The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (64 page)

Sure enough, Myna sang it right after him.

“She’s wonderful,” said Henry.

“She’s got a funny voice when she sings,” said Mike.

“So have some people,” said Benny. “Her singing voice is different.”

Henry said, “Soon we’ll have to think about the ship’s coming. I mean get our things ready. My shoes are almost worn out.”

“I never had any shoes here,” said Peter. “I didn’t have time to put them on the night the ship was wrecked. Feel my feet, Benny.”

Benny did so. “Oh, your feet are as hard as rocks! Really, Henry, feel them.”

Henry said, “Yes, they are just like a dog’s foot. You have been climbing trees and rocks for so long, Peter. It will be terrible for you to wear shoes.”

“Yes, but I’d like some new shoes,” said Peter. “I used to dream of having new shoes.”

Then they tried the pudding. It was delicious.

When supper was over, Peter began to teach them to climb trees. “Oh, you have to take off your shoes,” he said.

Henry tried it a few times, and did very well. “It is much easier without shoes. Soon my feet will be as hard as yours, Peter.”

“That will take a long time!” said Peter. “And I hope we won’t stay here that long.”

When they went to bed that night, old Myna went to sleep first. For the first time in three weeks, nobody was watching from the trees.

Out on the great ocean the
Sea Star
was coming nearer and nearer. Captain Brown smiled to himself. He laughed when he thought of Benny and Mike. He didn’t know that there was another boy now, named Peter Horn.

O
ld Myna woke up first. She hopped out of the house and flew into the trees. She ate her breakfast and waited for the sun to come up. Then she began to call, “Wake up, sleepyhead!”

It woke everyone. Benny laughed. “That’s old Myna. She sounds like a real person.”

Lars and Henry went down to start the fire. “How Grandfather does enjoy his coffee!” said Henry as they walked along.

“Not more than I do!” said Lars, laughing. “That little girl Violet thinks of everybody.”

“Yes, she does,” said Henry. “Now, what do you think about Peter’s parents? Do you think they are alive?”

“Who knows?” said Lars. “Some people were saved. They could be Peter’s parents. Your grandfather will find them if they are alive.”

“Yes, Grandfather is quite wonderful,” said Henry.

They were talking so hard that they never looked at the sea. They knelt down to build the fire. Along came the
Sea Star
just the same, nearer and nearer, but nobody saw it as it steamed along.

Just as the coffee began to boil over, Mr. Alden shouted, “Hey, Lars!”

They looked up. Mr. Alden was laughing and pointing out to sea.

“The ship!” cried Henry. “The
Sea Star!”

Benny and Mike came racing down to the beach. They danced around on the sand and waved their arms.

“They can’t see you,” said Henry.

“Very soon they can,” said Lars. “I wish we had a bigger coffeepot. For company.”

Jessie said, “Never mind, Lars. They have coffee on the ship. Go ahead and drink this.”

“Who will come in the lifeboat, Lars? Will it be Captain Brown?”

“No, I don’t think Captain Brown will leave his ship. I think it will be the Second Mate.”

Lars was wrong that time. The
Sea Star
stopped outside Blue Bay and let down a boat. In the boat were the Second Mate and Captain Brown himself. As the boat came up with the waves, all the men pulled it up on the sand.

“Well, Captain, this is good of you to come yourself!” said Mr. Alden.

Then the Captain saw Peter.
“Where
did this boy come from?” he cried.

“He was on the
Explorer II
, sir!” said Lars. “Been here ever since the wreck.”

“We’re going to find his parents,” said Benny. “Grandfather is.”

“Now, Benny,” said Henry.

“Maybe
he is,” said Benny. “If he can, and he always can.”

The Captain looked at Mr. Alden. He started to say something.

Mr. Alden said quickly, “Let’s all sit down. Then we can talk. Have some breakfast?”

“Thanks. We just ate aboard ship,” said the Captain. “We’ll watch you.”

“Oh, we’ve had a neat time,” said Benny. “But we want to go home, now.”

“Yes, we do,” said Mr. Alden. “Start back to San Francisco right away. I want to help this boy find his parents. Do you all want to go home?”

“Oh,
yes!”
said Jessie. “Oh,
yes!”
said Violet.

Peter said nothing. But his eyes were very bright.

“Peter’s going to cry,” thought Benny.

But Peter did not cry. He went over to Mr. Alden and held out his hand. Mr. Alden took it.

“And now
Grandfather’s
going to cry,” thought Benny.

But Mr. Alden did not cry, either. He just said, “Hard as a rock! What a hard hand! But maybe hard work kept you happy. Work is good. Remember that, my boy.”

“How long will it take you to get ready, sir?” asked the Captain.

“Not long,” said Benny. “We haven’t anything to pack.”

