Boxcar Children 54 - Hurricane Mystery (6 page)

“Do you think a clue to the buried treasure might be hidden
in
the gate?” asked Violet.

“Maybe,” said Jessie.

“A treasure gate,” said Benny. “Like that bridge where Diana used to live.”

“What are you talking about, Benny?” asked Henry, pulling a folder out of a pile on the desk. “Here. Here are the plans for the house and the gate.”

“What bridge, Benny?” said Violet.

“You know. That gold bridge,” said Benny. “With the earthquakes.”

“Oh.” Jessie laughed. “You mean the Golden Gate Bridge, Benny. The Golden Gate . . .” her voice trailed off. Her eyes got wide.

“That’s it,” she cried.

“It is?” asked Benny. “Have I solved another mystery?”

“I think you have,” said Jessie, giving him a hug.

She bent over the plans spread out on the desk. They all stared at them.

“What is it, Jessie? Have you found the treasure?” asked Henry.

“Yes,” said Jessie dramatically. She pointed at the design for the Pirate’s Gate. “Right there!”

M
r. Farrier said the gate was mostly wrought iron, remember?” said Jessie. “But it’s not. It’s cast iron. See all these molds? That’s how Mr. Farrier said cast iron was made — by pouring molten iron into molds.”

“Like cake batter into a cake pan,” remembered Benny.

“Right,” said Jessie.

“How could Mr. Farrier make a mistake like that?” asked Violet.

“He didn’t,” said Henry, who’d been studying the gate design intently. “He just didn’t want to tell us that he’d discovered the secret of the gate.” He pointed to the design. “Old Mr. Fitzhugh made cast-iron molds — hollow ones — and filled them up with
gold.
It says so right here.”

“Where?” asked Benny. “Where does it say gold?”

“It doesn’t say gold, Benny,” explained Jessie. “But look. It does say, ‘Molds received and filled by F. Fitzhugh.’ ”

“Why would Mr. Fitzhugh want hollow molds? Why would he want to fill them himself unless he had something to hide?”

“That’s exactly it,” said Jessie. “And the only parts of the gate that weren’t cast iron were the outer decorations and parts. Look what it says above the design: Fill and hang.’ ”

“Fill the hollow gate and hang it,” translated Violet in an awed voice. “He poured it full of molten gold, just like we saw Mr. Farrier do with the cast-iron molds at his studio.”

“Pirate’s treasure!” cried Benny. “Pirate’s gold!”

“The gold, the gold, we found the gold!” said Violet. Watch barked and pranced around.

“Let’s go get the gate,” said Benny.

“And tell Mrs. Ashleigh,” said Jessie.

“Wait!” Henry cried.

They all looked at him in surprise.

“We’ve solved the mystery of the Pirate’s Gate,” said Henry. “But we haven’t solved the mystery of who else knows that the gate is the key to the treasure.”

“Mr. Farrier knows. That’s why he didn’t hang the gate back up,” said Violet. “He must have discovered it when he was fixing it. That’s what made it so important for him to talk to Mrs. Ashleigh. So he could tell her.”

“And whoever tried to break into Mr. Farrier’s shop knows, too,” said Jessie. “Remember? That’s why he was making iron grills for his windows. Because someone had tried to break in.”

Henry said, “Of course! And that’s why he asked us so many questions. He wanted to know if we knew.”

“If we hang it up, I think whoever is after the gate will come back for it,” said Jessie. “I think they’ve been following us, watching us. They’ll see us put the gate up. They’ll think we haven’t figured out its secret.”

“Yes. We’ll hang the gate. We’ll set a trap and catch the thief,” said Henry.

The Boxcar Children hurried downstairs. They discovered that Mr. Farrier had opened the kitchen door and leaned the gate against the wall inside.

They looked at the gate with new eyes. It was hard to believe it was made of gold. The cast iron was pretty and graceful. No sign of gold or treasure showed anywhere.

Very carefully, the four Aldens lifted the gate up and carried it out to the fence. It was heavy, so they had to stop and rest twice. But at last the gate was mounted on its hinges.

“There,” said Jessie in a satisfied voice. “Now the trap is set. All we have to do is watch and wait.”

