The Boxcar Children Beginning

by Patricia MacLachlan

  “That was Benny’s bun,” he said, making them laugh.

  “Let’s stop for a bit and have some buns and tea,” said Mama. “We’ve been working a long time.”

  “I’ll cut them into small pieces, Kate,” said Sarah. “You need six dozen for market, remember?”

  Mama sat down and bushed her hair back out of her eyes.

  “I do remember,” Mama said wearily.

  Sarah poured tea and Violet brought Mama the cup. A little hot water spilled on Violet’s hand and she yelped, dropping the teacup on the floor. It broke in several pieces.

  “Oh!” said Mama, her hands to her mouth.

  Violet began to cry.

  “Come, Violet,” said Mama, opening up her arms. “It’s only a teacup.”

  “But it was your favorite!” said Jessie.

  Mama took Violet on her lap.

  “It’s only a teacup,” she said to Violet. “It’s just a thing. Don’t forget that, Violet.”

  “But things are important,” said Violet.

  “Not as important as family and friends,” said Mama. “I can always get another teacup. I can’t get another you.”

  Sarah picked up the pieces of the flowered cup.

  “What your mama says is true,” said Sarah.

  “We had to leave many things we loved behind when we left.”

  “You brought Joe,” said Violet, wiping tears away.

  “We did,” said Sarah. “Joe was more important than teacups.”

  “Maybe I can fix the cup,” said Violet, getting off Mama’s lap.

  She wrapped the cup pieces in a handkerchief.

  “If I had to leave home, I’d take my sewing bag,” said Violet. “I have my own scissors and thread and glue. And sewing needles.”

  Mama smiled.

  “Violet is our mender and fixer.”

  “I’d take Joe,” said Benny.

  “But Joe doesn’t belong to you, Benny,” said Henry.

  Benny thought.

  “Then I’d take Bear,” he said. He held his worn stuffed bear under his arm.

  “I took my doll,” said Meg. The doll looked like Meg, the two of them with black curly hair. “And a box of crayons.”

  “I took three books,” said William. “Only three,” he added in a soft, sad voice. “I read them over and over.”

  “What would you take if you had to leave?” Jessie asked her mama.

  “I’d take you!” said Mama. “All of you. You are the most important. The best family of all!”

  Jessie and Henry smiled at each other. They didn’t know if they were the best family of all, but they liked Mama saying so.

  “Bear says he wants a bun,” said Benny.

  They laughed for now. They had no way of knowing it, but they were all to remember this talk later. They would remember Mama’s words—the best family of all.

  Much later.

  And that night, while everyone was sleeping, Violet carefully glued the pieces of her Mama’s rose teacup together. She set it on the windowsill in the kitchen.

  If she didn’t look too closely, it almost looked the way it always had. Almost.

  Chapter 4

  School and Songs

  The snow melted quickly, only small fields of ice left behind. Henry, Jessie, Violet, William, and Meg walked along the road to school. Benny had stayed home.

  “I’ll take care of Joe,” Benny called.

  He waved good-bye to them. It was already sunny.

  “How far?” asked William.

  “A mile,” said Henry.

  “More or less,” added Jessie, grinning.

  Henry laughed.

  “That’s what our papa says. More or less.”

  “It’s more when it’s cold and there’s wind,” said Jessie. “Less on a spring day.”

  Spring birds had returned early and they swooped back and forth over the road. They could see a flock of robins in the grass.

  The next farm had a fenced meadow with horses and cows. A small house was tucked next to a stand of trees. Smoke came from the stone chimney.

  Meg stopped suddenly.

  The others walked a few feet before they realized it.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Jessie.

  “I’m scared,” said Meg. “A new school. A new teacher and a new class.”

  Jessie walked back and took Meg’s hand.

  “Mr. Miller is used to new students. He’s nice. You’ll like him. And we’re half the class right here.”

