Bus Station Mystery (7 page)

“We smelled it, too,” Benny said.

“ ’You can say that again,” said Henry.

“I will,” said Benny. “We smelled it, too.”

Frank laughed. “That’s just part of the problem. I don’t like it, but that isn’t the worst of it.”

Frank got up and put the letter down. He pulled out a big notebook. Opening it, he said, “I think you’ve guessed that maybe I’m not just a lunch-counter man and bus station keeper. I’m a chemist. I like living in a quiet place like this. I’m interested in growing plants without using chemicals. I like birds and wild animals. That’s why I’m here.”

“We understand,” Violet said quietly.

“Everything was fine until this Mr. Pickett came along and built his paint factory. There was no way to stop him. He bought the land. He could do what he liked out here in the country. He didn’t expect to bother anyone.”

“He can spoil the river and no one will care?” Henry asked. “Is that what he thinks?”

“Yes,” Frank said. “But he is wrong. He has to be stopped. But how? That’s the question.”

Frank dropped his head in his hands. Then he went on quietly, “I did some experiments to show how the water from the factory pollutes the river. The chemicals are carried in the water. They kill fish and water plants. I thought that if I showed this notebook about my experiments to Mr. Pickett he would stop polluting.”

“But that didn’t work?” Benny asked.

Frank shook his head. “Mr. Pickett just said it was too bad, but lots of people have jobs at his factory. It was too late to build somewhere else.”

Benny looked angry. “Build somewhere else? Pollute somewhere else? That’s no answer.”

“That’s what I said,” Frank continued. “I told him that there are laws to stop pollution. He told me I was a troublemaker. He said he’d get rid of me.”

“How?” asked Jessie.

“Easy enough, I guess,” Frank said. “Mr. Pickett bought all the land along the river. That means all the land around my house and garden. If he likes, he can keep me from getting to my house. That’s what he told me.”

“That’s not fair!” Henry said. “There must be some way to stop him.”

Frank said, “It takes money. I’d have to go to court. Anyway, now he has a new idea. He wants to buy my house and garden to make into a parking lot for the factory workers. Imagine! Tear down my house. Cover my garden with blacktop. That’s what his letter to me was about. I’m not rich. I can’t fight him.”

The Aldens looked at each other. Benny decided to ask another question. “What about Jud and Troy?”

“Yes,” Henry added. “We saw them giving out papers at the bus station when our bus stopped yesterday.”

Frank gave his angry short laugh again. “Oh, yes! They think they can change things. They tried to show how important the river is to wildlife. Older people don’t pay attention to boys. Then they tried to line up some of the workers against the paint factory. You saw how that worked out.”

“Not at all,” Jessie said.

“Yesterday in Oakdale we heard about the town meeting tonight,” Henry said. “We know it’s about Mr. Pickett’s factory and the way it’s polluting the river. Are you going?”

“I’m going,” Frank answered. Then he shook his head. “But I don’t think there’ll be much of a crowd. Mr. Pickett and his workers and friends will be there. Nobody will do anything.”

Jessie said, “It sounded to us as if a lot of people want to save the river, just as you do. You’re not alone. You have to believe that.”

For a minute Frank did not say anything. Then he looked right at the Aldens. “That
is
good news. Do you know what I was going to do? I was going to take that dead fish to the town meeting and pass it around among the people. It was a stupid idea, but I was angry enough to do it.”

Benny liked the idea. He knew just how angry Frank felt. He said, “I don’t think that would be such a bad idea. It would show the townspeople just how bad the river is.”

Frank said, “If what you say is true and a lot of people really care, maybe we
can
save the river.”

Benny said in a rush, “I know we’re outsiders. But maybe we can help, too.”

“How?” asked Frank, looking surprised.

“Our grandfather has plastics factories. Maybe you have heard of him. He is Mr. James Alden. His factories don’t pollute any rivers. They don’t make any bad smells either. Let’s see if Grandfather will come to the town meeting. He’s a businessman. Perhaps he can talk to Mr. Pickett.”

