Secret of Haunted Mesa

Phyllis A. Whitney wrote wonderful mysteries for children and young adults which were always more than the sum of their parts. She was wonderfully adept at weaving into her stories of mystery gentle life lessons that always made you feel like you were richer and had more understanding of the adult world by the time you’d turned the last page, making you a tiny bit closer to being an adult. Most of her stuff is 5-star as far as I’m concerned. The combination of old-fashioned values, her insight into the feelings of young ones struggling to grow up and understand what it was all about, and entertaining mysteries that while gentle, had in them just enough intrigue to hold your interest, marked her books for pre-teens and teenagers as show more special, as they remain today.

I didn’t recall this one, but thanks to a good friend who sent it to me as a gift, I was able to read and enjoy it recently. While it very much has the elements mentioned above, this one has a caveat for me, which I’ll get to near the end of the review. This one is set in New Mexico where Jenny travels with her family to Haunted Mesa Ranch, because her father is speaking at a conference there. Jenny immediately begins to soak up the mysterious southwest. Already dealing with an older and talented sister who sings, she is struggling to find her own place and be noticed. She meets a boy named Greg who might be of help, but he’s also a bit volatile for some reason. Then items begin disappearing, small snake carvings left in their place, and a mystery presents itself.

The mystery focuses on the Zuñi tribe, deeply religious Pueblo Indians. Young Charlie Curtis is such, but then why is he stealing and leaving small carvings in place of the stolen items? More importantly — or it should be — why is he alone? Or is he alone? He’s just a child, after all.

Enter Señor Consuelo, a widow still mourning the passing of her husband, who was a great friend to the Zuñi people. In the lovely Señor Consuelo, Jenny seems to have found a friend who understands what it’s like to be her age, and rarely be noticed in the shadow of a talented and headstrong older sister. What should be done about Charlie Curtis and the thefts? How Whitney deals with the subject matter on this occasion is the big caveat for me. There is no way to explore it without minor spoilers, so be forewarned.

Whitney, even back in ’75, had fallen into that liberal hive-mind that by making common-sense laws to live by, other races, such as the Zuñi and other Indians, are being oppressed. Understanding of the differences between cultures, how they operate, is commendable, and latitude must be given at certain times and under certain circumstances. That’s common sense as well. But — and it’s a big but — Whitney went too far here, and though she could unrealistically tie it all up nicely in a big pretty bow, the reality is much different, and worse, this story teaches children the wrong life-lesson.

The decision to not bring in the police, but rather on their own try to understand just what is going on here with Charlie, why he is stealing minor things and heading up to the mesa is understandable on Jenny’s part at her age, and even the adult Señor Consuelo. But then a museum is broken into, a glass case smashed and something taken. Even the fact that it is out of character and culture for a young Zuñi boy to go off on his own, independent of his family and tribe, much less break and enter and steal, does not prompt the adults to call police and let them help. This book was written 7 years after the Indian Police Training and Research Center had been put in place in Roswell, training officers to serve in tribal communities, so just a big fat no on this irresponsible inaction.

If that wasn’t enough for the adults to reach a tipping point — mainly Consuelo, who seemed to be perhaps mirroring Whitney’s own attitudes — what happened next should have. Señor Consuelo’s home is broken into at night, and valuable dolls taken. Worse, Jenny surprises the intruder and it is an adult, not young Charlie. Not only that, but he roughly casts Jenny to the ground in his haste to get away. She could easily have been hurt. Worse, now you have a young Zuñi boy breaking tradition, and working with an adult to steal. That escalates this, and it screams for intervention by police; if for no other reason, the boy’s safety, because there is at this point no clear idea of what’s going on. But nope, more waiting, more of the white-man-has-done-enough-damage-already nonsense. And it is nonsense, because this story ties in with dementia, and someone putting not only himself in danger, but others.

As I mentioned, Whitney tied this up in a nice bow, which is fine for a crime story or romance that’s complete fiction. But Whitney was known in her wonderful children’s mysteries to weave in very real, true-to-life, life-lessons. The message she weaved in here to not bring in police when the situation obviously warranted it is flat-out wrong. Liberal-hive-mind wrong. In real life, this could have, and perhaps even most likely would have, led to harm coming to the very aged person suffering from bouts of living in the distant past, and to a boy much too young to be taking care of him alone, far from home, while trying to keep him out of trouble.

