The Mystery in the Snow (8 page)

“Why did you want the games stopped?” Jessie asked.

Jimmy sighed deeply. After a long pause, he began, “I've been coming here for years. Alone.” He paused again to take a deep breath. “It was my idea to begin with. I was six or seven. I thought it'd be neat, you know, to be…on my own. And it was fun. I liked it a lot. But it got to be a regular thing. Every year, my parents would drop me here and go to some other place.” He rarely saw his parents, Jimmy told them. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps were busy lawyers. Now Jimmy wanted to spend vacation with them. If the Snow Haven winter games were canceled, maybe they'd start taking him along with them.

“Have you ever told them how you feel?” Violet asked softly.

“No,” Jimmy admitted. “They're my parents; they should
know
how I feel.”

“They're not mind readers,” Henry said.

“Even if I did tell them, they wouldn't care,” Jimmy argued.

Benny sat down beside Jimmy. “That's what we thought about our grandfather,” he said.

Jimmy looked surprised. “Mr. Alden is a terrific man.”

“But we didn't know that at first,” Violet said.

Henry told Jimmy about their days in the boxcar and their fear of a grandfather they didn't even know.

“We learned our lesson,” Jessie said. “Now, we say what's on our minds.”

Jimmy smiled. “Benny didn't need that lesson,” he teased. “I bet he was born saying what was on his mind.”

Everybody laughed.

Then, Jimmy grew serious again. “Maybe you're right. Maybe it's not all their fault. Maybe it's mine, too.” He looked at the Aldens. “But what can I do about it?”

They all thought about that.

Finally, Jessie said, “Why don't you call them?”

“That's a good idea,” Henry agreed.

“You mean
now
?” Jimmy sounded uncertain.

“The sooner the better,” Jessie said.

Jimmy got to his feet. “All right,” he said. “I'll do it. But first, will you come with me to talk to Mr. Mercer?”

The Aldens understood. It would be difficult to tell Mr. Mercer what he had done; he needed support.

CHAPTER 17

The Winners

M
r. Mercer took them into his small office. There, Jimmy gave Mr. Mercer the equipment shop keys. Then, he told his story. The man sat silently, listening.

“It was a dumb thing to do,” Jimmy concluded. “And I'm really sorry. I'll do anything I can to make up for it.”

Mr. Mercer nodded. For a long time, he didn't say a word. He just kept nodding. The room was so quiet Jimmy and the Aldens could hear themselves breathing.

Finally, Mr. Mercer said, “Telling me this has not been easy.” He paused. “I think we'll just keep it to ourselves.” He glanced at Jimmy. “Is that all right with you?”

“Oh, yes, sir,” Jimmy replied. The color came back to his cheeks.

“Fine. Now go on out of here, all of you.” Mr. Mercer turned his chair toward his desk. “I have work to do.”

They started out.

“Oh, Jimmy, there is one thing you can do,” Mr. Mercer said.

“Anything, sir,” Jimmy responded.

“For the remainder of the games, I expect you to do your best — like the champion you are.”

Jimmy smiled broadly. “You can count on it,” he said.

He went back to his room to phone his parents. The Aldens waited for him in the lounge.

“Maybe Jimmy's parents will change their minds and come for the awards dinner,” Jessie said.

“I hope so,” Violet said.

Jimmy came toward them. His eyes were sad.

Benny was surprised to see him back so soon. “You didn't talk very long,” he said.

“I didn't talk at all,” Jimmy replied. “They weren't there.”

“Maybe they're out to breakfast,” Violet said.

Jimmy shook his head. “They've checked out of the hotel. No one knows where they went.”

At last it was time for the judging of the ice carvings. Watch sat very still beside his ice self.

“He wants everyone to know he posed for it,” Benny said.

Nan's group had turned their ice castle into a dog house. Watch's name was carved on the door.

The judges called it a tie.

The next two days were busy.

As he had promised, Jimmy did his best in the remaining events. Everyone else did well, too.

Everything was more fun. The lounge was always full of people playing word games and talking. The teams mixed more freely. Benny did very well in his sledding race, and afterwards, everyone — even the adults — had a gigantic snowball fight. No one won. But it didn't seem to matter.

Skating was the last event. It was held on the afternoon of the awards dinner. Once more, the ice was smooth as glass. Beth and Jessie did figure skating dances. Jimmy and Matt raced against Freddy and another member of her team. All the skaters took part in the last race, a relay.

The crowd roared as the baton was passed from one person to the next. It was the closest, most exciting race of the week. Only Pete and his stopwatch seemed to know who had won. And he wasn't telling.

Back at the lodge, people talked about the games.

Jimmy stood by the fire, talking with the Aldens. “This was probably the best — ” He broke off. The smile froze on his face.

“What's the matter?” Henry asked.

Jimmy didn't say a word. He just kept staring.

The Aldens followed his gaze. Standing inside the door were Mr. and Mrs. Phelps!

Jimmy sprang into action. “Mom! Dad!” he called and sprinted across the room to meet them.

Mrs. Phelps hugged her son. Mr. Phelps hugged him, too.

“I called you,” Jimmy told them. “You'd checked out.”

“We decided to surprise you,” Mr. Phelps said.

Jimmy took them over by the fire. “These are my friends,” he said and introduced the Aldens.

“No wonder you like it here, Jimmy,” Mr. Phelps said. “There are so many interesting people.”

“The whole time we were away, we kept wishing we were here with you,” Mrs. Phelps said.

Jimmy couldn't hide his surprise. “And I was wishing I was there with you,” he told them. After that, all his feelings came tumbling out.

The Phelps were stunned. They had always thought he wanted to come here for the winter games. And they thought he liked being on his own.

“What a terrible misunderstanding!” Mrs. Phelps said.

“From now on, we'll discuss these things,” Mr. Phelps said. “And the next time we take a vacation, it will be together.”

Mrs. Phelps glanced around the room. She seemed to like what she saw. “And maybe we'll spend it at Snow Haven,” she said.

“That'd be great,” Benny put in. “We might be here, too.”

The parade into the dining room began. Mr. Alden stood at the door beside Mr. Mercer.

“Well, Benny, are you ready to eat?” Mr. Alden asked.

“I'm too excited to eat,” Benny said. “I can't wait until we find out who won.”

Mr. Mercer laughed. “I'll save you the suspense, Benny,” he said. “In my book, you're all winners.”

About the Author

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 each 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
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE'S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH