™

R E A L K I D S • R E A L P L A C E SAMERICA’S NATIONAL MYSTERY BOOK SERIES

TM

C A R O L E M A R S H

The Mystery

on the

MightyMississippi

Copyright ©2004 Carole Marsh/Gallopade International/Peachtree City, GAAll rights reserved.Third Printing, December 2008Ebook edition Copyright ©2011

Carole Marsh Mysteries™ and its skull colophon are the property of Carole Marsh andGallopade International.

Published by Gallopade International/Carole Marsh Books. Printed in the United Statesof America.

Editor: Jenny CorseyCover Design: Vicki DeJoyPicture Credits: Michael BoylanContent Design: Steve St. Laurent, Lynette Rowe

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ChristinaYotherAge 9

GrantYotherAge 7

Sam EllisAge 6

JakeEllisAge 4

about the characters

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Jammin’ in New Orleans!Readers, to help you correctly pronounce any words that may be new to you, I havenumbered that word or term. Look at the bottom of the page to find the footnotethat will tell you how to say the word!

–Carole Marsh

in 1814 we

took a little trip

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Grant Yother stood in the middle of JacksonSquare in the town of New Orleans in Louisiana andsang at the top of his lungs:

“In 1814, we took a little tripAlong with Colonel JacksonDown the Mighty Mississip!We took a little bacon and we took a little beans,And we caught the bloody British in the town ofNew Orleans!”

Then his grandfather, Papa, joined in:

“We fired our guns and the British kepta’comin’;

There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago;

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We fired once more and they began a’runnin’On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico!”

Christina, Grant’s older sister, and Mimi,their grandmother, hid their heads beneath thefrilly umbrellas they had just bought in the Square.

“I’ve never seen those two before, haveyou, Christina?” Mimi asked, as they strolled awayfrom the singers.

Christina giggled and rolled her eyes. “No! Icertainly have not. I’m certain that those two areabsolutely no relation to us, right Mimi?”

“Right!” Mimi agreed, steering Christina to anoutdoor lemonade stand. They ordered two tall, icylemonades and took them to an ice-cream parlor styletable and chairs beneath an ancient oak tree alldressed up in thick beards of long, gray Spanish Moss.

“Isn’t New Orleans just the most wonderfultown?” Christina said. “I just love all the neat parksquares, and the old trees, and the artists at workright out on the sidewalks.”

Christina and her grandmother looked around.Sure enough in every direction all types of artists werescattered around the park “doing their thing.”

Nearby a watercolor artist painted a beautifulscene of the park itself. Christina noticed how her

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palette of colors glistened in the morning sun.Beside her, a photographer had a large camera setup on a tripod and was making a photo of a coupleall dressed up fancy, old-timey costumes.

Down the walkway, a mime was acting out ahumorous skit for a group of tourists. One of thechildren in the crowd giggled as the mime magicallyproduced a red rose from behind her left ear!

“Is it always this festive in Jackson Square?”Christina asked Mimi. “It seems like one big party.”

Mimi laughed. “Sometimes it does seem likeNew Orleans is one big party,” she agreed.“Especially in the Vieux Carré1.”

“What’s that?” asked Christina. She knew itsounded like French, but she didn’t know what theterm meant.

“It means French Quarter,” Mimi explained.“That’s the area all around here where you see theparks, shops, restaurants, museums, touristattractions, streetcars, and the riverfront.”

“Hmm,” Christina muttered thoughtfully.She had only been in New Orleans overnight andalready she was captivated by the unique city. Sheand Grant and Mimi and Papa had driven down from

1 vu KAH ray

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their home in Peachtree City, Georgia and justarrived last night.

Mimi was a kids’ mystery book writer andhad come down here on a trip to research theMississippi River. Papa was Mimi’s official helper,travel agent, baggage carrier, and best restaurant-finder in the world, according to her grandmother.Christina and Grant were lucky that they often gotto travel with them, like this time. School had justgotten out. The only deadline they had was to meettheir friends Sam and Jake in one week in St. Louis,Missouri for some big Lewis and Clark celebration.Mimi was going to give a speech there.

While it might seem like Christina and Grantjust tagged around after their grandmother, thetruth was that Mimi had this problem—wherever shewent, mystery seemed to follow! She always usedher grandkids as real life characters in her books.The locations and the history in the books werealways real, too. But supposedly, the story wasfiction—made up.

However, as Christina and Grant well knew, itdidn’t always turn out that way! While Mimi had herhead in a book in some library, and Papa was offchecking out historic sites, it often fell to the kids to

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solve whatever real life mystery came up. That is, ifone did—and it almost always did.

