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chapter 1
the four hungry children
You are reading: Boxcar children® bookshelf [books #1-12]
On a warm night, four children stood in front of a bakery. nobody knew them. no one knew where they had come from.
The baker’s wife saw them first, as they were looking in the window of her shop. the little boy was looking at the cakes, the big boy was looking at the loaves of bread, and the two girls were looking at the cookies.
Now, the baker’s wife didn’t like children. she didn’t like boys at all. her so she walked up to the front of the bakery and listened, looking very angry.
“The cake is good, Jessie,” the boy said. he was about five years old.
“Yeah, Benny,” said the big girl. “but the bread is better for you, isn’t it, henry?”
“oh yeah,” said henry. “We need to eat some bread, and cake isn’t good for Benny and Violet.”
“I like bread better, anyway,” Violet said. she was about ten years old and had nice brown hair and brown eyes.
“that’s how you are, violet,” henry said, smiling at her. “Let’s go to the bakery. Maybe they’ll let us stay here for the night.”
The baker’s wife looked at them as they entered.
“I’d like three loaves of bread, please,” Jessie said.
He smiled politely at the woman, but the woman didn’t smile. She looked at Henry as she reached into her pocket to get the money out of her. she looked angry, but sold her the bread.
Jessie also looked around and saw a long red bench under each window of the bakery. the benches had flat red pillows on them.
“will you let us spend the night here?” Jessie asked. “We could sleep on those benches, and tomorrow we’ll help you wash the dishes and do things for you.”
now the woman liked this. she didn’t like washing dishes very well. She would like to have a big boy to help her with her work.
“where are your father and mother?” she asked.
“They’re dead,” Henry said.
“We have a grandfather in Greenfield, but we don’t like him,” Benny said.
Jessie put her hand over the boy’s mouth before he could say more.
“oh benny, hold still!” she said.
“why don’t you like your grandfather?” asked the woman.
“He’s our father’s father and he didn’t like our mother,” henry said. “So we don’t think he likes us. We’re afraid he’s mean to us.”
“did you ever see it?” asked the woman.
“no”, he replied.
“then why do you think he would be mean to you?” asked the woman.
“well, he never came to see us,” said henry. “He doesn’t like us at all.”
“where did you live before coming here?” asked the woman.
but none of the four children told him.
“We’ll get along just fine,” Jessie said. “We want to stay here just one night.”
“You can stay here tonight,” the woman finally said. “and tomorrow we’ll see what we can do.”
henry thanked him politely.
“We’re all pretty tired and hungry,” he said.
The children sat on the floor. Henry cut one of the loaves of bread into four pieces with her knife and the children began to eat.
“yummy!” Enrique said.
“well, never have I!” the woman said.
He went into the next room and closed the door.
“I’m glad she’s gone,” Benny commented, as he ate. “he doesn’t like us.”
“sh, benny!” said jessi. “She’s good at letting us sleep here.”
After dinner, the children lay down on their red benches and Violet and Benny soon went to sleep.
but jessie and henry could hear the woman talking to the baker.
She said, “I’ll stay with the three older children. They can help me. But the little boy has to go to the children’s home. He’s too young. I can’t take care of him.”
The baker replied, “Very well. Tomorrow I’ll take the boy to the children’s home. We’ll keep the rest of them for a while, but we have to get them to tell us who his grandfather is.”
jessie and henry waited until the baker and his wife went to bed. then they sat in the dark.
“oh henry!” Jessie whispered. “Let’s run away from here!” “Yes, actually,” Henry said. “We will never let Benny go to a children’s home. Never, never! We must be away in the morning, or they will find us. But we must not leave any of our things here.”
Jessie sat still, thinking.
“Our clothes and a bar of soap and towels are in the big laundry bag,” he said. “violet has her little bag of work. and we have two loaves of bread left. do you have your knife and the money?”
“yeah,” said henry. “I have almost four dollars.”
“you should take benny,” said jessie. “He’ll cry if we wake him up. But I’ll wake up violet.
