day and night run out of time.”
    “What’s that mean?” Benny asked, puzzled. He handed the book to Jessie.
    She studied several of the other riddles. “I know some of these already. But the one you found is hard to figure out.” She flipped through the book.
    Violet thought about the riddle. “ When the moon’s at twelve o’clock ... maybe you can only figure it out at midnight when there’s a moon out.”
    Jessie repeated the riddle. Maybe reading it again would make it clearer.
    As the children huddled around the curious book, someone entered the room.
    “What are you doing?” the person asked.
    The children whirled around, surprised by the sharp voice.
    Martha came up to the children. She stared at the book in Jessie’s hands. “Who said you could take books from the shelves?”
    Benny looked up at Martha. “Ms. Putter said it was okay, right, Jessie? I’m old enough to read. It’s got riddles.”
    Martha reached for the book. “Riddles? Let me see it.”
    Jessie carefully passed the book to Martha. “Ms. Putter told us we could use anything in the house. She knew we would be careful. This book is handmade.”
    Martha was already turning the pages. “I can see that. Well, I’m sure Isabel wouldn’t want such a fragile book being passed around. I’m going to put it away for safekeeping.”
    “But ... but ...” Benny began. He stopped when he saw Jessie shake her head.
    “I’m going to store it where it will be out of harm’s way,” Martha said. With that, she turned and left.
    Benny took a big swallow before he spoke. He wasn’t used to people being cross with him. “I didn’t harm the book, right, Jessie?”
    Jessie patted the top of Benny’s flashlight hat. “Of course you didn’t. But I didn’t want to upset Martha.”
    “Maybe we can draw and paint our own riddle book when we get home,” Violet said to cheer up Benny.
    “That will be a good project for a rainy day,” Henry said. “Now, let’s just finish up a couple more things in here. We’ll think about lunch after the clocks sound at noon.”
    Benny heard his stomach rumble. “I