Boxcar Children 12 - Houseboat Mystery (2 page)

That settled it for Mr. Alden. He really wanted to try it himself.

Mr. Rivers said, “It is really very safe. This river has no dangerous places. Every night it is easy to find a place along the bank to drop anchor. There aren’t many boats on this river, but still you don’t want one of them to run into you. Do you understand about lights, young man?”

“Yes,” said Henry. “From sunset to sunrise there must be white lights about eight feet above the water so that other boats can see you for one mile.”

“Well, well!” said Mr. Rivers. “Good for you! What else do you know?”

“I suppose you have a fire extinguisher and life jackets?” answered Henry. “And a bell? Yes, I see the bell right up there on top.”

Mr. Rivers said, “Life jackets right there. Six of them.” He pointed to the wall of the first cabin. “And it’s the law to have a fire extinguisher. I have a fire pail and a sandbox, too. You know that you can put out a fire by pouring sand on it.”

Benny got down and read the printing on the pail. It said, “Keep water up to this line.” On the sandbox it said, “Keep sand up to this line.”

Mr. Rivers explained, “We never had a fire yet. Everyone is careful. I had one family that let the baby play in the sand. I soon stopped that.”

“You don’t have to worry about us,” said Benny. “We promise not to play in the sand. And besides, I lost my last pail and shovel a long time ago.”

“You’re good-natured,” said Mr. Rivers. “You always see the funny side, don’t you? Comical.”

Benny looked at Henry and said, “I guess you should be the captain.”

“Then you can be my first mate,” said Henry.

Mr. Rivers said, “That’s fine! This boat is registered with the Coast Guard. They know all about it, even when its name is something different.”

“Oh, let’s go! “said Benny.

“When?” asked Mr. Rivers.

“Tomorrow,” said Grandfather, before Benny could answer. “We’ll be here at ten o’clock.”

Watch was whining and barking when his family stepped on the dock. “You don’t like this, do you, old fellow?” Henry said to the dog. “Come and get in the car.”

He turned the car around while Mr. Alden talked with Mr. Rivers about the rent.

“Here’s the key,” said Mr. Rivers. “Lock up at night. And whenever you go to the store, shut the windows, too. The windows lock themselves when you shut them.”

The Aldens all were excited. They started up the rough side road, waving to Mr. Rivers. Grandfather gave the key to Henry. “Here, Captain,” he said.

Mr. Rivers shouted after them, “Don’t bring too many things!”

“No, we won’t,” Jessie called back. Then she said to her family, “We won’t need many clothes. We can all just live in swimsuits and sweaters—all but Grandfather.”

Grandfather winked at Benny. “You’d be surprised,” he said.

Henry drove the car carefully up the rough side road and stopped before turning at River Road.

Suddenly, right in front of him, a heavy black car came roaring down River Road. It turned a sharp corner past Henry, down the side road toward the houseboat. Stones flew as the tires screamed and the car skidded past the Aldens’ station wagon. It almost hit it.

“Hey! What are they thinking of?” said Henry.

“Whew!” said Benny. “Those two men almost hit us! That was a close one!”

Violet said, “What in the world do they want of a houseboat? People who drive like that?”

Nobody felt much like talking. Henry started slowly down River Road toward home. He looked in his rearview mirror. “Here are our friends again,” he said. He pulled over to the right and slowed down. The black car roared past.

Henry said, “Well, what’s their hurry? What do they want with our houseboat, anyway?”

Benny said, “I guess they don’t want it. They didn’t stay long enough even to look at it. I hope we won’t ever see them again.”

Henry wondered, but he said nothing.

CHAPTER
2

Henry’s Invention

T
he next morning Henry said, “I have to leave half this stuff at home. I’ve got to take my camera and a flashlight and my fishing rod and tackle.”

“Can’t take that fishing tackle, Henry,” called Mr. Alden from his room. “This time we will have to go without some things. There isn’t room on the boat.”

Jessie said, “Henry, I’m afraid Watch thinks he is going. It’s too bad to leave him at home.” She looked at the big dog lying right in the way. She stepped over him.

