Giant Yo-Yo Mystery (8 page)

“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.”

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 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

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

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON

T
HE
M
YSTERY
B
OOKSTORE

T
HE
P
ILGRIM
V
ILLAGE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
B
OXCAR

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
C
AVE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
T
RAIN

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
F
AIR

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
M
INE