Mystery of the Stolen Boxcar (3 page)

Henry explained that they were going to paint the boxcar for the parade and soon the Aldens had almost more supplies than they could carry.

After that, they went to the department store and bought red bandannas and engineer’s caps. They even bought an extra bandanna for Watch to wear.

It was getting late. They quickly loaded the supplies on their bicycles, and headed for home.

“I don’t think we’re going to have time to start fixing the boxcar today,” said Henry.

“I’ve got to go home,” said Soo Lee. “Tomorrow I can’t help you. But I’ll come over as soon as I can the day after.” They rode with Soo Lee back to her house. As she went inside, she waved her new engineer’s cap at her cousins. “See you day after tomorrow!” she called.

That evening at dinner, the children told Grandfather all about their busy day. They also told him about visiting Mr. Chessy’s railroad car.

“Mr. Chessy, Hmmm. I was thinking about what you told me and remembered I’d read an article about him in a magazine recently. I imagine he could tell you all about the history of your boxcar.”

“I don’t think he will want to talk to us about anything except selling our boxcar,” said Jessie.

Grandfather laughed. “Collectors like to talk about the things they collect. He might be willing to talk to you.”

“Then maybe we can call him tomorrow.” Henry yawned. “But not tonight. Tonight I am too tired.”

Everyone agreed that it had been a long day, but a good one, and that they could hardly wait for tomorrow.

T
he Boxcar Children got up early the next morning, ate a big pancake breakfast, and hurried out to the boxcar to begin work. They were going to repaint the whole outside of the boxcar a beautiful bright red.

“First we need to sand the floors and the walls and all the rough spots,” said Henry. “We can sand off the old paint and put new paint on.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” said Benny. Benny liked to work hard.

“It will be a lot of work, Benny. But think of how good our boxcar will look,” said Violet.

The Aldens went to work on the boxcar while Watch slept in the sun on the old stump. They hadn’t been working long, however, before they had visitors. It was Mr. Chessy and Grandfather!

“But we didn’t call you yet!” exclaimed Benny in surprise as Mr. Chessy walked across the grass toward them.

“After I saw you yesterday, I couldn’t stop thinking about the boxcar,” said Mr. Chessy. He turned to Mr. Alden. “So I took the matter to Mr. Alden. I . . . ah . . . ah . . . achoo!” He sneezed, looked at Watch and frowned. Then he went on. “As I hoped, your grandfather understood the generosity of my offer. And that I was the one who would give such a fine boxcar a proper home.”

The Aldens were puzzled.

Mr. Chessy held up his hand. “In short, I’ve made my offer to your grandfather. I knew he would see things my way.”

The children were shocked. Had Grandfather sold their boxcar? Before they could speak, Mr. Alden said, “Yes. Mr. Chessy came to me with a very generous offer. I suggested we walk out here to tell you.”

Mr. Alden turned to Mr. Chessy. “But, the boxcar belongs to my grandchildren. If they don’t want to sell it, then it’s fine with me.”

“Hooray for Grandfather!” Benny burst out.

Mr. Chessy said, “What! I don’t believe this! You are going to regret your decision, mark my words! I don’t give up so easily. I’ll be back!”

Then he stomped away just as he had the last time he’d visited.

“I guess he won’t be telling us about the history of the boxcar,” Henry said.

Grandfather shook his head. But he didn’t say anything. Instead he inspected the work that everyone had done and admired it. Then he went back into the house.

“What a strange man Mr. Chessy is,” said Violet. “We would never sell our boxcar. Why can’t he understand that?”

“Well, at least it didn’t do him any good to try to be sneaky,” said Jessie.

“I’m glad,” said Benny. “Because I want to ride on it in the parade.”

“Then we’d better get back to work,” said Henry.

The children worked all morning. Just when it was time to take a break, they heard a familiar bell ringing from the street.

“It’s Sam! Sam and Susie!” said Benny excitedly. He put down his sandpaper and ran toward the sound.

