Bus Station Mystery (5 page)

Smiling at the manager, Benny said quickly, “I’m Benny Alden. Perhaps you know my grandfather, Mr. James Alden.”

“I do indeed,” said the manager. “He has a smart grandson, I see that.”

Benny ran to catch up with Henry. “That was a great fair,” he said. “I’m glad we came. It turned out to be exciting!”

CHAPTER 6

What Did Happen?

T
he bus for Greenfield was right on time. Quite a few people got on the bus. A man asked the driver, “You stop at the junction, don’t you?”

“That’s right,” the driver said. “I’ll call out the name when we get there.”

“But you just stop there to let passengers off, don’t you?” a man asked. “You just go right along to Greenfield?”

“Right,” said the driver.

Then Benny got on.

“Good evening,” the driver said pleasantly to Benny. It was the same driver who had taken them from Plainville Junction to Oakdale. “Did you have a good time at the fair?” Everyone seemed to speak to Benny.

“Oh, swell,” replied Benny. “You ought to go.”

“I’ve been there,” said the driver. “I go every year. And I always see something new.”

The Aldens found seats in the middle of the bus. Jessie and Violet sat near each other. Benny took a seat in front of Violet. Henry found an empty seat across the aisle. The bus was not crowded.

Benny half expected to see the two boys—Jud and Troy—catch the bus. But they were nowhere to be seen.

While Henry pushed the back of his seat into a comfortable position, Benny said, “I’m glad we don’t have to change buses at Plainville Junction. I don’t want to wait there again.”

“I wonder if the tree across the road to the bridge has been moved,” Henry said, settling back. “That could make us late.”

“It’s probably been pulled out of the way long ago,” answered Benny. “The road crews are pretty fast. Do you think we’ll see Frank around the bus station? I’d like to say hello.”

Henry shrugged. “There won’t be time to go in the station. This bus goes right through. It will just stop to let passengers off and pick up anyone who’s waiting.”

“Too bad,” Benny said. “I’m hungry. I’d like to go in the bus station and get one of Frank’s good doughnuts.”

Henry gave a big yawn. He shut his eyes and was soon asleep.

Benny stared out of the bus window. He liked the countryside. He thought about the storm. Except for the trees near Frank’s bus station, it had not done much damage.

Benny, too, must have fallen asleep, for the next thing he knew, the driver was calling out, “Plainville Junction!”

“Remember I’m getting off,” the man called. “I’ve got these shopping bags, and I can’t move fast.”

The driver laughed. “Sure, I’ll give you a hand. Just stay in your seat until we get there.”

The big bus bumped off the highway and stopped in front of the bus station. Benny, who was sitting next to the window, stared out. Suddenly he poked Henry.

“Wake up, Henry!” Benny said excitedly. “Something’s going on at the bus station.”

“What? Where?” asked Henry. Now he was wide awake and leaning forward to look out of the window, too.

Something was going on, but it was hard to tell what it was.

Three men with lunch boxes were waiting for the bus. Someone had given each of them a pink paper.

Then the Aldens saw who was passing out the papers. The two boys, Jud and Troy, were waving more papers and saying something.

The Aldens could not hear because the bus windows were closed. But they could guess the boys wanted the men to read the papers.

Suddenly everyone—the men and the boys— looked around behind them.

The door of a large car opened and out stepped a man who was plainly very angry. He did not turn off his motor or shut the door. Instead he made a quick rush at Jud and Troy.

The boys were startled. The man grabbed the papers from the boys’ hands. He tore the sheets in half and threw them on the ground.

Everyone gasped.

While the men waiting for the bus edged out of the way and the people on the bus watched, something strange happened.

The man pointed at his car and plainly said “Get in!” to the boys. He pushed them in front of him and into the back seat of the car. He slammed the door, jumped in himself, and with a screech of tires pulled away from the bus station.

No one had had time to do a thing.

“Well!” said Benny. “What’s going on?”

