The Robot Ransom
Page 1
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN
SURPRISE ISLAND
THE YELLOW HOUSE MYSTERY
MYSTERY RANCH
MIKE’S MYSTERY
BLUE BAY MYSTERY
THE WOODSHED MYSTERY
THE LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY
MOUNTAIN TOP MYSTERY
SCHOOLHOUSE MYSTERY
CABOOSE MYSTERY
HOUSEBOAT MYSTERY
SNOWBOUND MYSTERY
TREE HOUSE MYSTERY
BICYCLE MYSTERY
MYSTERY IN THE SAND
MYSTERY BEHIND THE WALL
BUS STATION MYSTERY
BENNY UNCOVERS A MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CABIN MYSTERY
THE DESERTED LIBRARY MYSTERY
THE ANIMAL SHELTER MYSTERY
THE OLD MOTEL MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN PAINTING
THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIXED-UP ZOO
THE CAMP-OUT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY GIRL
THE MYSTERY CRUISE
THE DISAPPEARING FRIEND MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST
THE MYSTERY IN THE SNOW
THE PIZZA MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY HORSE
THE MYSTERY AT THE DOG SHOW
THE CASTLE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST VILLAGE
THE MYSTERY ON THE ICE
THE MYSTERY OF THE PURPLE POOL
THE GHOST SHIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN WASHINGTON, DC
THE CANOE TRIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN BEACH
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CAT
THE MYSTERY AT SNOWFLAKE INN
THE MYSTERY ON STAGE
THE DINOSAUR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN MUSIC
THE MYSTERY AT THE BALL PARK
THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HOT AIR BALLOON
THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
THE PILGRIM VILLAGE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN BOXCAR
THE MYSTERY IN THE CAVE
THE MYSTERY ON THE TRAIN
THE MYSTERY AT THE FAIR
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST MINE
THE GUIDE DOG MYSTERY
THE HURRICANE MYSTERY
THE PET SHOP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SECRET MESSAGE
THE FIREHOUSE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE NIAGARA FALLS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY AT THE ALAMO
THE OUTER SPACE MYSTERY
THE SOCCER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE OLD ATTIC
THE GROWLING BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER
THE MYSTERY AT PEACOCK HALL
THE WINDY CITY MYSTERY
THE BLACK PEARL MYSTERY
THE CEREAL BOX MYSTERY
THE PANTHER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN’S JEWELS
THE STOLEN SWORD MYSTERY
THE BASKETBALL MYSTERY
THE MOVIE STAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP
THE GHOST TOWN MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK RAVEN
THE MYSTERY IN THE MALL
THE MYSTERY IN NEW YORK
THE GYMNASTICS MYSTERY
THE POISON FROG MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY SAFE
THE HOME RUN MYSTERY
THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES
THE MYSTERY IN THE COMPUTER GAME
THE HONEYBEE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY AT THE CROOKED HOUSE
THE HOCKEY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT DOG
THE MYSTERY OF THE SCREECH OWL
THE SUMMER CAMP MYSTERY
THE COPYCAT MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CLOCK TOWER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE TIGER’S EYE
THE DISAPPEARING STAIRCASE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD MOUNTAIN
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER’S CLUE
THE CANDY FACTORY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMY’S CURSE
THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY
THE STUFFED BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF ALLIGATOR SWAMP
THE MYSTERY AT SKELETON POINT
THE TATTLETALE MYSTERY
THE COMIC BOOK MYSTERY
THE GREAT SHARK MYSTERY
THE ICE CREAM MYSTERY
THE MIDNIGHT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE FORTUNE COOKIE
THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER MYSTERY
THE RADIO MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUNAWAY GHOST
THE FINDERS KEEPERS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BOXCAR
THE CLUE IN THE CORN MAZE
THE GHOST OF THE CHATTERING BONES
THE SWORD OF THE SILVER KNIGHT
THE GAME STORE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE ORPHAN TRAIN
THE VANISHING PASSENGER
THE GIANT YO-YO MYSTERY
THE CREATURE IN OGOPOGO LAKE
THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL MYSTERY
THE SECRET OF THE MASK
THE SEATTLE PUZZLE
THE GHOST IN THE FIRST ROW
THE BOX THAT WATCH FOUND
A HORSE NAMED DRAGON
THE GREAT DETECTIVE RACE
THE GHOST AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELING TOMATOES
THE SPY GAME
THE DOG-GONE MYSTERY
THE VAMPIRE MYSTERY
SUPERSTAR WATCH
THE SPY IN THE BLEACHERS
THE AMAZING MYSTERY SHOW
THE PUMPKIN HEAD MYSTERY
THE CUPCAKE CAPER
THE CLUE IN THE RECYCLING BIN
MONKEY TROUBLE
THE ZOMBIE PROJECT
THE GREAT TURKEY HEIST
THE GARDEN THIEF
THE BOARDWALK MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE FALLEN TREASURE
THE RETURN OF THE GRAVEYARD GHOST
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN SNOWBOARD
THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD WEST BANDIT
THE MYSTERY OF THE SOCCER SNITCH
THE MYSTERY OF THE GRINNING GARGOYLE
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING POP IDOL
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN DINOSAUR BONES
THE MYSTERY AT THE CALGARY STAMPEDE
THE SLEEPY HOLLOW MYSTERY
THE LEGEND OF THE IRISH CASTLE
THE CELEBRITY CAT CAPER
HIDDEN IN THE HAUNTED SCHOOL
THE ELECTION DAY DILEMMA
JOURNEY ON A RUNAWAY TRAIN
THE CLUE IN THE PAPYRUS SCROLL
THE DETOUR OF THE ELEPHANTS
THE SHACKLETON SABOTAGE
THE KHIPU AND THE FINAL KEY
THE DOUGHNUT WHODUNIT
THE ROBOT RANSOM
Copyright © 2018 by Albert Whitman & Company
First published in the United States of America in 2018 by Albert Whitman & Company
ISBN 978-0-8075-0734-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-8075-0735-3 (paperback)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN® is a registered trademark of Albert Whitman & Company.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 LB 22 21 20 19 18
Illustrations by Anthony VanArsdale
Visit the Boxcar Children online at www
.boxcarchildren.com. For more information about Albert Whitman & Company, visit our website at www.albertwhitman.com.
