Free Mystery of the Hot Air Balloon by Charles Tang Page A

teased, but Benny didn’t notice.
    He ran to the window. “I don’t know,” Benny said. “Quick! Come look!”
    Henry exchanged glances with Jessie and Violet. They all thought Benny was pretending he saw something to get their attention.
    Just then, a shadow fell across the kitchen. The room grew dark. Watch’s ears perked up. He whined and scooted under the table. The dog never acted like that without a reason.
    Jessie pushed herself away from the table. “Maybe there is something out there,” she said.
    Violet put down her paintbrush.
    Henry closed the cookbook and went to the door. He saw something hovering over the lawn. “It’s an aerostat!” he said, his voice full of surprise and wonder.
    “It looks like a big balloon to me,” Benny said.
    “An aerostat is a balloon,” Henry told him, but Benny didn’t hear him. He was already running outside.
    Henry, Jessie, and Violet dashed after him.
    A large basket hung below the balloon. Two people were inside it. Ropes hung from its sides.
    “Grab those ropes!” Henry called.
    Jessie reached out and took hold of a dangling rope. Violet and Jessie each grabbed other lines.
    “Hold on tight!” Henry instructed.
    The basket thumped to the ground and bounced.
    Henry ran toward the collapsing balloon. He caught hold of a line at its crown.
    The basket stopped moving and tipped over.
    Afraid someone was hurt, Jessie gasped and put her hands over her eyes.
    Laughing, a young man and woman in their late twenties crawled out.
    “Are you all right?” Jessie asked.

    “We’re fine,” the young woman assured Jessie. “Thanks to you.”
    Henry stepped forward. “Glad to help,” he said. He extended his hand. “I’m Henry James Alden.”
    The woman smiled as she shook Henry’s hand. “I’m Sky Blair.” She turned to the young man at her side. “And this is Matt Farber.”
    “ Sky! ” Benny blurted out. “Your name is Sky ?”
    “Benny, remember your manners,” Violet warned.
    “Oh, it’s all right,” Sky said. “Everybody reacts like that.” She smiled at Benny. “My parents wanted an unusual name. They didn’t know I’d end up as a balloon pilot.”
    Henry introduced his sisters and brother. “We’re happy to meet you,” he said.
    Matt laughed. “I’ll bet you’ve never met anyone who landed on your lawn before.”
    “Never!” the Aldens all said at once.
    “We didn’t intend to land here,” Sky said. “A sudden gust of wind blew us off course.”
    “Don’t you have a steering wheel or something?” Benny asked.
    Sky rolled her blue eyes. “Don’t I wish,” she answered.
    “An aerostat is pretty much at the mercy of the breezes,” Jessie said.
    “You seem to know a lot about ballooning,” Matt said.
    “I’m reading a book on the history of flight,” Jessie explained. “I just finished the section on hot air balloons, and now a balloon lands on the lawn!”
    “Where’d you come from?” Benny asked Sky.
    “Lloyd’s Landing,” she told him.
    The Aldens knew about that town. They often drove through it.
    “That’s a long way away,” Benny said.
    “Not in a balloon.” Sky pointed upward. “There’re no stoplights or traffic up there.”
    “How will you get back?” Violet asked.
    “That’s a problem,” Matt answered. “We lost contact with our chase crew.”
    “Chase crew?” Benny repeated.
    “Every flight is followed by a ground crew,” Sky explained. “They meet us at the landing site.”
    “We use two-way radios to keep in touch,” Matt said. “Something happened to ours. I think the batteries gave out.”
    Sky narrowed her blue eyes. “That shouldn’t have happened,” she said.
    Matt held up his hands. “I know. I should’ve checked.”
    “Could you phone someone?” Henry asked.
    “We could, yes,” Sky said. “Would you mind if we used your phone? We’ll call the balloon port. The chase crew probably returned there when we lost contact.”
    “What’s a balloon port?” Benny