Violet leaned forward and whispered, “You—you don’t think the boys were kidnapped, do you? It all happened so fast.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Henry answered. “The two boys seemed to know the man.”

Now Benny noticed Frank standing on the bus station steps, his hands on his hips. He looked as surprised as everyone else. But he did not rush to help Jud or Troy. Like the men, he just watched.

The bus driver was impatient. He called out, “All aboard! Let’s go. I’m late already.” The men with their lunch boxes and sheets of paper got on, not saying a word.

The driver released the brake, turned the bus, and was out on the highway. Looking back, Benny just had time to see Frank pick up the torn papers.

All kinds of questions buzzed around in Benny’s head and Henry’s too. Benny felt that if he could just see one of those papers, he might find some answers.

The three men who had just gotten on the bus were sitting in the back. Benny couldn’t call out to them. He couldn’t even turn around enough to see if the men were reading the pink papers.

“Who was that man?” Henry asked Benny. “I feel sure I’ve seen him.”

“Me, too,” Benny said. “Now where? Greenfield? No, I don’t think so.”

The boys said nothing for a minute, and then Benny said, “Wait, I know! It was at the hobby fair this afternoon. How could I have been so stupid? That was Mr. Pickett. Mr. Pickett of the paint factory. I’m sure of it!”

“You’re right, you’re absolutely right,” Henry exclaimed. “Of course it was Mr. Pickett. His factory is near the bus station. He must turn off the highway there.”

“Or was he coming to see Frank?” Benny suggested.

“I don’t know,” Henry answered. “There was that letter he sent Frank . . .”

“He was mad at Jud and Troy. That’s sure,” Benny said thoughtfully. “Wow! I wouldn’t want someone to come after me that way!”

Henry nodded. “You know, Ben, there is something funny going on. The boys went with him. They didn’t try to escape or run away.”

“That’s right,” Benny agreed. “They looked mad, too. And surprised.”

“Well, they couldn’t have been too surprised,” Henry said. “After all, they did wave those signs against the paint factory in front of Mr. Pickett at the hobby fair. They knew they made him mad then. They didn’t seem to care too much if they did make him mad.”

“There’s something else I don’t understand,” Benny said after a moment. “Frank just watched. He didn’t help the boys. And he didn’t help Mr. Pickett. Wouldn’t you think he’d be on one side or the other?”

“You’re right, Benny,” said Henry. “Nobody did a thing. That’s something to think about.”

The bus rolled along and Benny and Henry stared out of the window. They were quiet. Benny was thinking again about the sheets of paper being passed out. If he could just get one . . .

“East Greenfield,” the bus driver announced. The three men who had gotten on the bus at Plainville Junction came forward.

“Another day gone,” the driver said as he opened the bus door. “Well, see you tomorrow. Take care now.”

“So long,” the men said. One of them waved.

Benny looked at Henry. “You know, those men must work at Pickett’s factory. I never thought of that before.”

“Sure,” Henry agreed. “They must catch this bus home from work every day. The driver knows them.”

“I wonder what they thought about how Mr. Pickett acted,” Benny said. Then he felt a gentle touch on his sleeve.

It was Violet. She pushed a printed paper around the back of his seat so that no one else would notice.

“One of the men who rode on the bus threw this down as he got ready to get off,” Violet whispered.

The paper was folded over several times. Benny opened it and read “Town Meeting.”

Underneath there was a message printed by hand. It read: “Come and save the river. It is not too late. You can help.”

“So!” Benny exclaimed. “Jud and Troy don’t give up. They want Mr. Pickett’s workers to vote against him at the town meeting. And Mr. Pickett is their boss. Vote against your own boss. How about that!”

“It looks that way,” Henry said. “I’d like to know what’s going on now. Why did Mr. Pickett push the boys into his car? I suppose he tried to scare them some way.”

“Probably turned them over to their parents,” Benny said. “I’ll bet there was trouble.”

“I don’t think they’ll have a chance to go to the town meeting tomorrow,” Henry said.

