HENRY GUESSED IT was a little after 9:30 p.m. by the time the boys reached Vanderbilt’s neighborhood—a neighborhood where not one of them fit in, given the look of their shabby clothes and the gaudy structures all around them.
It was actually darker than Henry figured it might be. The towering streetlights sprayed tight, perfect circles of dim light onto the ground, but those circles were surrounded by even larger patches of sheer darkness.
This whole neighborhood should be dark, he thought to himself. Every mansion here’s so big, there’s no way you could ever light up any one of ’em. Do all these guys own railroads?
Saying the colossal mansions were “grand” was kind of like saying St. Patrick’s Cathedral was a “nice little church.” These houses were seriously spectacular—each designed and built to be slightly more spectacular than the next. And just as Ernie had suggested, the “grandest of these” was the one belonging to Cornelius Vanderbilt the Second.
The mansion took up an entire city block. It was four stories high with amazingly designed gables that reached even higher. Sturdy marble decking wrapped all around most of the second level, with porthole windows providing just enough light. Not too much, not too little. And the stonework was like nothing Henry had ever seen before. It put the so-called mansions from his own time to shame.
Henry, Jack, and Ernie had set up shop in the darkest patch of sidewalk they could find, which was helpful, because of the lone policeman walking the sidewalk a half block away.
At first glance, Henry thought he looked like a slightly better-dressed version of the cop at the Depot. He wore a rounded hat, a crisp dark coat with four buttons, and bright white gloves; very appropriate for the area he was patrolling.
Right now, though, the only thing Henry was thinking about was that the cop was walking toward them.
The policeman stopped mid-stride at a nearby corner, cocking his head toward the thirty-foot-tall oak tree the boys were hiding behind. The night air had fallen completely still.
“Nobody move,” Ernie whispered an unnecessary warning as the officer strolled into the street that separated them, looking in one direction, then turning to look in another, before finally choosing to look straight in their direction.
For way, way too long.
If it hadn’t been for the sound of someone else’s footsteps a block away, Henry was pretty sure they would have been spotted. The policeman gave one more long look before slowly wandering off to see who was walking in the darkness behind him.
“Well?” Ernie asked after the cop had disappeared around the corner. “Is he gone?”
“I think so,” Jack replied.
It was right then that a nearly imperceptible sound caught Henry’s attention from up above. Jack and Ernie seemed to have noticed it as well, considering that they were both looking up into the tree. The only thing they could see up there, though, were branches and oak leaves. And all they could hear was the sound of the policeman’s steady, but now fading, footsteps.
Must have been the wind. Had to be the wind. Or a squirrel, maybe. Sure. Could be a squirre—
Creeeaaaak.
Okay, so maybe a really big squirrel. Could be a cat. Cats go up trees all the time.
Creak . . . crrrrr . . . scruuufff . . . thhhhh . . .
With the quietest whisper in the history of quiet whispers, Henry meekly suggested to both Jack and Ernie, “Y’know, maybe we should just try and find a new tree to hide behind.”
“Good idea. You want to go ask that cop for a recommendation?” Jack’s voice was somehow even quieter.
Good point.
Whatever it was, Henry knew it was right up in the tree, only a few feet above them. Even though he couldn’t see anything.
The moonlight, what little there was of it, wasn’t much help. Had they been lucky enough to have a full moon, it probably would’ve helped that curious cop more than it was helping them right—
The something moved again.
Something large.
A light breeze blew and the leaves rustled enough to reveal a dark shape holding on to the biggest of the lower branches. Until . . .
Crack!
Henry’s heart thumped loudly. At least he thought it was loud. So loud he didn’t think he’d be able to hear anything else because of it. Jack shot him a look and silently mouthed, “What is wrong with you?”
Henry shook his head and pointed up to the shape above them.
Scuuuuffff . . .
Chuh . . . chuh . . .
Craaaaaaaaaack . . .
Whatever-it-was-up-in-the-tree was now slipping and falling fast, frantically reaching for every branch on its quick trip to the ground.
Kuh-thumppppp!
The something landed right in front of the three boys. Even though it was dark, Henry could see the something was a “who,” not a “what,” and the who was wearing a cape. A cape draped over the shoulders of someone scrambling to his feet to run away.
Henry felt Jack shove him out of the way, catching just enough of the silhouette’s heel to trip him up.
“Ummmmphhh!” The figure hit the ground again, and Jack was on him in a heartbeat.
“Oh no, no, no! You’re not goin’ anywhere, pal.” Jack rolled the runaway onto his back and demanded, “Not until you tell us what—”
Jack whipped back the cape’s hood, and all three looked into the frightened, wincing face of a young girl.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she cried out, then held her breath, unsure of what might happen next.
A girl? Is that a girl?
“What the heck?” Jack sat back on his heels. “What . . . you . . . ? Up there in the tree? You were up there watchin’ us the whole time?”
