Judy Bolton: The Vanishing Shadow (original)

    This is the original text version of the first book in the Judy Bolton series. This book was later rewritten to be shorter and that's the version I have read before. I have never read this one and am anxious to see how different it is.

    Judy Bolton is spending the summer, along with her brother Horace, at her grandparent's house in Dry Brook Hollow. It's not too far from her own home in Roulsville but as her parents have gone out of town it is where the two are staying. 

    Judy spends her days out among the beech trees, reading, and trying to avoid the neighbor girl, Edna. One day she and Edna overhear two construction workers, who are building a new road, arguing about the recent dam that had been built above Roulsville, as well as mention a "pit". After noticing the girls one of the men marches over angrily and demands to know what they've heard. Edna insists she's heard nothing but Judy confidently replies she had heard everything said. However she does not mention that she does not understand the meaning of anything said.

    Finding she's been sent tickets in the mail to an upcoming dance and spelling bee Judy goes to ask her Grandmother for some of the money her father had left for them so she can attend the dance. She is told that grandmother gave the money to Horace for a suit and there's none left for her. Upset over her brothers special treatment Judy runs back to the beech grove to find the construction worker there waiting for her. He offers her a necklace in exchange for her silence on what she had overheard and Judy informs him she cannot be bribed. He says he'll find another way to silence her and marches off. 

    Judy sits down in the beech grove to read and becomes startled when she sees a mysterious shadow quickly falling across her book pages. She jumps up to see this shadow has gone through the bushes so she follows it however it quickly disappears. She then hears her brother walking on the paved road and as she goes after him to yell about the money, she is grabbed from behind by thin, pale white hands. She is gagged, has a hood placed over her head, and her hands tied behind her back before being thrown in the backseat of a car. 

    As the car heads towards it's unknown destination Judy can hear two people speaking up front; the workman and someone else with such a high-pitched rasping voice that Judy can not tell if it's a man or woman. The two are discussing how Judy's overhearing the workmen talking has spoiled their plans and they must get rid of her. They talk about locking her up and starving her until they can secure a promise from her not to repeat what she has heard. 

    Once the car stops she is pulled out and marched over wet, soggy ground. She can hear the sound of rushing water and fears they may toss her into it while still bound. But instead she soon hears the unlocking of a door and she is tossed onto the hard floor of an unknown room and unbound, being told that her captors will be back in the morning.

    After a restless night Judy hears a dog outside her prison and begins kicking and banging on the door  to cause the dog to bark and bring attention. Her captors soon arrive and tell Judy she can be set free if she promises not to speak a word of what she's heard by the road or in the car. Judy promises and the men say they will take her home. To avoid her having to explain where she has been all night she will be taken to her own empty home and her family will assume she spent the night there. Her captors put the hood back on her head and make her lie down on the car floor where she promptly falls asleep. 

    

    They drop her off in front of her house and by the time she gets the hood off the car is gone. Judy is frustrated over not having seen the car or what the mysterious shadow person looks like. She goes inside and falls asleep at her father's desk. Three hours later Horace and grandfather show up looking for her and take her home.

    The next day Judy asks Horace to accompany her on a picnic. On the way they see that Dry Brook has become waterless and, hoping to use it as a story for his newspaper job, Horace and Judy try to find the beginning of the brook and discover what has become of the water. They leave their picnic basket in a cave and go off searching. 

    Once they find what they're after they see that the spring it originates at has been dammed up with poles and mud which seems strange since it's causing less water to reach the big new dam that is powering the paper mill. They think it may be the work of someone trying to get revenge on the mill. 

    Back at the cave they find their picnic basket overturned and the remains of the food scattered about. Horace finds what appears to be a bear track but Judy remarks it could be from an exceptionally large dog such as Charlie Austin's dog. Horace asks who Charlie Austin is and Judy explains that he's a local young man who is much desired by the girls of Rouslville, with the exception of Judy. He drives a fancy yellow car and Judy admits she's turned down offers to ride in it with him. He's also the new foreman at the paper mill.

    Once home Horace surprised Judy with a new party dress for the upcoming dance along with a dollar for her ticket. Judy gives it back to him saying she wants to pay for her ticket herself by selling blackberries. 

    The next day she heads out with two empty pails and a spade and hoe. Although she plans on collecting and selling blackberries she also wants to use it as a cover for going up to the beginning of Dry Brook and digging out the dam. She goes to see Edna with the intent of asking for her help but Edna quickly begins talking about the dance and how she's going with Charlie Austin. This seems strange to Judy as Charlie and Edna are not in the same social circle or of the same social statues. 

    Edna makes it clear that her date with Charlie is part of her bribe for keeping quiet about what the girls overheard. She remarks that Charlie had said he had fixed it so Judy would also not talk, thinking that this meant Judy had been paid off but Judy realizes he had a hand in her abduction. She leaves quickly and heads towards Dry Brook where she successful breaks the dam free then gathers her berries.

