The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (60 page)

Benny left the shell right where it was. He said, “It’s beside the white stone. I’ll remember.”

Just then he saw Jessie looking up into the tall trees. He looked up, too. The wind was not blowing at all, but one tree was moving. There was a crash, and down came a coconut.

“That’s funny! Here’s a coconut!” said Lars. “It isn’t even ripe.”

He looked up but he saw nothing.

He began, “Jessie, you know—” Then he stopped.

“What were you going to say, Lars?” asked Violet softly.

Lars looked at the gentle little girl. He did not want to frighten her. So he said, “Nothing, I guess. I was so surprised to see a coconut fall here. It is so dark in here that the coconuts are not ripe yet.”

Mike looked at Benny. Benny looked at Mike. They both thought Lars was going to say something else. But they did not say a word. They did not want to frighten Violet, either.

“We’ll go back,” said Lars. “It is shorter walking on the sand than through the woods. Then we’ll soon see your grandfather.”

They did find it easier to walk on the hard sand. Sometimes there were piles of rocks, but it was fun to climb over them, too.

“There is another sea pool,” said Henry. He bent over and looked in.

“Oh,
look
!” cried Benny. “Do look at this!” He was sitting on a rock looking down into the clear water.

Everyone jumped over the rocks and looked.

“What do you know!” said Henry.

The pool was filled with white sand under the clear water. But on the sand was a pattern of stones. In the middle was a beautiful white stone, perfectly round. There was a border of red stones around this. Four big pink stones were laid on the four sides. Between the pink stones were black ones. And around the edge was a beautiful border of three colors. These stones were red, white and blue, red, white and blue!

For a minute nobody spoke. And then it all came out. Benny said it. “There’s a mystery here! That didn’t just happen for nothing! Somebody made it!”

So at last everyone was thinking the same thing, “Somebody is on this island.”

T
he next day at breakfast Jessie said, “Lars, how about that fish stew today?”

“For Grandfather,” said Henry. “He loves fish stew.”

“So do I,” said Mike. “All but the fish.”

“You are funny, Mike!” said Benny. “What do you like, if you don’t like the fish?”

“Well, I like the milk, and I like the crackers,” said Mike.

Lars smiled at Mike. He said, “This will be the day to eat the sea biscuit. Today we’ll call them crackers.”

Soon they all walked down the beach to wash their cups and shells. Benny and Mike ran around picking up colored stones and shells. Lars carried the tin box with the fish lines.

“Look at that great big shell sticking up,” said Mike. “Come on, Ben, help me get it out.” The boys dug the sand away with their hands.

“Oh, it’s enormous, Henry!” cried Benny. “It’s as big as a washtub.”

Henry came back to look. “Lars!” he called. “It
is
as big as a washtub! What is it?”

But Mr. Alden was there first. “It’s a turtle shell,” he said.

“A turtle!” cried Mike. “I never saw a turtle as big as this.”

“I have,” said Lars. “That turtle must have weighed 300 pounds when it was alive. He was a big fellow. They grow big around here.”

“Let’s use it for a stew kettle!” said Mike.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” said Violet. “We find a kettle the very day we make fish stew.”

The boys went on digging. At last they took hold of the shell and pulled it out. It was full of wet sand.

“Let’s wash my shell,” said Mike.

“Oho! So it’s
your
shell, Mike!” said Henry. “Well, I guess it is yours. You found it.”

“We can all use it,” said Mike. “I just mean I saw it first.”

They all helped carry the shell down to the water. It was very heavy.

“Let’s put it down here,” said Jessie. “Let the waves wash over it.”

They did so. And suddenly Benny shouted, “Look at it! Look at it!”

Violet called in excitement, “Come here, Grandfather! Look at Mike’s shell!”

Lars said, “Look at that turtle’s back, Mr. Alden, if you please!”

And there on the turtle’s shell was a pattern. It was cut in the shell. It was exactly like the pattern of stones in the sea pool!

“Just exactly the same!” cried Benny, sitting down suddenly. “A big round circle in the middle and everything.”

Jessie said slowly, “And now we
know
somebody lives here. This shell may be old, but the pattern in the sea pool is very new, because the tide would have washed it out to sea.”

“Too bad we have to use this for a kettle,” said Lars. “It is too pretty.”

“Oh, no!” cried Mike. “I want my shell to be a kettle. I’ll always remember that I found our fish stew kettle.”

“I think your turtle must have died, Mike,” said Henry. “And then someone found the shell and made that pattern with a knife.”

“Could be,” said Lars.

“It could be the same one who made the pattern with the stones,” said Jessie.

“You are right. Someone is here,” said Mr. Alden. “But we must get on with our fishing, Lars. Let’s pull this shell up on the beach. We can get it on our way back.”

“Suppose we don’t catch any fish,” said Henry.

“Oh, we will! I know many places,” said Lars. “Don’t worry about that.”

Soon they reached the pool. Lars said, “Take off your shoes and walk right in. Benny is right that no sharks can get in here. Sit on the big rocks. I’ll give you each a fish line in a minute.”

But it turned out that Lars had only four fish lines.

“It’s just as well,” said Mr. Alden. “You girls sit on the rocks and watch.”

