The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (42 page)

And three voices answered together, “Watch!”

T
he next day was one of Aunt Jane’s bad days. The boys went off gladly to look at the ranch, when they saw how cross she was.

“Now, Jane,” the girls heard Maggie say, “You let me wash your hands and face.”

“No!” was the sharp answer. Watch looked at the door and raised one ear.

“I don’t know what to do with you,” cried Maggie. “No breakfast. No washing. No clean bed. What do you want me to do?

“Do you want the window open?”

“No. This room is too cold already,” the little lady said.

“You said a minute ago that it was too hot.”

“Well, it was, a minute ago.”

“Oh, dear me,” said Maggie.

The girls looked at each other. The dog stood up and looked at the door. Violet put the last pile of dishes in the cupboard. Suddenly Maggie came from the bedroom. She shut the door behind her. She was almost crying.

“Girls, I can’t do a thing with your aunt today. She was like this all the time before you came, but I did think she was getting over it.”

“I wonder what she would say to me if I went in,” said Violet. “I’d like to try.”

“Are you sure?” asked Jessie. “Maybe she would be cross to anyone today.”

“Never mind if she is, Jessie,” answered her sister. “It won’t hurt me.”

“Of course it will hurt you, if she says mean things!” cried Jessie. “And it will hurt me, too.”

“I’d still like to try,” said Violet. “Just let me have the soap.”

Violet knocked softly on the door to her aunt’s bedroom.

“It’s Violet, Aunt Jane. May I come in?”

“All right. Come in,” said her aunt.

Violet went in quietly and put some newspapers in the chair by her aunt’s bed. On the papers she put the big washbowl. Into the bowl, Violet poured hot water.

“It’s such a hot day,” she began pleasantly. “I think hot water makes you feel cooler, don’t you?”

“Well, maybe,” said Aunt Jane. She watched the pretty little girl.

“I’ve been sick a lot myself,” Violet went on. “And one of my nurses told me that.”

Violet took one of the thin little hands and washed it gently with hot soapy water. Then she dried it on a soft towel.

“I take care of the family when they are sick,” said Violet. “Someday I am going to be a nurse.”

She washed the other hand. Then she pushed Aunt Jane’s white hair back and washed her face.

She was drying her aunt’s face when Watch walked slowly into the room, wagging his tail. Aunt Jane looked at him.

“I don’t feel like playing with you today,” she said. “Go right back to the kitchen!”

Without a sound, Watch started for the kitchen. Then he turned and looked at Violet.

Violet said, “You’re a nice dog, Watch, and I love you. But Aunt Jane said for you to go back to the kitchen.”

Watch gave them both a look and turned sadly to go. His tail did not wag.

“Never mind!” cried Aunt Jane. “Come back! You can stay! I never saw a dog that minds as well as you do. Come here if you want.”

Watch almost jumped across the room. He put his paws up on the white bed.

“No!” said Violet.

“Yes!” said Aunt Jane.

“We
never
let Watch get up on the beds,” said Violet softly.

“I
always
let my dog lie on my bed,” said Aunt Jane.

Watch looked first at one and then at the other.

“Up!” said Aunt Jane.

Watch gave a great jump and landed on the other side of the little lady. He lay down and put his head on his paws. He was not sure that he had done the right thing. He kept looking at Violet.

Violet was watching her aunt smile at Watch. She was sure that Watch had done the right thing.

N
ow that the children were together, they were very happy. Aunt Jane seemed to be getting more cheerful every day.

One morning Jessie heard her aunt call her.

“I want to see all four of you children,” Aunt Jane told Jessie. “Get the others in here before I am tired again.”

In a few minutes, the children were sitting in their aunt’s room. Watch lay down at Jessie’s feet and put his head on his paws. Only his eyes moved. He was very still.

“Now I want you to listen carefully,” said Aunt Jane, looking at each of them in turn. “What I have to say is very important.”

Since the children couldn’t be more quiet than they already were, they sat and waited for her to go on.

“I’m going to give you children this ranch. No, don’t say a word! You are the only relatives I have. You seem to be good children, and you have been kind to me.”

The children were too surprised to say anything.

“I know you are not old enough to manage the ranch alone,” she said, “so I’m going to bring Sam Weeks into it. He will manage the ranch for you. Mr. Pond, who handles my business, says that will be all right. Now, what have you to say to that?”

Henry was the first to speak. “We’re too surprised to say much, Aunt Jane! It’s wonderful!”

Watch got up and went over to the bed. He sat down and held out his paw. Aunt Jane took his paw and said, “I see you think this is a good idea. If Watch thinks that, I am sure it must be true.”

She patted the dog and went on, “The ranch is yours from this minute. All I have to do is write my name when Mr. Pond brings the papers. I want my ranch to belong to people who love it. That’s why I wouldn’t sell it to those three men.”

The four children said “thank you” very softly, as they left.

“The only thing about this that I don’t like is Grandfather,” Benny said. He threw himself down on the grass.

“You said that wrong, old fellow,” said Henry. “But we know what you mean. It leaves Grandfather out.”

“I believe some day Aunt Jane will like him,” said Violet, “and he will like her.”

“I hope so,” said Jessie.

They sat on the grass and looked at their ranch. The driveway came to the back door. It went past the windmill, past the barn, and then out again to the road. They could see woods and mountains. They could see the long chicken houses from where they were sitting.

“Who were the men Aunt Jane was talking about?” asked Henry.

“Three men came while we were buying groceries,” Violet answered. “They tried to make Aunt Jane sell the ranch to them.”

“She probably needed the money,” said Henry. “But I’m glad she gave the ranch to us instead of selling it. I hope she won’t be sorry.”

Benny said thoughtfully, “I think we ought to explore right away. If this is our ranch, we should know everything that’s on it.”

Jessie said, “Well, we could explore today. Let’s ask Aunt Jane where to go.”

The cross little lady was very pleased when the children asked her about their walk. No one had asked her advice for years.

“The first thing is, don’t get lost. Go down past the chicken houses and you will come to some woods. Go through the woods and you come to an open field. There is a stream. Follow that stream and you’ll come right back home.”

Benny said, “I think we should take a lunch, don’t you, Aunt Jane?”

“By all means,” said Aunt Jane, trying to hide a smile.

It was very hot in the sun. The children went down past the chicken houses. They came to the cool, green woods.

“It’s a beautiful place,” said Henry.

“A very nice place to eat lunch, too,” said Benny.

The others laughed. But they were always hungry. They found a place where they could sit down. It was quiet and cool. Jessie was eating the last of her sandwich when she stopped, suddenly.

“Look, Henry!” she whispered. She pointed to some bushes not far away. “There’s a little hut.”

Henry got to his feet quickly. “The door is open,” he said. “It seems to be empty.”

The children went slowly toward the hut. There was nothing in it. But in front of it, there was a fireplace made of stones, almost hidden by the bushes. Henry put his hand down and felt the stones. Watch sniffed and wagged his tail.

“Well, let’s be going,” said Henry. “It looks to me as if someone built a fire here, and not too long ago, either.”

The children walked faster now. Soon they came out in a big field filled with rocks and stones.

“There’s no grass here,” said Benny. “This field isn’t very good, I would say.”

“But it’s very pretty,” said Violet. “See the yellow and black lines in those rocks.”

“These stones are yellow, too,” said Jessie. She picked up a handful of the stones. As she dropped one, it broke into a fine yellow powder.

“They seem to be made of yellow sand,” said Henry. “How queer!”