Contents
1. Robot Ready
2. Artificial Intelligence
3. Strange Encounters
4. Trouble at the Trials
5. GoneBot
6. Too Many Questions
7. A Race for Answers
8. A Fishy Story
9. Search and Rescue
10. Split Decision
Robot Ready
Benny Alden knelt on the floor of the boxcar, nose to nose with a one-foot-tall robot. “Hi, DogBot!” he said.
“Arf!” The robot barked and rolled back and forth on its wheels.
Six-year-old Benny laughed. “I see why you call it DogBot. It doesn’t look like a dog, but it barks like one!”
His brother Henry grinned. “We modeled the robot after a search and rescue dog. The barking is just for fun.” At fourteen, Henry was the oldest of the Alden siblings.
Twelve-year-old Jessie nodded. “Search and rescue dogs affected our design. But our robot doesn’t have to look like a real dog.”
The robot backed away from Benny and began exploring the room. When DogBot got to a wall, it turned. Soon the robot dog got close to the Aldens’ real dog, a wire fox terrier named Watch. DogBot let out another friendly “Arf!” Watch just backed into a corner and growled.
Violet, who was ten, hurried to give Watch a hug. “Don’t worry. We would never replace you with a robot dog!” Watch licked her face and then turned to look suspiciously at DogBot. The children laughed.
“Watch knows that’s not a real dog!” said Benny.
Henry checked the time on his phone. “Is everyone ready to leave?”
“We have the robot and the laptop,” said Jessie. “Our suitcases are in the house,” said Violet. “I helped Benny pack.”
“All right,” said Henry, picking up DogBot. “Say good-bye to the boxcar for a few days.”
The boxcar was their clubhouse, and they loved hanging out inside it. But it had once been their home. After the children’s parents had died, they’d heard their grandfather was mean, so they ran away. They found a boxcar in the woods and decided to live inside. The Aldens had many adventures before they finally met their grandfather. He turned out to be very kind, and he brought them to his home to stay. Now they all lived together, with the boxcar in the backyard. They still had many adventures.
“We’ll have to say good-bye to Watch too.” Violet gave the dog another hug. “We’ll miss you, but you wouldn’t like being around all those robots.”
“Thousands and thousands of robots!” said Benny. “I can’t wait.”
“Well, hundreds of robots anyway.” Henry led the way back to the house. “This is a regional Robot Roundup. A dozen high school robotics teams will be competing. We’re one of ten middle school teams.” Henry and Jessie had joined the Greenfield Middle School team that year.
“That sounds like a tough contest,” said Violet.
Benny skipped ahead toward the house and called back, “Henry and Jessie can win.”
Henry smiled. “Thanks. Winning would be nice. But no matter what happens, we’ve already learned a lot.”
“It has been fun,” said Jessie. “We’re lucky that our team members have so much experience.” As the children went through the back door of the house, the front doorbell rang. “That must be Naomi and Rico now!”
The Aldens hurried to answer the door, where Jessie introduced her teammates to Violet and Benny. “Naomi and Rico have done this competition for two years,” she said.
Naomi had dark skin and a puffy halo of black hair. She said, “Each team has four students. Our old teammates are in high school this year. We sure are glad Henry and Jessie joined us.”
Rico was tall, with tan skin and dark hair falling into his eyes. “We need a good team if we’re going to beat Silver City.” Watch came up and sniffed at Rico’s knee, making him jump. Then he bent down to pet the dog.
“The Greenfield STEAM Team can do it!” said Naomi.
Violet was often shy with strangers, but Naomi was wearing a purple shirt. Purple was Violet’s favorite color. She immediately liked the older girl, so she said, “That’s a good team name. I’m glad you included Art along with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. I like STEAM better than STEM.”
“Oh, I get it now,” said Benny. “STEAM comes from the first letters of those other words.”
“That’s right, Benny,” Jessie said proudly. Then she turned to Naomi. “Violet is an artist.”