But this trip, Christina felt lucky. NewOrleans was such a beautiful city. It still felt likespring here with a rainbow of flowers in bloom thatsmelled so good they made you smile. And the skywas so blue. And the grass lime green. Andeveryone seemed so happy, like life was apermanent vacation.

Perhaps, Christina thought, this would beone trip that could just be fun. Relaxing. No stress.No strange characters. No weird clues to decipher.No danger. No mystery.

Right?

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the vieux carre

2’

Suddenly two big hands grabbed Mimi aroundher neck from behind. Two smaller hands squeezedChristina’s neck. The two girls squealed loudly.

“Surprise!” Grant said, as he and Papa let goof their necks and came around the front of thetable and took the other two seats.

“Lemonade! Lemonade!!” the two menshrieked together.

“Singing at the top of your lungs makes yousoooooo thirsty,” said Grant, adding a few hackingcoughs for special effects.

“Acting like an idiot in a public place ought tomake you cough,” Christina told her brother.

“Aw, we were just having fun,” Papa said.“It’s such a beautiful morning, isn’t it? I have a greatday planned for us!”

“What?! What?!” Christina and Grantdemanded together.

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“First things, first,” Papa insisted and rose toget he and Grant a lemonade.

“I can’t wait to hear what we are going to do,”Christina said. “Papa always plans the best things.”

Mimi sipped her lemonade. “Well, I hope hehas planned a tight schedule. This is our only day inNew Orleans. We need to make the best of it.”

Papa had overheard her. “The best of it Ihave made, indeed!” he said, sitting down andhanding Grant his glass of lemonade.

“Then let’s hear it,” Christina said. Shesquirmed in her seat; she could hardly wait to getstarted. They were “burning daylight,” as Papaoften said. Then Christina relaxed. We havestarted, she thought to herself. We’re here andwe’re already having fun. Not a mystery in sight.What a relief.

“Okay,” Papa said, spreading a map of theFrench Quarter out on the little table. “First,we’re going to the Aquarium of the Americas.That will take all morning, I’m sure. Then wewill visit the D-Day Museum that has a lot ofWorld War II exhibits, and then . . .”

“Papa!” Mimi said. “That is more than wecan do in four days! Why don’t you let Grant and

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2 BYE YOU; a Cajun word for a backwater creek

Christina choose? You and I have been to NewOrleans lots of times.”

“But how do you leave out riding thestreetcar, or seeing how they make Tabasco® hotsauce, or riding a boat through the bayou2 to see thealligators? And then there are all those above-ground cemeteries and vampires! And don’t forgetthe pirates!”

Christina and Grant both let their mouths fallopen at the same time. Lemonade dripped downGrant’s chin, but he didn’t seem to notice.Alligators? Vampires? Pirates? What kind of citywas this anyway?

Grant and Christina were speechless, butMimi was not. “These are your grandchildren,” shereminded Papa. “Let’s pick something nice for kids,like the Louisiana Children’s Museum.”

Grant jumped up, spilling his lemonade.“No!” he insisted. “Let’s pick alligators, and pirates,and vampires. We can go to some sissy kid’smuseum any old day.”

Everyone laughed. “Grant, you’ll be the firstto get scared at that stuff,” Christina teased him.

“Will not!” said Grant.“Will too!” argued Christina.

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Then everyone got quiet as a mimeapproached them with a funny look on his face. Hewas dressed in black tights and ballet slippers. Hewore a red and white striped knit shirt with a redrose stuck in the pocket. And he wore a pair ofwhite cotton gloves. His face was covered in whitegreasepaint.

Christina knew that a mime did not speak.He acted out what he wanted you to know. Themime looked Mimi in the eye. He took the rose outof his pocket and scribbled in the air as if writing inthe sky. Then he pointed to Mimi. Mimi smiled andnodded to indicate that yes, she was indeed a writer.

Next the mime crouched down and lookedPapa right in the eye. He wiggled his head back andforth as if he were thinking, then he put his white-gloved hand on Papa’s heart. Then he pointedtowards Mimi. Papa gave a hearty laugh. “Yep!” hesaid. “I’m crazy about that woman!”

Now the mime squatted down and began tolook all around Grant. Then he made a scary face.Next he took his hands and joined them at the wrists.He opened and closed his hands like a big jaw. “Oh, Igot it!” Grant said. “Watch out for gators!”