    The next day she heads out early to town on her grandparents colt to sell the two pails of blackberries. While going by the train tracks the horse sends Judy and the berries flying before running off and Judy begins gather up the spilled berries along with the help of Peter Dobbs, a childhood friend Judy has not seen for awhile but who happens to be passing by. 

    Peter also just happens to be the grandson of the paper mill president. He tells Judy his grandfather retired and the current president is Mr. Rubin but Rubin has given charge to Charlie Austin. Judy and Peter walk to his house, where he lives with his grandparents and after dinner Judy picks a kitten out of the litter their cat has birthed. It's a black cat that she names Blackberry. 

    Peter drives her home and she asks to stop at the mill so she can talk to Mr. Rubin. In the pasture underneath the dam is a fenced in area of horses and Judy spots the colt who has broken in to mingle with them. As her and Peter begin to walk over to it the wet, soggy ground under Judy's feet trigger her memory and Judy is able to figure out that the location of the mill is where her abductors had taken her and her prison had been the nearby tool shack. 

    When Judy and Peter look inside the tool shack they see a coat hanging which has a gun in the pocket. Judy begs Peter to take it to the police and he agrees. After he leaves she goes up to the mill to speak with Mr. Rubin. Not wanting to take the kitten in with her she places it in a barrel outside the office door. 

    The receptionist inside is Gladys Hoyt, a disagreeable girl Judy had known from school and she refuses to let Judy see Mr. Rubin until she states her business. Once Judy says she wishes to talk to him about Charlie Austin, Miss Hoyt says Judy can see Mr. Austin instead and to sit down and wait for him to return. Judy sits down long enough to wait for Gladys to look away so she can sneak out. However by the time she's out the door Charlie Austin has already pulled up. Judy claims she is simply there looking for her lost cat she pretends to look around but after finding Blackberry is no longer in the barrel she really does have to look around before giving up and leaving cat-less.

    On the day of the dance Judy is walking to it when a car pulls over and asks if she wants a ride. It's owner is Arthur Farringdon-Pett. He's a wealthy boy from the nearby town Ferringdon, as you can tell by his name he is a descendant of the towns founder. Along with him is his sister Lois who Judy instantly likes, Donald Carter who is Horace's rival reporter at the newspaper, and Lorraine Lee who's father owns the newspaper. Judy takes a dislike to Lorraine when she refers to Horace as "Sister", a rude nickname that's been given to the timid boy, and Lorraine clearly dislikes Judy simply from Arthur's giving her attention. 

    As they're heading to the dance Arthur stops at the paper mill because he's been trying to get in contact with either Mr. Rubin or Charlie Austin. While waiting in a soda fountain Lois tells Judy that Arthur thinks something suspicious is going on with the dam. He is an engineer fresh out of college and had put in an unsuccessful bid for the dam building contract. The company that did get the contract had put in such a low offer that he's sure something underhanded was going on.

    He also explains to Judy later that night that he had found the construction company hasn't purchased any sand for building the dam which makes him believe they used some from a local sand pit that isn't up to grade. 

    Judy wins first place at the spelling bee which makes her a popular partner at the dance. Lorraine leaves early, apparently due to jealously towards the attention Judy's receiving. Judy and Horace get a ride home with Arthur, Lois, and Donald and on the way Arthur stops within view of the dam and points out 3 cracks he's been noticing. 

    He says the poor construction is making the dam a ticking time bomb, that Dry Brook was purposely dried up, not to sabotage the mill but because the dam wouldn't be able to handle it's added water. He says that just one heavy rain will cause the dam to break and the whole town of Roulsville will be taken out, killing everyone. This talk frightens Horace so they change the subject and continue on their way. 

    Suddenly the shadow crosses in front of the car and Judy begs Arthur to turn around and follow it. She insists the mysterious skeleton looking man is tied up with the dam mystery and she begins to think he is Christopher White, the man who won the dam construction contract. He disappears before they can see his face.

    That night Judy hears Horace crying out in his sleep about the dam, the things Arthur said have terrified him and Judy is disgusted by how scared he is and gets up to yell at him. The next morning he is suppose to go report the church sermon but claims he is too tired. Judy yells at him again saying he is too coward to go into Roulsville and shames him for not being a brother she can be proud of. 

    Her reason for wanting Horace to go to church so badly is that she wants him to deliver a letter to Peter in which she's told everything about the dam and her kidnapping and asks for his help to rebuild the makeshift dam at the start of Dry Brook. He reluctantly gets up and begins to church on the colt with instructions by Judy that if he can not get the letter to Peter then to read it himself. Peter turns out to not be present at church and after service Horace briefly talks to Arthur, Lois, Lorraine, and Donald who have shown up there because Arthur claims he's drawn to the town since knowing about the dam. 

    As he starts on his way home he remembers Judy's letter and stops to read it. He's horrified to find out Judy had been kidnapped and shocked that she had faced a terrifying situation so bravely. A storm begins at that moment and Horace, believing he's hearing the dam break, runs the horse back into town yelling for everyone to head for the hills. He continues going up and down the streets yelling warnings until he's sure everyone has headed for safety.

