Boxcar Children 54 - Hurricane Mystery

by Warner, Gertrude Chandler

  Then, right after breakfast, all the Aldens and Mrs. Ashleigh drove to Charleston. They passed Diana working on a house just down the street and waved as they went by.

  But when they got to the Hoofbeats of History stable, Jackie wasn’t there.

  “Oh, no,” said Jessie to the man who came out to meet them. “She was supposed to give us a tour.”

  The man smiled. He was medium height, with shoulder-length brown hair, and he wore sunglasses. “Then you must be the Aldens. I’m Mike Carson, Jackie’s partner. She couldn’t be here, so she arranged for me to give you a special tour.”

  “That sounds great,” said Henry. “My name’s Henry and these are my sisters, Jessie and Violet, and my brother Benny.”

  Mike led them toward a black carriage with silver trim. A big, sandy-colored horse stood hitched to it.

  “Welcome to Hoofbeats of History,” Mike said. He nodded toward the horse. “This is Sugar. Not only did Jackie leave the very best tour guide in charge but she left the very best horse.”

  “Is she called Sugar because she is a sweet horse?” asked Jessie, patting Sugar’s soft nose.

  “Because she’s sweet and she likes to be fed lumps of sugar,” said Mike.

  “Watch, our dog, is called Watch because he is a good watchdog,” said Benny.

  “Hello, Watch,” said Mike, scratching Watch’s ears. Then he motioned toward the carriage. “Now, all aboard.”

  The Aldens and Mrs. Ashleigh got in the carriage. Benny held tightly to Watch’s leash.

  “Okay, Sugar, let’s go,” said Mike, and Sugar pulled the carriage out into the streets of Charleston.

  “Look at all the people!” said Benny as they drove up one narrow street and down another. He waved at people as Sugar trotted by. “It’s like being in a parade.” Benny loved parades.

  “Look at all the beautiful houses,” Violet breathed. She pointed at fences made of iron shaped into delicate patterns. “It looks like lace made of iron,” she said.

  Mrs. Ashleigh laughed and nodded. “That’s a very good description, Violet.”

  As they drove, Mike told them that Charleston had been built in the middle of a marsh and behind walls to protect it from enemy attack. “The name Charleston comes from Charles Town, after the English King Charles II,” he explained.

  He showed them the high-water marks that the sea had left behind after the last hurricane. The water had been taller than Benny, taller than Jessie, even taller than Grandfather.

  “But Charleston is used to hurricanes,” he said. “And earthquakes, too.”

  “That’s what Diana told us,” said Henry. “She said San Francisco had lots of earthquakes, but that Charleston had had them, too.”

  “Well, I don’t know Diana, but she’s right. In 1886 we had an earthquake that lasted eight minutes!” Mike said.

  “That won’t happen again soon, will it?” asked Violet, looking a little nervous.

  “I don’t think so,” said Mike. “I hope not!”

  They drove past the City Market, where people once shopped for food, “just like in a big, open grocery store,” Mike told them. Now the market was the center of restaurants and shops and artists of all kinds. Women sat on corners and wove beautiful baskets of palmetto, bulrush, pine, and sweetgrass, “a craft brought by their great-great-grandmothers from Africa and the Caribbean and handed down for generations from mother to daughter,” Mike told them. “Some of those baskets are in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. They are works of art and are worth a lot of money.”

  At the end of the tour, the Aldens thanked Mike, and Sugar, too. “I’ve lived all my life in Charleston,” said Mrs. Ashleigh, “but I’ve never been on a tour before. I learned a lot of new things.”

  “You should give tours dressed as a pirate,” said Benny.

  “That’s a great idea, Benny,” said Mike. “Maybe I will.”

  As they walked away from the stable, Mike called after them, “Are you going home now?”

  “Not just yet,” said Grandfather. “I think we’ll go get some ice cream.”

  “Good,” said Benny.

  “The best ice cream is over by the market,” said Mike. “It’ll take a little while to walk there, but it’ll be worth it. And you can see more of Charleston.”

  “Thank you, Mike,” said Mr. Alden.