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The mime then went into a swashbucklingdance, swinging an invisible sword to and fro in the air.“And the pirates!” Grant added, and the mime nodded.

Christina felt little goosebumps creep up herarms and across the back of her neck. Slowly themime approached her. He looked very serious.Then he shook as if he were scared to death.

“What? What?” Christina insisted, thoughshe was not sure she wanted to know what the mimewas getting at.

The mime waved his hand in front of his face.Then he leaned over so close to Christina’s face thatshe could smell breath mints. Suddenly, he openedhis mouth to reveal fangs. The sharp teeth weretipped in red as if dripping blood.

Christina let out a little squeal, and the mimebacked off. Then he waved his hand in front of his faceagain and now had a pair of red wax lips over his lips.He put his fingers to the fake lips and then made akissing motion and aimed his fingers at Christina.

“The vampire will bite her because she isso sweet?” Grant guessed, and the mime nodded.He took a big bow. Papa slipped him a five-dollartip for the entertainment, and the mime skippedoff with a wave back to them.

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“You didn’t seem to enjoy that,” Papa said tohis granddaughter.

“It was a little creepy,” Christina admitted.“Well, feel up in your hair,” Mimi said.Reluctantly, Christina lifted her hand to her

head. She gasped when she brushed over her hairand felt something. She pulled it out of her hair andlooked to see the red rose the mime had stuckthere. When had he done that? And how?

Mimi gave Christina a funny look. “Now,”she said, “you’re beginning to understandsomething else about New Orleans.”

“What?” asked Christina, confused.“That it’s magical and mysterious,” Papa said.Christina frowned. Only one of those words

sounded okay to her.Grant started waving wildly. He did not say a

word, but motioned with all his might, practicallyturning the table over.

“For heaven’s sake, Grant, what is it?”Mimi said.

“You give up?” Grant said happily. “I wasmiming. I was saying let’s GO!”

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the cabildo

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As it turned out, that morning they didn’t goto any of the places Mimi and Papa had named.Instead, they wandered lazily through the FrenchQuarter, passing shops filled with Mardi Gras3

costumes. “I wish we had been here for the big Mardi

Gras parades,” Grant said. “Think of all the shinybeads and candy they would have thrown down tous from the floats.”

“Oh, be glad you weren’t here back inFebruary when that annual celebration took place,”Papa said. “It is fun, but it’s also a real zoo with somany people packing the streets. A day like today ismuch better.”

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3 MAR dee GRAH; French for “Fat Tuesday”

Mimi didn’t look so sure. “But all the MardiGras balls would sure be a lot of fun to attend,” Mimisaid wistfully. Mimi and Papa loved to dance.

“What is Mardi Gras anyway?” Christinaasked. She stared into a window at mannequinsdecked out in elaborate costumes of purple andgreen and gold. They wore feathery masksdecorated with colorful sequins and glitter.

“It’s a special celebration held all aroundLouisiana each year,” Mimi explained. “The carnivaltakes place not only in New Orleans but in small townsall around the state. It’s lots of parties and parades.It’s been going on for years and years.”

History, Christina thought. That’s what NewOrleans seemed all about. But, hey, she was out ofschool for the summer and didn’t want to think toomuch about a school subject. But here, historyseemed to surround them in the old buildingscovered with vines and porches surrounded by lacyblack iron balconies. It didn’t feel like dead history,it felt like living, breathing history.

“Why does it feel so different here?”Christina asked. She stopped to wipe sweat fromher brow.

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4 cah bill DOE; Spanish for fort

“That’s the humidity,” Papa said. “New Orleansis far south enough to have almost a tropical climate.The town is regularly clobbered by hurricanes.”

Christina sighed. “Well, it makes me feeldrowsy, even though I just got up not long ago.” Ofcourse, they’d had a long drive yesterday, onlygetting to the Gulf of Mexico around dusk. They hadseen a beautiful sunset as they drove across the longbridge over Lake Ponchartrain. It was dark whenthey got to town, so they had just had a quick dinnerand gone right to sleep. Christina had slept in a bigbed covered with a lacy canopy.

At the Cabildo4, a very Spanish-looking fort-like building where the famous Louisiana Purchasehad been signed, Mimi scooted off to the library todo some research. Papa talked with the museum’scurator. Grant and Christina wandered around thestrange building with its dim light and exhibits ofCaddo Indians who once lived in Louisiana. Thencame the Spanish in their funny-looking metalhelmets, and then the French. Most of the historyrepresented seemed to be about war, fighting,fighting, and war.

