“I see Emily’s work jacket hanging on a hook over there.” Jeff pointed. “Why don’t you check her pockets. Maybe she’s got some safety goggles in there?”
Jessie, Violet and Benny put on the safety goggles that they’d found. Henry reached inside Emily’s work jacket. There was indeed a pair of safety goggles in there. But there was also something else.
A tiny flash card. It was labeled simply “yo-yo.”
Jeff frowned. Then he picked up the phone and called Emily at home. “Could you please come down to the shop right now?” he asked. “Yes, I know today is your day off, but this is very important. There are some things I need to ask you and I want to ask them in person.”
Jeff listened for a few seconds then said, “Thank you, Emily. I’ll see you in half an hour.”
“I can’t believe Emily took the flash card,” Violet said. “She seemed so nice.”
“She is nice,” Jeff said. “I’ll be curious to hear what she has to say for herself.”
While they waited for Emily to arrive, the group continued to pull apart the damaged pieces of the yo-yo.
“See?” Gary said when they got a few layers lower into the yo-yo. “The rest of these pieces look fine.”
“I guess you’re right,” Jeff said.
The door opened and Emily walked in. She hung back by the door. “Y-you wanted me to stop by, Jeff?” she said nervously.
“Yes.” Jeff motioned for her to come closer. “I want to show you something.”
Emily moved as though her legs were pulling heavy weights.
“We needed an extra pair of safety goggles,” Jeff began. “So I told the children to check the pockets of your work jacket. They found my flash card in your pocket.” He reached into his own pocket and pulled out the flash card.
Emily looked down at the floor.
“Did you vandalize the yo-yo, too?” Jeff asked.
Emily sighed. “Todd and I did it together. I also canceled the order of the wood.
I knew you needed that wood, but I canceled it anyway. And Todd was the one who called and warned you to stop building the yo-yo.”
“Why, Emily?” Jessie asked. “Why would you and Todd do these things?”
Emily sat down on a metal stool. “It’s hard to explain. Todd and I have been nervous about all the attention you’ve been getting for this yo-yo. We were afraid with all the attention on you, it would be hard for us to make a name for ourselves with our own custom furniture shop. Everybody will want to keep going to the guy who built the giant yo-yo.”
“It takes time to build a reputation, Emily,” Gary said. “Surely you and Todd must realize that?”
“Yes, we do. Especially in this community where everyone already knows and respects Jeff,” Emily said. “But we started thinking that if for some reason you didn’t get the yo-yo built, then maybe we could build it. That’s why I asked you for a copy of your plans. Todd and I were hoping if we were the ones who built the world’s largest yo-yo, then people would want to hire us to build things for them instead of you. I’m really sorry, Jeff. You’ve been so nice to me these past two months and I’ve really learned a lot about the woodworking business. We should never have tried to stop you from building this yo-yo.”
“Well, my friend here thinks that some of our work can be salvaged,” Jeff said, nodding toward Gary. “We’re not going to have to start over.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Emily said. “In fact, I’ve been rethinking my resignation. I’m not sure I want to go into business with Todd anymore. Maybe I should stay here and keep working with you, Jeff? That is, if you’ll still have me after what I’ve done.”
Jeff and Gary exchanged glances. “Well, I might’ve been inclined to give you another chance, Emily, but my old friend Gary has decided to come back to work,” Jeff said with a smile. He patted his old friend on the back. “So I’m afraid that job is no longer available.”
Emily shrugged. “I guess I can’t blame you for that,” she said. “But on the bright side, I’m glad the two of you are friends again. Whenever Jeff talked about you, Gary, I could tell how much he missed you.”
“You missed me?” Gary asked.
“Of course I missed you,” Jeff replied.
Gary smiled. “I missed you, too, old friend.”
CHAPTER 10
The Launch
The next day, Karl’s Lumber delivered another of load of boards. The Aldens helped Jeff and Gary with the yo-yo every day. They cut and measured each piece of wood, then pounded them all together. When they finished, they had two yo-yo halves. They coated each half with a drywall compound, then it was time to paint.
“Hmm. I don’t know what color we should paint the yo-yo,” Jeff said.
“How about purple?” Violet suggested. Purple was her favorite color.
“Purple is a great color for a yo-yo,” Gary said.
So they painted each half purple.
Then, all they needed to do was attach the two sides of the yo-yo to the axle and wind the rope. They brought Gary’s truck into the shop to help lift the pieces up on to their sides so they could be put together.
“Are you sure this cable is going to be strong enough?” Benny asked when Jeff attached the rope to the axle.
“It should be,” Gary said. “Come and look how thick it is.”
Benny could hardly stretch his hand around the rope. “Wow! That’s thick!” Benny said.
The Aldens watched as Jeff and Gary cranked the rope to the yo-yo. When they finished, they all stepped back to admire their work.
