Free Pilgrim Village Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

for all the trouble you’ve caused.”
    Shelly nodded silently.
    â€œWhat about the strange things happening at the tavern?” Jessie asked Shelly. “The burnt biscuits, and the food running out. Did you cause those, too?”
    Shelly looked puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
    Red cleared his throat. “I’m afraid those were my fault.”
    â€œ Your fault?” Linda asked.
    â€œYes,” Red said, sighing wearily. “I haven’t wanted to admit it, but I just can’t keep up with things the way I used to. Especially not with all the crowds lately. I’m afraid I messed up a few times lately.”
    â€œI’ve been telling you for years we should get you some extra help in the kitchen,” Linda said.
    â€œI know. I just never wanted to admit that I needed help,” Red said.
    â€œMaybe we could help with lunch today,” Jessie offered. “I’ve been wanting to find out how you make that delicious apple pie.” She smiled at Red.
    â€œSounds good to me,” Red said, giving the Aldens the first real smile they’d seen from him.
    â€œWe’ve solved a mystery, and now we get to make apple pie!” Benny cried. “What a great vacation!”

G ERTRUDE C HANDLER W ARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children , quickly proved she had succeeded.
    Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write each mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.
    When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.
    While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.
    Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
    Copyright © 1995 by Albert Whitman & Company
    Albert Whitman & Company
    250 South Northwest Highway, Suite 320
    Park Ridge, Illinois 60068
    www.albertwhitman.com

    Distributed by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
    345 Hudson Street
    New York, NY 10014
    www.openroadmedia.com