Then something woke him from his happy dream.

  Light flashed through the window. A noise came from outside. Was it another storm?

  Benny hopped out of bed and pressed his face against the window. A small light bobbed through the yard. A flashlight! The light paused by a large, dark shape, one of the bear statues. Benny heard a knocking sound. Then the light moved to another statue. The knocking came again. Benny couldn’t tell anything about the shadow moving among the statues.

  The light moved sideways. Suddenly, it flew several feet through the air and dropped to the ground. Then Benny saw the shape of one of the big, dark statues tipping over.

  Crash!

  The light went out. In the moonlight, Benny saw the shadow of a person scrambling away.

  Benny glanced toward Henry. Surely that crash woke him. But Henry simply rolled over and kept sleeping. They had the only bedroom on this side of the house. No one else could have heard or seen what Benny heard and saw. The person was gone, so it wouldn’t help to wake everyone now.

  Benny got back into bed. He lay awake, wondering: Why was someone knocking on the bear statues?

  CHAPTER

  Copies and Clues

  As soon as it was light out, Benny woke Henry. Then he roused Jessie and Violet. “We need to go outside,” he said.

  The children got dressed and followed Benny into the yard. “Why are we out here so early?” Henry asked. “You haven’t even had breakfast yet!”

  “My stomach wants breakfast,” said Benny, “but this is important.” He told them about the shadowy person with the flashlight knocking on the bears.

  “Why would someone do that?” asked Violet.

  “Maybe they were looking for something,” said Jessie.

  Henry rapped on one of the bear statues, then on another. “They sound the same to me.”

  “Here’s the broken one,” said Jessie. The bear holding the bouquet of flowers lay on its side. The children hauled it upright.

  “Oh no!” said Violet. “Its arm broke off. How sad.”

  Jessie picked up the broken arm. “It’s a hollow shell,” she said. “It could be that someone is hiding something in one of these bears.”

  Benny jumped up and down. “That’s what the person with the flashlight wanted! They knew something was hidden in a bear.”

  Jessie looked at all of the statues. “Do you think they found it?”

  “The person ran away when this bear fell over, right?” Henry asked Benny. “You’re sure they didn’t look inside this broken bear?”

  “No, they ran away as soon as it fell,” said Benny. “Their light went out.”

  The Aldens looked at the ground where the statue had fallen. There was a broken flashlight pressed into the grass.

  Henry picked it up and read the words on the side. “Port Elizabeth Marina.”

  “Do you think Mr. Valencia was here looking for the statue for his marina?” asked Jessie.

  “It’s possible,” said Henry. “Whoever it was didn’t find what they were looking for. We need to figure out what they’re searching for and find it before they do.”

  “Yay, another mystery!” Benny turned back to the house. “Let’s figure it out after breakfast.”

  In the kitchen, Jessie checked the ice tray. “The ice cubes are melting. The penny is halfway down.”

  “That’s okay,” Ms. Freeman said. “Things are starting to thaw, but they won’t be too warm yet.”

  Jessie quickly passed out the ingredients Ms. Freeman asked for.

  “See, this food is fine,” said Ms. Freeman. “It’s the walk-in freezer at the ice-cream shop that worries me. It should be all right for now, but if I lose it…Well, I did some accounting yesterday, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover.”

  For the first time, it seemed like Ms. Freeman was worried about what might happen.

  “It will be all right,” Violet said. “The people of Port Elizabeth will get through this. They will help each other, like they helped the bear after the last big storm. The town survives.”

  Ms. Freeman smiled. “Thanks for the reminder,” she said. “We are resilient. You can push us down, but we spring back up! And who could stay down with such a happy collection of bears in their front yard.”

  Ms. Freeman finished cooking breakfast and served it.

  As they ate, Henry said, “We need to tell people we have the bears. But how? We can’t send emails. We can’t put a notice on a community website, and many people won’t have working phones yet.”

  “We could make posters to tell where they are,” Violet said. “I could draw a picture of the bears.”