During the warm weather, Sam and his Clydesdale horse, Susie, drove around Greenfield and sold ice cream and soda and treats from the wagon. Business was so good that during the winter, Susie got to rest in the warm barn while Sam made beautiful furniture that people ordered.

The other three Aldens followed Benny. Sure enough, Sam stood there beside his big old wagon. Susie was hitched to the front. Susie, who was big and brown with a golden mane and tail, a white star on her forehead, and one white front foot, lowered her head. She and Watch were sniffing noses.

Sam’s old wagon was more like a house on wheels. “It’s not as fast or fancy as a trailer or a truck,” Sam liked to say, “but it gets me there just the same.”

“You should have your wagon in the parade,” Benny was saying as Henry, Jessie, and Violet came up.

“The Greenfield Founders’ Day Parade?” asked Sam. “Now that’s an idea. But if I’m not in the parade, you can be sure Susie and I will be there, selling hot chocolate and sodas and maybe even some ice cream if it’s not too cold.”

“It’s not too cold for ice cream today, is it?” asked Benny.

“No,” said Jessie. “We can have some. But just a little. It’s almost time for lunch.”

“I hope our boxcar is as nice as your wagon when we have finished fixing it up for the parade,” Henry said.

“I’m sure it will be,” said Sam, who had seen the Aldens’ boxcar before. “If I didn’t have this wagon, Susie and I would be proud to drive such a fine boxcar!”

“It’s a beautiful wagon,” said Violet softly.

She admired the wagon very much. A little table folded out of one wall and a little bed out of the other.

The Aldens paid Sam for their ice cream and went back to work. They worked on the boxcar right up through lunch. After lunch they were ready to begin painting.

They painted until dinnertime — and until they ran out of paint.

“We’ll get some more tomorrow,” said Henry. “And I think we should get some polish for the handles and the hinges on the door of the boxcar.”

“It looks great,” said Jessie. “But it is going to look even better!”

Tired and pleased with all the work they’d done, the Aldens went in for dinner. They talked about Sam and Susie, and about Mr. Chessy.

“Sam is nice,” said Violet. “But I don’t like Mr. Chessy.”

“Well, he won’t get our boxcar,” said Jessie. “There’s nobody in the world that could get our boxcar, so don’t worry, Violet!”

H
enry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and Soo Lee were coming out of the hardware store the next morning with more paint and supplies for the boxcar, when a voice said, “Hush, Becky. If you’re good, I’ll ask these nice children to tell you about their boxcar. Remember? You saw their picture in the newspaper this morning!”

The Aldens turned to see a young woman holding the hand of a little girl with golden curls and blue eyes. The little girl was wearing a pink dress with a big white sash, lacy pink tights, and white shoes with silver buckles. She was wearing a pink coat that exactly matched her dress.

“Oh! How pretty you look!” exclaimed Violet. “Just like a picture in a magazine.”

“Say thank you, Becky,” said the young woman.

Becky pushed out her lip and pouted.

“This is Becky Jennings and I’m her baby-sitter, Martha. We saw your picture in the newspaper with the article about the parade,” Martha went on. “It was a very nice picture, wasn’t it, Becky?”

Becky still didn’t say anything.

“Thank you,” said Henry.

“Becky liked your boxcar, didn’t you Becky?”

Suddenly Becky’s face turned very red. Her eyes screwed shut. Then she began to scream!

“I want it!” she screamed. “Mine, mine, mine! My boxcar! I want the boxcar! MINE. GIVE IT TO ME!”

Everyone was so shocked that they didn’t know what to do.

Becky jerked her hand out of her baby-sitter’s hand. Then she flung herself down on the ground and began to kick her heels and pound her fists in the dirt. “MINE. OOOOH!” she wailed.

Suddenly, she didn’t look like a picture in a magazine anymore.

Martha’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She bent over and picked Becky up. “Stop that!” she pleaded.

Becky screamed louder. Martha turned and began to carry the screaming child away. “I’m sorry about this,” she called over her shoulder to the Aldens. “It was nice meeting you. . . .”

