The Mystery of the Stolen Boxcar

  “That’s true,” said Violet quietly.

  No one said anything else the rest of the way home, except to call for Watch. When they got home, Benny dropped his bike and ran around to the back of the house to see if the dog food he’d left out was gone. The others quickly followed.

  But the dog food was still there. Mrs. McGregor opened the kitchen door as they ran up the back steps.

  “Has Watch come home?” asked Benny breathlessly.

  Mrs. McGregor shook her head sadly. “The boxcar? Did you find it?” she asked.

  “No,” said Benny, his shoulders slumping with disappointment.

  “It’s a strange thing,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Watch loved the boxcar as much as you do. He stayed there all the time. Slept in it sometimes during the day and more than once when I called him in at night, he’d come from that direction. I would think he’d be barking and barking if anybody came to steal it.”

  “Grandfather said that, too. He must have been gone already,” said Henry.

  “Watch is a smart dog,” said Mrs. McGregor. “He’ll find his way home. Time for lunch now.”

  But the Aldens didn’t have very big appetites. They ate quietly. When they’d finished, Henry said, “We might as well keep busy. We’ll keep looking for Watch. And we’ll go visit Sam.”

  They called and looked for Watch as they headed for Sam’s house. On the way, they stopped by the animal shelter and Dr. Scott, the veterinarian’s. But no one had seen Watch.

  When they reached Sam’s house, they saw that Susie was out in the pasture. A blanket had been thrown over her back and her jaw moved slowly as she chewed on a wisp of hay.

  Then Sam came out of the barn. When he saw the children riding up his driveway he quickly pulled the door of the barn shut. Then he locked it and walked out to meet them.

  “Hello,” Sam said.

  “We came to see how your wagon is doing,” said Jessie. “Have you fixed it yet?”

  “Well, you can see that Susie is still out in the pasture,” said Sam with a laugh. “That means I haven’t fixed it yet, or she’d be hitched to it and we’d be out on the road.”

  “Can you fix it?” asked Violet.

  “I’m not making any promises,” said Sam. “But I haven’t given up hope of having a fine wagon for me and Susie again someday soon.”

  The Aldens exchanged glances. Sam was being very vague. He wouldn’t answer any of their questions “yes” or “no.”

  “Could we see the wagon?” asked Henry.

  Sam said, “You don’t want to see it. When I finish working on it, if I ever do, then you can. But you can go visit Susie. She’d be glad to say hello.” Sam suddenly looked around. “Say, where is Susie’s friend? That little dog of yours?”

  “Watch is gone,” said Benny. “He ran away last night.”

  “That’s terrible! I’ll look out for him,” Sam said.

  “We’ll visit Susie another time,” said Jessie quickly. “When Watch comes home, so he can visit, too. Thank you.”

  The Boxcar Children got on their bikes and rode quickly back up the driveway. As soon as they were out of sight, Jessie pulled her bicycle into the bushes and stopped.

  The others stopped, too.

  Henry said, “Sam wouldn’t let us in the barn. He’s acting as if he’s hiding something.”

  Jessie nodded. “That’s what I think, too, Henry.”

  “Maybe we should watch him,” said Benny.

  “I think we should, too,” said Jessie. “I think we should wait here and when Sam drives to town, we’ll follow him!”

  “But what about Watch?” asked Benny.

  “You and I will go and keep looking for Watch,” Violet said to Benny. To her older brother and sister she said, “We’ll meet you back at the house in time for dinner.”

  After awhile, a battered gray truck pulled out of the farm’s driveway. Sam drove by.

  Quickly Henry and Jessie got on their bicycles and followed him. They had to pedal fast to keep him in sight.

  First Sam stopped at the post office and bought some stamps. Then he stopped at the library and returned some books. Then he went to the pet supply shop — and bought a big bag of dog food!

  Jessie grabbed Henry’s arm. “Look!” she exclaimed, as Sam threw the dog food in the back of the truck. “Sam doesn’t have a dog! Why is he buying dog food?”

  “I know why!” Henry said. “And I know where Watch is!”

  Jessie’s eyes opened wide. She looked over at Sam, who was getting back into his truck. “Sam?” she whispered. “Sam has Watch?”

