The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (51 page)

After the telephone call, Mike said he wanted to see Benny alone.

“Come up and see your room,” said Benny. “Then we can talk.”

Mike had no idea what a lovely room he would have. He looked around in surprise.

“This is neat, Ben,” he said. “And right next to you.”

“My wall paper has jet planes on it,” said Benny. “Aunt Jane picked it out for me. She’s neat, too.”

“Listen, Ben,” said Mike. “When we were up at the mine, I remembered something.”

“What was it?” asked Benny. The two boys sat down on the floor. They put their heads together.

“Well, you know I said we had to tie Spotty up because he barked?”

“I remember,” said Benny.

“Well, he did bark. He barked at everyone, and he barked at the fire. He was so excited. But once he growled, Ben.”

“Oh, ho! I see!” cried Benny. “That’s different. What did he growl at?”

“The man in the blue hat!” cried Mike. “I really don’t remember what hat he had on. But I think I saw him at the fire. He was the one Spotty growled at.”

“I suppose Spotty never growls,” said Benny.

“Never!” said Mike. “Unless he has some good reason. Now another thing, Ben. You remember the newspaper picture of Pat? Now, I ought to have been in that picture.”

“Why?” asked Benny.

“Well, I was right beside Pat. The picture cut me off. I was always up at the mine before you came. I knew everybody. And I saw that stranger myself. He was a short man.”

Benny nodded. “Did you talk to him?”

“No, I didn’t. But I saw him talking to Mr. McCarthy. And I think he was the man Spotty growled at!”

“Oh, you do!” cried Benny. “Then he must be the man that said you set the fire!”

“That’s right,” said Mike. “Isn’t that a mystery?”

“Yes, it is,” agreed Benny. “The next thing to do is see Mr. McCarthy.”

“Right!” said Mike. “But we won’t rush it! Mr. Carter said I ought to become an FBI agent.”

“Yes, he did,” said Benny. “And I’d like to see that newspaper picture again.”

So the two boys ran downstairs to find the old newspaper.

E
veryone looked for the newspaper, but no one could find it.

“All the newspapers are in that box,” said Maggie. “I saved them all.”

“They are all here but the right one,” said Benny.

“I had one, but it burned up with my house,” said Mike.

“Well, never mind,” said Aunt Jane. “You can always buy another at the newspaper office.”

Henry said, “Mike, you know this is the time we buy a stove. You can look at the newspaper any time.”

“This is a very important paper,” said Benny. “But I guess we can wait.”

“Well, come on then,” said Jessie. “What fun it will be to get all those things! I never bought a stove before.”

“Don’t you think Mrs. Wood ought to go with us?” asked Violet. “She ought to pick out the stove she wants.”

“Right, as usual,” said Henry. “Come on, let’s go. Yes, Watch, you can come this time.” Lady stayed with Aunt Jane, as she always did.

The children stopped at the blue house. Mrs. Wood was glad to go with them.

“Let’s take Spotty, too,” said Mike.

“He doesn’t like to be tied up. He’d love to go.”

“Will he like to go with Watch?” asked Jessie.

“Let’s try,” said Mike. Everyone was glad when at last the two dogs trotted along together.

The store was a big one. There were all sorts of things in it. There were tables and chairs and stoves and dishes of all kinds. Mrs. Wood looked around. She was delighted to pick out a huge stove. It had large ovens. The refrigerator was big too.

“It will have to be big for all those pies,” said Benny. “What color do you want, Mrs. Wood?”

“Well, I don’t care at all,” said Mike’s mother.

“The girls like blue,” said Benny.

“Let’s get all blue things, then,” said Mrs. Wood. “Just look at that beautiful blue sink!”

The man said, “We will put them all in for you. Where do they go?”

“In that big empty building at the mine office,” said Henry. “My grandfather said to pay you when they were all in.”

“That’s O.K.,” said the man with a smile.

“Mr. Carter says insurance will pay for our loss from the fire,” said Mrs. Wood. “I hope so, because we lost almost everything.”

“Oh, Mrs. Wood, let’s buy dishes!” cried Violet.

Everyone looked at Violet in surprise. Violet was usually so quiet.

Jessie put her arm around her sister. “You dear,” she said. “We will certainly buy dishes. Is that all right with you, Mrs. Wood?”

“Yes, I love to have you help me,” said Mrs. Wood. “You have such good ideas.”

“Where will you put the dishes?” asked the storekeeper. “You’re not going to live up at the mine, are you?”

“Live there? Oh, no,” said Mrs. Wood. “But we can put the dishes up there for now.”

“Why
couldn’t
you live there?” asked Benny, suddenly. “You’ve got to live
somewhere
.”

“And it will take a long time to build the pink house again,” added Henry.

“Yes, I don’t like to stay too long with Mrs. Smith,” said Mrs. Wood. “I shall have to live somewhere. I wonder if there is anyone at the mine all night?”

“There are four watchmen,” said Henry. “I found that out. Then Mr. Carter lives in the green house. That’s the nearest house.”

“I shall talk with Mr. Carter,” said Mrs. Wood. “But we must pick out the bowls and dishes, first.”

“What lovely colors!” said Jessie.

There were plates and cups of all colors, pink, blue, yellow, green, violet and light orange.

“Why don’t you have one plate of each color?” asked Benny. “That would make six.”

“I must have seven,” said Mrs. Wood with a laugh. “Because you must all come to supper sometime.”

Jessie said firmly, “I think you need a dozen, Mrs. Wood. That would be two of each color.”