“sh, violet! come on! we’re running away again. if we don’t run away, the baker will take benny to a children’s home in the morning.”
The girl woke up immediately. she sat up and rolled off the bench. she didn’t make any noise.
“what should I do?” she whispered softly.
“Wear this,” Jessie said. she gave him the job bag.
Jessie put the two loaves of bread in the laundry bag, then looked around the room.
“It’s okay,” he told Henry. “take benny now.”
henry took benny in his arms and carried him to the door of the bakery. Jessie took the laundry bag and opened the door very gently. all the children left in silence. they didn’t say a word. Jessie closed the door and then everyone listened. everything was very quiet. so the four children went down the street.
night turns to day
Soon the children left the village and came to a road. the big yellow moon was out and they could see the road very well.
“we must walk fast”, said henry. “I hope the baker and his wife don’t wake up and find we’re gone.”
They traveled the path as fast as they could.
“how far can you take benny?” Violet asked.
“oh, I can carry it a long way,” replied henry.
but jessie said, “i think we could go faster if we woke him up now. we could hold his hands and help him.”
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henry stopped and put benny down.
“come on, benny,” he said. “You must wake up and walk now.”
“go away!” Benny said.
“Let me try,” Violet said. “Now, Benny, you can play the grizzly bear and you’re running away to find a nice warm bed. Henry and Jessie will help you and we’ll find a bed.”
Benny liked being a little brown bear, so he woke up and opened his eyes. henry and jessie took their hands and they all continued.
They passed some farms, but the houses were dark and silent. the children saw no one. they walked and walked for a long time. then the red sun began to rise.
“We need to find a place to sleep,” Jessie said. “I’m so tired.”
little benny was asleep, and henry was carrying him again. the other kids started looking for a place.
finally, violet said, “look over there”. she was pointing to a large haystack in a field near a farm.
“nice place, violet,” said henry. “Look what a big haystack it is!” They ran across the field to the farm. they jumped over a stream, and then they came to the haystack. Henry was still pregnant with Benny.
Jessie started making a nest in the hayloft for Benny, and when they put him in it, he immediately went back to sleep. the other children also made nests.
“good night!” Henry said, laughing.
“It’s ‘good morning,’ I think,” Jessie replied. “We sleep during the day and walk all night. When it’s dark again, we’ll wake up and walk some more.”
the children were so tired that they went to sleep. they slept all day, and it was already night when they woke up.
Benny immediately said, “Oh Jessie, I’m hungry. I want something to eat.”
“good old benny,” henry said. “let’s go to dinner.”
Jessie took out a loaf of bread and cut it into four pieces. she soon she disappeared.
“I want some water,” Benny begged.
“Not now,” Henry said. “You can have some water when it gets dark. There’s a pump near the farm. But if we leave the haystack now, someone will see us.”
When it got dark, the children left the barn and walked quietly towards the farm, which was dark and silent. There was a pump nearby, and Henry was pumping water as quietly as he could. she did not even wake up the hens and chickens.
“I want a cup,” Benny said.
“no, benny,” henry whispered. “You’ll have to get your mouth right in the water. You can play at being a horse.”
this pleased benny. Henry pumped and pumped, and finally Benny had all the water he wanted. the water was cold and sweet, and all the children drank. then they ran across the field towards the road.
“If we hear anyone,” Jessie said, “we should hide behind the bushes.”
Just as she said this, the children heard a horse and cart coming down the road.
“stay very still, benny!” she whispered henry. “don’t say a word.”
The kids hid behind the bushes as fast as they could, as they didn’t have much time to hide. the horse came closer and closer and began to climb the hill towards them. then the children could hear a man speaking. He was the baker!
“I wonder where those kids went,” he said. “I don’t think they can walk as far as silver city. If we don’t find them in greenfield, we’ll go home.”
“yes”, replied his wife. “I don’t want to find them anyway. I don’t like kids, but we should try a little harder. We’ll look for them on the greenfield, and that’s it.”
