Free Mystery in the Computer Game by Gertrude Chandler Warner

CHAPTER 1
Trolls and Trouble
    One rainy day, the third one in a row, the four Alden children and their cousin, Soo Lee, gathered around the family computer. They were playing Ringmaster, a game Grandfather Alden had given to Henry for his fourteenth birthday.
    “I’m stuck,” ten-year-old Violet said. “I made all the trolls disappear except one.”
    “Can Soo Lee and I try?” Benny asked.
    He was six and already an expert on the computer. Soo Lee was pretty good, too, and Ringmaster was their favorite game.
    “Know what?” Benny said to Soo Lee. “When it’s our turn, let’s give the troll an apple from the boy’s pack. Maybe he’ll go away. Then the little kids can get to the waterfall.”
    Violet lifted her hand from the computer mouse. “Okay, you try, Benny. I’m going out to the porch to play checkers with Grandfather.”
    Benny sat down at the computer. “We know what to do. Right, Soo Lee?”
    Soo Lee nodded. “That troll is scary,” she said, “but the kids are just like us.”
    “And the Magician is just like Grandfather,” Benny added. “And their dog, Tracker, is just like our dog, Watch.”
    Watch heard his name from where he lay under the computer desk. He thumped his tail against the wooden floor to let everyone know he was listening.
    Twelve-year-old Jessie pushed a stray curl back from Benny’s forehead so he could see better. “That’s why Grandfather bought us Ringmaster, ” she explained. “There are five children and a dog in the game. They all live by themselves out in the woods. They have to solve mysteries to find the magic ring.”
    “We’re always solving mysteries, too,” Benny said. “And we find things, too, and not just on a computer. Only we don’t live in a boxcar in the woods anymore but right here in Grandfather’s house.”
    Benny and Soo Lee went back to Ringmaster. Henry and Jessie looked on. They let the younger children figure out the game by themselves.
    The computer made a dub-dub sound.
    Benny slowly read aloud the pop-up message over the troll’s head:
    “I thank you now for feeding me.
    Travel forward,
    But watch out for the tree.”
    “The apple worked, Benny. The troll is gone,” Jessie said.
    “Hey, that reminds me,” Benny said. “I’m hungry.”
    Henry laughed. “Even computer food makes you hungry.”
    Luckily for Benny, Mrs. McGregor, the family’s housekeeper, showed up just in time. She held out a plate of her famous chocolate chip cookies. “How about a snack? You children were so caught up in your game, you didn’t even notice I was baking cookies.”
    “How come you didn’t ask Soo Lee and me to help?” Benny asked.
    Mrs. McGregor held out the plate. “I usually don’t have to ask. The minute you hear me clanking my baking bowls, you’re right there. But ever since your grandfather brought that game home, I’ve lost all my kitchen helpers!”
    Henry took a warm, gooey cookie. “Not anymore, Mrs. McGregor. We’ve almost finished the whole Ringmaster game. It’s fun, but not as much fun as making cookies and eating them.”
    Mrs. McGregor handed him the plate. “Why don’t you bring the rest of these out to Violet and your grandfather. He was getting pretty lonesome out there. Goodness, you children used to play checkers with him for hours on end not so long ago.”
    The rain was still falling when everyone joined Violet and Grandfather on the porch. Violet jumped one of her red pieces right over two of Mr. Alden’s black pieces.
    “You won again!” Mr. Alden said. “Have you been practicing computer checkers behind my back?”
    Violet grinned. “Sometimes, Grandfather,” she confessed. “But I like playing with you much better than playing on any old computer.”
    Everyone noticed Grandfather had an extra twinkle in his eye. This usually meant something special was about to happen. The children didn’t have to wait long to find out what it was.
    Grandfather settled back in his chair. “Speaking of old