Frank thought for a moment. Then he said, “It’s worth trying. Will he come?”

Benny said, “Let me call him right now. We Aldens always like to do things in a hurry!”

CHAPTER 10

Benny Guesses

A
s the Aldens drove up to the town hall in Oakdale Benny exclaimed, “Look at the crowd! I never thought so many people would come to a town meeting.”

Grandfather smiled. He had been at town meetings before.

“Do you see Frank anywhere?” Jessie asked. “I hope he comes early and meets Grandfather.”

Henry parked the car behind the truck from the paint factory. Someone had crossed out the last letter T on the sign. Now it read “Pickett’s Perfect Pain.”

Henry started to laugh, then he stopped. “There are some people around here who really want to get rid of Mr. Pickett and his factory,” he said.

“I hope there won’t be any trouble at the town meeting,” Jessie said. “People are excited.”

“There’s Frank,” Benny called, waving to him. “I don’t think he brought the dead fish. He has no bundle under his arm.”

After Frank and Mr. Alden had met, the two men stood and talked in quiet voices. People walking into the town hall looked curiously at them.

Benny heard a woman say, “We’ll get the state inspectors to close Mr. Pickett’s factory. He can’t get away with spoiling our river.”

“Wait a minute,” a man said. “I work for Mr. Pickett. I need a job. Don’t try to take work away from me! I don’t want the factory closed.”

“There’s Mr. Pickett,” Violet whispered.

Mr. Pickett walked along quickly. Several men were with him. They did not look at Frank or Mr. Alden.

“I thought we’d see Jud and Troy,” Benny said, looking around. “They’re late.”

“They won’t be coming,” Frank said. “They are against the paint factory. It wouldn’t surprise me if their father has them locked up at home.”

“Locked up!” Benny exclaimed. “They didn’t do anything that bad.”

“You can try telling their father that,” Frank said.

Benny and Violet went over toward the town hall. The others stood, still talking. Benny thought Grandfather looked like an old general planning for a battle. And maybe it would be a battle—there was a lot of excitement as people gathered.

Suddenly Benny stopped Violet and said, “Look over there! Frank’s wrong. Here they come.”

“Who? Where?” Violet asked.

“Jud and Troy! They’re locking their bikes up at the rack over there.”

“Do you think they rode into Oakdale from Plainville Junction?” Violet asked. “That’s a long ride.”

“It is,” Benny agreed. “I guess they really wanted to get here. I hope they aren’t going to start any trouble. It would be easy to get this crowd angry.”

Then Benny heard a voice he knew. It was Troy’s. He was with Jud.

Troy was saying, “We couldn’t leave until Dad was gone. And if we walk into the meeting after it has started, everyone will stare at us.”

“You don’t see Dad outside, do you?” Jud asked. “How about his friends?” He sounded worried. Then he saw the Aldens.

“Look who’s here!” he exclaimed. “Did you forget something again?”

“Yeah, you’re outsiders. What are you doing here?” Troy asked.

“We’re with Frank,” Benny said. He didn’t see why he had to explain anything to these boys.

“With Frank?” Jud asked. He looked around then and saw Frank and the other Aldens coming into the building, too.

“Who’s that with you?” Troy asked.

“That’s my grandfather,” Benny answered. “He has some ideas that can help save the river.”

“He does?” Troy asked, surprised. “Do you think my dad will listen?”

“Boy, I wish he would,” Jud said. “I really wish he would.”

“We’ve tried everything we can think of,” Troy said. “Dad says there isn’t anything he can do. He doesn’t want the river spoiled. But he thinks he can’t do anything about it.”

The town meeting was about to begin. The last people who had been standing outside were beginning to come in.

“Come on,” Jud said to his brother, “I don’t want Frank to see us. Let’s slip in and get some seats where Dad won’t see us.”

The boys disappeared, leaving Benny standing there. He saw his family and Frank starting toward the hall entrance.

Still Benny stood in the one spot. He was putting a lot of ideas together. Who was Jud and Troy’s father? Benny thought he knew—should he tell the others? Maybe not. They’d find out soon enough, he felt.

