The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (109 page)

“You sit down on the doorstep,” said Charley. “I’ll be right back.”

Off he ran into the woods. In no time he was back again with his pockets full of small red apples.

“Have an apple,” he said. “These are wild. Not very good.”

“They are delicious!” said Benny. “You eat some, too, Charley.”

“I had my lunch,” said Charley, “but it’s supper time now.” He took an apple.

The two boys sat on the steps of the station.

“Charley, did you ever hear of a clown named Cho-Cho and a diamond necklace?” Benny asked.

“Oh, yes. Everybody knows about that,” said Charley. “Cho-Cho used to own the talking horse. My father used to tell me all about it, because the police asked him to watch out for a thin man.”

Benny nodded. “And your father never found him?”

“No. That was a long time ago. I don’t think they’ll ever find him.”

The two boys went on eating apples. They waited and waited and waited.

H
enry, Jessie, Violet, and Grandfather sat quietly in the big caboose. Nobody spoke. The train rattled along.

At last Jessie said, “I can’t stand this. I’m going to see if Benny is in the little caboose. I hope you don’t mind, Grandfather.”

Mr. Alden said, “No, Jessie, I don’t mind. I think you are right. He ought to wake up anyway. It’s time for supper.”

Jessie and Violet opened the door of the little caboose. They took one look. They could see all four bunks. They were empty.

“He’s not here!” they called.

“Oh, Grandfather, what shall we do?” said Violet.

Mr. Alden said quickly, “Don’t worry, Violet. We’ll find him. I’m perfectly sure of that.”

Henry said, “Now is the time for those air brakes. We can let the trainmen know we are in trouble.”

He went to the desk and turned the lever halfway. The train slowed down at once and stopped.

The Aldens jumped off and met Al running down beside the train to meet them.

“Benny is missing!” shouted Grandfather.

“Missing!” called Al. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later,” said Mr. Alden. “I’m sure he is still at Glass Factory Junction. He went to see the talking horse.”

“We can’t go back, sir,” said Al, frowning. “I’m sorry, but those are the rules. It might cause an accident.”

Grandfather nodded. “I understand,” he said, “but how can we get back to Glass Factory and find him?”

Al said, “I think you’d better go right along to the next station and get off. That will be Woodstock. You can hire some kind of a car at the station. Maybe you can catch us at Springdale if you find the boy.”

“Oh, we’ll find him!” said Grandfather. “We’ll find him if we have to cut down the whole woods.”

“We’ll do all we can,” said Al. “We’ll make a fast run to Woodstock.”

Al ran back to the engine. The Aldens piled into the big caboose. Two whistles, and away they went.

Jessie said, “Grandfather, where do you think Benny really is?”

“Well, my dear, Benny has a good head on his shoulders. He will think it out. When he sees that he has missed the train, he will probably stay right there. I am counting on that. What else could he do?”

“He might telephone,” said Violet.

“Well, where would he find a telephone?” asked Mr. Alden. “The station is probably closed, and so is the factory. Anyway, we will hurry back to Glass Factory and see if he is there.”

The caboose swayed from side to side.

“We’re going faster than usual,” said Jessie. “The engineer is helping us.”

The whole family was ready to jump off as soon as the train stopped at Woodstock. As they hurried toward the head of the train, they saw Mr. Carr talking to a man in an old station wagon.

Mr. Carr called, “Here is a man who will take you back to Glass Factory. I know him, and he’s a good driver.”

“Do you know the shortest way?” asked Grandfather, as they all got into the car.

“Yes, sir, we’ll come out by the factory and go over the track. There’s the station and the woods.”

“Right!”

Nobody spoke. The old car bumped along. At last it passed the glass factory and bumped over the railroad track.

“Here’s the station,” Henry called out, as the car came to a quick stop.

Benny and Charley sat on the step, eating apples. Benny looked up.

“There he is!” said Jessie.

“Oh, Benny! “called Violet.

Benny shouted, “There’s my grandfather, Charley.” He rushed to the car with an apple in each hand. “I knew it, I knew it! I knew you’d find me,” he said over and over. “I got lost and Charley was awfully good to me.”

Mr. Alden was in a great hurry, but he took time to thank Charley. He said, “Thank you, Charley. I can’t talk long now because we want to catch that train at the next station.”

“You can’t do it, mister,” said Charley. “Don’t stop at the next station. Go on to Fairfield and catch it there.”

“Thank you,” called Mr. Alden.

Charley watched the car as it turned around and went out of sight. Then he went off through the woods. He had had a wonderful time.

“That boy was right,” the driver said. “I won’t try to catch the train at Springdale, but I’ll go right across to Fairfield.”

They passed through Springdale, and no Little North Freight was in sight.

The car raced along. The driver was going to Fairfield, just as Charley had told him. The driver soon took a different road. He said, “When I tell you, be ready to get out.”

“You bet we will,” said Benny.

“Now!” called the driver. He stopped. The Aldens raced to the station and looked down the track.

“Oh, dear!” said Jessie. “There goes the train. We’ve missed it!” The big caboose was just disappearing around the bend.

“Never mind,” said the driver. “Get right back in the car, and I’ll race it to Oak Hill.”

“Wait!” cried Violet. “The train is backing up! There is Al on the back platform. He sees us.”

“And the conductor, too,” said Henry. “They are both waving.”

Sure enough, the Little North freight was slowly chug-chugging back to the station.

Grandfather paid the driver, and they all waited in a row until the train came to a stop.