“That’s great,” Naomi said. “Art is an important part of science and engineering. Maybe you’ll join the robotics club in a couple of years.”
Grandfather entered the room. Henry introduced him to Naomi and Rico. “Thank you for offering to drive us,” said Rico.
Grandfather nodded. “I have business near Port Elizabeth. We’ll stay at the hotel together. I can drop you off and then take care of my work. It will be fun for Violet and Benny to see all the robots too. Shall we go?”
Everyone double-checked that they had their luggage. Benny held up a bulging tote bag. “I’m bringing lots of snacks! Watching robots makes me hungry.”
Henry laughed. “Everything makes you hungry, Benny.”
“Snacks are a good idea,” said Naomi. “The conference has a lot to see. It can be tiring.”
“I thought it was a contest, not a con-for…that other thing,” Benny said.
“Conference,” said Jessie. “The contest is part of the conference. There are also displays and talks. Businesses will have booths to show off their new robots.”
Grandfather said, “A conference is a big meeting with many people. They expect about a thousand people each day at this Robot Roundup. Now get yourself and your snacks into the car.” He patted Benny on the back.
Once they were on the road, Violet turned to Rico. “You said you want to beat the Silver City team. What about the other teams?”
“Sure,” said Rico. “But the Greenfield STEAM Team and the Silver City Gearheads are rivals.”
“We get along with most of the teams,” Naomi explained. “Building robots is mainly about learning and having fun. But it’s different with the Gearheads.”
“Tell them what happened last year,” said Henry. Rico nodded. “The Silver City team is very competitive, especially this boy named Logan. He can get pretty insulting.”
“He doesn’t have the right spirit for the Robot Roundup,” Naomi said. “But that’s not the worst part. Last year, we won fair and square, but Logan complained. He said the judges hadn’t given us the right score.”
Violet stared at her with wide eyes. “What happened?”
Naomi shrugged. “The judges stayed with their decision. We got the trophy and the prize money. But Logan and the Gearheads kept saying bad things about us. It took some of the fun out of winning.”
Jessie made a face. “I’m not looking forward to meeting him.”
“We’ll avoid him as much as possible,” said Henry. “We have a good robot, and we play fair.”
“You have a great DogBot!” said Benny, reaching over to pet the plastic robot.
The others chuckled. “That’s the right spirit,” said Grandfather. “We’re nearing Port Elizabeth. Henry, can you help me find the exit?”
Henry used the map on his phone to find the best way to the hotel. After a few minutes, they pulled up at the door and piled out. They carried their bags into the lobby and waited while Grandfather checked in.
Jessie looked around the lobby. “It’s time to meet Coach Kaleka, but I don’t see him yet.”
Henry, Rico, and Naomi also looked around the lobby. A few people sat in chairs, while others came and went. Naomi said, “I don’t see Coach. But there’s the Silver City team!”
A short woman with big glasses was talking to four children. One of them, a boy about Henry’s age, glanced around the room. When he spotted their grou
p by the check-in desk, he walked over. “Look, it’s the Greenfield daydream team,” he said. “Because you’re dreaming if you think you can beat us.”
Naomi rolled her eyes. “Hello, Logan.”
“Are these your new team members?” Logan pointed at Violet and Benny. “I guess even little kids could do better than you.”
“Hey, I could make a good robot!” Benny said. Violet simply ducked behind Jessie. She didn’t want any trouble.
Henry stepped forward. “I’m Henry and this is my sister Jessie. We’re the new members of the Greenfield STEAM Team. We’re looking forward to a fun, fair competition with good sportsmanship.”
Logan snickered at that. Before he could speak, Grandfather turned from the desk and handed the children keys. “Here you are, rooms two twenty-two and two twenty-four. Let’s go unpack.”
“What about Coach?” Naomi asked. “Should we wait for him?”
“Is he usually on time?” Grandfather asked.
Naomi and Rico looked at each other and shrugged. Rico said, “He’s been late for our meetings, but only by a few minutes. We haven’t done any trips with him before.”
Henry asked the hotel clerk, “Has Mr. Kaleka checked in yet?” He spelled the name for her.
The woman checked the computer. “No one by that name has a reservation this weekend, and the hotel is all booked up. Lots of people are coming for the Robot Roundup.”
“Thank you,” said Henry, turning back to his family and teammates. “Maybe Coach is staying at a different hotel.”
“I’ll text him and let him know our room numbers,” suggested Rico.
“Good plan,” said Grandfather. “Let’s go to our rooms so we’re not in the way here.”
They grabbed their bags and headed down the hallway. Henry glanced back, but Logan had disappeared. So had his teammates and coach.
At their rooms, Henry pushed open the door that said 222. Something made a soft scuffling sound.
“What was that noise?” asked Rico.
Henry stepped into the room. “There’s a piece of paper on the floor. The door pushed it back.” He picked up the white paper. Words were written on it in black marker.
Greenfield, Go Home!
Artificial Intelligence
The next morning, the children gathered in the hotel lobby. Henry noticed a computer that guests could use. Next to it was a stack of white paper to feed into a printer. A jar on the table held pencils, markers, and a pair of scissors. “Look,” Henry said. “Whoever left that message for us might have gotten the paper from here.”