As she left, the Aldens heard her say, “Becky! Stop screaming! Your father will buy you a nice, new playhouse of your own! You don’t need the boxcar! He’ll . . . he’ll buy you your own boxcar for a playhouse! You know he will. ...”

The two disappeared around the corner as the Aldens watched. Two women who were standing nearby, and had seen the whole thing, shook their heads in disapproval, and a short man with a plaid jacket just stared after Becky and her baby-sitter.

One of the women sniffed loudly. “Well,” she said. “Mr. Harold Jennings may be one of the richest men in Greenfield. But all that money and that fancy house on Mansion Road hasn’t given his daughter good manners!” The two women walked away.

Jessie said, “What a spoiled girl!”

“I’m glad she’s not my sister!” said Benny.

“Or my cousin!” said Soo Lee.

Still shaking their heads in amazement, the Aldens hurried home.

They’d just reached the hill near their house when Henry stopped and pointed. “Look!” he said.

Down below, at the bottom of the hill, stood Susie. She was wearing her harness, but she wasn’t pulling the wagon. She kept shaking her mane and snorting as if she was upset.

“What happened to Sam? Where is his wagon?” said Violet in a worried voice. Then her eyes widened. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed.

The others gasped. They’d seen it, too.

Sam’s wagon had crashed against a tree at the bottom of the hill. It was in what seemed like millions of pieces. One of the wheels lay in the road. Ice cream was melting on the sidewalk.

Just then, Sam came out into the road from the bushes where he had gone to pick up another wheel. He looked up and saw the Aldens and waved.

They hurried to the bottom of the hill.

“Sam! What happened?” asked Jessie.

Sam shook his head. “I’m not sure. We were just going up the hill when somehow the wagon got loose and slid right back down! I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m lucky I wasn’t in it — and that Susie wasn’t hurt!”

“Can you fix it?” asked Henry.

Again Sam shook his head. “Don’t know if I can,” he said. “But I’m sure gonna try.” He looked sadly around at the pieces of his wagon and at the melting ice cream. “I’m trying to gather up as much stuff as I can to take home. Then I’ll come back with my truck to get the rest.”

“We’ll help you,’ said Henry.

“Of course,” said Jessie.

The children helped Sam gather up some of his belongings while he tied a few of the bigger items from the wagon on Susie’s back. Then, holding Susie’s bridle, Sam led the way to his home. They put everything in the red barn behind Sam’s house.

“After I get Susie out of her harness and settled into her stall in the barn here, I’ll go get the rest of the wagon pieces,” said Sam. “I appreciate your help.”

“Don’t worry, Sam. You’ll be able to fix your wagon,” said Soo Lee.

“Maybe,” said Sam. But he didn’t sound as if he believed it.

The last thing the children saw as they left was Sam standing in front of the barn, holding the wheel of the wagon and shaking his head sorrowfully.

“Time for me to go,” said Soo Lee, late that afternoon. She sighed. “I wish I could have finished.”

“We didn’t expect to finish today, Soo Lee,” said Henry. “Don’t worry. We’re almost done and we’ve got plenty of time before the parade.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Soo Lee. She got on her bicycle and pedaled away.

The Aldens began putting away the paint and washing the paintbrushes. Watch, who’d been sleeping inside the boxcar under the table, came to the door and barked. He was hoping that now it was time to play.

Benny picked up a stick. “Here boy! Catch!” Watch jumped out of the boxcar and he and Benny began to play a game of catch-the-stick.

“What a smart little dog!” said a man’s voice.

Jessie was so startled that she jumped up. “Who are you?” she blurted out to the short, slight man who was standing there. He had on a plaid jacket and brown pants, and had three thin strands of brown hair combed over a bald spot on the top of his head. His nose was long and red at the end.

Watch heard how surprised Jessie sounded and stopped playing catch with Benny. He ran over to stand beside Jessie. He lowered his head and growled at the man.

“Good dog! Nice dog!” said the man. “Er, I’m sorry if I scared you. My name is, er, Ralph. Ralph Winters. I, er . . .” Ralph stopped and looked at Watch nervously. “He’s not going to bite me, is he?”