  Their neighbor, Rubin, rode his horse, Mike, along the fence.

  “On your way to school?” he asked. “I used to walk this very same road to the very same school when I was a boy. Down the hill, around the pond, and on to school.”

  Henry smiled and reached up to stroke Mike’s nose.

  “This is Meg and William Clark,” said Jessie. “Their car broke down in the storm. They’re part of our family now until they can get their car fixed. This is Rubin Barnes.”

  “Hello, Mr. Barnes,” said William.

  “Call me Rubin.”

  “Hello, Rubin,” said Meg. “Did you live here when you were a boy?”

  “I was born here,” said Rubin. “In that house, in the bedroom where my wife and I sleep.”

  “Think of that,” Meg said slowly. “Living all your life where you were born. We’re moving because we lost our home.”

  “They’re travelers,” said Violet.

  “Sorry,” said Rubin. “But you’ll find a new place. There are always good places.”

  “We have a good place right now,” said William.

  “You certainly do,” said Rubin. “Well, you can come over and ride my horses anytime you want.”

  “I’d like that,” said Meg.

  “Better get to school,” said Rubin. Then he trotted off across the field.

  They began walking down the road again, around a small pond. There were small patches of ice along the edges of the pond, some ducks swimming in the middle.

  “I’m glad we stopped at your house,” said Meg.

  “Me, too,” said William.

  “Me, too,” said Violet and Jessie and Henry all at once.

  Henry laughed.

  “If Betty were here, she’d moo.”

  And as it turned out, Meg and William liked Mr. Miller. Meg was good at numbers and he asked her to help the younger children. He lent William three books to take home.

  “The walk home from school seems shorter,” said William, carrying his books.

  “More or less,” said Violet, making them all laugh.

  Jake was a fixer.

  “He was a handyman before there was no more work,” said Sarah.

  He fixed the windows that stuck. He fixed two chairs and a table leg on the kitchen table. He fixed the barn door latch so that the door didn’t blow open and shut in the wind anymore. Violet watched him carefully because she was a fixer, too.

  “Here,” Jake said to Violet. “This is a little screwdriver for you. I have an extra one.”

  “Thank you,” said Violet. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, too,” Papa told him. Papa was a carpenter, but he didn’t always have time to fix things at his own house.

  “I’m glad, too,” said Jake.

  And then Jake fixed Mama’s old piano in the parlor.

  “It works now,” he told Mama. “Go on. Play.”

  When Mama sat down and started playing, there were tears at the corners of her eyes.

  “This was my mother’s piano,” she said. “She played every single evening of her life.”

  Mama played “Over the Rainbow” and “Good Night Irene” and “Pennies from Heaven.” Sarah and Jake danced and Joe barked. She played “Tea for Two” and “On the Good Ship Lollipop” until the soup boiled over in the kitchen and everyone ran in to clean up and eat dinner.

  In the middle of dinner, William looked up at everyone around the table.

  “Could this be our
new home?” he asked in a soft voice.

  It was very quiet then. No one speaking, no clattering of spoons or forks against plate, only a soft quiet woof from under the table. Joe was reminding everyone to drop food.

  Finally Mama spoke.

  “This will be your home until your father can get the parts to fix the car. It may not always be your home, William, but …”

  Papa finished her sentence.

  “But we will always be your family.”

  William smiled.

  “Family,” he said.

  Joe woofed under the table.

  “Joe said ‘family’!” said Benny. “I know he did. I know woof talk!”

  “I think you’re right, Benny,” said William very seriously. “I’m sure you’re right.”

  “I am,” Benny said happily.

  Chapter 5

  Differences

  The days marched one after the other into a warm and wet spring.

  Every day the children walked to school and home again.

  Every day Benny stayed home with Joe.

  Every day there were chores. Henry and William carried water and cleaned out the cow stalls. Meg and Jessie laid down new hay and filled the grain bins. They had a contest to see how long it would be before Betty mooed.

