The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm (6 page)

BOOK: The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm
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The next day, when Papa came back from town, he had a letter from Meg and William.

Dear Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny,

We are here! The car worked. Papa is a great fixer. We live in a house big enough for all of you, with our aunt and our grandfather.

You’re invited to come anytime. Remember, we are only three inches away. And we are family. Papa has some work as a handyman, and William is working at a farm for the summer. There is a nice cow there that the farmer won’t let Meg ride.

We miss you! And tell Benny that Joe will be very happy when Benny comes to visit. He likes sleeping with Benny more than us. He told us so in woof talk.

Love to all,

William and Meg

PS Kiss Betty on the nose for Meg.

“William and Meg like their new place,” said Jessie.

“It must have been hard to leave their old place, though,” said Henry.

“I wouldn’t like to leave here,” said Violet. “They’re brave.”

“I wish we had a grandfather to visit,” said Benny.

No one said anything.

“You will one day,” said Papa. “You will.”

There was another silence. Mama looked at Papa.

“Will he get me a dog?” asked Benny.

Papa smiled.

“He might do that,” he said.

“We’ll go visit William and Meg sometime,” said Mama.

“Sometime,” said Papa. “But it is a long way.”

“Three inches only,” said Violet.

“Three inches is much longer in real life than it looks on the globe,” said Mama.

“And I will
not
kiss Betty on the nose!” said Papa, making them all smile.

Chapter 12
A Spool of Thread

“Summer is almost over,” said Henry in the barn. “School will start soon. I smell fall.”

Jessie laughed.

“I remember you saying the same thing about last spring,” she said. “And then it snowed.”

“I did say that,” said Henry. “And you stretched out your neck like Betty and said you smelled it, too.”

Jessie stretched out her neck and smelled.

“I don’t smell fall yet. I think there’s more summer to go.”

Papa tooted his funny-sounding car horn for Mama.

Mama carried trays of cookies and biscuits out to the car to deliver. Papa opened the door for her, and she set them on the backseat.

“We’ll be back this afternoon,” she called. “Do you want anything in town, Lambs?”

Henry and Jessie smiled at each other at the word
lambs
.

“Nothing for us,” called Henry.

“I need some brown thread, please,” called Violet.

“A dog,” called Benny.

Mama smiled her big smile. Papa waved.

“Take care of one another,” called Mama. “You know how to do that.”

And they were off.

Waves of summer heat rose off the land. Henry and Jessie watched them over the big meadow.

“No. Not fall yet,” Jessie said.

Henry and Jessie took cool water to Betty and Boots.

“I could swim in a nice pond,” said Henry.

“I could eat a nice sandwich,” said Jessie.

When they went inside, Violet was feeding Benny.

“Mama made fresh bread. Three loaves,” said Violet.

“Is there chocolate?” asked Benny.

“You wish for good things, Benny,” said Jessie.

“I always wish for good things,” said Benny.

“Even when they aren’t there,” said Violet with a smile. “Let’s go write a letter to William and Meg, Benny. You can draw a picture.”

“I drew a picture of Betty,” said Benny. “Meg misses Betty.”

Henry grinned at Jessie when they were gone.

“Have you seen his Betty picture?” he asked.

Jessie shook her head.

“It is part horse, part cow,” said Henry.

“That’s our Betty,” said Jessie.

There was the sound of a car in the driveway.

Henry went to the window.

“Jess? It’s Sheriff Bowen,” Henry said slowly.

The sheriff got out of the car. Rubin got out of the driver’s side.

“Something’s wrong,” said Henry in a low voice. “You stay with Violet and Benny.”

Jessie looked out the window, too.

“No,” she said. “I’ll go out with you.”

Henry took a deep breath.

“Okay.”

They walked out of the door and across the yard.

“Hello,” said Henry.

“Hello, Henry,” said the sheriff. “Jessie.”

His face was very still.

Henry and Jessie looked at each other.

They knew.

They knew in that moment.

It was Rubin who told them.

“There’s been an accident,” he said. “A bad accident.”

He touched Henry’s arm.

“They are gone,” said Rubin, beginning to cry.

Henry didn’t cry because Rubin was crying.

Jessie made a small sound that caused Henry to reach for her hand.

Sheriff Bowen cleared his throat as if it was hard to talk.

“It was a car accident,” he said. “A truck went through a stop sign.” His voice trailed off.

“Someone has to take care of you,” he said.

Henry looked quickly at him.

“What do you mean?”

“A relative,” said Sheriff Bowen. “A family member. You must have someone.”

Jessie and Henry didn’t say anything.

“Otherwise …” Sheriff Bowen stopped for a moment. “Otherwise …”

“Tom!” said Rubin. “We’ll solve this without that. I can stay with them.”

“You’re not family, Rubin,” said Sheriff Bowen. “The court wants family.”

“Belle and I will stay with them,” said Rubin in a strong voice.

“Wait,” Henry said softly.

A little wind came up. Jessie’s hair blew against her cheek.

