The Skeleton Key Mystery Page 7

  “Whew,” said Violet, smoothing out her ponytail. “That was close.”

  “I was so scared!” said Benny. Then he added, “I think we all deserve a snack. Is there a cooler hiding somewhere?”

  “Sorry,” Henry said. “This is a short trip, remember? Grandfather is waiting for us.”

  It was a late summer day, and the children were enjoying the last of the warm weather by canoeing down the Greenfield River. At the end of their route, they planned to meet Grandfather for lunch at Greenfield’s Lookout Café.

  “How much longer, Henry?” Benny asked. He added, “Do you have a sandwich in your life jacket pocket?”

  “Life jackets don’t have pockets, silly,” Henry chuckled.

  Violet pulled the straps to tighten the orange vest around her middle. “It’s good we were wearing life jackets,” she said. “We almost tipped over.”

  “It’s important to be prepared,” said Henry. “Sometimes things happen that no one can control.”

  “It’s important to be prepared,” Benny repeated. He thought for a long moment then said, “I think I’ll make a life jacket with a special pocket for a sandwich.” He added, “I’m going to invent a machine that rows the boat for me too.” He went on, “Then, we need an air conditioning umbrella to cool us down. A waterproof boat pillow to rest my sleepy head.” Benny’s eyes got big as he added another idea to the list. “And a special doggy seat for Watch!”

  Watch was the name of the Aldens’ wirehaired terrier. The man who rented the canoe to them had said no dogs were allowed. So Watch was waiting with Grandfather at the end of the route.

  Benny had been upset not to bring Watch along. Now, he was excited about his idea. “I could make a doggy life vest too!” He clapped his hands. “With a pocket for dog treats!”

  “You are full of good ideas,” said Jessie. “Maybe I should use one for my science fair project.”

  All summer, Jessie had been looking forward to joining her school’s Science Fair Club. In the club’s first meeting, she had partnered with Claudia Tobin, who had won the competition the year before. Jessie was excited to have such a smart partner. Now, they just needed to find the perfect project.

  “You’re going to invent a dog life vest, Jessie?” Violet asked, brown eyes wide with surprise.

  “With a treat pocket,” Benny added. “That’s the most important part.”

  Jessie giggled. “I don’t think Claudia would want to make a dog vest.”

  “You’ve only had one meeting,” Henry said. “The perfect idea will come to you.”

  For a few minutes, the children were quiet as they paddled around a bend. Henry convinced Benny to help by promising him two sandwiches at the end of the trip.

  “And ice cream?” Benny asked before putting his oar into the water.

  “I’d never forget dessert,” said Henry.

  Before long, the children came to a calm area where they could float along. Violet took a picture of a mallard duck that Benny spotted. And two turtles Henry pointed out.

  But Jessie was still thinking about her science fair project. “Claudia and I want to do something that will make a difference,” she said. “We have to decide soon so we can get busy doing the research.”

  “You’ll find your project,” said Benny. “I’m a hundred and two percent positive.”

  “I’ve got my fingers crossed one hundred and two times,” Jessie joked.

  “It’s nice we have this river and so much nature this close to Greenfield,” said Violet, peering through her camera lens. “Maybe there’s a river project you could do, Jessie?”

  “I wonder…” Jessie began to think about it.

  Violet aimed her camera toward the shore and squinted through the lens. “Hey, what’s going on over there?”

  “What do you see?” asked Henry.

  “It looks like construction,” Violet said.

  As the boat got closer, the children saw a tall metal fence blocking off the work site from the river. Loud clanging noises came from the other side.

  “That’s strange,” said Jessie. “I didn’t think anyone could build by the river—not after the Big Cleanup.”

  “Big Cleanup?” Benny asked.

  “That’s right,” said Henry. “Awhile back, there was a big effort to clean the Greenfield River. At the time, there were no birds. The water smelled weird. Everyone used to joke there was so much pollution in the river that the fish had three eyes.”

  “Mutant fish!” said Benny. He peeked over the side of the canoe to see if he could find any strange creatures. “I thought falling in the water would be bad. Swimming with mutant fishes would be…” He thought about the right word, then said, “Really bad!”

  “Those are just rumors, Benny.” Jessie pointed to a fishing dock on the side of the river, where a man and his daughter were holding fishing rods. The girl had a fish hanging from a hook. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

  “Don’t eat that!” Benny shouted. “It might have extra eyeballs!”

  “We need to paddle,” said Henry, changing the subject. The end of the river ride was coming up, and the children needed to get to the right side of the riverbank. “All together, Team Alden! Stroke. Stoke. Stroke.”

  Still, as Jessie paddled along, she couldn’t help but look at the water and wonder: Had things really changed for the Greenfield River?

  GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children, quickly proved she had succeeded.

  Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car—the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

  While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible—something else that delights young readers.

  Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

  GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER grew up in Putnam, Connecticut. She wrote The Boxcar Children because she had always dreamed about what it would be like to live in a caboose or a freight car—just as the Aldens do. When readers asked for more adventures, Warner wrote more books—a total of nineteen in all.

  After her death, other authors have continued to write stories about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, and today the Boxcar Children series has more than one hundred and fifty books.