Box That Watch Found (8 page)

The Aldens were stunned.

“That’s a great idea,” David said.

Everyone else nodded and started clapping again.

Cal nudged Benny. “Go get your new GPS, kids,” he said.

So the Aldens went over to Mr. Robertson and he handed Henry the box with the GPS.

“Wow, thanks!” Henry said.

“Thank
you
for solving the mystery,” Mr. Robertson said.

Cal nodded toward the table full of geocache containers. “I’ve fixed these caches,” he said. “So I could use some help putting them back in their hiding places this afternoon.”

“Sure.” “Of course.” “We’d love to help!” everyone said.

“It looks like the geocaching club will stay together after all,” Violet said.

“Hooray!” Benny said.

The next weekend, the Aldens took out a large square plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. They set it on the kitchen table and Grandfather and Mrs. MacGregor helped the children decide what to buy for the container. Jessie wrote down all their ideas.

“Well, we definitely need a log book and pencil,” Henry said.

“And plastic bags that zip closed so the stuff doesn’t get damaged,” Jessie added.

“How about a compass and a water bottle?” Grandfather suggested.

“I’ve got some toys from fast food meals that we could put in there,” Benny said.

“Some people include a disposable camera so that people can take pictures of themselves finding the cache,” Violet said.

“That would be fun,” Henry said. “Then we could upload the pictures to the website.”

“Could I make some chocolate chip cookies?” Mrs. MacGregor asked. “People who are hunting for treasure in the woods are probably hungry.”

“Yes, but you’re not supposed to put food in a cache,” Jessie pointed out. “Even though it’s sealed up, animals have a strong sense of smell.”

“She could put her chocolate chip cookie recipe on a card and we could leave that in the cache,” Violet said.

“That’s a great idea,” Benny said. “Anybody would be lucky to find Mrs. MacGregor’s chocolate chip cookie recipe!”

“Why thank you, Benny,” Mrs. MacGregor said. “In that case, maybe you’d like to help me bake some cookies this afternoon?”

“I would!” Benny cried. “I really would!”

Grandfather took the children shopping for the items on Jessie’s list. When they got home they packed everything in the big container, then went outside.

“So where should we hide our cache?” Jessie asked.

“I’ve got a perfect idea,” Violet said. “Follow me!” She led them around to the backyard.

“I know where Violet’s taking us!” Benny cried. “To our boxcar!”

“That’s right, Benny,” Violet said.

The children walked around inside and outside the boxcar, searching for the perfect hiding place. The settled on a spot of tall grass just behind one of the back wheels.

Benny slid the container behind the wheel and the others gathered a few rocks and sticks to pile up all around it.

“Now all we have to do is use our GPS to figure out the coordinates and then enter our new cache at geocaching.com,” Jessie said.

“What are we going to call our cache?” Henry asked. “Any ideas?”

“How about ‘All’s Well That Ends Well?’ ” said Violet.

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
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.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

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.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND
THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

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ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
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AUNTED
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ABIN
M
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IBRARY
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NIMAL
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HELTER
M
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LD
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OTEL
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IRL

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RUISE

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ISAPPEARING
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RIEND
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HIP
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OT
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IR
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INE

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UIDE
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ET
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ESSAGE

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ITY
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EWELS

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WORD
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B
ASKETBALL
M
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OVIE
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TAR
M
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IRATE’S
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AP

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HOST
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ALL

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M
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ROG
M
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