Benny said, “He wouldn’t like a houseboat trip. He whined when we went aboard. He would bark every time we went swimming. You’ll be better off at home, Watch, with Mrs. McGregor.”

When the Aldens were away, Mrs. McGregor, their housekeeper, took care of things. She nodded and said, “Watch is always all right after you go. He sleeps in the hall and wags his tail when I go by. Then he walks out in the yard and lies in the shade. Don’t worry about him.”

At last the Aldens had everything stuffed into their suitcases. Henry had his camera and Benny had a flashlight.

Mrs. McGregor was right. Watch barked a little, but not much. He sat on the front steps with Mrs. McGregor as the Aldens packed the car.

When Henry drove away, Jessie looked back and saw Watch go into the house with Mrs. McGregor. He didn’t even try to follow the car.

“Well,” Jessie said, “we don’t have to worry about Watch anymore. I’m glad.”

When the Aldens reached River Road, Mr. Alden said, “There is a store on this road before we get to the houseboat.”

“Yes, Mr. Rivers told me about it, too,” said Jessie. “He says all the houseboat people get their food there. The man knows what they need.”

As the Aldens came into the store, the groceryman said, “So you want to try houseboat life?”

“That’s right,” Benny said.

“Five of you, I see,” said the man. “You can choose between three cans of tuna and three cans of chicken. Take two cans of beans or two cans of hash. You can use a dozen eggs, two quarts of milk, two loaves of bread, sugar, salt, and butter. One cake of soap can be used for washing everything.”

“Coffee?” asked Violet, looking at Grandfather.

“Oh, yes, coffee,” the groceryman said. “But if you forget anything, you can stop and buy more down the river. We call it Second Landing.”

The Aldens put the groceries in the car and went along toward the houseboat. Mr. Rivers was there.

“Right on time!” he said. “You can lock your car and park it here. It will be safe. I’ll help you unload.”

“Fine!” said Benny. “I can hardly wait to see this boat go.”

“You can hardly see it go,” said Mr. Rivers, “even when it goes.” That made everyone laugh.

The suitcases and supplies were soon on board. Benny climbed up the ladder and changed the name to
The James H. Alden.

“Looks fine,” said Mr. Rivers. Then he said to Henry, “Just pole yourself out to the middle of the river. It’s about eight feet deep. You can dive out there all right.”

“This is so exciting,” said Jessie as Henry pulled up the anchor and Mr. Rivers untied the rope.

Henry began to pole. Then suddenly there they were, floating gently away!

“Goody-bye, Mr. Rivers!” they shouted.

“Good luck!” he called. He watched them as they went out of sight around a bend in the river.

“Oh, let’s just watch the river for a little while,” said Violet. She sat down on the deck. “It won’t take us long to get settled.”

It was peaceful on the river. Sometimes it was so narrow that the beautiful trees almost met overhead. A big orange-and-black butterfly flew right across the deck.

“Look, a milkweed butterfly,” said Violet.

Benny looked at the cattails. They grew very thick near the shore. Suddenly he pointed. A red-winged blackbird was swinging on the reeds.

“Isn’t that beautiful?” said Jessie. “What bright red and yellow on his black wings!”

“He doesn’t sing,” said Violet. “Oh, he saw us. Do you suppose he has a nest somewhere?”

Then they all saw the nest. A dull brown bird flew off, showing a grassy cup with five blue eggs in it.

Mr. Alden said, “This must be their second family this year. It is too late for the first one.”

Benny said, “That pattern on the eggs is like modern art. All those brown wiggles. And look—there’s a blue heron.”

The water bird stood on one leg and did not move. He was so near that the Aldens could see every blue-gray feather and its black eyes.

“That’s probably why that other family named this boat
The Blue Heron,”
said Benny. “Maybe they saw a lot of blue herons.”

In a little while the Aldens began to put things away. Jessie put the food on the shelf. She came back on the deck to get the box of salt. Just as she picked it up, a bird flew right in front of her.