  “Take your time in Charleston,” Mike urged. “There is a lot to see and do.”

  “We will,” said Jessie cheerfully. “After all, we’re on a holiday today!”

  Grandfather Alden and Mrs. Ashleigh dropped the children off at the house before going to the hardware store for supplies.

  When they got back, Henry said, “I think we should take a look in the study, don’t you, Jessie and Violet?”

  “Yes,” said Jessie.

  “Yes,” said Violet. “Come on, Benny.”

  She and Jessie and Henry wanted Benny to find his made-up pirate map so they could go on their treasure hunt.

  But when they pushed the door of the study open, they stopped in shock.

  “Oh, no!” cried Violet. “What happened?”

  CHAPTER 6

  Gold Coins and Iron Bars

  Everything’s a mess!” said Jessie.

  The piles of neatly stacked papers were scattered everywhere, all over the study.

  “Look!” said Benny. He pointed. “The wind must have blown through the open window.”

  “It couldn’t have, Benny. We didn’t leave the window open,” said Henry. “Someone must have opened it and climbed through.”

  Jessie went over to the window and bent to examine it. “You’re right,” she said. “See?” The others crowded around her and stared at a black smudge on the recently painted windowsill. “That looks like a dirty, smeared footprint,” said Jessie.

  “All our hard work! Why would someone do such an awful thing?” said Violet.

  “Maybe it was Mrs. Ashleigh’s son. Maybe he came and did it to scare her so she would sell the house,” said Jessie.

  “No! I know what they were doing,” said Benny. “They were looking for a map for Mr. Fitzhugh’s pirate treasure! They were going to steal it!”

  “How do you know that, Benny?” asked Henry.

  “Because they didn’t find it. Here it is,” Benny answered triumphantly.

  Benny picked a piece of paper up off the floor from just beneath the edge of the desk. He held it up.

  It was the pretend map that Henry had made.

  “It is a map, Benny. But maybe not the map the thief was looking for.”

  “It’s a pirate’s map,” insisted Benny. “It has a skull and crossbones in it, just like in my books about pirates. And there’s an X marking where the treasure is.”

  Benny frowned. “But it has my name on it, too.” He studied the map for a long moment, then slowly read aloud, “Benny’s Pirate Map.”

  He looked up at Henry and laughed. “You can’t fool me,” said Benny. “That’s a map you made. It’s not a real one.”

  “It’s a pretend map,” said Jessie, laughing, too. “But there is a real treasure at the end of it.”

  “Gold?” asked Benny.

  “Not exactly,” said Violet.

  “Oh, boy,” said Benny. “Let’s go on our treasure hunt right now.”

  Henry looked around at the messy study. “Well, we might as well. We don’t have any good clues to the mystery here.”

  The Aldens quickly put the papers back in boxes so they could sort them again later. Then they set out on Benny’s treasure hunt.

  Benny was the leader. He held the map and, with Violet’s help, found the way. Watch ran ahead, sniffing and barking as they read the map.

  “There’s a big tree drawn here,” said Benny. He looked at the map, then looked up and pointed. “There it is. We turn toward the sunrise by the tree, it says.”

  He wrinkled his brow for a moment when they reached the tree, trying to figure out the clue. Then he said, “The sun rises over there.
So we go that way!”

  “Oops, Benny, you almost missed a clue,” said Henry.

  Benny stopped so quickly that his older brother almost ran into him. He held the map up. “What clue?” he asked.

  “Light house on the left, green house ahead,” read Henry.

  “Oh!” said Benny. He turned and looked at the houses in the dunes until he saw a green one. He led the way across the dunes toward it.

  On and on they followed the map.

  Once, Jessie stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

  “What is it?” asked Violet. “What do you see?”

  “I had the funniest feeling . . . as if we were being followed. And I thought I saw someone in a gray raincoat. But I don’t see anybody now.”

  “Why would someone follow us?” asked Violet.

  Jessie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it was just my imagination.”

  They came at last to the dunes near the beach. Henry leaned over and clipped Watch’s leash on. “To keep Watch from smelling the treasure and beating us to it,” he explained.