  “We don’t have a printer to make copies,” said Jessie. “It will take a long time to draw each poster by hand. Then we have to post them all around town. That will take all day.”

  Ms. Freeman grinned. “I know a shortcut. Finish your breakfast, and I’ll show you.”

  The children quickly ate, then they washed the dishes. Ms. Freeman led them to a cluttered workroom. She stopped in front of a machine sitting on a table. It was larger than a computer printer.

  “This is a mimeograph machine,” Ms. Freeman said. “It makes copies. People used these before they had photocopiers or computers with printers.”

  Benny leaned close, his eyes wide. “It must be really old!”

  Ms. Freeman chuckled. “It’s probably older than your grandfather. But mimeograph machines are still used in some places. They don’t need electricity. That’s handy where people don’t always have power.”

  “How does it work?” Violet asked.

  “First, you make the paper you want to copy,” said Ms. Freeman. “You can use a typewriter for the text.”

  She showed them an old-fashioned typewriter. “This is old enough that it doesn’t use electricity either. Use this special sheet of paper. It’s covered with wax. Type like you would on a computer keyboard, but be careful because you can’t erase mistakes.”

  The children talked about what they wanted to say on the flyer. They figured out all the words before they started. Then Jessie sat at the typewriter. She fed the special paper into the top. When she pressed the keys, tiny metal hammers moved. Each little hammer stamped a letter onto the waxy paper.

  After typing her message, Jessie pulled the paper out of the typewriter. “That was fun. I only had one size of letter though. I couldn’t make a big headline.”

  “I’ll draw a bear on the paper,” said Violet. “People will see that and know what the flyer is about.” Violet planned what she wanted. She had to scratch her drawing into the wax on the paper. She couldn’t use any colors. She made a simple outline of a bear holding a stack of books.

  Ms. Freeman took the flyer. “Now we put this stencil in the mimeograph machine. We wrap it tightly around this cylinder.” She did that. “Now someone adds the ink.”

  Henry found the bottle of ink. He poured it into the machine’s roller. “Oops. I got some on my thumb,” he said. “My thumb is purple from the ink!”

  Grandfather chuckled. “We say that someone who is good with plants has a green thumb. I don’t know what having a purple thumb means.”

  “I guess it means I’m fond of Violet,” Henry said, giving his sister a playful nudge.

  Benny leaned close to the machine. “Can I help?”

  “Of course,” said Ms. Freeman. “You can run the hand crank. This handle turns the cylinder. It presses against the roller filled with ink. The ink gets into the stencil made in the wax. Then the ink is transferred onto paper.” She put a stack of paper into the machine.

  Benny turned the crank. Around and around it went! The machine spit out page after page. Each one had the flyer printed on it. “I think this is faster than our printer at home!” Benny said. Soon they had thirty copies.

  “Now people will know where to find their bears,” Jessie said.

  “This might be the best thing you can do for Port Elizabeth,” Grandfather said. “Having the bears back in place will boost people’s spirits.”

  Violet studied a flyer. “Maybe someone knows where the ice-cream bear is. If they see this, they might let us know.”

  Grandfather drove them through town, and the children put up the flyers.

  “The rest of the flyers can go on Main Street and the marina,” said Grandfather. “I’ll park at the ice-cream shop and you can walk.”

  He stopped outside the shop, and the Aldens went in to see if Ms. Freeman needed help.

  Sarah was behind the counter with her back to the door. “Hi, Sarah,” said Jessie. “It looks like things are starting to get back to normal around here.”

  “I know you were supposed to have the necklace today,” Sarah said, and at first Jessie thought Sarah was talking to her. Then she saw Sarah was talking on the shop’s landline telephone. “I’ll get it to you as soon as I can. Everything is a mess here. I need to go.” Sarah hung up with a big sigh.

  “Can we help with anything?” Violet asked.

  Sarah turned to them. She shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine. Just one of my jewelry customers. She doesn’t understand how the storm messed everything up.”