“Don’t bother with these small fish,” said Lars. “Wait for a grouper.”

“There’s a grouper in the pool now,” said Violet. “He’s a big one. He should be easy to catch.”

Henry and Mike moved over near Violet. They let their lines down beside the fish. He lay still. Henry moved his line. Mike moved his, but the big fish did not bite.

“Well, let me try, too,” said Lars. “Come on, Benny, we’ll all try to catch him.”

So there were four people trying to catch one fish. He began to swim slowly away, but he did not take the hook in his mouth.

“What do you know!” said Henry.

“Humph!” said Lars.

They waited ten minutes. They pulled the lines up and let them down again. Suddenly the fish turned and took hold of Henry’s hook. Then he began to throw himself around. Henry pulled him in.

“Don’t lose him now!” yelled Benny. “We waited long enough.”

“He will do,” said Lars. “He will make a big stew. We can catch more later.”

They walked home. Henry carried the big fish on a stick. The children pulled the turtle shell as far as the fireplace and sat down. They waited to see what Lars would do next.

“First I’ll clean the fish,” said Lars. “He’s dead now. I’ll take off his head and his tail. And then I will cut him down the backbone.”

“You take out his insides, don’t you?” said Benny. “And throw them away.”

“Right,” said Lars. “There they go. Hello! Wait a minute! What’s this?”

Lars took back the fish’s stomach and pulled out a white button!

“Now will you tell me where that fish got a button!” he said.

“Somebody lost a button,” said Jessie. “That’s sure. Let me see it.”

“It looks quite new,” she said. “It’s an American button, and it has four holes in it.”

“It looks like a shirt button,” said Mike. “Let’s save it.”

“Oh, yes, indeed,” said Grandfather. “It’s a clue.”

Lars cut the fish into four pieces. He turned the turtle shell upside down. He put the fish into it.

“I like my kettle,” said Mike happily.

“It’s a good old kettle,” said Benny. “Shall I put the water on the fish now, Lars?”

“Yes, it must cook for a while. Then the fish will be soft and we can cut it in smaller pieces, and take off the skin and take out the bones.”

“I like onions in my fish stew, Lars,” said Benny. “But of course we couldn’t bring any onions.”

“No?” said Lars laughing. He took some dried onions out of the box, and put them in the turtle shell. “I like onions, too,” he said.

Suddenly a strange voice said, “Hello, Peter!”

“Who in the world is that?” whispered Benny.

Lars shouted, “Come out of the trees!”

The palm tree moved a little in the wind. They saw nobody. But all at once a little purple bird hopped out on a branch. It put its head on one side and said again, “Hello, Peter!”

“Well, well! A
bird!”
said Mike. “A talking bird!”

“What is it, Lars?” asked Jessie.

“I don’t know,” said Lars.

“I know,” said Mr. Alden. “It’s a myna bird.”

“Oh, yes, it is, Grandfather!” said Henry. “Don’t you remember, Jessie, we saw them on T.V.?”

“So we did,” said Jessie. “There was a lady from a pet shop. She had two or three myna birds. She had taught them to say lots of things.”

They all looked at each other. The bird said again, “Hello, Peter!”

Mike said, “Somebody had to teach this bird, Ben. Did you think of that?”

“Yes, I did,” said Benny. “I think it must have been
Peter
.”

“Yes,” said Grandfather. “It must have been Peter, whoever he is.”

L
ars was making the stew now. In the new kettle were the four pieces of fish, spring water, onions and salt. They all lifted the kettle over the fire. The children watched as it began to boil. Violet shook up some dry milk with spring water. After a while Jessie took out the skin and bones. She put in the milk.

“How are we going to eat this?” asked Mike. “It is boiling hot.”

“I’ll tell you,” said Jessie. “We’ll set our shells in the sand. You fill them with stew, Lars. Then we won’t have to hold them.”

“Very good,” said Lars. “I have made a fine ladle.” The ladle was the tin cup tied on a long stick. Lars ladled out the stew.

“Don’t give Mike any fish,” said Benny. “He doesn’t like fish.”

“Well, I’ll give him some just the same,” said Lars. “He may get to like it.”

“Now about Peter,” said Benny. “Do you think Peter has been here, or is he here now?”

“Peter could be a name someone taught the bird to say,” said Mr. Alden. “Then somehow the bird came to the island.”

“It would be exciting if Peter were really here,” said Henry. “And is he a boy or a man?”

“Oh, he couldn’t be a boy,” said Benny. “He couldn’t live here all alone.”

“Why not, Ben?” asked Mike.

“Well, he would be too lonesome. And how would a boy get here all alone?”

“Oh, I hope it isn’t a cannibal, like those in
Robinson Crusoe
” said Violet. She looked up quickly.

“Oh, no, Miss Violet!” said Lars. “Don’t you be afraid. It couldn’t be a cannibal, because there aren’t any cannibals on these islands.”

Lars gave Mr. Alden a quick look. So Mr. Alden said quickly, “That’s right, my dear. Lars knows. And just taste this stew!”

There were no spoons yet, but they used the razor clam shells.

Benny said, “My, you have to work hard to get this stew into your mouth.”