Never was a train crew so glad to see passengers. The engineer blew his whistle. The conductor took a deep breath and helped Mr. Alden up the steps. Al looked at Benny and said, “Don’t go off again, young man.”

“No, I never will,” Benny promised.

The Aldens sat down in the big caboose. Jessie washed off Benny’s knee and put on a bandage. Then they all looked at each other. “I’m cold,” said Grandfather.

“I’m cold, too,” said Violet, shivering.

“You all need food,” Al said, going up the ladder. “Remember you haven’t had supper, and it’s eight o’clock.”

Jessie said, “I’ve an idea. Henry, you make some hot cocoa on the stove in the small caboose. Violet and I will use the stove in Number 777. We’ll get up a fine supper in no time.”

Jessie opened a can of chicken and heated it. Violet used potato flakes to make mashed potatoes. The girls opened a big can of cherries for dessert.

What a dinner the Aldens had! It was almost nine o’clock before they were through eating.

“I can see some of us are almost asleep,” said Henry. He winked at Jessie. Benny’s eyes were almost shut. The girls went quietly into the other caboose.

Henry began to help Benny get into bed.

“What about the lower bunk, old man?” said Henry. “Just for one night?”

“OK,” said Benny. That was all he could say. He was fast asleep.

T
hat night, the Aldens slept and slept. Henry was the first one to wake up. He was in the upper bunk. This was really the lookout with windows on all sides.

“Raining!” said Henry to himself. “Just look at the rain! I think the rain woke me up.”

The water was running down all the windows, making a loud tapping sound on the top of the caboose. Henry climbed down and found Mr. Alden and Benny awake.

“It’s pouring,” said Benny. “I don’t like that. I never thought of rain. We can’t sit out on the back platform at all.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Henry. “We’ll find plenty to do.” He could see the girls walking around in the other caboose.

As Benny dressed, he looked around the big caboose. He thought about Cho-Cho, and Chi-Chi’s necklace, and the talking horse.

When the family sat down to breakfast, Mr. Alden said, “Now Ben, tell us how you got lost.”

Benny told the whole story. At the end he said, “Grandfather, you can see that Charley needs a knife if he has to use a sharp stone. Do you suppose you and I could give him one?”

“Maybe we could,” said Mr. Alden with a smile.

All this time Henry was thinking. He said, “Everything would be all fixed up if we could only find that diamond necklace. Cho-Cho could sell it and buy his horse back. Then maybe the Thin Man would not be afraid to see his friends.”

Violet said, “I worry about that Thin Man. And I don’t know a thing we can do.” She looked out of the window. “Just listen to that rain,” she went on. “And look at the trees. They are all bent over in the wind. I never saw it rain so hard. What a storm!”

“I’m sorry,” said Jessie, looking out of the window. “I’ll tell you why I’m sorry. I didn’t plan very well for rain. Today I was going to make a big stew, but I didn’t get the meat.”

“Never mind, Jessie,” said Henry. “I have a raincoat. I’ll get off at the next stop and buy whatever you want.”

Mr. Alden said, “Mr. Carr told me that we don’t make many stops, but the next one is quite a large town. Henry would have time to get meat, because we stay there for half an hour.”

“That will be fine,” said Jessie. “It will give the stew three hours to cook.”

“Make a list of what you need, Jessie,” said Henry. “I’ll get on my rain things.”

Benny said, “Here’s an old pair of boots under the sink.”

Henry put on his raincoat and pulled a black rain hat over his ears. He pulled on the big boots.

Jessie said, “Here’s the list. I hope you can get everything.”

Henry was a funny looking sight. He had a red scarf around his neck to hold up his collar. The boots were too big for him. Soon the train went past a big station and stopped above it. Henry opened the door and ran down the steps in the rain. Just as Henry reached the platform, Al met him. The two went off together.

“Good!” said Grandfather. “Al will know where the stores are.”

Jessie and Violet began to heat water for dishes. The sink was so small that they washed a few and put them away. Then they washed some more.

“You make your bed now, Benny,” said Jessie. “That will give you something to do. And the caboose will look better.”

“I’ll make all the beds in this Number 777,” said Benny. “The top bunk in the lookout is really mine, and I’ll sleep there tonight.”

The girls peeled onions and potatoes for the stew. They went into the small caboose and made their own beds.

“Ha!” called Benny from the lookout.

“What’s the matter?” asked Grandfather.

“Nothing—just the stuffing is coming out of my mattress. It makes me sneeze.”

“Yes,” said Grandfather, “I’ve heard you sneeze. I thought you had a cold.”

“No,” said Benny. “No cold—just stuffing. Some day will you mend my mattress, Jessie?”

“Of course,” said Jessie, “but not right now.”

Soon Grandfather said, “Here’s Henry back again. See him run! He can hardly stand up.”

Henry pushed the door open and came in, dripping water all over the floor. “It’s a cloud-burst!” he said.

Henry took off his wet things and hung them around the little caboose to dry. Jessie took out the carrots, the beef, milk, and other things that Henry had bought. She filled the biggest kettle with water. In went the onions, the meat, and some salt. She put on the cover.

“Thank you for the newspaper, Henry,” said Grandfather. “Rain all day,” he went on. “That’s what the paper says.”

“I don’t care,” Benny said. “I like it.”

“I thought you didn’t like it,” said Henry laughing.

Benny said, “I’ve been thinking about Number 777. I’m sure it does have a mystery. And a rainy day is a good one to work on a mystery. You know that necklace may be right in plain sight.”