Boxcar Children 54 - Hurricane Mystery Read Free

Jackie. “I’m Jacqueline James. Everybody calls me Jackie. Sorry if I was a little suspicious. But after a hurricane, all kinds of characters arrive to try to take advantage of people. I guess we’d better hurry and get this gate back to Ellen.”
    “Do you need me to help you take it out of the van?” asked Diana.
    “We’ll help,” volunteered Henry.
    “Fine,” said Diana. “I’d better be getting to my next job. A man at the other end of the island had all the doors blown off his house. I’ve got to put some new ones up for him.” Diana walked over to a battered pickup truck and got in and drove quickly away.
    “Why don’t I give y’all a ride back to Mrs. Ashleigh’s?” suggested Jackie.
    The Aldens thought this was a very good idea.
    “I’ll go the long way around,” Jackie said. “That way, you can see some more of the island.” She drove them down the quiet streets, waving at people as she passed. “Out there is the lighthouse,” she said. She pointed. “And over there is the library.”
    “The Edgar Allan Poe library,” said Jessie.
    “Yes!” answered Jackie, looking surprised that Jessie knew that.
    “We solved a mystery in a library once,” said Henry.
    “A deserted library,” added Benny. In a few minutes they’d reached Mrs. Ashleigh’s house. Benny bounced out of the van and ran toward the house shouting, “Mrs. Ashleigh, Mrs. Ashleigh! Come here quickly! We’ve found your gate.”
    The door opened and Mrs. Ashleigh and Grandfather Alden hurried out. Grandfather was still holding his glass of lemonade.
    “Ellen!” cried Jackie, climbing out of the van. She walked around to the back of the van and opened it. With a sweep of her arm she said, “Look what the hurricane left in my backyard!”
    Mrs. Ashleigh’s eyes widened.  She put one hand up to her mouth and walked slowly forward. “It can’t be,” she said. “I don’t believe it!”
    “It is,” said Jessie. “See, I told you we were good at finding things.”
    Violet said, “We’ve only been here for a few hours, and we’ve already solved a mystery!”
    “You certainly have, Violet. The Pirate’s Gate,” said Mrs. Ashleigh. “I never thought I’d see it again.”
    “The Aldens found me loading it into my van to bring back to you,” Jackie explained. “Naturally I recognized it right away. I was very careful with it, but I’m afraid the hurricane did some damage.”
    “That can be fixed,” said Mrs. Ashleigh, patting the gate as if it were alive. “Oh, I’m so glad to see it again.”
    With the help of the Aldens, Jackie lifted the gate out of the van and carried it to the edge of the house. She propped it against the front porch.
    “Won’t you come in and have some lemonade?” Mrs. Ashleigh asked Jackie. But Jackie shook her head and smiled. “I have to go. I have a business to run — we’re not as busy as we should be, but there are a few tourists who still come to Charleston looking for a carriage ride!” She turned to the Aldens and said, “When you get a chance, come into town. I’ll give you a tour in an old-fashioned horse and carriage, compliments of Hoofbeats of History. That’s the name of my guide business.”
    “Horses?” said Benny. “I’d like that.”
    Mrs. Ashleigh said, “Thank you again, Jackie. Now I’m going to go call William Farrier. He’s done ironwork for me before.”
    “Of course! He’s the very man to fix your gate,” said Jackie. She said good-bye and left.
    “Wow,” said Jessie as the Aldens went back into the house with Mrs. Ashleigh and Grandfather. “Wouldn’t that be fun, to drive a horse and carriage and give tours to people?”
    “I’d like that,” agreed Henry.
    “Me, too,” said Benny. “Second, after being a pirate.”
    “Who’s William Farrier?” asked Violet.
    “I think you all would like his job, too,” said Mrs. Ashleigh. “He started out as a blacksmith, but now he’s a famous craftsman and artist. He works in