The children watched until the horse and cart headed down the road. then they came out from behind the bushes and looked at each other.
“I’m glad those people didn’t see us!” Henry said. “You were a good boy, benny, to sit still.
“we won’t go to greenfield.”
“I wonder how far away it is from silver city,” Jessie said.
The children were very happy as they walked down the path. they knew the baker would not find them. They walked until two in the morning, and then they came to some signs on the side of the road.
The moon came out from behind the clouds and Henry was able to read the signs.
“a sign says greenfield is this way,” he said. “the other sign points to silver city. we don’t want to go to greenfield. let’s take this other road to silver city.”
They walked for a long time, but they didn’t see anyone.
“I guess not many people come this way,” henry said. “but that’s much better.”
“listen!” Benny said suddenly. “I heard something.”
“listen!” Violet said.
The children stood still and listened, and they could hear the running water.
“I want a drink of water, henry!” Benny said.
“Well, let’s go on,” said Henry, “and see where the water is. I want to drink too.”
Soon the children saw a drinking water fountain on the side of the road.
“oh what a beautiful font this is!” said henry, running towards her. “See the place for people to drink at the top, and a place in the middle for horses, and one for dogs below.”
all the children drank some cold water.
“Now I want to go to bed,” Benny said.
jessie laughed. “You can go to bed very soon.”
henry was looking down a small side road, with grass growing in the middle.
“come!” she screamed. “This road goes into the forest. We can sleep in the forest.”
“This is a good place,” Jessie said, as they walked. “it’s far from people. you can tell by the grass on the road.”
“And it will be near the drinking water source,” Violet said.
“That’s right!” Henry exclaimed. “You think of everything, Violet.”
“It’s almost morning,” Jessie commented. “and how hot it is!”
“I’m glad it’s hot,” Henry said, “because we have to sleep on the floor. Let’s get some pine needles for the beds.”
The children went into the woods and soon made four beds out of pine needles.
“I hope it doesn’t rain,” Jessie said as she lay down.
then looked up at the sky.
“It looks like rain, because the moon has hidden behind the clouds.”
He closed his eyes and didn’t open them again for a long time.
more clouds rolled across the sky and the wind began to blow. There was also lightning and thunder, but the children did not hear it. everyone was fast asleep.
a new home in the woods
jessie finally opened her eyes. it was morning, but the sun was covered by clouds. she sat up and looked around her, and then looked up at the sky. It seemed like night, because it was so dark. she suddenly started thundering, and she saw that it was really going to rain.
“what will we do? where will we go?” Jessie thought.
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The wind blew more and more clouds into the sky, and the lightning was very close.
walked a bit through the woods, looking for a place to shelter from the rain.
“where shall we go?” she thought again.
then she saw something ahead of her in the woods. it was an old wagon.
“what a nice house it will be in the rain!” she thought.
He ran to the van. there was no motor, and the track was old and rusty. it was overgrown with grass and bushes because it hadn’t been used for a long time.
“it’s it’s a truck,” said jessie. “we can come in and stay until the rain stops.”
He ran as fast as he could towards the other kids. the sky was black and the wind was blowing very hard.
“hurry up! hurry up!” jessie yelled. “I’ve found a good spot! Hurry up as fast as you can!”
henry took benny’s hand and they all ran through the woods after jessie.
“it’s starting to rain!” exclaimed henry.
“We’ll be there soon,” Jessie replied. “It’s not far. When we get there, you must help me open the door. It’s heavy.”
a large tree stump was under the door of the boxcar and was just right for a step. Jessie and Henry jumped over the old dead stump and swung open the heavy car door. Henry looked inside.
“There’s nothing here,” he said. “come on, benny. we’ll help you up.”
violet came in next, and finally jessie and henry came up.
They arrived just in time. how the wind blew! They closed the door and then it started to rain for real. Oh, how it rained! she just rained and rained. the kids could hear it on top of the van, but it wasn’t raining.
