Great Shark Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

CHAPTER 1
Danger in the Deep
    “Help! It’s going to get me! It’s going to eat me!” screamed Benny Alden. He looked back at the giant shark swimming toward him. He swam away from it as fast as he could, pulling his hands through the water and kicking his legs harder and harder. But each time he glanced back, the shark was closer. It was gaining on him.
    Six-year-old Benny gasped for breath. How much longer could he swim before the shark caught him?
    Suddenly, Benny felt something grab him. He closed his eyes tightly. His body began to shake.
    Had the shark gotten him at last?
    From far away Benny heard a voice calling, “Benny! Benny!”
    Benny opened his eyes.
    “Benny wake up!” cried the voice. “You’re dreaming!”
    Benny slowly began to realize where he was. He was in bed, and his twelve-year-old sister, Jessie, was standing beside him, shaking him gently by the shoulders. The clock on his bedside table said it was midnight.
    “What’s going on?” Benny asked, rubbing his eyes.
    “You were having a nightmare,” Jessie said. “Was it a shark again?”
    Benny nodded, shivering. “It almost got me this time!”
    Jessie sat down on the edge of the bed and put her hand gently on Benny’s arm. “It was only a dream,” she reminded him. “You’re safe in bed.”
    Benny noticed his grandfather standing beside the bed, wearing a blue bathrobe over his pajamas. Benny and Jessie lived with him, along with their fourteen-year-old brother, Henry, and ten-year-old sister, Violet. After their parents had died, Benny, Violet, Jessie, and Henry lived for a while in an old abandoned boxcar in the woods. Then their grandfather found them and they went to live with him in his big white house in Greenfield. Mr. Alden even brought the boxcar to the backyard for the kids to play in.
    “I should never have let you see that movie, Danger in the Deep, ”Grandfather said. “I had no idea it would be so scary.”
    Violet poked her head into the room. “The shark dream again?” she asked, yawning.
    Jessie nodded.
    “Poor Benny,” said Violet. “That’s the third time this week.”
    “I’m never going to the beach again!” Benny said.
    Grandfather frowned, thinking about something.
    “Will you be able to go back to sleep now?” Jessie asked Benny.
    Her little brother nodded.
    Grandfather bent to give Benny a kiss and tucked the covers snugly around him.
    “Can we still finish our checkers game tomorrow morning?” Benny asked.
    “First thing,” Mr. Alden said as he turned out the bedside lamp, but he sounded distracted. Benny wondered what Grandfather was thinking about. But he only wondered for a moment, because he quickly fell back to sleep. This time there were no more dreams of sharks.
    The next morning, when Benny woke up, he could smell pancakes cooking. He quickly dressed and made his bed, then ran downstairs to the kitchen. “Good morning, Mrs. McGregor!” he called out as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.
    “Good morning, Benny,” replied the housekeeper, with a friendly smile. She handed Benny a plate piled high with steaming hot pancakes.
    “Thanks,” he said, sitting down to eat. “Where’s Grandfather?” Benny licked a drip of syrup off his fork. Mr. Alden was usually the first one up.
    “He went out,” Mrs. McGregor said.
    “So early?” Benny said.
    Mrs. McGregor looked at the clock. “It’s not so early young man. You slept in today.”
    “Where did he go?” Benny wanted to know.
    “He didn’t say,” said Mrs. McGregor. “He was having his coffee and reading the paper as he does every morning, when suddenly he jumped up and made a phone call. Then he went out.”
    The corners of Benny’s mouth turned down in disappointment. “He promised we’d finish our checkers game first thing this morning.”
    “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” said Mrs. McGregor.
    Henry came into the kitchen. “Good morning,” he said, serving himself some pancakes. He