I enjoyed Secret of Haunted Mesa for its wonderful blend of mystery and that bridging of the adult world with that of the young person — something Whitney did better than anyone for many years. Jenny makes an adult friend, grows personally, and stops envying her older sister, finding her own path. But some of the lessons she was taught along the way — by supposedly responsible adults — forces me to take away a star. show less

Secret of Haunted Mesa is one of the Phyllis A. Whitney juvenile mysteries I hadn't read yet, because it's one of those published after I moved on to her adult novels. I managed to find an affordable ex-library copy online, so I've finally read it only 47 years after it was published.

Jenny Hanford is staying at the Haunted Mesa Ranch, which the author's note states is '...an entirely fictional version of the beautiful Ghost Ranch area'. The book is set in New Mexico, not terribly far from Santa Fe.

Jenny's father, who teaches at a college in Long Island, is going to lecture on ecology at the ranch's Conference Center. He brought his entire family with him. Unfortunately for Jenny, she's the younger sister of the famous Carol Hanford, a show more 17-year-old singer of old Western songs. Jenny is used to being in the background, but right now their parents are hyper-focused on Carol. They want her to be practical and go to college, while Carol wants to continue being a singer. (Don't bother waiting for someone to point out that Carol could save the money she makes with her singing to fund college. It won't happen.) Even a remark about her feelings in chapter two has Mrs. Hanford saying that they really aren't neglecting Jenny. Worse, Carol likes to talk about her life when they go to bed - and she expects Jenny to listen, whether Jenny wants to or not.

When we meet Jenny, she's sitting away from the campfire where people are gathered to hear Carol play her guitar and sing 'The Rose of San Antone' and 'Red River Valley'. She meets a boy who is also staying there, Greg Frost. Greg is not among Carol's fans. He also knows what it's like to be an overlooked child, but I don't recommend his method of making sure he's noticed. This first chapter also introduces us to another important character, Senora Consuelo Valdez Eliot, although we won't get her name until later.

Jenny visits the shack that was the first home of the original owners of Haunted Mesa Ranch in chapter two. She wonders about the owners, especially the owner of the paint-stained smock with an object in one pocket. Greg shows up and tells her who the shack's original inhabitant was.

Senora Eliot is the widow of Paul Eliot, a man noted for his non-fiction books about Native Americans. She's been very withdrawn since his death, but meeting Jenny helps her. Meanwhile, odd things are happening. The amusing carved wooden roadrunner that Jenny got in Santa Fe gets swiped, but a crude carving is put in its place. The same thing happens with something Greg owns, not to mention a valuable object belonging to Senora Eliot.

Jenny also meets a Zuni boy, Charlie Curtis, who has problems she can't guess at, but we readers can.

The Haunted Mesa itself is an interesting place, once we get to it. Are ghosts responsible for what Jenny is seeing and hearing? If humans, who and why?

NOTES:

Chapter 2:

a. This is where Mrs. Hanford tells Jenny they're really not neglecting her. (Yes they are!)

b. Jenny sees something strange enough that she wishes someone else had seen it.

Chapter 3:

a. Jenny meets Senora Eliot and her servant, Maria at the Eliot residence. The outside and part of the inside is described.

b. Senora Eliot explains Haunted Mesa's name and talks about her own background.

c. Jenny tells us about her carved roadrunner.

Chapter 4:

a. Carol is shocked that her parents want to listen to Jenny after Carol changes the subject to herself.

b. The Aspen cottage, where the Frosts are staying, is described.

c. First glimpse of Charlie Curtis.

d. Haunted Mesa Ranch's outdoor meeting building and its location are described.

e. Greg Frost's mother is introduced. Greg's attitude toward Charlie makes me feel concerned.

Chapter 5:

a. Carol has gone to Santa Fe. Mr. Hanford takes Senora Eliot and Jenny with him when he goes after Carol.

b. The Senora points out San Angelo Pueblo which, according to the author's note, is fictional.

c. We meet Senora Eliot's friend, Jim Kingsley, He and his Cibola shop are described. Kingsley talks about Harry Curtis' problem in Washington state. What was being done to the Tillicut Native Americans there is disgusting!

Chapter 6: One of Senora Eliot's Zuni kachinas is missing. She explains kachinas to Jenny, especially a blue-headed one named Yamuhakto.

Chapter 7:

a. Jenny introduces herself to Charlie Curtis.

b. The ranch museum has had an unfortunate incident.

Chapter 8:

a. Senora Consuelo Eliot takes Jenny and Greg to the top of Haunted Mesa.

b. We learn what a shalako is.

Chapter 9: Jenny encounters an intruder.

Chapter 10: Jenny finds out what Carol thinks about her.

Chapter 11: The shalako takes place.

While I didn't enjoy this mystery as much as ones I loved when I was a girl, it was good. I liked the climax, which was atmospheric. The problem is serious and could still happen today. show less