“I wasn’t watching you,” the girl answered defensively, getting up on her own and wiping the dirt off her black knee-length dress, covering a pair of equally dark pants. “I was waiting for you to leave.” She pulled an oak leaf off her cape and flicked it to the ground to help make her point.
“Huh,” Ernie said as he smiled and scratched his head. “Whatta ya know?”
“Hi,” the girl said, having noticed Henry.
“Hi,” he said back to her.
“You almost broke our necks just now. You know that, dontcha?” Jack still looked upset. “Whatta ya even doin’ around here? All by yourself?”
“What are you doin’ around here?”
“I asked you first,” Jack countered.
“Same thing you are, I’m guessing.” She shrugged. She looked to be thirteen or so, maybe the same height as Henry, with freckles that were framed by long, curly hair that was brownish but closing in on light red. A few strands, but not all of them, fell halfway down her back, suggesting she may have cut it herself. “Track to his own heart? Greatest of these?” she stated matter-of-factly. “You prob’ly have that much figured out if you’re in this neighborhood. Not that you don’t look like you might own one of these shacks.”
Ernie broke into a smile.
“Ernie Samuels.” He held out his hand. “This is Henry. That’s Jack.”
“Mattie,” she replied, wiping off her right hand before taking each of theirs. “Mattie McGillin. Nice to meet most of you,” she pointedly said to Jack.
“Yeah, you too.” He nodded dismissively, before turning to Henry and Ernie. “All right, let’s go.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Mattie shook her head, then scratched the side of her button nose. “You really think I’m just gonna stand around until the three of you are done lookin’? I was here before you! And there’s a midnight deadline, remember?”
Jack put his hands on his hips. “What? Ya think ’cause you’re a girl ya get to go first?” he asked.
“No, I get to go first ’cause I was here first,” Mattie said as she straightened the hood of her cape. “Even though all of us are looking for the same thing at the same time. If I go, you’ll follow me. If you go, I’ll follow you. That’s what I get for falling out of a tree, I guess.”
Even here in the darkness, Henry could tell the cape made Mattie look larger than she actually was and slightly more intimidating. Same with the black pants under the dress.
Might be what she’s tryin’ to do. Takin’ on Skavenger’s Hunt all by herself.
Casually, she leaned against the base of the oak tree, taking a second to glance at the back of her fingernails.
“Tell you what,” she said to none of them in particular, “you three go ahead, and I’ll just stay here and watch for a while. When our friend the cop comes along in about, oh, twelve minutes, I’ll tell him to go over to the Vanderbilts’ and see if he can help you out.”
Mattie yawned and gestured for them to go ahead and get on with their business.
Smart. A little backbone there too. If I’d said that to Jack, he would have thrown me into that tree by now.
“Okay, all right,” Jack said after only a few seconds of thinking, knowing he didn’t have a choice. “We can do this one together. We’ll figure it out later.” He motioned for her to come over. “Where do you want to start?”
Mattie hopped over and turned her attention to Henry. “This one looks smart. What do you think?”
Me? Why does everyone keep pickin’ me?
Caught off guard, he didn’t say a word for a second. Mattie tried to get his attention.
“Hello? Hennnnnrrrry? I’m sorry, that was your name, wasn’t it?” she prodded him with a smile. His flustered look must have looked a little too flustered, he guessed.
“Quiet. Hold on a minute.” Mattie, suddenly serious, raised a hand as her eyes caught something from one of the neighboring estates.
Henry looked over and saw that a lamp in one of the adjacent mansion’s windows had brightened. All four of them could see the silhouette of someone inside moving behind the newly lighted curtain. The Vanderbilt place, however, stayed eerily dark.
Mattie looked back at him, a hint of urgency in her eyes. “May not have a lot of time here,” she said. “So, what was my question? Oh, right, what do you think?”
Henry looked up at the towering Vanderbilt estate. The very largest of the 5th Avenue mansions loomed high above them, its windows fixing the foursome with what looked like an unwelcome stare. Henry stared back, taking in as much of it as he could before turning to the trio not-so-patiently waiting on him.
“Whatever it is, it’s gotta be inside,” Henry finally said.
“I agree!” Mattie enthusiastically nodded. “Well done, Henry!”
“Inside where?” Ernie asked, incredulous, tipping his head toward the block-filling mansion. “Inside there?”
Henry nodded as he reminded them of the clue. “There your journey shall be unlocked . . .”
“. . . but only by a second!” Mattie smiled in agreement. “Yes. Okay. Let’s go.”
Go? We can’t all go in! I mean, yeah, the next clue’s in there, but why don’t we just send Jack in?
Mattie, though, had already begun walking toward the intimidating structure, Jack right alongside her. Until the two of them stopped, realizing they were the only ones doing any walking.
