Benny, you haven’t finished your breakfast yet,” said Jessie.
“Watch hasn’t eaten his at all,” said Benny. He pointed to Watch’s bowls in the corner of the kitchen by the door. One was full of water. The other was full of dog food.
“He’s probably out digging holes,” said Henry. “He’ll come in when he’s hungry.”
“Why don’t you finish your cereal?” Jessie said. “Then you can go call Watch.”
Quickly Benny began to eat. He ate all his breakfast, then raced out the back door to call Watch.
A few minutes later Benny ran back in. His face was pale. His eyes were wild. He waved his hands and didn’t seem to be able to speak.
“Benny! What’s wrong?” exclaimed Henry, jumping out of his chair so fast it turned over.
“Gone!” Benny managed to say at last. “Gone! Gone!”
“Oh, Benny, don’t worry. Watch didn’t go far. We’ll find him,” said Violet.
Benny shook his head.
“Calm down,” Jessie said. She put her arm around her younger brother’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
Benny took a deep breath. He looked around at everybody. Then he said, “The boxcar! It’s gone!”
“Gone? Benny, are you sure?” gasped Violet.
Benny nodded. “I’m sure, and Watch is gone, too!”
He turned and ran back out the door. His brother and sisters raced after him.
They ran toward where the boxcar had been.
They stopped and stared.
The boxcar was gone. Only the stump they’d used as a front step remained.
Jessie’s mouth dropped open. Violet put her hand over her mouth. Henry rubbed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“See?” said Benny, pointing at where the boxcar had once stood.
“Where could a boxcar go?” whispered Violet. “It couldn’t just disappear!”
“Someone must have taken it,” said Jessie. “But how?”
Henry pointed down at the ground. “Look!” Big, wide, muddy ruts cut through the grass. “Someone must have pulled it away.”
“We can follow the tracks!” said Jessie. The children ran in the direction of the muddy ruts. But the tracks stopped at the road.
Benny sat down and covered his face.
Violet knelt down beside him. “Don’t cry, Benny. It’ll be all right. We’ll find the boxcar.”
Benny lifted his face to look at Violet. “But the boxcar is gone. Even worse, Watch is gone, too.”
“We’d better find Watch right away,” said Henry. “Then he can help us look for the boxcar.”
Benny felt more cheerful at the thought of this. They called and called, but Watch didn’t come.
“Where could Watch be?” asked Jessie at last.
“He’ll come back,” said Henry.
“I didn’t let him in the house last night,” said Benny in a worried tone of voice. “I went to bed early. I thought someone else would.”
“I didn’t let him in,” said Violet.
Jessie and Henry shook their heads. They hadn’t either.
“But maybe Grandfather or Mrs. McGregor did,” said Henry. “And then let him out early this morning.”
The Aldens went back in the house to tell Mrs. McGregor and Grandfather. They ran outside to see for themselves.
They couldn’t believe that the boxcar was missing. Grandfather shook his head. He frowned. “This is very serious,” he said.
“We are going to find the boxcar,” said Jessie, putting her hands on her hips. “And Watch. Don’t worry.”
“I know you’ve solved many mysteries,” Grandfather Alden told his grandchildren. “But you’ve never had a mystery like this one. Who would steal a boxcar? And why would Watch run away for a whole night? Because if he had been here, he would have barked when someone took the boxcar.”
“I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out,” said Henry.
The four Aldens went back out to where the boxcar had been. They searched the entire area for clues. They weren’t sure what they were looking for, but they didn’t find anything that helped — not even a muddy footprint, or dog’s paw print.
“What do we do now?” asked Benny.
Henry put his hand on his chin and thought. Then he said, “Mr. Chessy!”
“What?” Benny said, confused.
“That’s right!” exclaimed Jessie. “Mr. Chessy. Remember how badly he wanted to buy our boxcar? He was very unhappy when we wouldn’t sell it to him. He said he’d get it one way or the other.”
“I thought he would come back. He was so angry. But he never did,” said Violet.
“Maybe he never came back because he didn’t want us to get suspicious,” said Jessie. “Maybe he realized we would never sell the boxcar to him, so he took it!” She jumped up. “We have to go talk to Mr. Chessy right away.”
“But he said he was leaving soon, remember?” said Henry. “What if he took our boxcar and left town?”
