Gymnastics Mystery (9 page)

Katya pushed her plate away. She had eaten more pizza than Benny, to his astonishment.

“It is all right,” she said. “I have not been a very good houseguest.”

“Of course you have,” Mrs. McGregor protested.

Katya ducked her head. “I have not told you the truth about myself.”

Jessie held her breath. Had they been wrong about Katya after all?

“If you feel comfortable, why don’t you tell us about it now,” Grandfather said gently.

“I did not like talking about my life back home,” Katya said. “When you and Mr. Lucas asked me those questions, I felt nervous.”

“Why?” asked Violet. “We were just curious about how you live in Russia.”

“I was afraid you would not understand,” Katya confided. “You see, I live in a small apartment with my large family. It is very cramped. I share a bed with my sister. My mother works to help pay for my training. My grandmother baby-sits the little ones so we can take the train every day to my gym.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Henry asked.

“When I arrived in America, I thought everyone was rich,” said Katya. “When I saw your boxcar, I knew everyone is not rich—but I was still embarrassed.” Her cheeks turned pink. “I even tried to hide a letter my grandmother sent because part of it was written on a page of our local newspaper. We cannot afford good writing paper.”

Jessie patted Katya’s arm. “The newspaper your grandmother sent showed pictures of the house Al visited and the gold box he stole. That was a good clue!”

“I am glad I could help,” Katya said. She smiled warmly at the Aldens. “I won more than a medal today. This trip taught me that I am lucky, maybe luckier than the little rich girl you all think I resemble in that photograph. I am lucky because I have the love of my family. Just like you do.”

“Nothing is more important than family,” said Grandfather.

“That’s right!” declared Benny. “Family and food.”

Outside, they strolled around the square.

“You know what I
still
don’t understand,” Jessie muttered to herself. “Why is it everyone was wearing blue sweatpants?”

At the teddy bear shop, Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor went inside.

While the Alden children and Katya waited outside, Henry looked into the window of a sporting goods and clothing store and started to laugh,

“Look, Jessie,” he said.

There in the window stood a mannequin dressed in a blue sweatshirt and sweatpants. SALE ITEM OF THE WEEK, a sign proclaimed, and in smaller letters, AVAILABLE IN BLUE ONLY. As the children broke out laughing, Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor came out of the teddy bear store with the bear Katya had admired.

“A going-away present,” Grandfather said. “To remember us by.”

“I will never forget any of you,” Katya exclaimed. “I am going to name him—Benny!”

“Yippee!” Happily, Benny performed a perfect cartwheel.

Everyone clapped.

Jessie was glad this mystery had been solved. But another could be arriving by train or plane ... or they could find one in their own neighborhood.

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children® Mysteries

T
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B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
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SLAND

T
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ELLOW
H
OUSE
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IKE’S
M
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LUE
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AY
M
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M
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ICYCLE
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