  “Chores are fun,” said Meg.

  “They’re more fun with you two here,” said Henry.

  All of them liked the barn hideaway. They brought out old blankets to make hay beds. They painted pictures for the walls.

  “We can’t bring Benny here without a gate at the top,” said Meg. “He could fall down the ladder.”

  So, while they set the table with dishes and put flowers in the empty vase, Violet sewed a bright flowered curtain for the window. And Jake built them a gate with a latch so Benny could play there with them.

  One night they slept there, William and Meg, Henry and Jessie, and Benny without Joe, because Joe did not like being high up in the barn. Benny slept with Bear instead.

  They read books until there was no light.

  Then they whispered in the dark.

  “What’s that sound?” asked Meg.

  “Probably a mouse,” said Henry.

  “Or a giant rat!” said William.

  Suddenly, in the darkness, Betty mooed, the sound bouncing off the wooden walls of the barn, the noise so loud they all screamed and then laughed until all was quiet again.

  Every day Sarah and Mama baked goods for the market in town.

  And every day Jake Clark went to town with Papa, waiting for the parts to his car to arrive so he could fix it. Every day he came back empty-handed.

  “I wish I could fix it,” said Violet.

  Jake smiled at her.

  “If anyone could, you could,” he said. “You’re a very good fixer. But this needs a special part that we can’t make.”

  He looked at Papa.

  “I’m sorry. We’ve been here for quite a time.”

  “No matter, Jake,” said Papa. “You’ve done your own share of fixing, and I thank you. It will come when it comes.”

  “Look!” said Violet.

  Out in the meadow Meg was riding Betty, holding on to a rope around Betty’s neck. She leaned over and said something to Betty, and Betty began walking faster.

  “Is that safe?” asked Jake, looking worried.

  “Betty’s quiet and kind,” said Papa. “But I have to admit I’ve never seen anyone ride her.”

  “Betty and Meg are good friends,” said Violet.

  “I’ll say,” said Jake

  “And I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone ride any cow before, either!” said Papa.

  Jake and Papa began laughing as Betty walked around the meadow, looking like a fairly fat horse, Meg leaning over to whisper in Betty’s ear.

  Jessie and Henry came out of the barn to lean on the meadow fence and watch. Mama, Sarah, William, and Benny came out the front door of the house.

  Meg waved.

  “Jake,” called Sarah. “Is that safe?”

  “Betty’s a gentle cow, Sarah,” he called back to her. “Not a bucking bronco. I’m about to do something much more dangerous. I’m going to climb up on the barn and patch the roof. That’s dangerous.”

  “I’ll give you a kiss when you come down,” said Sarah, laughing.

  Jake smiled.

  “Look!” called Violet, pointing at Meg. Betty was going faster and faster!

  “I do believe that old Miss Betty is galloping,” said Papa, squinting his eyes in the sunlight.

  “Cowgirl!” shouted Benny, making everyone laugh.

  In the meadow, Betty stretched out her neck and mooed.

  Even Benny laughed this time.

  The days grew longer. After chores, everyone played outside until dinnertime—kick the can and hide-and-seek—shrieking happily in the fading light. Violet was the best at hiding, except for Jake, who came out to play, too. No one could find him until an hour later when Violet found him sleeping in the backseat of his car.

  “Now it’s really spring,” said Henry. “Smell it?”

  It was true. You could smell it. The grass was green, the trees budded, splashes of yellow forsythia.

  “It’s almost school vacation. Let’s do something special,” said Jessie.

  “Special things cost money,” said Henry.

  “There’s cookie jar money,” said Benny.

  “But that is for emergencies,” said Mama.

  “For something you really, really need. You all know that.”

  “Something special … something that doesn’t cost money,” said Meg. “We’ll think of something. We will.”

  “Something happy and fun,” said Jessie.

  “What makes us happy?”

  “Cows,” said Benny.

