Boxcar Children 61 - Growling Bear Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

were in back of the store with Mr. Elkhorn. He was copying something for us.”
    Now Mrs. Crabtree looked confused. “You went to Elkhorn’s this morning, Sam? I thought you just picked up supplies at the depot down the road. I wondered why you were gone so long when I needed you here.”
    Looking at the Aldens, Sam tightened his lips. “I . . . uh . . . had to pick up a spare part for my car. Anyway, the important thing is that I came back in time for the children’s hour. Here I am. I was just about to read the kids a story. Afterward I’m going to take them out to the porch to watch the geyser.”
    Mrs. Crabtree checked her clipboard. “Well, plans have changed a bit. This is a perfect job for the Aldens right now since I haven’t the time to show them around. They can do housekeeping and deliveries another day when they’re more familiar with the lodge.”
    Sam Jackson looked upset with this change of plans.
    “Don’t worry, Sam,” Mrs. Crabtree went on. “I’ll post you back here again. Now please be down in the laundry area in ten minutes to pick up the room keys and a cleaning cart. In the meantime, why don’t you introduce the children to the Aldens.”
    After Mrs. Crabtree left, the Aldens waited for Sam to say something. At first he didn’t move or speak. Some of the smaller children began to look worried.
    “I want my mommy and daddy,” a small boy said. “They’re down there having dinner. I want to see them.”
    Violet bent down to make the little boy feel better. “There, there. You know what? Before we see your mommy and daddy we’re going to read you a story. Then well go see the geyser.”
    “I saw the geyser already,” a little girl said, twisting the end of her pigtail around her finger. “I want to see my mommy and daddy, too, not the geyser.”
    Jessie came over to the little girl. “I’m Jessie. Can I guess your name? Is it . . . Tiddledeedo?”
    The little girl gave a tiny smile and shook her head.
    “Is it Mousymiss? Or Sunnypup?”
    “Her name is Becky,” Sam Jackson said sharply. “They don’t have silly names like that. That’s Davy, Lauren, Scotty, Emily, and Katy.”
    The little girl named Katy looked up at Sam Jackson. “How come you can’t play a game like you said?”
    The Aldens looked at Sam Jackson. He took a long time answering, this time in a softer voice. “Sorry, Katy. Mrs. Crabtree doesn’t want me here anymore. I have to go clean rooms. These other people will play a game with you, okay? I’ve got to leave now.”
    “Oh, look,” Jessie said before Sam left. She picked up a book lying on top of the bookcase. “Here’s a book called The Tale of the Lost Cabin Miners. Would you children like me to read that to you? Did you know there’s a lost cabin way up in the mountains of Yellowstone?”
    “And we’re going to find it!” Benny told the excited children.
    Sam Jackson walked over to Jessie. “That book doesn’t belong here. Somebody must have left it here by mistake. I’ll put it in the Lost and Found box.”
    Sam held his hand out.
    Jessie looked at the book and gave it to Sam. “Here,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t want to take a book that belongs to someone else.”
    Sam grabbed the book, turned, then disappeared down the steps.
    “Is Sam coming back?” the little boy named Davy asked.
    “He’ll be back another day,” Violet said as she set up the gameboard and pieces Sam had taken out for the children. “Now, who wants to play a game with Benny and me?”
    “We do!” four of the children said.
    Now that the Aldens were there to keep them busy, the children didn’t have too much time to think about missing Sam or their parents.
    The other children squeezed themselves between Jessie and Henry on one of the inn’s long cozy couches. Jessie began to read a story about a moose named Mike and an elk named Elkie who lived together in Yellowstone but couldn’t get along.
    The hour flew by. The Aldens took the children out to