The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Little Mermaid
Contents 1 A Flying Mermaid 2 A Scooter Escape 3 Ricky Gets a Bump 4 Slippery Smorrebrod 5 A Cotton-candy Face 6 A Strange Tattoo 7 Mischievous Holly 8 A Ship’s Secrets 9 A Runaway Cheese 10 A Great Dane Race 11 A Sailing Adventure 12 Ricky the Bird Watcher 13 Pam’s Clever Idea 14 A Ghost Scare 15 Aerial Scouts 16 Lucky Ducks 17 An Old Ruin 18 Gift From a Queen 7 15 23 33 43 54 63 72 82 93 101 110 119 127 137 145 153 163
CHAPTER 1 A Flying Mermaid I see Denmark Pam Hollister exclaimed Where her brother Ricky asked excitedly and pressed his freckled nose against the airplane window Down through the clouds Look Pam’s cry had alerted the rest of the Hollister family In front of Pam and Pete were Ricky and Holly Back of them were their parents with little Sue dozing on her mother’s lap Now the little dark-haired girl sat up and gazed ea gerly through a big hole in the fluffy white clouds I see a fairy’s castle she exclaimed That’s the famous Kronborg Castle said the at tractive blond stewardess who was walking up the aisle Some people know it as Hamlet’s Castle and say the ghost of an old king still walks around Let’s go there and hunt for the ghost Ricky pro posed enthusiastically Who was Hamlet Holly called back Briefly Mrs Hollister explained that he was the hero in a play by William Shakespeare Kronborg’s towers rose high into the sky and sun shine glistened on the moat surrounding the castle 7
Holly said to the stewardess We solved a ghost mystery once when we moved into our new house in Shoreham That’s in the United States Hearing this a young woman seated across the aisle from Pam and Pete leaned over and asked Is this your first trip to Copenhagen Yes it is Pam replied to the traveler who held a small black velvet case on her lap Pam introduced herself and the rest of the Hollister family She was proud of her pretty mother and her tall handsome father who owned The Trading Post a combi nation hardware and sports shop Pete was a good-looking boy of twelve with a crew cut and a friendly smile Whenever the Hollister chil dren found a mystery to solve he liked to look for clues So did Pam She was ten with fluffy blond bobbed hair and a kind heart to match her sweet face Ricky seven and Holly who was six were the fam ily imps but none the less lovable Ricky’s reddish hair was usually mussed He was always ready to take a dare such as balancing blindfolded on a fencepost Tomboy Holly often imitated him twirling her brown pigtails busily All the children doted on four-year-old Sue who Grandmother Hollister often said was the cutest child this side of the moon Pam learned that the name of the woman who had spoken to her and Pete was Inger Petersen She was re turning from the United States and had boarded the plane at London Miss Petersen said there were many interesting things to be seen in her country 8
First you must visit the Little Mermaid in the harbor she told the Hollisters and also the Tivoli Gardens That’s the greatest fun park for children in the whole world Pam pressed for more information about the Little Mermaid She’s not a real one of course Miss Petersen said smiling In fact all stories about mermaids those pretty young creatures with human bodies but fish tails in place of legs are legends The beautiful statue in Copenhagen harbor was erected in honor of the little mermaid in a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen Denmark’s most beloved author She’s sort of a symbol of Copenhagen and is now known all over the world Several adult passengers had been listening to Miss Petersen’s story Among them was a bearded man who sat two seats ahead of the Danish woman When he turned to catch more of the conversation Sue giggled Mommy she said in a low voice let’s call him Mr Bushyface Sh Sh Mrs Hollister said holding a finger to the little girl’s lips But the bearded man did not seem to have heard Sue’s remark It was apparent that he had been trying to catch ev ery word of the story Pete noticed that the man kept his right hand in his jacket pocket while he took out a cigarette and held a lighter to it all with his left hand The boy mentioned this to Pam Maybe his right hand was hurt whispered the kindhearted girl 9
