CHAPTER 13
Just in Time!
Aunt Jane was all right the next day. But she was surprised when Henry said he wanted to go up to the woodshed again.
“Why?” she asked.
“Well,” said Henry, “if someone lives there, we might find something new any day.”
“Take Sam with you,” said Aunt Jane as usual.
“Poor Sam!” said Benny. “He doesn’t want to go.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Sam. “I’m getting interested in this woodshed.”
They could not find Watch so they went along without him.
Soon the five of them reached the woodshed. Everything was in order. There was one egg on the shelf. As they stood there, they heard somebody coming through the woods.
“Quick!” whispered Henry. “Someone’s coming. Climb that tree!”
A tall tree stood right by the door. Even Violet was good at climbing trees. She went first. Benny was after her in a flash. “Hurry!” he whispered to Jessie. He went out of sight in the heavy leaves. He gave Jessie his hand and helped her up. Henry was last.
“Not me,” said Sam. “I’ll wait and see who it is.”
Henry looked down and then whispered to Jessie, “It’s Willie! I wonder what he wants.”
Sam stood still. When Willie came out of the bushes Sam said, “Hello, Willie.”
“Hello,” said Willie. He just stood there.
“What are you going to do, Willie?” asked Sam.
“Take the things,” said Willie.
“What things?”
Willie pointed at the dishes and the table. He did not speak.
“Are the dishes yours?” asked Sam.
“No.” Willie shook his head.
Sam said kindly, “Who do they belong to, Willie?”
“Andy Bean,” said Willie. He said it as if Andy had always lived at home.
“Andy Bean? Is Andy around here now?”
“No, not now. Went on the bus.”
“Has Andy Bean been living here in this woodshed?”
“Yep,” said Willie.
“Why in the world did he go away on a bus?” Sam asked.
“Going away to sea,” said Willie.
“But why?” asked Sam again.
“She hates him. She’d shoot him,” said Willie, nodding his head.
“Shoot him? Miss Jane wouldn’t shoot him!”
They all stared in surprise at Willie.
“Yep,” said Willie. “She said so. I heard her. ‘I’d like to shoot Andy Bean,’ she said.”
Henry looked up at Jessie and without a word he slid down the tree. All the rest came after him.
“What? What?” cried Willie when he saw the children come out of the tree.
“Come on, Sam!” shouted Henry. “We must catch Andy!”
“No,” said Willie. His mouth was open. “He took the bus.”
But the Aldens and Sam were running down the hill. Benny shouted back, “Aunt Jane doesn’t hate him, Willie! She was just fooling!”
“Don’t stop to talk,” cried Jessie. “We must catch that bus!”
“We can’t,” Sam called back. “It’s been gone fifteen minutes.”
“Well, we’ve got to catch it,” cried Benny. “It has to stop to let people off!”
They ran to Sam’s old car which stood in the yard. They all threw themselves into the car and off they went. Benny and Henry sat beside Sam. For a minute they could not speak. When Henry got his breath, he said, “I bet Andy came home and found out Aunt Jane was back. He must have wondered if she would see him.”
Benny said, “I bet so, too. And I remember what Aunt Jane said. She said, ‘I’d like to shoot Andy Bean!’”
Jessie added, “And Willie was right in the kitchen selling asparagus. He heard every word!”
“Oh, dear, how wrong can you be?” said Violet. “Willie didn’t know Aunt Jane didn’t mean it. So he told Andy, and Andy went away again.”
“Drive faster if you can, Sam,” said Henry. “If Andy gets out at the bus station he will get on the train. Then we’ll be too late to stop him.”
Jessie said, “We don’t even know that he took this bus.”
“Yes,” said Sam. “This is the only bus in the morning. He’d have to take it. But what shall we do when we catch up with the bus?”
“Well, we know he has a crooked smile,” said Henry. “We can tell him he is wrong about Aunt Jane. Let Violet tell him. He’ll believe her.” He smiled at Violet.
“But how do we stop the bus driver? That’s the question,” said Jessie.
Benny said, “That’s easy. If we see the bus, you honk your horn, Sam, and we can shout to the driver.”
“This old car is surprised it can go so fast,” said Sam. “And I am, too.”
The old car rattled and squeaked. But it flew along.
At last Benny cried, “There’s the blue bus! Oh, Sam, honk your horn!”
Sam kept the horn going. The bus driver honked back. He looked in his mirror at the children. Then he pointed at the railroad station ahead. There stood the train, ready to go.
When the bus stopped, the driver put his head out of the window and said, “What’s the matter with you? Want to get on?”
“No,” said Henry. “We’ll tell you in a minute.” They all piled out of the car and ran around to the door of the bus.
Benny cried, “Have you got a big man on board? He has a crooked smile!”
“Well, I don’t know about the smile,” said the driver laughing. “But I have a man on board on the back seat. Just coming out.”
They looked back in the bus and saw a tall man coming out. His hair was brown, not white.
“Oh, excuse me!” cried Benny. “Are you Andy Bean?”
“Yes, that’s my name,” said the stranger. “Why?” He stared at Violet. Then he smiled. His smile was crooked. He came a few steps toward the Aldens.
“Oh, please,” said Violet. “Aunt Jane sent us to find you! Don’t run away again until we tell you all about it.”
“Aunt Jane,” exclaimed the man. He shook his head and turned toward the train. “No, Jane doesn’t want to see me,” he said. “And that’s that.”
“Please come and sit in our car,” begged Violet. “Aunt Jane wants very much to see you.”
“She said she hated me and maybe she has a reason to. She talked about shooting,” Andy Bean said in a low voice.
“Oh, you don’t understand,” said Henry. “That was what Willie said, wasn’t it? Aunt Jane didn’t mean it. She just got too tired and spoke that way. She must have been like that even when she was a girl.”
“I wish I could believe you,” said Andy.
Now Sam spoke. “You can. You can believe anything these kids say. They know what they’re doing every time.”
Andy looked at Sam. Then he looked at the children. “All right,” he said. “I’ll give it one more try. I’ll go back with you if that’s what you want.”
“Yes, indeed!” said Jessie. “That’s exactly what we want.”
Andy had a small bag, and Henry said, “I’ll put your bag in the trunk.”
“No, thank you,” said Andy Bean with his crooked smile, “I always keep this bag with me wherever I go.”
It was not a large bag. Benny at once began to guess what might be in it. A change of clothes? A treasure map? Pistols? His guessing turned into a game, but he had to wait for the answer. |