“It’s getting late,” said Henry. “Almost nighttime. I think the thief will come tonight.”

Just then thunder rumbled overhead. They looked up to see the sky filling with clouds. A gust of wind blew, and then another, stronger gust. With the third gust, the wind was blowing steadily. Lightning flashed across the ominous clouds.

Mrs. Ashleigh drove up to the house and got out. Grandfather was with her.

“We have good news,” Jessie began.

“Not now, Jessie,” said Mrs. Ashleigh. She didn’t even seem to notice the gate. Her face was worried. “Hurry into the house. We have to get ready. Another hurricane may be on its way!”

“We have a lot of work to do to get ready for it in case it does come,” added Grandfather. “And not much time!”

After that, they didn’t stop moving for a minute. Mrs. Ashleigh checked her supplies to make sure she had plenty of fresh water and flashlight batteries. She told the Aldens to pack up their things, in case they had to evacuate the island. Then they went around closing shutters over the windows and moving things from outside into the house.

Meanwhile, the wind grew louder and stronger. It howled across the narrow, flat island. Rain began to fall in sheets.

“My hat!” cried Henry as the wind blew it away. The hat flew into the air and whirled out of sight before Henry could even chase it.

“The shutters are all up,” said Grandfather. “Time to go inside.”

They gathered around the kitchen table to eat dinner and watch the weather news on the small television that Mrs. Ashleigh kept there.

“What began as a minor storm in the Caribbean has been growing steadily stronger as it moves up the coast,” the weather announcer said. She was standing at the foot of a pier, wearing a raincoat. Behind her, angry waves lashed the pilings and sent spray high into the air. “It has now crossed Florida and reached Georgia. Winds of over a hundred miles per hour have been reported. Residents along the coast of Georgia are being evacuated.” The picture changed to show cars creeping down an interstate highway. Along the edges of the highway, trees whipped back and forth in the wind.

“Are we going to have to evacuate like that?” asked Benny, his eyes huge.

“We’ll know in another hour or two,” said Mrs. Ashleigh calmly. “Now let’s make sure all of our flashlights are working. Here are extra batteries in case we need them. There’s a flashlight for everyone.”

Something banged hard against the side of the house. Watch began to bark and Benny jumped. “W-what is that?” he asked. “Is it the hurricane?”

“It sounds as if a shutter has come loose,” said Grandfather. “Henry, will you come help me fasten it down?”

Hearing how calm his grandfather sounded, Benny was a little less worried about the storm. When Watch whimpered, he said, “Don’t worry, Watch. I won’t let anything happen to you. If the storm gets too bad, we will leave. Won’t we, Mrs. Ashleigh?”

“Of course, dear,” answered Mrs. Ashleigh.

Even though they wore raincoats and hats and boots, Grandfather and Henry were soaking wet when they came back inside.

On the television, the announcer appeared in front of a map showing where the hurricane was.

“It looks awfully close to us,” said Violet.

“The hurricane is moving closer to the South Carolina coast,” said the announcer. “Residents may have to begin evacuation procedures. Stay tuned — ”

Just then the lights all flickered and went out.

“Oh, no!” cried Benny. Then he hugged Watch and said, “Don’t worry, boy. We have flashlights.”

Even as Benny spoke, Mrs. Ashleigh turned her flashlight on. Then she lit candles and set them in the middle of the table. She gave flashlights to Henry and Grandfather Alden so they could go to their bedrooms and change into dry clothes.

“When you come back down,” Mrs. Ashleigh said, “we’ll get a puzzle out of the closet and put it together at the kitchen table by candlelight.”

“Sort of like camping out and sitting around a campfire,” said Jessie bravely.

“May I pick out the puzzle?” asked Benny.

Mrs. Ashleigh nodded. “Take a flashlight to the den. The puzzles are in the cabinet there.”

“I know where they are,” said Violet. “Jessie and I brought them back downstairs and put them there.”

“You can come help me and Watch pick out a puzzle, then,” said Benny. The walk from the kitchen to the den in the dark, with the storm roaring outside, was a little scary. But now that Violet was coming with him, Benny wasn’t worried. He turned on his flashlight and pointed it down the hallway. “Just follow me.”

