Boxcar Children 54 - Hurricane Mystery Read Free Page A

wrought and cast iron. When you go to Charleston you’ll see lots of lovely iron gates and balconies and fences. Some are as old as the Pirate’s Gate and some are new, designed and made by people like Mr. Farrier.”
    While they were waiting for Mr. Farrier to arrive, the Aldens helped Mrs. Ashleigh take some of the furniture that had been moved upstairs, back downstairs into the rooms that had been cleaned out and repainted. Since they were the biggest and strongest, Grandfather and Henry moved the biggest pieces of furniture: a desk, some bookshelves, and some tables. Violet and Benny carried lamps down. Jessie and Mrs. Ashleigh unrolled the rugs on the floors.
    Jessie had just begun to help Mrs. Ashleigh bring down boxes of books for the study shelves when someone knocked on the front door.
    A short, strong-looking man with powerful hands and a small pair of gold wire-rim glasses perched on the end of his nose stood there. He was wearing jeans and a plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was carrying a toolbox.
    “Mr. Farrier! I’m so glad you could come,” said Mrs. Ashleigh.
    “I’ve met the Pirate’s Gate before,” said Mr. Farrier, his brown eyes twinkling behind his glasses. He nodded toward where the gate was propped against the house. “I look forward to a chance to work on it.”
    Mrs. Ashleigh and the Aldens followed Mr. Farrier as he went to look at the gate. “Can it be fixed?” Mrs. Ashleigh asked anxiously.
    “I don’t believe the hurricane did any damage that I can’t put right,” said Mr. Farrier. “But it’s a very old gate, so I can’t say for sure. I’d like to take it back to my shop to work on it there.”

    “Of course,” said Mrs. Ashleigh.
    “I’ll just do a little work on these hinges first,” said Mr. Farrier. “They didn’t get too banged up. I’ll be finished in no time.”
    After Mr. Farrier had fixed the hinges on the iron fence where the gate had hung, the Aldens once again helped carry the gate across the front yard, this time to load onto Mr. Farrier’s red truck. “I’ll let you know in a day or two about the gate,” said Mr. Farrier.
    “Thank you,” said Mrs. Ashleigh.
    “Can we come watch you shoe horses?” asked Benny.
    “Well, I don’t shoe horses much anymore,” said Mr. Farrier with a slow smile. “But you can visit me at my shop, Farrier’s Studio. It’s right down in Charleston. Anybody can tell you where it is.”
    “Oh, good,” said Jessie. “Thank you.”
    The Aldens went back to work. All the rest of the day they moved furniture, shelved books, and helped Mrs. Ashleigh clean up around the house. By dinnertime, all the books were back on the study shelves, and when Jessie turned on the desk lamp, the room had a cozy glow.
    “It is exactly the way it was before the hurricane,” said Mrs. Ashleigh, looking pleased.
    Just then Henry staggered through the door with a huge box in his arms. “There are five more of these upstairs,” he said.
    “Woof!” said Watch, jumping up to say hello to Henry.
    “Look out!” cried Jessie. But it was too late. Henry lost his balance and dropped the box.
    Violet covered her ears.
    Watch scampered quickly out of the way.
    The top of the box came off. Files spilled out and paper flew everywhere!

CHAPTER 4
A Terrible Fight
    U h-oh!” said Henry.
    “We’ll help you clean it up,” said Violet.
    “Don’t worry,” said Mrs. Ashleigh. She walked quickly to the overturned box. “But be careful! Some of these papers are very, very old.”
    Benny knelt down by the box. “Look,” he said. “A picture!”
    “That’s Mr. Fitzhugh,” said Mrs. Ashleigh.
    “The pirate!” Benny gasped, his eyes round.
    “Maybe so,” Mrs. Ashleigh answered. “We can just put the papers back in the box. I have to go through them anyway.”
    “Look at this,” said Jessie.
    “Is it a pirate’s map for treasure?” asked Benny excitedly.
    Jessie laughed. “No, Benny. But it is a drawing of