  “Laughing,” said Violet.

  “Well, we all laugh when we’re happy,” said Henry. “That makes you laugh.”

  “Clowns,” said Violet.

  “When have you ever seen a clown?” asked Jessie.

  “Cows,” repeated Benny, making them all laugh.

  “I have heard of clowns,” said Violet.

  “Well,” said William, looking pleased with himself, “I remember something that made you happy, Meg.”

  He leaned over and whispered in her ear.

  “Oh!” Meg’s eyes widened. “Yes!”

  “What?” asked Henry and Jessie at the same time.

  “I’ll tell you later! A secret!” said Meg. “But it will make you happy. It will make you laugh.”

  It was evening and William had just finished reading Little Red Riding Hood to Benny. A picture fell out of the book.

  “Who’s that?” asked Jessie.

  “Our grandfather,” said William. “When we go to our new home, we’ll live with him.”

  Violet picked up the picture.

  “He looks nice,” she said.

  “He is,” said Meg. “Do you have a grandfather?”

  Jessie and Henry quickly looked at each other.

  “We do,” said Henry.

  “But we don’t see him,” said Jessie.

  “He doesn’t like us,” said Benny.

  Behind them, Mama made a sound. She stood in the doorway.

  “But that’s not true, Benny,” she said.

  “He doesn’t,” said Benny stubbornly.

  “Why doesn’t he see us?” asked Violet.

  Mama sat down next to Benny.

  “Well, he and your papa had some differences,” she said.

  “What kind of differences?” asked Henry.

  “What are ‘differences’?” asked Benny.

  Mama didn’t speak for a moment.

  “Well, your grandfather wanted us to live with him in his big house. We wanted to live here. On my family’s farm.”

  She sighed.

  “He was disappointed.”

  “So he doesn’t want to see us?” asked Violet.

  “He’s stubborn,” said Mama.

&nb
sp; “He hates us,” said Benny.

  “That’s not true, Benny. If … when he sees you, he’ll love you. Believe me when I say that.”

  She stood up.

  “Do you believe me?” she asked.

  Jessie, Henry, and Violet nodded.

  “Yes,” said Benny.

  “Lights out, now,” Mama said.

  The lights went out. It was quiet for a time. Joe came to curl up next to Benny. Benny put his arm around Joe.

  “We won’t see him,” said Benny in the darkness.

  Chapter 6

  A Small Dot in a Big World

  On the last day of school, Papa brought home a treasure. At least it was a treasure to Henry.

  It was a globe of the world that turned on a wooden stand.

  “I found it by the road, next to a house that people had left.”

  The globe showed the different countries and the oceans and rivers. Henry showed Violet where they lived.

  “Right there!” he said, pointing.

  “The world sure is big,” said Violet. “We live in a small dot in a big world.”

  “Where did you live, William?” asked Henry.

  William slowly turned the globe.

  “There.” He pointed.

  “Your city is a big dot in the world,” said Violet.

  Every so often, Violet reached over to touch the dot that was the town where they lived.

  Meg and Jessie whispered excitedly.

  “What are you whispering about?” asked Henry.

  “A secret for now,” said Jessie. “We’ll tell you later.”

  And that night, in their bedroom, with the blanket hung between them and the lights out, the globe sitting on Henry’s desk, the secret was out. They whispered and laughed until Mama and Papa came in, Sarah and Jake behind them.

  “What’s going on in here?” Mama asked. “You have chores in the morning.”

  “We’re planning something exciting,” said Meg.

  “Something to make us all happy,” said Violet.

  “What?” asked Papa.

  “A circus!” said Violet, grinning. “We’ll have animals and clowns and costumes and juggling …”

  “I can juggle,” said Henry.

  “I can sew costumes,” said Violet.

  “And what about animals?” asked Jake.

  “There’s Joe!” said Benny.

  “And Betty,” said Meg. “I will get Betty ready for the circus.”