“Yes,” said Benny. “And then I could use the pink cup—I mean if I ever came to supper.”

Jessie laughed. “Benny has a pink cup at home,” she told Mrs. Wood. “He loves it because he had it in the Boxcar. I certainly would not like to break that pink cup.”

“We must have knives and forks, spoons, and pans, too,” said Mrs. Wood.

The storekeeper seemed to be thinking. At last he said, “Mrs. Wood, may I say something? I wouldn’t buy too many things if I were you.”

“Why on earth not?” cried Mike.

“Well, I can’t say too much,” said the man. “But I know your friends are going to give you some things.”

“Oh, how kind they are!” cried Mrs. Wood. “I never thought of such a thing!”

“Don’t tell I told you,” said the man.

“We won’t tell, any of us,” said Benny. “It would be awful if you bought things, and then people gave you the same things.”

“Really, I think you have bought enough, now,” said the storekeeper. “Let’s leave it. You can ride in the truck if you want to. You children ride in the back with the stove, and Mrs. Wood can sit with the driver.”

“I want to sit with the driver, too,” said Mike.

“All right,” said the storekeeper. “Get in.”

The two dogs were waiting outside the store. At last, all the things, children and dogs were in the truck. Everyone laughed as the truck went by.

They waved to the children. The children waved back. The dogs barked and barked.

Mike said, “How are you going to get that heavy stove into the room at the mine, Mister?”

The driver smiled. “I’ll have plenty of help,” he said. “You wait and see.”

“I suppose you telephoned,” said Mike.

“No, but the storekeeper did,” said the driver. “We all have some secrets, don’t we? Just look over there, right by the mine office!”

The truck slowly came to a stop. The children stared at the crowd, and then they all laughed and laughed.

W
hen the truck stopped at the mine office, a crowd of workmen stood waiting. The men were all smiling. Henry, Benny and Mike jumped out of the truck and helped Jessie and Violet out.

The driver helped Mrs. Wood down from the high seat. “We’ll help you move these things into the building,” said one man. “You tell us where you want them to go.”

Mrs. Wood and the children and the driver went in. They looked around. The dogs ran around barking. Just then Mr. Carter came out of the office.

“Oh, Mr. Carter, hello!” said Henry. “You are just the man we want.”

“I want to see him too,” said Mrs. Wood. “I want to ask him something.”

“Ask away, my lady,” said Mr. Carter with a smile.

“Well,” said Mrs. Wood slowly, “I can hardly wait to make a pie. And I’d love to live right here in this room with my two boys.”

“That’s just what I said!” shouted Benny. “I said you’ve got to live somewhere, and why not here?”

“Yes, you did, Benny,” agreed Mrs. Wood. “That is what gave me the idea. You see, Mr. Carter, the boys say there are watchmen up here all night. They would help me if I needed anything. And it wouldn’t take long to put up some rough boards and make two rooms, would it? It would be so handy for me to start my pies early in the morning.”

“Oh, what a wonderful idea!” cried Jessie. “We can help Mrs. Wood, too, Mr. Carter.”

“Yes, I think it could be done,” said Mr. Carter. “I have talked with Mr. Gardner, the big boss, Mrs. Wood. He says if I say O.K., he says O.K.”

“Oh, isn’t this fun!” shouted Benny. “Who would put up the rough boards?”

Mr. Carter laughed. He pointed at the workmen who were bringing in the stove.

“Would they?” asked Violet softly.

“Yes, they would,” said a workman who heard what Violet had said. “We have time off today.”

“Then you could make the rooms today!” shouted Mike. He never liked to wait for anything.

A workman laughed at Mike. “You’ll have to help us, son,” he said.

“Oh, yes, I will,” said Mike. “I’ll be the one to tell you where the things go.”

“That is called a boss,” said the man. “Boss Mike.”

Benny said, “Mike would be a good boss. He really would. And so would I. You see, that window will make Mike’s room, and the next window will be Mrs. Wood’s room. Every room will have one window so that it will have plenty of light.”

“Not so bad!” said the man. “There is water in the office already. So we will just get longer pipes to go to your sink.”

What a noise there was! Men were cutting holes in the floor for the pipes. Others were pounding away at the pipes. The dogs barked and barked. Mr. Carter telephoned three times and soon some long boards arrived at the door. More men came.

“My room can be small,” said Mrs. Wood. “Just big enough for a bed.”

“Mine ought to be bigger,” said Mike. “Because Pat and I will have two beds, and I want another bed for Ben. I want him to sleep up here sometimes.”

“That will be easy,” said a man. “One small room, and one big one. Are you going to sleep here tonight?”

“No,” said Mike. “No beds.”

“What did you say?” shouted Benny. “Look out of the window!”

Another truck had just come. A bed was sticking out of the back. It was an Army cot.

Mr. Carter ran down the steps and said a few words to the driver.

Violet thought the driver said, “I’ll be back soon,” but she was not sure. The driver saw the children. He called, “Come on, kids! Help me take out these things.”

The boys were delighted to help. They found some folding chairs under the cot.

“Where did these things come from?” asked Henry.

“From the neighbors,” said the driver. “Everyone wants to help Mrs. Wood. These came from the store, but—.” He stopped and said, “Don’t ask me any more questions.”

But Benny went right on. “What are those barrels for?”

“Two barrels of flour,” said the driver.

“For pies,” said Violet.

“Oh, barrels are very useful,” said Benny. “Just put a board across two barrels and it makes a seat.”

“It makes a table, too,” said Jessie. “Remember our table in the barn on Surprise Island?”