“It looks just like a real yo-yo!” Violet said. “Now all we have to do is see if it works like a-real yo-yo,” Gary said.
They called the A-l Wrecking Company to come and pick up the yo-yo and take it to North Ridge Park, which was where the launch was scheduled to occur.
“How are we going to get the yo-yo outside?” Jessie asked.
“Well have to roll it,” Jeff said. He opened the big garage door at the front of the shop.
“Will it go through the door?” Violet wondered.
“It should,” Jeff replied. “The yo-yo is twelve feet tall and the door is twelve and a half feet tall.”
By the time they rolled the yo-yo all the way outside, the truck from A-l Wrecking had arrived. A man hopped down from the cab of the truck to help.
“Hey, that’s some yo-yo,” the man said, glancing at the yo-yo in fascination. “Will it really work?”
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Gary said.
The man from A-l put a ramp up against the back of the truck. Then he attached the rope from the yo-yo to the crane and slowly pulled the yo-yo up onto the truck.
Across the street, both Mrs. Thorton and her son Erik stood under the tall maple tree in their front yard and watched. The Aldens walked across the street.
“We haven’t actually met,” Henry said to Erik. “But we’re the Aldens. We’re friends of Jeff Naylor’s.”
“You’re the kids who have been helping Jeff with his yo-yo,” Erik said as he shook hands with the children.
“Yes,” Jessie said. “We read all about the yo-yo you built a few years ago. We’re sorry it didn’t work.”
“So am I,” Erik said. “But maybe this one will work. I’m sure you all have worked very hard.”
“We have,” Benny said.
“Are you going to come to the launch tomorrow?” Violet asked.
“I’m planning on it,” Erik said.
“I’ll be there, too,” Mrs. Thorton said. “But I’ll be standing in the back, just in case there’s any trouble.”
“That’s fine,” Jessie said. “I’m just glad you’ll be there.”
The Aldens couldn’t have asked for a more perfect Saturday morning. It was sunny and warm. Not a cloud could be seen across the bright blue sky.
It was only eight o’clock, but already people had started to gather in North Ridge Park. The yo-yo hung from the top of a two hundred-foot crane in the middle
of the park. A wide area around the yo-yo had been roped off for safety reasons. And the paramedics were on hand, just in case they were needed.
The launch was scheduled for nine o’clock.
“Are you nervous?” Grandfather asked Jeff as the Aldens stood around with Jeff and Gary.
“A little,” Jeff admitted. “Mostly I’m just excited. This project has been in the works for a long time.”
Finally, at nine A.M., the mayor stepped forward with a microphone and welcomed everyone to this historic event. Then he turned the microphone over to Jeff. Henry recorded everything with Jeff’s digital video camera. Jeff introduced himself and Gary, then told a little about the yo-yo and how they’d come to build it.
“Does it really work?” somebody in the crowd called out.
“Let’s find out,” Jeff said. He turned to the man from A-l Wrecking, who was operating the crane, to see if he was ready. When he nodded that he was, Jeff began a countdown.
“Ten … nine … eight … seven, six, five, four, three, two, one—”
All eyes were fixed on the yo-yo. There wasn’t a sound in North Ridge Park.
Then the yo-yo was released. There was a collective gasp from the crowd as the yo-yo started down the cable. What would happen when it reached the bottom? Would it fall from the crane and crash to the ground? Would it just stay there at the bottom? Or would it start back up again?
The Aldens hardly dared to breathe as the yo-yo got closer to the bottom of the rope. When it reached the bottom, it started back up again.
The crowd cheered. Jeff and Gary hugged. Erik Thorton and his mother smiled. The Aldens jumped up and down.
The yo-yo yo-ed eight times before coming to a rest at the bottom of the cable. It had worked! Jeff, Gary, and the Aldens had indeed built the world’s largest yo-yo.
A couple weeks later, the Aldens were visiting Jeff and Gary in their shop.
“Look at this, everyone,” Jeff said, waving a letter in the air. “Our yo-yo is going to be in next year’s record book. “Hooray!” Everyone cheered.
“I just want to thank you kids for being part of this,” Jeff said. “And thank you for bringing Gary and me together again.”
The Aldens smiled. “Thank you for letting us be part of it,” Henry said.
“We’re glad you and Gary are friends again,” Benny said as he took out his yo-yo and tried to throw a sleeper. This time, when the yo-yo reached the bottom of the string, it kept spinning.
Benny stared wide-eyed at the yo-yo. “Hey!” he said. “Look at that! I’m doing it! I’m really doing it!”
“You certainly are,” Gary said.
“Now see if you can pull it back up,” Jeff said.
Benny raised his hand and the yo-yo climbed back up the string to his hand.
“I can’t believe it!” Benny said. He immediately tossed the yo-yo down again. And once again, the yo-yo spun a perfect sleeper.
Benny lowered the yo-yo to the ground and let it walk-the-dog for a couple of feet, then pulled it back up.