“We have a grandfather,” said Henry.

Jessie looked quickly at Henry.

“I’ll contact him today,” said Henry.

“We can do that for you,” said the sheriff.

“What is his name? Where does he live?”

“No,” said Henry firmly. “I want to do it. They were … They
are
our parents.”

Sheriff Bowen sighed.

“All right, then. I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon to make sure he’s coming to get you.”

“We’ll watch over them tonight,” said Rubin.

The sheriff nodded and started to walk to his car, then turned.

“I’m awfully sorry, Jessie, Henry. I am so, so sorry.” His voice was soft.

“Thank you,” said Jessie.

Henry nodded.

The sheriff reached into this pocket and walked back to them.

“I forgot. This was found in the front seat of the car.”

He handed Jessie a small object.

It was a small spool of brown thread.

The wind had stilled. The sun was over the far meadow. Rubin had gone home, promising to come back later with dinner. Jessie and Henry had watched him leave. He reached out over the fence to stroke Betty, then Boots. He looked back at them once. His eyes were sad and dark.

“What will we do?” whispered Jessie.

She didn’t know why she whispered. Maybe it was because all that had happened was too sad to talk about out loud.

“We aren’t calling Grandfather,” said Henry.

“But you said—” Jessie began.

“I know. We need time. We can’t rely on Grandfather taking care of us.”

“Even after what Papa said? That we would see him one day?” Jessie asked.

“We don’t know if he would want to take care of us now. We don’t know him. Rubin can’t take care of us. The law says.”

Henry looked at Jessie.

“And I don’t want to think about what the sheriff meant by ‘otherwise,’ and Rubin wouldn’t let him say.”

“Do you know what he meant?” asked Jessie.

Henry nodded.

“The children’s home,” he said. “For orphans.”

Jessie stared at him.

“We have to take care of ourselves,” Henry said. “We know how to do that. Remember? Mama said.”

Henry’s voice cracked a bit.

Jessie thought for a moment.

“We’re going to leave,” said Jess.

“Yes.”

Slowly they walked to the house.

Suddenly Jessie stopped.

“What?” said Henry.

“We have to tell Violet and Benny,” said Jessie, beginning to cry for the very first time.

Chapter 13
Secrets

“What will we do?” asked Violet.

“It’s a big, big secret,” said Henry. “Can you keep a secret?”

“I can,” said Violet.

“We’re going on a journey,” said Henry.

“A journey?”

“Yes, we’re going to find a safe place for us away from here. A place where we can all be together.”

“Do we have to leave here?” asked Violet, tears sitting in the corners of her eyes.

“Yes,” said Jessie.

“Then it will be an adventure,” said Violet.

“Remember, Henry? You once wanted an adventure.”

Henry swallowed.

“I remember.”

“Travelers,” Violet said quietly.

Benny was sleeping, clutching his brown stuffed bear. No one was sure if Benny really understood what had happened. But what he did understand had made him tired.

“We’ll have to take special care of Benny,” said Jessie. “He’s so little.”

“We’ll have to pack some clothes for him. And food. Just a few toys,” said Violet.

“I’ll have to carry him sometimes,” said Henry. “We’ll be walking.”

“Henry?” said Jessie suddenly. “What about Betty and Boots?”

Henry looked out the window.

“I’ll go see Rubin right now. We have to trust him.”

“Want me to come?” asked Jessie.

Henry shook his head.

“Benny will need you when he wakes up.”

And Benny did.

After Henry left, Benny came out of the bedroom, carrying Bear. He climbed up on Jessie’s lap—so silent, no words. Just laying his head on Jessie’s shoulder.

Jessie didn’t say anything, either. She just held him, the afternoon light coming through the open door, the house as still as night.

“Rubin?”

In the field, Rubin turned and walked over.

“Henry.”

Rubin put his arms around Henry and they stood quietly in the grasses.

“Want to come in and see Belle?”

Henry shook his head.

“Not now,” he said.

Rubin nodded.

“What about your grandfather?”

Henry sighed.

“I don’t want to lie to you, Rubin.”

Rubin smiled a small smile.

“Then I won’t ask,” he said.

“I came to ask you to please take Betty and Boots,” said Henry, “if you can.”

“I can do that. I owe your Papa for hay, too,” he said.

“The money isn’t as important as the cows,” said Henry.

Rubin nodded.

“I’ll take care of them.”

“Until we get back,” said Henry.

“Get back,” said Rubin.

It wasn’t a question.

“Thank you,” said Henry.

Henry turned to leave, then stopped. He just looked at Rubin for a moment, as if trying to remember how he looked.

“You’ll miss their funeral,” said Rubin.

Henry nodded.

“I know that you will say good things about them,” Henry said. “You loved them.”

“I did,” said Rubin.

“We loved them, too,” said Henry. “They knew that.”

Henry looked at his feet in the meadow grasses for a moment. Then he looked at Rubin.

BOOK: The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm
6.18Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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