Boxcar Children 68 - Basketball Mystery (9 page)

“In a way I was,” Mr. Fowler said. “I let my own jealousy get me in a bad mood. I guess I took it out on your team. For sure, I wasn’t thinking straight during that game. I’m sorry about that. But, hey, guess what?”

“The Blazers won the trophy anyway!” Henry said proudly. “Speaking of trophies . . .”

Courtney shrugged her shoulders. “Hey don’t look at me. I’m sorry about what happened at our first practice. I found Tipper’s keys and kept them. I . . . well . . . I was afraid the team would like her better than they liked me. I tried to make her look disorganized in front of the girls. But I didn’t have anything to do with that missing trophy. I still have one more year of college. I’d rather win my own trophy than take it from Tipper. She’s taught me a lot about how to be a good team player. Maybe next year I’ll be the Most Valuable Player!”

The next day the Aldens dressed up in their basketball uniforms. Mr. Alden whistled while he put on his most colorful bow tie.

“Why such long faces?” he asked when he noticed no one else seemed very excited about Opening Day. “I know you’re wondering about that trophy. But we must trust the writer of that letter and hope for the best. Now let’s head out. We don’t want to be late!”

The parking lot was packed when Mr. Alden drove up to the sports center. People were streaming into the brand-new building. There were balloons inside the lobby. The Aldens could hear the Greenfield High School band playing inside the gym.

“Your decorations look very fine,” Mr. Alden told his grandchildren. “I see Nora Nettleton going in. The twins must be here already. I’ll meet you all in the front row of the gym. I’ll be with the twins and some of their Greenfield relatives and friends.”

Soo Lee tugged Jessie’s sleeve. “I forgot to brush my hair.”

“Me, too.” Benny tried to flatten a curl of hair that just wouldn’t stay down.

Jessie took the younger children by the hand. “I’ll bring you both to the locker room so you can get nice and spiffy. But first, Benny, take this envelope to the referee. Patsy wrote up the team’s names, numbers, and records for the game.”

Benny took the envelope from Jessie. He tried to read the words. “Fast Breakers Statis . . . What’s this hard word?” Before Jessie could answer, Benny noticed something else. “Hey! Look at the letters on this envelope! Where’s that note about the missing trophy? I think the letters are the same!”

Jessie reached into her gym bag. She pulled out the crumpled note and smoothed it out.

“Look. It’s the same printing as on this envelope!” Benny cried.

“I bet if we find Patsy, we’ll find Tipper’s trophy,” Jessie said.

“I saw Patsy go up that staircase about ten minutes ago,” Henry said when he overheard the children talking. “There’s another locker room on the second floor.”

Soo Lee and Benny raced up the stairs with Jessie and Henry following right behind.

The halls leading to the locker room were dark. But Jessie knew the way. She pushed open the door and searched for the light switch. But she couldn’t find it. The children followed her into the darkened room.

The Aldens were not alone. They stood still. There was just enough light to see someone standing in front of a large wall mirror — someone holding a tall, silver trophy!

“Patsy!” Jessie cried out.

Patsy jumped when she saw the Aldens’ reflection. She quickly put the trophy under one of the benches.

“Where did you find that?” Violet asked.

Patsy didn’t answer.

“We’ve been searching for that ever since it disappeared,” Henry said.

“I’m the one who took it from the trunk of the twins’ car after I saw Buzz put it there,” Patsy told Henry.

“Why?” Jessie asked, her voice shaking.

Patsy took a deep breath. “I just wanted to have it overnight — without anyone around. I tried to get it back to your room, Jessie. But you kept following me.”

Jessie picked up the trophy from under the bench.

“I saw Tipper on television when she won it last month,” Patsy continued. “I couldn’t believe she was actually in Greenfield coaching our team. I thought if I borrowed her trophy, some of her talent might rub off on me. I want to be a great player like her — and Courtney, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Soo Lee asked.

Patsy went on, “I tried to get it back to her, but it was never the right time. Then, when our team won the league trophy, I felt worse. Tipper helped us win it, and I had taken hers. So I sent her the note and planned to bring it back today without getting caught.”

“Well, here it is!” Jessie said. “We’d better bring it to the gym right away. Tipper would be pretty embarrassed if the mayor called her to the gym floor and she was empty-handed. You can tell her the whole story later.”

Soo Lee forgot all about brushing her hair. Benny forgot about the curl that wouldn’t behave. None of it mattered.

When the Aldens walked into the gym with Patsy they held up the trophy so Tipper could see it. The spotlights made the silver reflect all over the gym. Tipper gave Patsy and the Aldens a thumbs-up sign.

When Patsy and the Aldens entered the gym, the band was playing the Greenfield High School fight song. Cheerleaders were tumbling and doing somersaults in front of the crowd.

The mayor tapped the microphone, which made a horrible scratchy sound. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the mayor said, “may I present Tipper Nettleton, the Most Valuable Player in the country. She will now donate her trophy to our new sports center.”

Jessie handed Benny the trophy. “Go ahead. Take it down to her.”

Benny ran down to the gym floor. He held up the trophy. The mayor gave him the microphone. In a voice just like the mayor’s, Benny said, “May I present Tipper Nettleton with the most valuable trophy that was ever missing.”

All of the Aldens laughed, and the whole audience joined in. Benny laughed harder than anyone.

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

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON

T
HE
M
YSTERY
B
OOKSTORE

T
HE
P
ILGRIM
V
ILLAGE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
B
OXCAR

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
C
AVE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
T
RAIN

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
F
AIR

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
M
INE

T
HE
G
UIDE
D
OG
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
URRICANE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
ET
S
HOP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
ECRET
M
ESSAGE

T
HE
F
IREHOUSE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
S
AN
F
RANCISCO