Disappearing Staircase Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Author:Gertrude Chandler Warner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781453221426
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2011-02-14T10:00:00+00:00

“It’s The Teddy Bears’ Picnic’!” Violet said. “Listen.”

“Maybe the sound is somehow coming from the second floor where Nan is,” Henry whispered. “I’ll go check.”

He tiptoed down one flight of stairs but didn’t hear a thing. One room was locked. Raising his hand, Henry knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?” Nan yelled out, but she didn’t open the door.

“It’s Henry. Can I come in?”

“No, I’m painting in here,” Nan snapped. “All the woodwork is wet with paint. Go finish your wallpapering.”

Henry started to say something but stopped himself. “Okay.”

When he got back to the other children, he explained what had happened. “You know what? I didn’t smell a bit of paint coming from that room. I wonder why Nan locked herself in there.”

Violet looked at Henry with her big blue eyes. “Did you hear my music box?”

Henry shook his head. “I’m not sure where that sound came from. I didn’t hear it from where Nan was, anyway. But she may have heard my footsteps and closed the music box.”

“What are we going to do now?” Violet asked.

“I guess we’ll clean up, then go downstairs to see if there are other jobs for us,” Jessie answered.

“Can I climb up on there?” Benny asked when he saw Henry about to fold the stepladder. “I want to be tall.”

Henry smiled. “Sure. We need to be careful around ladders. So lean against the wall with your right hand. I’ll hold you and the ladder steady.”

“Now I’m taller than you!” Benny said when he stood on top of the stepladder. He looked up at the ceiling and noticed something. “Know what? There’s a little knob on the ceiling that sticks out.”

Henry held his arms out for Benny. “Here, jump down. I want to get a closer look. Jessie, hold the stepladder steady for me, okay?”

Jessie held the ladder firmly as Henry stood on top.

“Good eyes, Benny,” Henry said when he saw something on the ceiling, too. “From down there you can’t really see that knob. I wonder if it’s part of a folding staircase like Aunt Jane had at her ranch house. I can’t quite reach it.”

Jessie squinted up. “Oh, I see what you’re talking about. The knob blends into the carvings on the ceiling.”

The knob was just a couple of inches out of Henry’s reach. “Know what?” he said. “I’m going to stand on the floor instead. If I put Soo Lee on my shoulders, she can pull the panel open a couples of inches. Then I can pull it down the rest of the way.”

Soo Lee always loved sitting on Henry’s shoulders. She was even more excited now to help her cousins open the secret door. She looked down at the other children after Henry put her on his shoulders. “Now I’m tall, too!”

“Okay, Soo Lee, just tug that knob a teeny bit,” Jessie said, looking up.

A moment later, the children were startled when a figure appeared in the hallway.

“May I ask what you children are doing?” Louella Gardiner demanded in a sharp voice.

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