When Benny and Violet returned to the kitchen, Henry and Grandfather were sitting at the kitchen table.

“We picked out a good puzzle,” said Benny. “With five hundred pieces.”

“It’s a picture of a garden,” added Violet, thinking of the Pirate’s Gate on the fence by the garden outside.

Jessie, who was standing near the kitchen window, leaned over to look out. But the shutters had been closed and she couldn’t see anything. She began to worry. What if the thief came and stole the gate in the middle of the hurricane? They wouldn’t even be able to hear it.

As if reading her thoughts, Henry said, “No one could be out in weather like this, could they, Grandfather? The wind is blowing too hard.”

“I don’t think so,” said Grandfather.

Jessie didn’t think so, either. But still, she decided to listen very, very carefully for the thief, just in case.

Mrs. Ashleigh finished putting batteries in the radio and set it on the kitchen counter. They listened as the announcer said, “Still no decision to evacuate . . .”

Then Mrs. Ashleigh turned the puzzle upside down on the table. “Let’s get to work on this puzzle,” she said.

Outside, the storm screamed and howled. Rain battered the house and rattled against the shutters. But inside the house, in the flickering light of the candles, the Boxcar Children were able to stay calm and brave. As the hours passed, even Watch settled down, curling up beneath Benny’s feet as Benny sorted out pieces of the puzzle and fit them into place.

Then suddenly Watch raised his head.

Henry looked up. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

Violet looked up, too. She cocked her head. “It’s not as noisy,” she said. “Is the storm going away?”

“I think it is,” said Grandfather.

Mrs. Ashleigh reached over and fiddled with the dials of the radio. Static crackled through the air. Then the announcer’s voice said, “The hurricane has veered away from the coast. It is going out to sea. Evacuation will not be necessary. Stay tuned for further details.”

Benny dropped the puzzle piece he was holding. “Is the hurricane gone?” he said.

“Almost,” said Jessie.

“Hooray!” said Benny. “Hooray! Do you hear that, Watch? We don’t have to worry anymore.”

But Watch didn’t agree. He ran out from under the table and leaped at the kitchen door and began to bark with all his might.

J
essie jumped to her feet. “It’s the trap!” she cried. “Quick, open the door!”

Grandfather and Mrs. Ashleigh looked very surprised as the four Aldens rushed toward the kitchen door. “Everyone get a flashlight,” said Henry.

“Hurry! Or they’ll get away!” Violet said.

“What’s going on?” asked Grandfather Alden.

“We’ve found the pirate’s treasure,” said Benny. “Only someone’s trying to steal it.”

With Grandfather and Mrs. Ashleigh right behind them, the Boxcar Children rushed out of the kitchen door and through the backyard toward the gate.

Henry led the way to the door. “We set a trap to catch a thief,” he said over his shoulder.

They all turned their flashlights toward the gate.

“It’s gone!” cried Violet. “Oh, no! It’s gone!”

“Look. There it is!” gasped Jessie, pointing with the beam of her flashlight through the rain and wind.

In front of the house, two figures were struggling to lift the gate into the back of a blue van.

“Stop! Stop, thief!” shouted Henry, running as fast as he could.

Barking madly, Watch ran, too. He leaped up and caught the pants leg of one of the thieves.

“Oww! No! Get away!” a woman’s voice shouted. She kicked at Watch and tripped.

The other thief dropped his end of the gate into the mud and began to run. The woman fell, still holding onto the gate. The gate tipped over on her, trapping her in a puddle.

But Henry caught the escaping thief by one arm and Jessie caught him by the other. “Oh, no, you don’t,” said Henry. “You were trying to steal our gate.”

“No! Let me go,” the man said.

“It’s Jackie,” gasped Violet, bending over the woman. “Jackie James! Oh dear! Are you hurt?” Violet tried to lift the gate off Jackie, but it was too heavy.

“No, I’m not hurt! Mike Carson, don’t you dare leave me here like this,” cried Jackie, struggling to get out from under the gate. “This is all your fault!”