  Henry said, “Yes.” But before he could explain, Sam got in his truck and drove away. This time they couldn’t keep up with him.

  “It’s o-okay,” panted Henry, pulling his bicycle to a stop. “He’s just going home, I think. And it is almost time for us to get home, too.”

  “Why would Sam take Watch?” asked Jessie.

  “I don’t think he meant to,” said Henry.

  “But I think Watch was asleep in the boxcar. When Sam took the boxcar, he closed the door and locked Watch inside. Now he’s afraid to let him go because Watch will take us right back to his barn.”

  “You’re right, Henry!” cried Jessie. “We’ll keep a close eye on Sam and we’ll find Watch and our boxcar.”

  “Yes,” Henry agreed. “But first we have to go home and tell Violet and Benny what we found out.”

  When Henry and Jessie got home and told Violet and Benny what they thought had happened to Watch, the others didn’t want to believe it. Neither did Soo Lee, who had come over to help Benny and Violet look for Watch.

  But then Violet said, “Oh! That’s why Watch didn’t bark!”

  “Why, Violet?” asked Soo Lee.

  “Because he knows Sam and Susie!”

  “Have we solved the mystery?” asked Benny.

  “I think we almost have,” said Henry. “It’s too late to go back now, but tomorrow we’ll go out there again. We’ll find Watch.”

  Early the next morning, Mrs. McGregor asked the Aldens to go pick up some more groceries for the Founders’ Day dinner.

  They decided that Henry and Violet would go to the grocery store, and Jessie and Benny would go to Sam’s farm.

  When Jessie and Benny got out to Sam’s farm, they settled down to wait.

  Meanwhile, Henry and Violet bought the groceries for Mrs. McGregor. They were just coming out of the store when Violet said, “Look. There’s the little spoiled girl.”

  Sure enough, the young girl with the golden-blonde curls and the big blue eyes who had thrown a temper tantrum in front of the Aldens was walking down the sidewalk. She was holding the hand of a tall man in a gray flannel suit.

  “Hello there,” Henry said to Becky.

  “Hi,” Violet added softly.

  The man holding Becky’s hand said, “Are these some friends of yours, Becky? You should say hello.”

  But Becky didn’t say anything. She acted as if she didn’t even know who they were. Instead she tugged on the tall man’s hand. “Can we go now, Daddy?” she asked. “I want to go play in my new playhouse!” She gave Henry and Violet a smug look.

  “Sure, princess,” her father said.

  “Don’t you remember us?” asked Violet. “You were with your baby-sitter, Martha. You told us you saw our picture in the newspaper with — ”

  “Daddy, I want to goooo,” wailed Becky, her blue eyes filling with tears.

  “Sorry,” Becky’s father said to Henry and Violet. “I don’t know why she’s behaving this way.” He picked Becky up and carried her over to a car that was sitting at the curb. He put her inside and then they drove away.

  “Well, that wasn’t very nice,” said Violet. Violet was shy, but she would never, ever be rude. No one in her family had ever behaved that way.

  “I know why she’s acting like that,” said Henry. “She’s spoiled.”

  “I hope I never get spoiled,” said Violet.

  That made
Henry smile a little. “Don’t worry, Violet. You could never be that mean,” he told her.

  Violet grabbed Henry’s arm. “Look! There goes Sam into the grocery store.”

  “I wonder if Jessie and Benny were able to keep up with him?” said Henry.

  His question was answered a moment later as Jessie and Benny came pedaling up to the grocery store. “Henry, Violet, Sam’s . . .” Jessie ran out of breath and pointed to the grocery store.

  “We know,” said Violet. “We saw him go in. You can rest now while he’s inside. When he comes out we’ll help you follow him.”

  Jessie and Benny didn’t get to rest very long. Sam came out soon after, carrying a big bag of groceries. He put it in the back of the truck and drove away.

  The Aldens quickly followed.

  Sam drove toward his farm. But before he got there, he turned off and went down a narrow country road. Then he turned up a narrow dirt driveway to a small gray house with green shutters. He parked his truck out front as the Aldens ducked behind some trees.