“what a nice place this is!” Violet said. “It’s like a warm little house with only one room.”
After a while, the rain, lightning, and thunder stopped, and the wind didn’t blow as hard. Then Henry opened the door and looked out. all the children looked towards the forest. the sun was shining, but some water was still falling from the trees. In front of the car, a beautiful stream ran over the rocks, with a waterfall in it.
“what a beautiful place!” Violet said.
“henry!” jessie yelled. “let’s live here!”
“do you live here?” Enrique asked.
“yeah! why not?” said jessi. “This truck is a beautiful little house. It’s dry and warm in the rain.”
“We could wash in the creek,” Violet said.
“please, henry,” jessie pleaded. “We could have the nicest house here, and we could find some dishes, and make four beds and a table, and maybe chairs!”
“No,” Benny said. “I don’t want to live here, Jessie.”
“oh dear why not benny?” Jessie asked.
“I’m afraid the engine will come and take us away,” replied Benny.
henry and jessie laughed. “Oh no, Benny,” said Henry. “The engine will never take this car. It’s an old car, and grass and bushes are growing all over the track.”
“so the engine no longer uses this track?” Benny asked.
“no, actually,” said henry. he was starting to want to live in the van too.
“we’ll stay here today, anyway.”
“so can I have dinner here?” she asked benny.
“yeah, you’ll have dinner now,” said henry.
so jessie took out the last loaf of bread and cut it into four pieces, but it was very dry. Benny ate the bread, but she soon began to cry.
“I want some milk too, Jessie,” she pleaded.
“I should drink milk,” said Henry. “I’ll go to the next town to find some.”
but henry didn’t want to start. she looked to see how much money she had. she then she was thinking.
finally he said, “I don’t want to leave you girls alone.”
“oh,” jessie said, “we’ll be fine, henry. we’ll have a surprise for you when you get back. just wait and see!”
“bye, henry,” said benny.
so henry walked through the woods.
When he was gone, Jessie said, “Now, kids, what do you think we’re going to do? What do you think I saw in the woods? I saw some blueberries!”
“ouch, ouch!” she yelled benny. “I know what blueberries are. Can we have blueberries and milk, Jessie?”
“yeah”, jessie was starting. but she stopped suddenly, because she heard a noise. crack, crack, crack! something was in the woods.
henry has two surprises
jessie whispered, “stay still!”
The three children didn’t say a word. they sat quietly in the van, looking at the bushes.
I wonder if it’s a bear, Benny thought.
Soon something came out. but it wasn’t a bear. it was a dog, hopping on three legs, crying softly, and raising one front paw.
“Okay,” Jessie said. “He’s just a dog, but I think he’s hurt.”
The dog looked up and saw the children, then waggled its tail.
“Poor dog,” Jessie said. “Are you lost? Come here and let me look at your paw.”
The dog jumped into the van and the children got out.
jessie looked at the paw and said, “oh dear! poor dog! you have a big thorn in your foot.”
The dog stopped crying and looked at Jessie.
“Good dog,” Jessie said. “I can help you, but it might hurt.”
The dog looked at Jessie and wagged his tail again.
“Violet,” Jessie ordered, “please dip my handkerchief in the creek.”
jessie sat on the stump and took the dog on her lap. she patted him and gave him a small piece of bread. then she began to pull the thorn out of it. it was a long thorn, but the dog didn’t make a sound. jessie tugged and tugged, and finally the thorn came out.
Violet had a wet handkerchief ready. Jessie put it around the dog’s paw, and he looked at her and waggled her tail a little.
“he means ‘thank you/jessie!’ she cried violet. “he is a good dog not to cry.”
“Yes, it is,” Jessie nodded. “Now I’d better hold him for a while so he can lie down and rest his leg.”
“we can surprise henry”, commented benny. “Now we have a dog.”
“So we can,” Jessie said. “But that was not my surprise. She was going to buy a lot of blueberries for dinner.”