“I knew you’d get it, Benny,” Violet said.
“So now I can do a sleeper, walk-the-dog, and monkey-on-a-string. I wonder what other tricks I can do,” Benny said.
“I have a feeling you can do anything you set your mind to, Benny,” Jeff said.
Benny grinned. “All it takes is a little practice.”
About the Author
GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER 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 the 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
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN
SURPRISE ISLAND
THE YELLOW HOUSE MYSTERY
MYSTERY RANCH
MIKE’S MYSTERY
BLUE BAY MYSTERY
THE WOODSHED MYSTERY
THE LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY
MOUNTAIN TOP MYSTERY
SCHOOLHOUSE MYSTERY
CABOOSE MYSTERY
HOUSEBOAT MYSTERY
SNOWBOUND MYSTERY
TREE HOUSE MYSTERY
BICYCLE MYSTERY
MYSTERY IN THE SAND
MYSTERY BEHIND THE WALL
BUS STATION MYSTERY
BENNY UNCOVERS A MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CABIN MYSTERY
THE DESERTED LIBRARY MYSTERY
THE ANIMAL SHELTER MYSTERY
THE OLD MOTEL MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN PAINTING
THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIXED-UP ZOO
THE CAMP-OUT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY GIRL
THE MYSTERY CRUISE
THE DISAPPEARING FRIEND MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST
MYSTERY IN THE SNOW
THE PIZZA MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY HORSE
THE MYSTERY AT THE DOG SHOW
THE CASTLE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST VILLAGE
THE MYSTERY ON THE ICE
THE MYSTERY OF THE PURPLE POOL
THE GHOST SHIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN WASHINGTON, DC
THE CANOE TRIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN BEACH
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CAT
THE MYSTERY AT SNOWFLAKE INN
THE MYSTERY ON STAGE
THE DINOSAUR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN MUSIC
THE MYSTERY AT THE BALL PARK
THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HOT AIR BALLOON
THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
THE PILGRIM VILLAGE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN BOXCAR
THE MYSTERY IN THE CAVE
THE MYSTERY ON THE TRAIN
THE MYSTERY AT THE FAIR
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST MINE
THE GUIDE DOG MYSTERY
THE HURRICANE MYSTERY
THE PET SHOP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SECRET MESSAGE
THE FIREHOUSE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE NIAGARA FALLS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY AT THE ALAMO
THE OUTER SPACE MYSTERY
THE SOCCER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE OLD ATTIC
THE GROWLING BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER
THE MYSTERY AT PEACOCK HALL
THE WINDY CITY MYSTERY
THE BLACK PEARL MYSTERY
THE CEREAL BOX MYSTERY
THE PANTHER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN’S JEWELS
THE STOLEN SWORD MYSTERY
THE BASKETBALL MYSTERY
THE MOVIE STAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP
THE GHOST TOWN MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK
RAVEN
THE MYSTERY IN THE MALL
THE MYSTERY IN NEW YORK
THE GYMNASTICS MYSTERY
THE POISON FROG MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY SAFE
THE HOME RUN MYSTERY
THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES
THE MYSTERY IN THE COMPUTER GAME
THE MYSTERY AT THE CROOKED HOUSE
THE HOCKEY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT DOG
THE MYSTERY OF THE SCREECH OWL
THE SUMMER CAMP MYSTERY
THE COPYCAT MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CLOCK TOWER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE TIGER’S EYE
THE DISAPPEARING STAIRCASE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD MOUNTAIN
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER’S CLUE
THE CANDY FACTORY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMY’S CURSE
THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY
THE STUFFED BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF ALLIGATOR SWAMP
THE MYSTERY AT SKELETON POINT
THE TATTLETALE MYSTERY
THE COMIC BOOK MYSTERY
THE GREAT SHARK MYSTERY
THE ICE CREAM MYSTERY
THE MIDNIGHT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE FORTUNE COOKIE
THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER MYSTERY
THE RADIO MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUNAWAY GHOST
THE FINDERS KEEPERS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BOXCAR
THE CLUE IN THE CORN MAZE
THE GHOST OF THE CHATTERING BONES
THE SWORD OF THE SILVER KNIGHT
THE GAME STORE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE ORPHAN TRAIN
THE VANISHING PASSENGER
THE GIANT YO-YO MYSTERY
THE CREATURE IN OGOPOGO LAKE
THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL MYSTERY
THE SECRET OF THE MASK
THE SEATTLE PUZZLE
THE GHOST IN THE FIRST ROW
THE BOX THAT WATCH FOUND
A HORSE NAMED DRAGON
THE GREAT DETECTIVE RACE
THE GHOST AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELING TOMATOES
THE SPY GAME
THE DOG-GONE MYSTERY
THE VAMPIRE MYSTERY
SUPERSTAR WATCH
THE SPY IN THE BLEACHERS