Mystery at Skeleton Point by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

said with a twinkle in his eye. “Your eyes are bigger than my ice cream bowl.”
    Benny felt his ears get red. “Are you playing Go Fish?” he asked. “That’s what we played in the car when we drove from Greenfield. Only now it’s time for Go Eat Ice Cream, not Go Fish.”
    Everyone at the table chuckled.
    “I’m getting chocolate ice cream,” Benny continued. “And know what? We’re going to Skeleton Point, Grandfather’s cousin Charlotte bought it — even the skeletons. She asked us to help her fix up the house. We might even get to stay there overnight.”
    The players looked up from their cards when they heard this.
    “Well,” one silver-haired lady said, “you must be very brave. A lot of strange things have been going on at Skeleton Point ever since Charlotte bought Dr. Tibbs’s old place.”
    Another man at the table put his finger to his lips. “Now, don’t go scaring the boy with all that foolish talk about the Walking Skeleton.”
    The woman ignored the man. “Well, don’t say we didn’t warn you. I heard from William Mason, who’s working out there, that there’s a skeleton in the house trying to turn into a real person again. If you ask me, that’s why some of those statues have missing parts.”
    Now Benny’s eyes were bigger than dinner plates.
    “Pay no attention,” another cardplayer told Benny. “Everything’s been falling down at Skeleton Point for years, especially those statues. I was glad to hear Charlotte’s going to fix up the place. That’ll stop all this Walking Skeleton nonsense.”
    “Maybe the Walking Skeleton is a real person already,” Benny said. “I’m a walking skeleton, too. Only I have muscles on top of my skeleton.”
    The cardplayers laughed again and returned to their game.
    When the Aldens got their cones, they sat on the front porch of the general store to enjoy their ice cream.
    “Where to next?” Grandfather asked when everyone had finished. “As if I didn’t know.”
    “Skeleton Point!” the children cried at the same time.
    “Skeleton Point it is,” Grandfather said.
    Soon he slowed down when he came to a hand-painted sign nailed to a tree. A picture of a skull and words painted in dripping red paint warned, SKELETON POINT — KEEP OUT.
    “Does that mean us?” Henry asked.
    “Not at all,” Grandfather said. “Charlotte said if we want to take a look at her property, we can go anytime. She keeps the driveway closed off to discourage trespassers. I’ll park down here while you children run up and take a quick look around.”
    Violet zipped up her jacket. “See you in a little bit, Grandfather.”
    “It’s so quiet,” Benny said in a hushed voice as they walked through the dark, misty woods.
    The next moments were not quiet at all, as a burst of barking broke the silence.
    Startled, Benny grabbed his sister’s arm.
    “It’s okay,” Jessie said. “It’s a dog.”
    A chocolate-brown Labrador retriever, bounded toward the children, gave one last bark, then ran off.
    “I’m glad that was just a dog, not the Walking Skeleton!” Benny said as they approached the house.
    “Whoa, maybe that is!” Henry pointed to a bony figure moving toward the mansion. As they watched, the figure vanished.
    The children froze. Jessie and Henry tiptoed toward the house.
    “Whoever — or whatever — that was is gone,” Jessie said when she came back for Benny and Violet. “There’s nobody around. Come see the house. It’s a little spooky, but beautiful, too.”
    Indeed it was. The children passed an empty reflecting pool full of leaves. On each side stood several moss-covered statues — goddesses, cherubs, angels, even a stone lion. The figures were cracked, and a couple of them were missing arms or hands.
    “It’s so sad that they’re all crumbling and ruined,” Violet said when she came closer.
    Close up, the stone house wasn’t as big as it looked from a distance. Its long windows and tall doors made it seem larger than it really