  “Did you lose some of your jewelry?” Jessie asked.

  Sarah mumbled something. Then she quickly said, “Hey, are you still searching for our bear? Have you found it?”

  “Not yet,” Violet said.

  Benny rose up on his toes to look over the counter. “We’re finding clues! Last night someone came to the yard and looked at all the bears. Did you know they’re hollow inside? We think something is hidden in a bear.”

  “Really?” Sarah shrugged and looked away. “That’s odd. It doesn’t seem very likely. Why would anyone do that? I’m sure you’re mistaken.” She came out from behind the counter, still talking. “Sorry I can’t serve you any ice cream today. Marie won’t open the deep freeze until we have power again. I only came in to use the phone. Well, bye!” The door swung closed behind Sarah before anyone could say anything more.

  “That was strange,” said Jessie.

  A moment later, Ms. Freeman came in from the back room. “Did Sarah just leave?” she asked.

  The children nodded. “She mentioned something about her online jewelry store.”

  “Oh, of course. The Ice Box—that’s the name of her shop. Having the Internet down must be hard for her. Still, she has been acting very strangely lately.”

  “This storm has been hard on lots of people,” Violet said. “We should post the rest of the flyers. Once the bears are back in place, people will feel better.”

  Grandfather stayed in the shop to help Ms. Freeman, and the children went to post the flyers.

  Outside, George Williams stood in front of The Stylish Sailor, frowning at another man.

  “I delivered,” the second man insisted. “I did exactly what I was told.”

  Benny stared for a second. He turned to the others and whispered, “That’s the guy whose boat was in the street!”

  Henry nodded. It was Eric Pruett, and he did not seem happy. Henry pulled the others back into the doorway of the ice-cream shop. He did not want to eavesdrop, but even through the glass, they could hear George Williams’s speak with his southern accent.

  “I told ya,” said Mr. Williams. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. Stop pestering me, please.” He turned and went into his shop.

  “But I need my money!” Mr. Pruett said. He stared after Mr. Williams for a minute. Then he ducked his head and hurried away.

  Jessie said, “Eric Pruett thinks George Williams owes him money. Mr. Williams says no. Which of them is right?”

  Benny grinned. “It’s another mystery!”

  CHAPTER

  Getting Warmer, Getting Cooler

  The Alden children walked down Main Street looking for places to put up flyers. The bookstore owner was delighted to hear that they had found her bear. She put a flyer in the store window. The flower shop was closed. Jessie wrote a note on the back of a flyer about that bear’s broken arm. She tucked the flyer under the door handle.

  When they finished on Main Street, the children headed for the marina. “The water has gone down a lot,” Jessie said. “It’s almost back to normal.”

  “Look!” Benny said. “That’s the boat that was in the street yesterday.”

  The Aldens walked toward the red and white boat. It sat atop a trailer near the water. Henry said, “Mr. Pruett must have found a way to move his boat.”

  The Aldens circled the boat and trailer for a closer look. “Oh, hello,” said Jessie as they came across Hector Valencia.

  The marina manager was frowning at the boat. “Hi, kids,” he said. “Do you see anything wrong with this vessel?”

  They studied the large boat. “The side is scraped,” said Henry. “That window is cracked. But it doesn’t look too badly damaged.”

  “It looks good for a boat that sailed onto land,” Jessie said.

  Mr. Valencia nodded. “The damage is mainly on the surface. I don’t see any cracks or holes in the hull.” He patted the side of the boat. “This boat could go back in the water right now.”

  “I’d like to see that!” said Benny.

  “So would I,” Mr. Valencia said. “But Eric won’t do it. He didn’t take the boat out of the water. Now he doesn’t want it put back in! He says he needs to fix it first. But is he fixing it? No, he is not. It’s sitting here in the way. As long as it floats, he could leave it in the water until he’s ready to work on it.”

  “Can’t you move it?” asked Jessie.