“Oh!” cried Jessie, jumping back. The salt slipped out of her hand and rolled along the deck, over the edge, and into the water.

“Oh, how could I?” said Jessie. “Now we haven’t any salt. And we must have salt.”

Grandfather said, “Don’t worry, Jessie. We’ll just watch for Second Landing and get another box of salt.”

In about half an hour Benny called out, “There it is. That must be Second Landing.”

“Yes,” said Henry. “And it looks as if there are several buildings there.”

Henry poled
The James H. Alden
up to the dock. The Aldens remembered what Mr. Rivers had said. They locked the houseboat, windows and all. Henry made sure it was tied up safely and the anchor dropped.

As usual, Benny was in a hurry. He was the first one on the dock and the first one on the narrow path. As he went through the bushes, he didn’t see a stone in his way and tripped over it and fell. When he stood up, he was covered with dirt and grass stains.

Jessie brushed him off and said, “Well, I guess I’ll have to wash these clothes, Ben. When we get back to the houseboat, you pull up a pail of water from the river.”

Violet added, “You can put on your swimsuit while your clothes dry. We can hang them on that little clothesline on the houseboat.”

“Oh,” said Benny, “that’s a lot of work. I don’t care much how I look.”

“Yes, Ben, we know that,” said Henry with a smile.

“There’s your store,” said Benny, pointing. A sign said, “Eric A. Martin, Groceries.”

The whole family went into the store. “I need a box of salt,” Jessie told the man behind the counter. “Ours rolled overboard.”

The man laughed and took some salt off the shelf. “Are you the folks in the Rivers houseboat?” he asked.

“That’s right,” said Violet. “How did you guess?”

“Almost everyone forgets something or loses something,” said Mr. Martin. “They come in here because it’s the first place to stop.”

Henry asked, “Do you have any clothesline?”

Everybody stared at Henry. Jessie said, “There’s a fine clothesline on the boat, Henry.”

Mr. Martin said, “Yes, I have two kinds. Cotton and plastic.”

“I think I want cotton,” said Henry. “It’s softer.”

“Yes, it is softer and it stretches more,” Mr. Martin agreed.

“Good,” said Henry, looking at the bunch of line. “Not too many feet in one bunch. I’ll have to take two. I want a ball of string, too, please.”

“What in the world do you want with two bunches of clothesline and a ball of string?” asked Jessie.

“Secret,” replied Henry. “I don’t want to tell because I may not have good luck.”

“Oh, you will, Henry,” said Benny. “I know you. You must have a secret idea.”

“Let’s buy some bananas,” said Jessie. “They’re a good dessert, and there’s no cooking.”

Mr. Martin nodded. “Yes, you must have everything shipshape on a boat. You can’t cook too many things.”

Violet was looking out of the window. She said, “Grandfather, there’s a restaurant on the other side of the street.” “It’s a good one, too,” said Mr. Martin. “Very good food.”

Violet went on, “It’s almost noon. I think it would save time to eat lunch here. We have so much to do on the boat.”

“Good!” said Grandfather. “We’ll do that.”

The Aldens said good-bye to Mr. Martin and walked across the street with their groceries.

There were only two men in the restaurant, having lunch. They sat off in one corner. The Aldens sat down at a big table on the other side of the room.

The food was excellent, and they all chose ice cream for dessert.

“Noice cream for a while,” said Jessie. “It won’t stay frozen on a houseboat.”

Benny and Grandfather were facing the two men. Benny looked at them and decided he didn’t like them. He didn’t really know why, so he said nothing.

Mr. Alden looked at the strangers, too. He thought, “I wonder what they are talking about. It seems to be nothing good.”

This was such a small restaurant that a husband and wife ran it alone. The man was the cook and his wife was the waitress.

Benny noticed the woman as she came out of the kitchen. She went over to the table where the two men sat. She asked, “Do you want more coffee?”

One of the men said, “Yes, I’d like some more.”

But when the waitress put down the cup, Benny saw her slip a small envelope under the saucer. Then she looked back toward the kitchen where her husband was. But the man was too busy to notice. He went on cooking.