“What about Watch?” asked Benny. “We should look for Watch!”
“We’ll leave a bowl of Watch’s favorite food outside on the steps for him,” said Henry. “We can ask Mrs. McGregor and Grandfather to look out for him in case he comes home.”
“We’ll call for Watch and look for him on our way to Mr. Chessy’s,” Jessie said.
“But what if we don’t find him?” Benny cried. “What if he’s lost?”
“If he still hasn’t come home when we get back,” said Henry, “we’ll go the animal shelter and to Dr. Scott’s and tell them Watch is missing. We’ll put up signs at the shelter and at the veterinarian’s, too. Then we’ll put up signs all over town, and offer a reward.”
“Don’t forget, we solved the mystery of the missing cat,” said Violet. “We found her — and we found the champion dog from the dog show when she disappeared.”
Benny felt a little better when he remembered that. Slowly he nodded. “We will find Watch,” he said, getting up off the stump. “And our boxcar.”
Benny put down a big bowl of Watch’s favorite food by the back steps of the house. He told Grandfather Alden and Mrs. McGregor to watch out for the little dog. Then the Aldens got on their bicycles and pedaled as fast as they could into Greenfield and to the old train station.
“Look, Mr. Chessy’s train car is still there!” shouted Jessie.
“I’m so glad,” said Violet.
“Let’s ask Mr. Chessy some questions and see how he acts,” suggested Henry. “We won’t tell him our boxcar is missing.”
Everyone agreed that Henry’s plan was a good one. They parked their bicycles, and went up to Mr. Chessy’s caboose. They walked up the stairs that had been lowered from the edge of the caboose beneath the door. Henry knocked loudly on the door.
Mr. Chessy slid the door open at once. He seemed surprised to see the Aldens. He stroked his mustache and raised his eyebrows. “Well, well, well,” he said. “What have we here?”
“Hello, Mr. Chessy,” said Henry politely.
Mr. Chessy answered, “Has your grandfather managed to make you change your minds about selling me the boxcar?”
“Not exactly,” said Jessie. She frowned. If Mr. Chessy had stolen the boxcar, would he still ask them if they wanted to sell it?
“Well,” said Mr. Chessy, folding his arms. “I think it is a disgrace. That boxcar should be in a museum. Or a collection like mine, where it can be properly cared for. Dragging it up and down the streets in a parade! Hmmmph!”
“If you bought our boxcar,” asked Violet, “would you pull it away with a truck?”
Mr. Chessy looked shocked. “Certainly not!” he said. “I would have a special truck and lift the boxcar onto it. That would be the safest way for it to travel.”
“Wouldn’t you take it to a railroad track and pull it home with you?” asked Benny.
“Young man,” said Mr. Chessy, “there is no way I would treat a valuable old boxcar like that!”
“But what about your own railroad car that you travel in?” asked Henry.
Mr. Chessy twisted his mustache. His eyes shifted. Then he said, “Well, I suppose it doesn’t hurt to tell you the truth. My caboose is not exactly a real railroad car. It’s a replica. A special, exact full-sized replica of the real thing. I never could find a real caboose that was in good enough condition.”
“Oh,” said Benny. Then he said, “What’s a replica?”
“It’s a copy, Benny,” explained Henry. He couldn’t think of any more questions to ask Mr. Chessy. Neither could anyone else.
“Well, thank you,” said Henry.
“Hmmph,” said Mr. Chessy crossly.
As the Aldens left, Benny suddenly turned around. “You haven’t seen our dog Watch, have you?” he called.
“Dog? Absolutely not!” Mr. Chessy suddenly sneezed. Then he slammed the door.
“Well, I guess it wasn’t Mr. Chessy,” said Jessie.
“But it could have been him,” argued Henry. “He could have put it up on a truck and taken it away in the middle of the night.”
“I bet Watch would have liked Mr. Chessy’s caboose. He liked Sam and Susie’s wagon,” Benny said sadly.
Jessie looked over at Benny. “Mr. Chessy’s caboose was like Sam and Susie’s wagon, wasn’t it Benny?” Her eyes narrowed. “I wonder . . .”
“What is it, Jessie?” asked Violet.
Jessie stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “What if Sam did it?” she said. “What if Sam took our boxcar so he and Susie could have a new wagon?” |