“Not so fast, my boy,” said Mr. Alden. “You surely want to take Mike’s turtle-kettle. And we must take our plates and spoons.”

“Let’s take Peter’s dishes, too,” said Jessie.

“And old Myna,” said Peter.

“Oh, yes, old Myna,” said Henry. “Can you catch her, Peter?”

“I can catch her, but she won’t like the ship. She will fly away.”

“How about that, Captain?” asked Mr. Alden. “Have you a bird cage?”

“No. But I have a crab trap.”

Mr. Alden went on. “Another thing, Captain, have you your secret camera?”

“Oh, yes, I always have that.”

“Well, Henry will go with you, and you take some pictures of the waterfalls and the spring, and the statue—”

“And Peter’s cave,” said Benny.

“Yes, surely. Get a picture of that, close up. Then take the
Explorer II
lifeboat, and be sure to get the name on it.”

“Then come back and take a picture of our huts and one of all of us!” said Jessie.

“I’ll take that now,” said the Captain, laughing. “Stand close together.”

Just before he took the picture, down flew old Myna. So Peter had the bird on his finger in the picture, and everyone was laughing.

Off went Henry and the Captain. Lars began to pack the boxes. “You boys can help me,” he said.

“I’m too homesick!” cried Mike. “I don’t want to leave Blue Bay! Oh, I don’t want to go home!”

“Yes, you do!” cried Benny. He jumped up and said, “More coffee, Grandfather?”

“Thank you, Benny. The last drop is the best. Come here, Mike.”

Mike went over. He put his hand on Mr. Alden’s knee. He said, “I’ve had a beautiful time, Mr. Alden. I don’t want it to end.”

“Let me talk to you, Mike. It isn’t going to end. Think of taking Peter home. You will always have a good time, my boy. Just take things as they come. Remember I will always help you. Try to like everything, even ends.”

“I’ll try,” said Mike. “I do like most things.”

“I know you do. Good boy!”

Mike went to work then, filling boxes. “I hope those pictures come out right, Ben,” he said. “Won’t it be fun to look at them when we are at home!”

Soon everything was packed. Henry and the Captain came back and took a picture of the two huts.

“All packed except old Myna,” said Jessie.

The Second Mate put the crab trap on the sand. Peter put a berry inside and Myna walked in. Peter shut the door.

“Neat!” said Benny.

Lars put out the fire with sea water. Then the men pulled both boats down to the water.

“I’ll take Mr. Alden with me,” said the Captain. He winked at Mike. “We want to talk.”

“Well,” said Benny, “that’s all right. We want to talk, too!”

A
s the two boats went through Blue Bay, Captain Brown took a picture of the beach. He said, “That will show the fireplace and the two houses. And now I am ready to make any plans you want to, Mr. Alden.”

“Well, first, maybe Peter’s parents were
not
saved. But I will do everything to find out. So this is my plan.”

By the time the boats reached the
Sea Star,
the plan was made. The crew was waiting at the rail. They were all laughing. They helped the family out of the lifeboat and carried the turtle-kettle up on the deck. The Captain went at once to the radio room.

Mr. Alden sat down and looked all around. “Oh, another cup of coffee!” he said. He took it from the sailor. “Thanks very much.”

“Just think of having a saucer!” said Benny. “Oh, Grandfather, he’s bringing some toast!”

The children looked hard at the toast.
“Buttered
toast!” yelled Mike. He could hardly get the words out.

Mr. Alden looked at Peter. Then he began to count, “—one, two, three, four, five,—six with Lars. Will you bring a whole loaf of buttered toast, please?” he said. “These children would like lots of bread and butter. Think of that!”

When it came, Peter looked at it. “I can’t believe it,” he said. But when the Captain came back, all the children ate as if they were starved.

“That’s all we want,” said Henry. “Bread.”

Peter said, “I’ll never eat bread again without being thankful.”

Then Mr. Alden said, “After this, don’t go into the radio room. You used to go and talk with Bill. But now,
don’t.”

The Captain noticed that nobody said “Why?” He thought, “And that’s all there is to it! I wish all people behaved as well as that.”

The
Sea Star
was going at full speed. Bill went in and out of the radio room very often. He always took a yellow paper to Mr. Alden. Grandfather would say a few words and Bill would go back.

“Now we’ll show you the ship, Peter,” said Benny.

When they all came back on deck Grandfather said, “Your lessons begin again this afternoon. Even Peter! And this time, you will each write a book. About this trip.”

“Write a book!” cried Jessie. “What fun!”

“Write a book?” said Mike. “I can’t write a book!”

“You’ll have to, if Grandfather says so, Mikey old boy!” said Benny. “I’ll bet your book will be the best and funniest of all.”