  “I could,” Mr. Valencia said. “But Eric Pruett is always short on money. I’m afraid he’d blame me for the boat’s damage and want me to pay.” He shook his head. “No, I have to wait for Eric to take action. Anyway, the inspectors are busy.”

  “The ones who were looking for smugglers?” asked Henry.

  “Have they found any pirates yet?” Benny asked.

  Mr. Valencia chuckled. “Smugglers don’t attack other ships, like pirates do. Smugglers carry illegal goods. We can’t put the boat back in the water until Eric has had it inspected.”

  “Does that take long?” Jessie asked.

  “Not on a boat this size. Eric simply needs to schedule the inspection.” Mr. Valencia looked at the boat and sighed. “Most people who keep boats are great. They take care of themselves and each other. But I have to put up with a lot from Eric. I think he’s awake more at night than in the day. He takes his boat in and out at strange hours. His engine is loud, so it wakes people sleeping on other boats. I get complaints.”

  That reminded Jessie of something. She pulled out the broken flashlight they had found in Ms. Freeman’s grass. “Do you recognize this?” she asked.

  Mr. Valencia took the flashlight and looked it over. “Of course,” he said. “We give these away here at the marina. It looks like this one has seen better days. Where did you find it?”

  Jessie told Mr. Valencia about the statues they had collected, including the marina’s fishing bear. She also told him about the nighttime visitor who had been snooping around Ms. Freeman’s house.

  “I’m glad to hear you found the marina’s bear,” said Mr. Valencia. “We’ve been missing her around here. I’m afraid I can’t help you with the flashlight though. Many people have those. We give them to everyone who rents space at the marina.”

  The Aldens thanked Mr. Valencia for his time and went on to post the rest of their flyers.

  As they walked, Jessie said, “Mr. Pruett sure is acting strange. First, he was arguing with Mr. Williams. Then he wouldn’t move his boat…It seems like he’s up to something.”

  “Do you think he was the person who dropped the flashlight?” asked Benny.

  The children thought about this for a moment. Henry said, “He probably has a flashlight because he has a spot at the marina, but a lot of people have those flashlights. Why he would care about the bears?”

  Jessie nodded. “There’s something special about those statues,” she said. “We just need to figure out what it is.”

  When the children got back to the shop, Grandfather was waiting outside. Ms. Freeman had closed down for the day and gone home.

  Back at the house, she greeted them with a big smile. “Your flyers are working already!” she said. “People have been coming to pick up their bears. The statues aren’t too heavy, but they are awkward. You need three or four people and a truck to move one of those statues. Everyone is working together. They’ve been talking and laughing. They’re sharing their problems and helping out.”

  Violet clasped her hands together. “How wonderful!”

  Ms. Freeman nodded. “It feels like we are one big family. In fact, I talked to Gloria Chang at the fish market. I told her about the generator problem. She’s going to let me use her freezer space for my ice cream.”

  “That’s great news, Marie,” said Grandfather.

  Benny went to the window and looked out on the yard where they’d put the statues. “You have a few bears left. Is that Sarah out there with them?”

  “Yes, she arrived a little while ago,” said Ms. Freeman. “I told her about what happened last night, and she wanted to see the bear with the broken arm.”

  “It looks like she’s interested in all the bears,” said Benny. Sarah was walking around the yard, examining each one closely.

  “She’s an artist,” Violet noted. “Maybe she thinks she can help clean up and fix the bears.”

  Jessie went to the window as well. “There’s the fishing bear. Mr. Valencia should be picking that one up soon.”

  “The flower shop bear has a date tonight too,” said Ms. Freeman. “The store owners are borrowing a truck. They thought they could be here about eight.” She looked at her watch. “Let’s have an early dinner. I need to get to my shop and take the ice cream over to Gloria at the fish market. Sarah offered to stay here. She’ll watch the bears and greet people who come for them.”

  “Don’t you want her help moving the ice cream?” Grandfather asked.