The Ghost Ship Mystery Read Online Free

small road that led up to the cemetery.
    The Aldens were quiet in this special spot. The cemetery looked very old. Many of the words on the gravestones were worn away by time and weather.
    “It’s pretty here,” Violet said quietly. “You can see the town and the ocean in every direction.”
    The children walked to the very top of the bluff. The oldest stones were there. They stopped in front of a section marked off by a rusting fence. A sign on it said: C OFFIN F amily P lot .
    Jessie read some of the granite markers. “Oh look! There’s Emily Coffin’s gravestone —1844–1879. She only lived ten years after her husband drowned.”
    “It’s so sad that he drowned at sea. They couldn’t be buried next to each other,” Violet said softly. “There’s an empty space between her grave and their children’s graves.”
    The Aldens were silent for a few minutes. The wind had died down. They listened to the faint breeze blowing through the beach grass that surrounded the gravestones.
    Jessie walked away first. In a minute she found what she was looking for. She waved her brothers and sister over.
    “Here it is.” She pointed to a small, half buried gravestone. “Caleb Plummer. 1855– 1869. A brave young sailor, too late to save his ship.”
    “Isn’t that the name in the book you read last night?” Henry asked.
    Jessie nodded sadly. “Yes. He was fourteen, just like you, Henry. Everyone thought he rowed to shore to get help for the Flying Cloud. But he was too late.”
    The children took one another’s hands. The sun was going down. Out in the cove they could see the boaters returning to the docks. A little farther out, they saw a dark figure rowing to shore.
    “It’s time to leave,” Henry said quietly.
    The children turned away from the graves of Caleb Plummer and Emily Coffin. They made their way back to town without a word and without seeing that the little rowboat had disappeared.

CHAPTER 4
Go Away!
    Golden sunlight poured into the Crow’s Nest as the Aldens awakened.
    Jessie tiptoed to the big windows to feel the sun. She opened the doors that led to the widow’s walk. “Mmm, fresh sea air.”
    “Do you see any land yet?” Henry joked. “I dreamed we were on a long sea voyage.”
    Jessie focused the telescope the Peases left by the window. “I see lots of land with lots of people,” she answered, laughing. Then she stopped. “Hey, come here, Henry. Isn’t that Captain Bob out on the Jonah ?”
    Henry jumped out of bed to take a look. “It sure is. I thought he said he was driving up the coast today. Do you suppose he’s running his whale watch trips after all?”
    “If he is, let’s get down to the dock,” Jessie said. “A sign said the trips leave at eight. We’ve only got half an hour.”
    Henry and Jessie tickled Benny and Violet to get them out of bed.
    “Why are we rushing?” Violet said, rubbing her eyes.
    “Captain Bob is out on his boat,” Henry told his sister. “We want to see if he’s going out to watch whales today.”
    “Whales! Did somebody say ‘whales’?” Benny cried.
    The children left a note under the door of their grandfather’s room and went downstairs to tell Mrs. Pease their plans.
    She shook her head. “I’ll pack a few muffins for the trip. But I don’t think the Jonah is scheduled for any whale watches today. Mr. Pease said Captain Bob had other plans for the next few days. We’ve never figured out where he disappears to after every big storm.”
    “Well, we’re going to try, just in case,” Benny said hopefully.
    Mrs. Pease handed Benny a cloth napkin filled with warm muffins for the trip.
    The children ran through the sleepy streets of Ragged Cove and down to the town dock. Sure enough, the Aldens could hear the Jonah’s motor warming up. They raced down the dock to the bright blue boat.
    “Captain Bob! Captain Bob!” Henry yelled, nearly out of breath.
    Jessie whispered to Henry. “Do you think one of us should go on board and see if