Mystery of the Spotted Leopard by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Author:Gertrude Chandler Warner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2022-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

Out and About

The children walked through the village toward the lodge. On the way, they caught up with a small cart pulled by a donkey. Henry glanced into the cart as they passed. It held a jumble of scrap metal and tools.

The cart’s owner turned as they reached him, and they saw that it was Praveer. They greeted him, and Violet and Benny went to pet the donkey.

“Children!” He grinned, but his smile faded as he studied the faces of Henry and Jessie. “What is this? You look sad. Are you not enjoying your time in my beautiful homeland?”

“It’s not that,” Jessie said quickly. “It is beautiful. We got to go up the valley today. We saw the monasteries and blue sheep and even a vulture.”

“That is good,” Praveer said. “But I can tell something is not right.”

“We’re okay.” Jessie tried to smile. “Just tired. We’re not used to the thin air up here.”

Praveer nodded. “I have heard this is a problem for foreigners. I do not understand it myself. I have never been farther than Leh. But you Westerners have so much of everything—even air to breathe!”

“We’ll feel better after lunch,” Henry said.

“Yes!” Benny gave a little bounce. “We’ll have a yummy lunch, and then we can work on our mystery.”

Praveer looked confused. “What is this mystery?”

“Tashi is missing,” Benny said. “She’s a snow leopard. We think someone kidnapped her.”

“Kidnapped?” Praveer asked. “I do not know this word.”

“We think someone caught her and took her away in a truck,” Henry explained.

“Oh my,” Praveer said. “That is bad news, but it does happen. Snow leopards are worth a lot of money. Some people still hunt them for their fur.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Henry asked.

Praveer bobbed his head. “The law does not stop everyone. Yes, I’m sure that is what happened. Someone must have killed this leopard for its fur. I am sorry it happened, but it is one less problem for me.” He gave the children a nod and went on his way.

The children clustered together and watched him walk away. Jessie did not think Praveer sounded very upset about Tashi going missing. And she was surprised at how sure he was that the culprit was after Tashi’s fur. Then she noticed something in the back of his cart. “Do you see that?” she whispered. “I think he has an animal trap!”

The trap looked like rusty metal jaws that could snap closed.

Violet gasped. “That would really hurt any animal that got caught in it.” She lowered her voice. “Do you think he might have something to do with Tashi going missing?”

Jessie took notes on what had just happened. “His reaction was suspicious,” she said. “He doesn’t seem to care about snow leopards the way we do.”

“I guess as a farmer, he thinks about things differently,” Henry said. “Just like Oliver and Meera do.”

It was hard to imagine life herding animals in the high mountains. The children had never faced challenges like that. When they had lived in the boxcar, they’d had to find their own food, and Henry had sometimes worried they wouldn’t find enough.

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