Mystery on the Train (8 page)

“Why do you think your uncle called Mr. Reeves to sell your posters?” Jessie asked.

Annie shook her head and looked troubled. “I really don’t know Uncle Bob. My aunt never talks about him but it’s clear she doesn’t like him. When I began to quarrel with her, I wrote to him. He telephoned me a few times and then he said he really wanted me to come out to California to live. He was the one who suggested I could sell the poster to pay for my education.”

“So you’ve never even seen him?” Henry asked.

She said, “He’s coming to meet me in Emeryville where the train stops and we’ll take the bus into San Francisco. He said he’ll be wearing a red tie.”

“We’ll help you find him,” Jessie promised.

“Thanks,” Annie said. “You’ve been good friends. See you at five.”

At exactly five p.m. the train pulled into the station in Oakland, California. There was a bus waiting to take all the passengers who were going to downtown San Francisco.

Annie said, “Won’t you wait and meet my uncle?”

“That would be very nice,” Aunt Jane said. “We’d like to invite you to visit us while the children are here.”

“There’s a man over there in a green jacket and a red tie,” Benny said. He pointed to a dark-haired slender man.

Annie and the others went over to the man. She said, “Uncle Bob?”

“Annie? Is that you? I’m so glad to see you.” Her uncle put his arms around her and hugged her.

Violet looked very upset and she said to Henry, “I know that man. He was on the train with us. He’s the one with the beard and sunglasses.”

“How would you know that?” Henry asked.

“I recognize his ears,” Violet said. “I’m certain I’m right.”

When Henry looked doubtful, Violet called out to Annie, “Come here, please, I have something to say.”

Annie stepped away from her Uncle Bob and came over to Violet and Henry.

Violet said, “Annie, he’s the one who tried to steal your posters. He had on a fake beard and sunglasses but I’m certain it’s him. Here, let me show you.”

Violet dropped her suitcase onto the ground and knelt beside it. She opened up the suitcase and pulled out her sketch pad. She began to flip through the pages as she said, “You’re an artist, Annie. You’ll see what I mean. Look at his ears. Now look at the ears on this man in the sketch. They are the same, aren’t they?”

Annie looked at the sketch. Then she looked at her uncle. Then she looked at the sketch and then she turned kind of white and asked, “Are you really my Uncle Bob?”

“Of course I am.” The man laughed and pulled out his driver’s license with a picture on it. “I guess it’s right to be cautious. After all, you’ve never met me even though you are my only niece. I’ll carry the posters.” He tried to take the portfolio from Henry but Henry held on tight.

“I met a man on the train who said you’d promised to sell him my posters,” Annie said. “That wasn’t your decision to make, Uncle Bob.”

“Don’t be silly,” her uncle said. “I was just trying to help. Here, son, I’ll take those posters.” He tugged and Henry held on tighter.

Annie took a deep breath and said, “I don’t think so. You tried to steal my posters on the train. You were wearing sunglasses and a beard but you were the same size and coloring. And I have a drawing of your ears.”

Uncle Bob pretended to laugh. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “How could I be on a train with you and then meet you here? You kids are making up crazy stories.”

“No, sir,” Henry said. “I think it’s quite simple. You got off the train in Salt Lake City. We chased you and Benny tore a piece out of your coat.”

“I think you might remember that if you try,” Jessie added.

“Annie, I don’t know who these people are but you should come home with me. I’m your uncle.”

“These people are my friends,” Annie said decisively. “They will help me get to the airport and I’ll fly home to Aunt Ellen tonight. I was a silly girl to think I was ready to make it on my own.”

“All right,” Uncle Bob said. “You go, but leave the posters with me. That old lady has plenty of other money and these should have been mine.”

He made a grab for the posters but Henry was too fast for him. He jerked the portfolio away from Uncle Bob.

“I still say the posters are mine,” he shouted. “They belonged to my parents.”

“We have a will,” Annie reminded him.

“That will is unfair,” he said. “My parents were unfair! They never should have cut me out! It isn’t fair!”

“I’m sorry for you, Uncle Bob. You must be very unhappy. But I can’t stay here.”

“If we don’t hurry, we’ll all be staying here,” Benny said. He pointed to the bus and said, “Our bus is leaving. We’d better go, too.”

The Alden children, Aunt Jane, and Annie all picked up their suitcases and ran for the bus. They were the last ones on board but there were plenty of seats so they were able to sit together.

Aunt Jane smiled at Annie and said, “You showed very good sense, Annie.”

“It was Violet who had good sense,” Annie said.

“You were quick to see that he was the same man,” Henry said to his little sister. “That was good work.”

Violet smiled and said, “We all helped.” Then she said to Annie, “I’m glad you’re coming with us. You can meet our Uncle Andy.”

Aunt Jane said, “We’ll call your Aunt Ellen when we get home and see if you can spend a few days sightseeing with us. Then you can go home to Boston. I know your aunt will be glad to see you.”

“Yes,” Annie agreed. “And I will be glad to see her.”

“And I’ll be glad because you will be living in Boston again,” Violet said. “We live in Greenfield and that isn’t far away at all.”

“We can be good friends,” Annie said and hugged her.

“And I’m glad because we solved the mystery of the long train ride,” said Benny. “It was a very good mystery, too. I was surprised right up until the very end.”

“So were we all,” Violet said as she squeezed into the seat beside him.

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