Frank put the dead fish in the trunk of his car. He locked the door of his house, then he got in the driver’s seat. The Aldens slid in, with Benny and Henry sitting in front with Frank.
“I’m glad we don’t have the fish with us,” Violet whispered to Jessie.
They were soon at the bus station and Frank was unlocking the door. He found Bill’s note and put it with the package that had come on the bus.
“If I close up like this in the morning, I don’t miss much business,” he said. “Too late for breakfast and too early for lunch.”
The Aldens had followed Frank into the station. They saw the sun shining in the clean windows. The flowers in the pots on the sills were bright and gay. Frank opened a window and the room was filled with a bird song.
Frank looked around as if the station was his own little kingdom. He said, “Sit down, kids, and let me tell you something. I think you’ll understand, and I need to talk to someone.”
The Aldens sat down quietly and waited. Frank was a puzzling person. He was angry one minute and gentle the next.
Frank reached down and pulled out the envelope Benny had handed him yesterday. He unfolded the letter.
He began, “You saw the chimney of the paint factory when you came to find me. The factory is right there on the river around a little bend from me. You might say it’s my neighbor.”
“We smelled it, too,” Benny said.
“ ’You can say that again,” said Henry.
“I will,” said Benny. “We smelled it, too.”
Frank laughed. “That’s just part of the problem. I don’t like it, but that isn’t the worst of it.”
Frank got up and put the letter down. He pulled out a big notebook. Opening it, he said, “I think you’ve guessed that maybe I’m not just a lunch-counter man and bus station keeper. I’m a chemist. I like living in a quiet place like this. I’m interested in growing plants without using chemicals. I like birds and wild animals. That’s why I’m here.”
“We understand,” Violet said quietly.
“Everything was fine until this Mr. Pickett came along and built his paint factory. There was no way to stop him. He bought the land. He could do what he liked out here in the country. He didn’t expect to bother anyone.”
“He can spoil the river and no one will care?” Henry asked. “Is that what he thinks?”
“Yes,” Frank said. “But he is wrong. He has to be stopped. But how? That’s the question.”
Frank dropped his head in his hands. Then he went on quietly, “I did some experiments to show how the water from the factory pollutes the river. The chemicals are carried in the water. They kill fish and water plants. I thought that if I showed this notebook about my experiments to Mr. Pickett he would stop polluting.”
“But that didn’t work?” Benny asked.
Frank shook his head. “Mr. Pickett just said it was too bad, but lots of people have jobs at his factory. It was too late to build somewhere else.”
Benny looked angry. “Build somewhere else? Pollute somewhere else? That’s no answer.”
“That’s what I said,” Frank continued. “I told him that there are laws to stop pollution. He told me I was a troublemaker. He said he’d get rid of me.”
“How?” asked Jessie.
“Easy enough, I guess,” Frank said. “Mr. Pickett bought all the land along the river. That means all the land around my house and garden. If he likes, he can keep me from getting to my house. That’s what he told me.”
“That’s not fair!” Henry said. “There must be some way to stop him.”
Frank said, “It takes money. I’d have to go to court. Anyway, now he has a new idea. He wants to buy my house and garden to make into a parking lot for the factory workers. Imagine! Tear down my house. Cover my garden with blacktop. That’s what his letter to me was about. I’m not rich. I can’t fight him.”
The Aldens looked at each other. Benny decided to ask another question. “What about Jud and Troy?”
“Yes,” Henry added. “We saw them giving out papers at the bus station when our bus stopped yesterday.”
Frank gave his angry short laugh again. “Oh, yes! They think they can change things. They tried to show how important the river is to wildlife. Older people don’t pay attention to boys. Then they tried to line up some of the workers against the paint factory. You saw how that worked out.”
“Not at all,” Jessie said.
“Yesterday in Oakdale we heard about the town meeting tonight,” Henry said. “We know it’s about Mr. Pickett’s factory and the way it’s polluting the river. Are you going?”
“I’m going,” Frank answered. Then he shook his head. “But I don’t think there’ll be much of a crowd. Mr. Pickett and his workers and friends will be there. Nobody will do anything.”
Jessie said, “It sounded to us as if a lot of people want to save the river, just as you do. You’re not alone. You have to believe that.”
For a minute Frank did not say anything. Then he looked right at the Aldens. “That is good news. Do you know what I was going to do? I was going to take that dead fish to the town meeting and pass it around among the people. It was a stupid idea, but I was angry enough to do it.”
Benny liked the idea. He knew just how angry Frank felt. He said, “I don’t think that would be such a bad idea. It would show the townspeople just how bad the river is.”
Frank said, “If what you say is true and a lot of people really care, maybe we can save the river.”
Benny said in a rush, “I know we’re outsiders. But maybe we can help, too.”
“How?” asked Frank, looking surprised.
“Our grandfather has plastics factories. Maybe you have heard of him. He is Mr. James Alden. His factories don’t pollute any rivers. They don’t make any bad smells either. Let’s see if Grandfather will come to the town meeting. He’s a businessman. Perhaps he can talk to Mr. Pickett.”
Frank thought for a moment. Then he said, “It’s worth trying. Will he come?”
Benny said, “Let me call him right now. We Aldens always like to do things in a hurry!” |