Mattie looked back over her shoulder at Henry and Ernie. “What’s wrong?”
It was Henry who finally took a deep breath, the kind usually marking a brave announcement, only to say, “I don’t think I can go in there.”
“Whaaaat?!” Mattie said with a wincing look as she and Jack walked back to them. “What are you, yellow?”
Yellow? What’s “yellow” mean? If that’s 1885 for “scared,” then yeah, I’m yellow. School bus yellow.
Ernie quickly agreed with Henry. “Are you kidding me? I’m with Henry. Do you know what’ll happen if the four of us break into the Vanderbilt Mansion? We’ll wish we only had to deal with one cop.”
“Ernie, we are not gonna have to break in,” Mattie assured him. “Henry knows that much, I can tell you that. All we gotta do is find the greatest of these. That means the biggest door in the place, of which it looks like there might be plenty.”
Jack had been quiet for too long, which could either be a good thing or a very bad thing. Henry saw him look over his shoulder at the enormous door to the Vanderbilt home.
“Anybody else wondering why no one else is even here?” the big suspender snapper asked suspiciously.
Ernie shrugged and said, “Maybe we’re just slow.”
“Or maybe we’re wrong,” Jack threw out the possibility, looking at Mattie. “All of us.”
“Nuh uh.” She frowned as she shook her head. “Whatever the clue leads to, it’s gotta be inside. Why’s everyone goin’ dotty on me?”
Dotty? What’s . . . never mind.
Jack’s expression backed her up 100 percent, proving that he now had a growing appreciation for Mattie’s gumption. At least that’s what Henry thought—even though he was still totally preoccupied with the question:
What’s there to be dotty about? How many things you want? Look at this place. They’ve prob’ly got guard dogs, guard tigers, guard ninjas.
“All right,” Jack started handing out orders. “Ernie, you check the door on the Sixth Avenue side. If ya ain’t gonna go in with us, least you can do is find out if that door’s bigger than this one right here.” He switched to Henry. “Babbitt, you check the one on the other side. Also, the one around back. Two of us’ll wait here in case anyone else shows up.”
Henry had been gone barely two minutes when his fear of going inside the mansion had started to ease just a little.
It wasn’t just because of the amazing mansion itself, though that was a part of it. Even the towering wrought-iron gate he was walking next to was incredible. Small lanterns glowed on the main posts and dark green iron vines wrapped their way around the bars. If Gigi had seen it, she would have passed out.
No, Henry’s fear had mostly eased because of something else.
Mattie.
She’s pretty cool, gotta admit. Kinda hard not to like those freckles, right? ’Specially when they scrunched up when she was standin’ up to Jack.
The way she just wanted to walk up and knock on the front door? That was impressive.
Too bad you went ahead and embarrassed yourself, though, Ace. Hanging back like a wuss, feet planted in the ground while she’s ready to march right inside. Maybe one of these days you’ll actually get around to doing or saying the right thing when you’re with a girl. ’Stead of goin’ all dotty.
Henry walked toward the corner ahead, mentally kicking himself. He’d already passed one door that was big enough for a small truck to drive through, but it wasn’t as large as the one on Jack and Mattie’s side of the estate.
He was on the 5th Avenue side of the Vanderbilt house now. Fortunately the street around him was empty, but Henry still walked close to the brick wall in case the cop was anywhere nearby. It was somewhat darker there and he figured he’d be harder to spot.
Henry craned his head to find out if he could even see the top of the mansion: barely able to spot the towering brick chimneys next to the fifth-story gables. The whole thing looked like it went halfway up to the moon.
For the first time in a while, and even though he was alone and walking in the dark, he smiled.
“Henry,” his father’s voice tumbled back into his head again. “When you get a little older, you and I are going to find an adventure. We’ll sail somewhere. We’ll fly. We’ll climb the highest mountain we can find.”
Henry let his hand run along the bricks of the gated wall. “And when we’re done with that adventure?” his father’s voice promised, “We’ll move on to the next one. All right?”
“All right,” Henry whispered to himself, realizing he’d stumbled into an adventure even his father could never have imagined. For good and for bad.
Without thinking, he reached into his pocket for the ledger sheet and gave it a quick look.
Another destination line had magically been filled in.
The Vanderbilt Mansion, New York
Great, he thought to himself. Another ledger entry gone. Gone, gone, gone.
That meant four spots were now filled, even though Henry was sure Grand Central Depot was a wrong guess. One by one, wrong or right, they were steadily being filled in.
He folded the ledger sheet up and tucked it away. It might be out of sight down in his pocket, but it still taunted him.
Still haunted him.
Henry gave one more glance up toward the Vanderbilt’s darkened windows before turning the corner to the far side of the mansion, and suddenly found himself face-to-face with the one person in Chief’s story he’d forgotten all about.