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“No wonder they like to have so much fun inNew Orleans today,” Christina said. “It seems liketheir past was pretty bloody.”

“Yeah,” Grant agreed. “Just look at thispicture of all these dead people. The writing saysthey died in a yellow fever epidemic.”

“Well, they probably didn’t have vaccinesagainst diseases back then,” Christina said. “Sodon’t complain next time you get a booster shot.”

Grant just wrinkled up his nose and squintedhis eyes. He couldn’t make that promise.

Soon Mimi and Papa reappeared at the sametime with the same thought. “Let’s eat lunch!”

As their grandparents hurried them downthe street beneath lampposts burning gas flames,even during the daylight, Christina noted, “Theresure are a lot of restaurants here.”

Mimi and Papa both laughed. “Everyoneloves to eat in New Orleans!” they both said.

In a moment they were seated in an open-airrestaurant. Their glass-topped table sat next to afountain that spewed both water and fire at thesame time.

“That’s a pretty good trick,” Grant said.“More magic,” said Christina with a sigh.

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“Four Mud Bug Po Boys!” said Papa to thewaiter.

“Uh, Papa,” said Christina. “I’m not so sureI want to eat anything called a mud bug.”

“It’s okay,” Mimi insisted. “That’s just anickname for crawfish; they’re like shrimp—verydelicious—you’ll love them.”

And sure enough, Christina did. So didGrant. And as they chowed down, they asked theirgrandparents about things they had seen at theCabildo that had confused them.”

“How come people look and talk so funnyhere?” Christina asked.

“They don’t look funny at all,” Mimi said.“Many of the people here come from differentcultural backgrounds. They may be part French,part Spanish, part Canadian, or many othernationalities. That’s one of the wonderful thingsabout Louisiana—it’s such a melting pot of manydifferent kinds of people.”

“Well, maybe so,” said Grant, chewing hismud bug thoroughly. “But they really do talk funny.”

Papa laughed. “You probably heard someCajuns talking.”

“Cajuns?” Christina repeated.

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“People who came here from Canada longago and married French folks,” Mimi explained.“They often live along the bayous, make wonderfulstews like seafood gumbo, play neat-sounding musiccalled zydeco, and like to dance something calledthe Cajun two-step.”

“We’ll show you tonight,” Papa said. “We aregoing to Mulate’s!”

Mimi seemed delighted to hear this, butChristina and Grant were busy listening to themusic being played by a band that had just tuned upon the sidewalk outside the restaurant.

“Is that zydeco music?” Grant asked. Heloved music and dancing, but he had never heard asound like this before.

Papa closed his eyes and listened to theblowing horns and other lively sounds of the music.“No,” he said. “That’s JAZZ!”

“Well, where are they going?” Christinaasked. “They are lined up like it’s a parade, and theyhave umbrellas, and everyone’s dressed up realfancy. Is it a party?”

Mimi gave Christina a funny look. “No,” shesaid. “Actually, it’s a funeral. Someone has died.They are headed to the City of the Dead.”

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ALABAMA

ARKANSAS

ILLINOIS

INDIANA

IOWA

KANSAS

KENTUCKY

LOUISIANA

MICHIGAN

MINNESOTA

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

NEBRASKA

OKLAHOMA

A

TENNESSEE

T E X A S

WISCONSIN

Lake Michigan

e

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www.carolemarshmysteries.comwww.gallopade.com

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WORDS TO KNOW

Read ‘em all!

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ISBN: 978-0-635-01656-0

The Mystery of...Alamo Ghost

Biltmore HouseBlackbeard the Pirate

California Mission TrailCape Cod

Chocolate TownCounterfeit Constitution

Death ValleyDevils Tower

Disney WorldFort Sumter

Freedom TrailGold Rush

Golden Gate BridgeGrand Canyon

Graveyard of the AtlanticGreat Lakes

Haunted Ghost TownHawaii

Hoover DamIditarod Trail

JamestownKentucky Derby

Kill Devil HillsLiberty BellLost Colony

Missing DinosaurMount Rushmore

Mount VernonNew York City

Niagara FallsOregon Trail

Rocky MountainsSmoky Mountains

Space Center HoustonSt. Louis Arch

Underground RailroadWhite House Christmas

WilliamsburgYellowstone National Park

and more!

T

Christina and Grant plan tomeet some friends at theGateway Arch in St. Louis.But they don’t plan ongetting involved in amystery which takes themover locks and dams, pastTom Sawyer’s cave, andpast many other sightsalong the mightyMississippi!