  “We’re almost there,” said Benny. “We’ve almost reached the treasure!” Holding the map high, he ran ahead onto the narrow walkway made of boards that led through the dunes to the beach.

  Benny’s footsteps clattered on the boards as he hurried to find the treasure.

  Suddenly someone leaped out of the dunes by the walkway and grabbed the map.

  “Hey!” shouted Benny. “Stop!”

  But it was too late. The mysterious figure jerked the map from Benny’s hands and ran into the dunes and disappeared!

  “Help!” cried Benny. “Stop, thief!”

  “Benny’s in trouble,” said Henry. “Come on!”

  They ran down the walkway. But Benny was nowhere in sight.

  Henry cupped his hands to his mouth. “Benny!” he shouted. “Benny, where are you?

  Suddenly Watch tugged at his leash. He pulled Jessie to one side of the walkway.

  “Footprints,” said Jessie, pointing. “Good dog, Watch.” They jumped into the sand and began to follow the footsteps.

  They hadn’t gone far when they heard someone shouting.

  “It’s Benny! He’s over there,” said Violet.

  With Watch straining at the leash, they ran as fast as they could through the sand.

  And there was Benny, standing at the top of a sand dune with his hands in fists. He was scowling and his face was very red.

  “Benny! Are you all right? What happened?” asked Jessie.

  “Somebody stole the map,” wailed Benny. “And he got away.”

  “What did the person look like?” asked Violet.

  “He was wearing a big gray raincoat, and he had a brown ponytail. That’s all I saw,” said Benny. “I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.”

  “A gray raincoat!” exclaimed Jessie. “Then I was right.” Quickly she told Henry and Benny about the person she thought had been following them.

  “But why would anybody follow us?” asked Henry. “And why would anyone steal a map that wasn’t even real?”

  “Because he wants to steal my treasure,” said Benny. “Hurry. We have to get there before the thief does.”

  “I think the thief knows that the map isn’t real by now, Benny,” said Jessie. “He probably won’t risk coming back.”

  “But I remember exactly where your treasure is hidden,” said Henry. “We can still go find it.”

  He led the way to a small tree near the boardwalk in the dunes and pointed. An X had been drawn on the trunk of the tree with white chalk.

  “X marks the spot,” cried Benny happily. With Watch’s help he’d soon dug up a small cookie tin. “Gold!” said Benny when he took the top off the tin. Inside were some gold-wrapped chocolate coins that Jessie had bought at the island grocery store.

  They ate some of the treasure as they walked home. All except Watch. “Chocolate is bad for dogs, Watch. Remember?” Benny told Watch.

  As they walked and ate their treasure, they talked about the map thief.

  “If someone thought that was a real treasure map, then someone really believes there is a pirate’s treasure,” said Jessie. “Maybe that’s why he broke into the study.”

  “But Diana said nobody believes that there’s a treasure,” Violet reminded them. “She said it was just a story.”

  “Maybe she said that to throw us off guard,” said Henry. “She did say she needed money.”

  “She knew we weren’t going to be home, too. Remember? We waved at her as we drove away this morning,” said Violet.

  Jessie said, “So did Jackie. She’s the one who invited us on the tour this morning. Maybe she’s the one who thinks that there is a treasure. Maybe she knows more than she’s telling us.”

  “Like a secret about the buried treasure?” asked Benny.

  “It could be,” Henry said.

  “But she couldn’t be the one who was following us,” said Violet. “She has short black hair. The person in the gray raincoat had a brown ponytail.”

  “Just like Diana,” said Henry.

  They walked in silence, peeling the gold foil off the chocolate coins and eating them, and thinking about the mystery. But when they reached Mrs. Ashleigh’s house, they were no nearer a solution.

  “Is this another mystery?” asked Benny happily.

  “It sure looks that way, Benny,” said Henry.

  “I wonder what will happen next,” said Violet.

  She got her answer that very night.

  CHAPTER 7

  Who’s There?

