Free Mystery of the Runaway Ghost by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

Homer!”
    Nelson took a sip of lemonade. “The past really does hold some wonderful treasures,” he said. The ice clinked in his glass.
    Fran nodded, her face beaming.
    Henry was wondering about something. “What will you do with the painting, Fran?”
    “You’ll have lots of pennies to rub together if you sell it,” put in Benny.
    After a few moments, Fran went over to the fireplace. “This painting should be enjoyed by everyone,” she said, as she buffed the brass plaque attached to the frame. “I’ll make sure The Runaway Ghost finds a home in one of the finest museums in Wisconsin.”
    Nelson opened his mouth as if about to argue. But then he closed it again. He said only, “Whatever makes you happy, Mother.”
    Just then, Fran suddenly exclaimed, “What on earth … ?”
    The others turned to look at her. “What is it?” asked Cora.
    “This plaque’s a bit loose,” Fran said. “And … there seems to be something tucked into a small opening just beneath it.” While everyone watched in amazement, she pulled out a folded piece of paper, yellowed with age.
    “What is it?” Benny asked, bouncing with excitement.
    Fran carefully unfolded the paper, then read the words aloud:
“Dearest children,
    If you are reading this letter, then you have solved the riddles and found this painting hidden in the Buttercup Room. Although our good friend, Winslow Homer, never laid eyes on our treasured pet, he has managed to capture Buttercup’s likeness exactly — right down to the number one on her bell! It’s enough to make you believe in ghosts, isn’t it?
    Your loving mother, Anne.”
    “So the mystery really was just a parlor game,” Jessie realized. “Anne just wanted her children to have some fun finding the painting.”
    “There’s something I don’t understand.” Benny looked puzzled. “If the mysterious box was still under the floorboards, how was the mystery solved?”
    That was a good question. It was clear Anne’s children had never found the box of clues. So how had Winslow Homer’s painting come to hang on the wall in the living room?
    “Anne died from pneumonia the winter of 1866,” Fran said after a moment’s thought. “It’s possible she became ill before giving her children the first riddle.”
    “Oh, no!” cried Violet.
    Fran went on, “Somebody probably came across the painting of The Runaway Ghost when the old mudroom was torn down years later.”
    “I guess the answer to the last riddle was supposed to lead to the Buttercup Room,” Henry concluded.
    Grandfather nodded. “Anne probably had no idea the painting itself would be worth a fortune one day.”
    “And when it was finally found,” added Cora, “I imagine nobody knew the real artist was the great Winslow Homer.”
    “Well, thanks to the Aldens, the mystery has finally been solved,” said Fran. “And I have a lot more to add to that article I’m writing.”
    Cora blinked in surprise. “You’re writing an article?”
    Fran nodded. “For the historical magazine. It’s all about the runaway ghost.”
    The Alden children looked at one another. That was what Fran had meant when she said she wasn’t going to sit around and do nothing. If Cora wouldn’t write about Buttercup, then she would!
    Benny looked over at the painting. “Did Winslow Homer really paint a ghost ?” he asked.
    “I don’t know, Benny,” Fran said with a wink. “It’s a mystery.”

About the Author
    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 the 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