  They watched as Sam picked up the groceries and knocked on the front door of the house. Several minutes later, the door opened. A small, white dog came wriggling out and jumped up to put his paws on Sam’s leg.

  “Sam! Thank you for doing this,” said a raspy voice. A man about Sam’s age stepped out onto the porch. “My cold’s going away, but I still feel pretty bad.”

  “Glad to help. Besides, after you gave me that old wagon of yours for parts to help put my wagon back together, it’s the least I could do,” said Sam. “Call me if you need anything else. I’ll stop by tomorrow to visit . . . oh, wait. I just remembered something.”

  Sam ran back to his truck and grabbed the bag of dog food from the back. “I almost forgot this special delivery!” he said with a laugh, coming back up onto the porch.

  The dog barked and the man coughed. Then the man said, “Thanks again, Sam. You’re a good neighbor.”

  “My pleasure,” said Sam. He waved and went back to his truck.

  “Sam was buying dog food for his sick neighbor’s dog, not Watch,” Benny said. “He doesn’t have Watch and our boxcar after all!”

  CHAPTER 8

  A Happy Reunion

  I guess so,” admitted Henry.

  Jessie thought for a moment. “But I still think Watch was in the boxcar when it was taken. Maybe we just couldn’t hear him bark while he was locked inside.”

  “He would have barked at that mean Ralph man,” said Benny.

  “He sure would have, Benny,” said Jessie, looking more hopeful. “Maybe Ralph Winters took the boxcar for the senator. And maybe he took Watch, too. All we have to do now is find Ralph Winters.”

  Violet was thinking hard, too. She said, slowly, “We saw that spoiled little girl again today. Becky. The one who wanted our boxcar. What about her?”

  “How would she steal a boxcar?” asked Benny.

  “I don’t know,” said Violet.

  “I don’t think she did it,” said Henry. “How could she? She’s just a little girl. But we’ll keep her on our list of suspects. Right now, though, I think our best suspect is Ralph Winters. We need to find him.”

  Violet clasped her hands together. “Oh, no,” she said. “What if Watch is still locked up in the boxcar? What if Mr. Winters doesn’t even know he’s there?”

  It was too horrible to think about.

  Jessie said quickly, “We still have Mr. Winters’ business card at home. I put it in my desk drawer. We’ll call him, and tell him our boxcar disappeared and we think our dog is locked inside. If Mr. Winters has the boxcar, he’ll at least let Watch out. And you know Watch can find his way home!”

  “Let’s hurry!” cried Benny.

  The children raced home. Jessie ran up to her room and came running back down the stairs, two at a time, a minute later.

  “Here it is!” she said holding up the card triumphantly.

  She hurried to the telephone and dialed the phone number on the card. “Hello?” she said. “May I please speak to Ralph Winters?”

  Her eyes opened very wide as she listened. Then she said, “Oh, no! Are you sure? But . . . well, can you tell me where we could find him? It’s very, very important. Maybe I could talk to Senator Teacher. She isn’t? When will she be back? Oh.” Jessie’s voice grew very sad. “Oh. Thank you.”

  She put the phone receiver down slowly and stood there with her hands hanging at her sides.

  “What is it?” Violet cried. “What’s wrong?”

  Jessie looked up at the other children. “Mr. Winters doesn’t work for Senator Teacher anymore. He’s been fired! And they wouldn’t tell me where he lives so I could call him. They said they couldn’t give out that information.”

  “We’ll talk to the senator!” declared Henry.

  ‘“I tried. She wasn’t there. They don’t know when she’ll be back to her office. She’s out campaigning.”

  “We’ll think of something,” Henry said. “Don’t worry.”

  But the children knew they had to solve the mystery and solve it soon — or they might never see Watch again!

  That night Benny couldn’t sleep. He got up and pressed his face against the window in his room and looked down into the backyard where the boxcar had stood.

  The moon was out, and it was bright enough to see the stump that had been the step for the door of the boxcar.

  Benny remembered how Watch could jump up into the boxcar without even using the stump as a step. He thought about how Watch had been all over Greenfield with the Aldens while they were walking or riding their bicycles and even in the car. Watch was very smart. He could find his way home — Benny just knew it. But still he felt a little worried. His stomach even hurt a little.