    Meanwhile Judy has been sitting nervously at home. Both she and her grandmother worry about timid Horace becoming injured on the colt and Judy worries about him being waylaid by the shadow and her letter becoming read. The two become more worried when the storm starts and soon they see a high volume of traffic heading into Roulsville including her parents who are due to return that day. The only one heading out of town is the fancy yellow car belonging to Charlie Austin. 

    Judy is furious to see him fleeing at the first sign of danger and leaving the Rousleville residents to die so she goes to call the Farringdon police to stop him however as she's on the phone the whole house becomes rocked as the sound of explosions go off signaling the dam has broke. 

    Judy's grandmother passes out and for a minute Judy believes she may have died leaving her completely alone as her brother, parents, and grandfather are all in Roulsville as it's being flooded. After her grandmother becomes conscious Judy sets out on foot to cover the three miles to town. As she passes the dam she sees it's completely gone with the three broken pieces of it now laying where the paper mill had stood just that morning. 

    Coming upon the park on a hill she sees a huge crowd and is surprised to see many people at ease. She finds Mr. and Mrs. Dobbs who tell her she is the sister of a hero and that Horace had given warning so early that everyone was already to higher ground and were able to watch as the dam actually broke. 

    Unfortunately none of her family are present but someone mentioned having seen Dr. Bolton's car on the other side of the valley where more people had ran to. Judy finds Peter and together they wade through the flood waters until they are able to holler to someone to see if Horace or the Boltons are there. Horace is not but Dr. Bolton is. They head back and notice some bushes by the park moving. Judy fears it's the shadow but they soon find it to be the colt who is wondering alone. Following its track they find Horace at the bottom of a tree, having fallen from it during the flood. Horace is taken up to the park where newspaper men all photograph him and try to get a story.

    With the town destroyed the Boltons and the Dobbs go to stay with Judy's grandparents although two days later the Dobbs move to a new home in Farringdon. Horace has been receiving lots of offers for gifts, checks, and job positions as a reward for his brave act. He appoints Judy of writing back declining everything but when an offer for a free house in Farringdon arrives Judy can't help but accept it. However Lois ends up mentioning the house is being offered for free because the owner can not sell it due to its reputation for being haunted.

    Christopher White has not been found by the police and there seems to be no trace of him ever existing. Charlie Austin is still in police custody having been detained after Judy's phone call. The police have no evidence against him so they bring him to Judy to see if she has any evidence. Judy can't help but feel that something is off about him. Once she realizes what it is she instructs the policeman to remove his wig and it turns out Charlie Austin is Christopher White. He goes off with the police and Dr. Bolton tells Judy she may have to testify is court. Oh and the police bring Blackberry to Judy, he had been taken by Charlie Austin and was in/on the tool shack.

- Judy's abduction is actually included in this version of the book. In the revised it says she was grabbed and went unconscious from her mouth being covered, that she regained slight consciousness while walking over wet, soggy ground, and that she went unconscious again when tossed into the dark room. I much prefer Judy being awake for the whole experience. It makes the story make more sense when Judy realizes the mill land is where she was take. It also feels more realistic than continuous unconsciousness and makes Judy appear tougher than some other heroines who are prone to fainting.

- In both books Judy is being held captive when she hears a dog outside. She thinks maybe this "dumb creature" could help her escape, then it's immediately said that Judy is a lover of all cats and dogs. I found it amusing she calls the dog dumb followed by how much Judy loves all dogs.

- In the revised book Judy and Horace collect blackberries when they go for a picnic. They leave their picnic basket in the cave while they search for the beginning of dry brook yet they bring the pails, I thought that strange. In the original they are not collecting blackberries which makes me assume the berries are from a part of the book that was removed when it was revised and added in here for continuity.

- In this version Judy actually checks the tool shack by the dam to verify that it is in fact the place she had been held against her will. In the revised she just assumes.

- The fact that Judy cannot tell that Charlie Austin is Christopher White just because he wears a wig is a little ridiculous. Especially since "the shadow" is said to have such a very strange and unique voice. I also doubt that eyebrow pencil and rouge (blush) would be enough to make him go from terrifying looking to a handsome playboy.

- The biggest part that was left out of the revised text was Judy destroying the Dry Brook dam. This leaves Judy partially responsible for the flood which, I assume, is why it was removed from the revised edition. After Christopher White has been exposed Dr. Bolton tells Judy she may have to testify in court and to be honest about setting Dry Brook free. Since Judy's act was not kept in the revision it did not make a lot of sense why Dr. Bolton would be telling Judy to be completely honest in court.

- I couldn't help but read this while picturing Katharine Hepburn as Judy, it really is the perfect fit.

    Overall this book is good but that's not surprising since Judy Bolton is an exceptionally good series. Nothing felt missing like in the revised texts. I think the mystery is simple to understand but complicated to situate and I really admire Margaret Sutton for creating it.

    It's also worth noting that the Roulsville dam is based on the real life Austin dam. The Austin dam was also built inadequately and broke in 1911, destroying the paper mill below it, and flooding the town of Austin. The dam was rebuilt the year after this book was published and broke again in the 1940's.