Inside the hall, chairs were set up in rows. There was an aisle down the middle. A long table at the front was for the township officers.

All Mr. Pickett’s friends and workers sat together on one side. The persons who wanted to save the river filled the seats on the other side of the aisle. Up in front, the township officers took their places.

The big clock showed exactly eight o’clock. The crowd grew quiet as the moderator called the meeting to order. He explained why everyone had been asked to come. He said he hoped some way could be found to save the river. He asked everyone to take turns in speaking.

First, Mr. Pickett stood up to tell how his new factory helped Plainview Township. He pointed out that people needed jobs. He believed workers needed something useful, like good paint, to make. When he said Pickett’s Perfect Paint was the best, some of the people behind him clapped.

The moderator said, “Let’s hear from that lady from Oakdale.”

The woman rose and said, “We need new factories. We need work so that people can buy things at our stores. But we don’t want our river spoiled. People are important. So is nature. Isn’t there some way we can have jobs and save the river too?”

Men and women on both sides of the hall clapped.

Benny twisted around to see if he could find Jud and Troy in the audience. He finally saw them sitting toward the back. They had slid down in their seats as if they didn’t want anyone to recognize them. Benny didn’t blame them. Not if his guess was right.

A man who introduced himself as a teacher spoke next. He told how the river had changed since the factory had been built.

“Mr. Pickett may make good paint, but he is ruining our river,” he declared. “We can’t swim in it. We can’t fish in it. And all because one man pours dirty water from his factory into it. I say Mr. Pickett’s factory should be closed. We can do it!”

“Agree! Agree!” many people called out.

Mr. Pickett jumped to his feet. “You can’t do that!” he cried. “You can’t close my factory. I have put a lot of money in my business. Who needs fish from the river? You can buy fish at the market the way I do.” Then he sat down.

Suddenly a lot of angry voices began to fill the hall. It was impossible to tell what was being said.

The man in charge of the meeting called out, “Order! Order! Let one person speak at a time.”

Frank raised his hand to show that he had something to say.

Benny was sorry not to see the bundle of fish in his hand. “Too bad,” he said to Henry. “That fish would have been a good piece of evidence.”

To everyone’s surprise, Frank went to a table and opened a drawer. He took out a newspaper bundle.

“You don’t have to touch this,” Frank said to the people. “But I assure you it is a fresh dead fish.”

“Fresh dead fish,” everyone murmured, half laughing.

“It’s fresh,” Frank went on, “because it hasn’t been dead long. Just this afternoon this fish was swimming in our river. Then I saw him stop swimming and float to the top. I picked him up. You can find a fish like this almost any time, poisoned by waste from the paint factory.”

“That’s a fine new piece of evidence,” called a teen-ager from the front row.

“Just exactly what I said!” Benny whispered.

But Frank had not quite finished what he wanted to say. “I have called the factory a bad neighbor,” he said. “And now Mr. Pickett wants to buy my house and land and make it into a parking lot.”

“And you’re going to sell him your land?” someone asked, sounding shocked.

“No!” Frank shouted. “I’m not selling. But I am hoping Mr. Pickett can become a good neighbor. If he makes some changes in his factory, I believe he can make paint and not spoil the river. Just spend some money, that’s how!”

Mr. Pickett stood up. He looked at the men and women in the hall before speaking. Then he said, “I do want to be a good neighbor to Frank and to everyone. But who can show me how to run my factory and keep the river clean?”

“This gentleman over here can, I think,” Frank answered and asked Grandfather to rise. “Mr. James Alden.”

Everyone turned around to stare. Mr. Alden stood up and smiled. Then he walked over to Mr. Pickett and shook his hand.

“I have had some of the same troubles in my plastics factories that you have had,” he explained. “Bad odors. Polluted water. In my plants we have found a way to burn the bad-smelling gases before they go up the chimney. We need a great deal of water. But we use the same water over and over. Not a bit of dirty water empties into any river or sewer.”