  Benny sighed. He was thinking about Watch so hard that he almost thought he could hear Watch barking.

  Then Benny blinked. He blinked again. Something small and white was running by where the boxcar had been.

  It was barking that Benny heard!

  “Watch!” shouted Benny joyfully, jumping up and down. He didn’t care that it was the middle of the night. “Watch!” he shouted as loudly as he could, running out of his room and down the stairs toward the back door. “Watch has come home!”

  Doors slammed. Footsteps pounded in the hall. Everyone came running from their rooms. Mrs. McGregor came out with only one slipper on. Grandfather tied the sash around his robe as he ran.

  Benny threw the back door open. A small furry body hit him and knocked him over.

  “WOOF,” Watch barked, wild with excitement. “Woof, woof, woof!” He was wagging his tail so hard that his whole body shook. He licked Benny’s face and his neck and his ears.

  The kitchen light came on.

  “Watch!” said Jessie. “You’re back!”

  Watch jumped up on her. He jumped up on Henry and Violet and Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor, too. He ran in circles around the kitchen. Everyone hugged him and kissed him and petted him and talked at once.

  When everyone had calmed down a little, Grandfather said, “No one wanted dessert tonight after dinner this evening. Maybe now we should eat some ice cream to celebrate.”

  “Hooray!” said Benny, who was holding Watch. “Can Watch have some, too?”

  “Yes,” said Grandfather. “Watch can have some, too.”

  So the Aldens and Mrs. McGregor sat at the big kitchen table and ate vanilla ice cream in the middle of the night. And just that once, because it was a very special night, Watch sat on Benny’s lap and ate a little bit of ice cream out of a bowl of his very own. They were all very happy. They were a whole family again, because Watch had come home.

  “I wonder where you were, boy,” said Henry to Watch the next morning. “I wish you could tell us. Do you know who took the boxcar?”

  Watch licked Henry’s hand.

  “Are we ready?” asked Jessie.

  They were going to Senator Teacher’s office. They hoped that they could find out more about Mr. Winters. r />
  “Yes,” said Benny. He added, “And Watch is coming with us. We’re not leaving him behind.”

  “Watch can come with us,” said Henry. “A senator who doesn’t like dogs shouldn’t be elected, anyway!”

  The Aldens and Soo Lee rode their bikes into Greenfield. Benny held Watch’s leash and Watch trotted alongside him on the sidewalk.

  The senator’s office was a small two-story house near the town square. It was white with red-and-blue trim, and the United States flag and the state flag hung out front. There was also a big poster in the front yard with the senator’s picture on it. It read: RE-ELECT SENATOR TEACHER.

  The Aldens parked their bicycles and went inside. “We called yesterday afternoon,” said Henry to the man behind the receptionist desk, who was flipping through a magazine. “About Ralph Winters.”

  The man looked up. “Ralph Winters.” He shook his head. “Can’t help you. He’s gone. Fired.”

  “We have to find him,” said Benny. “It’s very important.”

  “Can’t help you,” said the receptionist, leaning back in his chair.

  “But . . .” said Benny.

  “Could we see Senator Teacher?” said Jessie. She was beginning to get angry.

  “The senator is a very busy woman,” said the receptionist. He unwrapped a stick of gum and began to chew it.

  “Woof!” said Watch.

  “Is that a dog?” The receptionist sat up. “Oh, no! Dogs aren’t allowed!”

  “You’re a mean man!” said Benny, his face turning red.

  “Not mean,” a woman’s crisp voice said. “Just not very smart sometimes.”

  Now it was the receptionist’s face that turned red. “S-Senator Teacher,” he said. “We weren’t expecting you today.”

  “No, I didn’t think you were,” said the senator. She walked into the room. She was a short woman with close-cut silver hair. She had on a navy blue suit and navy blue shoes. She was wearing red earrings and a white blouse, and had red fingernails that matched her earrings.

  The senator gave her receptionist a sharp look. “I’ll talk to you later,” she told him. Then she turned to the Aldens. “Come into my office. All of you. Let’s see what I can do to help.”