  I’m thirsty, thought Violet sleepily, waking from a deep sleep. It was very late. Violet got her flashlight and water glass from by the bed and went to the bathroom to fill the glass.

  Back in her room, she sat down on the edge of her bed, turned off the flashlight, and took a sip of cool water.

  Suddenly she heard a funny sound outside.

  Violet stood up and peered out her window. She had the room above the kitchen. It looked out over the side yard, where the Pirate’s Gate had once hung.

  The Pirate’s Gate wasn’t there now, of course.

  But someone in a raincoat was.

  Quickly Violet grabbed her flashlight and ran out of her room into Jessie’s. “Jessie,” she gasped.

  “Uhh,” said Jessie sleepily.

  “Someone’s outside in the garden. I think it’s the person who took Benny’s map! Tell Henry and Benny,” said Violet as she hurried away.

  That woke Jessie up. In no time at all she’d gotten Henry and Benny and Watch. “Don’t bark, Watch,” warned Benny. They ran through the house as fast and as quietly as they could, trying not to wake Mrs. Ashleigh or Grandfather Alden.

  They raced to the kitchen. Henry, who was the tallest, peered through a window that looked out over the garden.

  A shadowy figure stood only a few feet away.

  Suddenly the figure moved. It raised its arm and they all heard a dull clang, clang, like metal on metal.

  Watch growled very softly, but he didn’t bark.

  “What is he doing?” whispered Violet.

  “I don’t know,” said Henry. “We’ve got to see who it is. Maybe if we surprise him we can at least see his face.”

  They ran to the kitchen door and threw it open.

  “Stop!” cried Henry. “Who’s there? Who are you?”

  The shadowy figure whirled and leaped through the opening where the gate had once hung. He went so fast that they didn’t even have time to train their flashlights on him.

  “Did you recognize anything?” asked Henry.

  “Just that raincoat,” Jessie said.

  “What was he doing?” said Violet. She turned her flashlight on the iron fence and got her answer. “Oh, no!” she said. “Look.”

  The intruder had hit one of the hinges where the gate had hung. When Mr. Farrier had fixed it, it had looked shiny and new. Now it was scratched and dented.

  “Why would anyon
e do that?” Henry wondered aloud. He bent forward to inspect the damaged hinge. “It’s not bad,” he said at last. “Mostly scratched. You could still hang the gate on it.”

  “Oh, good,” said Benny.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Henry concluded. “Why would anyone vandalize Mrs. Ashleigh’s fence?”

  “Maybe it’s her son, trying to scare her into moving,” said Jessie slowly. “And maybe he is the one who snuck in to steal the papers. Too bad we didn’t get a better look at him.”

  “See?” said Benny. “Mr. Ashleigh is a mean man.”

  “We don’t know who it was, Benny,” Violet reminded her younger brother. “It looked like the man from this afternoon.”

  “Or woman,” said Jessie, thinking of Diana. “We just don’t know.”

  “Maybe Diana and Forrest Ashleigh are working together,” said Henry. “After all, she lives nearby. It would be easy for her to get to Mrs. Ashleigh’s house without being noticed. All we know is that it was the person in the raincoat.”

  “And whoever it was knows his way around. That’s one of the reasons he got away,” said Henry.

  The four children looked at each other.

  The clues were beginning to add up. But they still weren’t sure why all these mysterious things had happened. That was the biggest mystery of all.

  “I’m going to Charleston to see about the gate and to take care of some business,” said Mrs. Ashleigh a couple of days later, coming out onto the front porch.

  The Aldens had finished repairing the porch and had even added new steps to replace the stump. Now they were painting. “I don’t suppose anybody would like to come with me,” Mrs. Ashleigh went on.

  “Me!” said Benny, dropping his paintbrush.

  “I think we’d all like to go visit Mr. Farrier’s studio,” said Jessie.

  The Aldens changed out of their porch-painting clothes, and soon they were on their way to Charleston.

  Many people were still working to clean up after the hurricane. “We can’t waste time here,” said Mrs. Ashleigh with a rueful smile. “You never know when the next hurricane will hit.”