“Not a chance,” Benny agreed.

“Greenfield!” the driver called out. The Aldens jumped down from the bus, happy to get home.

“Dinner!” exclaimed Benny. “Am I starved! Let’s go!”

When he undressed for bed that night, Benny thought about Jud and Troy and all that had happened on this one day.

“I wonder if we’ll read in the newspaper what happened at the town meeting,” he said to himself. “I’d like to know what Mr. Pickett really did with Jud and Troy. Too bad—perhaps I’ll never know.”

As he was falling asleep, Benny thought, “I’d just like to know how it all comes out. I’ll have to think about it . . . tomorrow.” But he was too sleepy to go on.

CHAPTER 7

The Snooper

T
he next morning Benny lay in bed wondering what excuse he could give to get back to the bus station. He couldn’t think of anything.

He wondered what had happened to Jud and Troy after Mr. Pickett had driven off with them. Would they get to the town meeting? What were they planning to do?

Benny wondered about Frank, too. Frank had said someone was too big for him to fight. What did that mean? He was a chemist. Maybe he had a new kind of paint he wanted Mr. Pickett to make.

There was a lot going on that Benny did not understand. He wanted to listen, to ask questions, maybe to help.

Then Benny thought, “Our raincoats! We left our raincoats at the bus station. Hooray!”

He dressed quickly for breakfast. But to his surprise he found everyone dressed and eating breakfast, too.

Benny began, “Henry, guess what? We forgot—”

“Our raincoats,” finished Henry. “We were just talking about that. We’ll have to go back and get them.”

“We should call Frank before we start off,” Jessie suggested. “We have to be sure that our raincoats are still at the bus station.”

The telephone lines had been repaired after the big storm. Soon Benny was speaking to Frank on the telephone.

“Yes,” Frank told him. The raincoats were there. He was wondering if he should mail them to the Aldens.

“Oh, no,” Benny said. “That’s too much trouble. My big brother Henry can drive over today and get them. Will this morning be all right?”

To Benny’s surprise, Frank didn’t like that idea at all. He said he had planned to be away from the station for two hours.

“I’m sorry,” Benny said. He didn’t want Frank to be angry with the Aldens. “We don’t want to be any bother. We can come later and get our raincoats.”

This time Frank agreed.

Benny hung up the telephone and turned around to the others. He said, “I don’t understand Frank at all. You’d think he’d be glad to have us get the raincoats. I don’t think he wants us to come at all. He sounds as if—as if he’s hiding something. I wonder what’s going on.”

“Perhaps he wants to go fishing,” Jessie suggested. “I don’t think the bus station keeps him very busy.”

Benny shook his head. “Why wouldn’t he say he’s going fishing? There’s nothing wrong with that. We would understand.”

Henry had been thinking. He said, “There is that big town meeting about the paint factory tonight. I wonder if Frank plans to go.”

“Remember how we saw Mr. Pickett at the bus station last night,” Benny said. “Maybe he came to see Frank. It was an accident he caught the boys passing out those papers.”

“Frank doesn’t trust those boys,” Jessie said. “He likes to keep his own secrets.”

Benny agreed. “You remember how he asked what in the world we were doing when he came back after the storm and saw the chair under the shelf. He thought we were fussing around with his things. Really, we were wrong. We had no right to look at Frank’s things, even if we didn’t touch them.”

“Do you think those chemistry books have anything to do with this mystery?” asked Jessie.

“Well, we won’t find out what’s going on while we sit here,” Henry said. “We’ve never even seen Mr. Pickett’s paint factory. Maybe we should visit it and then get our raincoats from Frank.”

“Good idea,” said Benny. “Let’s go.”

It was a fine summer day. The storm of yesterday seemed like a bad dream. The Aldens were glad to have an excuse to drive out in the country and visit the bus station again.

“I’m glad we decided to do something,” Violet said. “I can’t stay at home on a day like this.”

“Neither can I,” said Benny, laughing.