The first morning on The James H. Alden was bright and sunny. As soon as Benny was dressed he climbed up the ladder to change the name of the boat to The Henry J. Alden.
“This boat is all yours, captain,” he called to Henry as he came down again.
Henry went out on the deck to look. He began to laugh. “You did well, mate,” Henry said. “Come and see for yourself.”
Benny looked up and began to laugh, too. The name was nedlA .J yrneH ehT!
“Well, it looked okay to me,” Benny said, climbing up the ladder again. “But it’s backwards to everyone else.” He soon changed the letters to read the right way.
Jessie was in the galley looking out the window. “It’s so cool and pleasant on this boat,” she said. “I suppose it’s because we’re on the water. Oh, the boat is moving sideways!”
“Don’t worry, Jessie,” said Henry. “Mr. Rivers said it doesn’t do any harm. The boat will straighten out by itself or I can pole it back.”
Henry did not need to pole the houseboat. It soon turned slowly by itself.
Henry went inside the cabin. He looked up and said, “Look, there’s a fishing pole up there and a fishnet with a long handle. I think I’ll go fishing.”
“Not a very good day for fishing, Henry,” said Benny. “The sun is too bright.”
“It’s okay, Ben,” said Henry. “I think I’ll try my luck anyway.” Henry took down the pole and fishnet and looked at the line and hook.
“What are you going to use for bait, Henry?” asked Benny.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Henry. “This is one time I have to use what we’ve got.”
Benny thought a minute. Then he said, “Didn’t we see a lot of little minnows yesterday? Maybe we could catch some of them in that net.”
“Good for you, Ben!” said Henry. “Minnows are the best bait of all. They swim near the shore, where the water isn’t so deep. I’ll pole in nearer.”
Both boys began to pole. When they reached shallow water, they looked over the side. Sure enough, they saw hundreds of minnows swimming around.
“This is easy!” said Benny. He bent over with the net and pulled up a lot of the tiny fish.
“Now we’re all set,” said Henry. He poled back into the deeper water. He set two chairs on the rear deck. Then he put a tiny minnow on his hook. He threw the fishline out over the water and sat down with the heavy pole. Benny sat down beside him. The boat floated gently along. Everything was quiet.
Grandfather and Violet went out to the front deck. They smiled at each other. Violet said, “I wouldn’t count on having fish for lunch today.”
Mr. Alden nodded. “I’m afraid you’re right if you mean fish from the river. But Jessie can give us tuna fish.”
Just then Jessie came out on the deck to watch the river with Violet and Grandfather.
“This is the most peaceful trip we’ve ever had,” Jessie said.
Mr. Alden, sitting in a deck chair, said, “Yes, it is.”
A half hour passed.
Benny chattered away to his brother. The sun shone hotter than ever. Nothing happened. Not one fish had pulled at Henry’s line.
“I was afraid of this,” said Henry. “I’m not even sure there are any fish in this river.”
“There must be some fish, Henry,” said Benny. “If there weren’t any, this boat wouldn’t have had a fishing pole on it. I wish we had two poles.”
“Here, Benny, you take this one,” said Henry. He handed the pole to his brother. “We can take turns catching nothing.”
Benny took the pole. He could see the line and the minnow still in the water.
Jessie and Violet came over to see how the fishing was going. They were both smiling.
Benny turned around with a frown on his face. “We’re not doing too well,” he said. “But you have to have patience when you’re fishing.” Then suddenly something pulled at his line.
“I’ve got you, old boy!” he called to the fish. He pulled in the line and found a big silver fish caught on the hook.
“A bass!” said Henry. “Don’t lose him, Ben! He can flop back.”
Benny was quick. He jerked the fish over the railing and it lay on the deck, flapping wildly. Suddenly a great cloud of gulls flew over the boat, calling and screaming.
“You can’t have my fish!” Benny shouted to the birds. “How did you find out I caught a fish, anyway?”
It was a real mystery. One minute not a gull was in sight. The next minute, there were over a hundred. Gulls sat on the top of the boat and along the sides. They were not a bit afraid. They flew around and around looking for food.
Benny carried his fish safely inside the galley.
Jessie said, “The gulls are so beautiful. It’s too bad not to feed them. Wait. Here’s a piece of banana skin. They might like that.” She threw it over the water as far as she could. A gull caught it in his bill. She threw another.
Henry laughed, “Well, I guess gulls will eat anything.”
Benny brought some bread crusts out of the galley. Each time he threw one over the side of the boat, a gull snapped it up before it landed in the water.
Henry went inside and came out with his camera. “That ought to make a pretty picture,” he said. “You two pretty girls throwing rubbish at the gulls.”
They all laughed.
When Henry looked at Benny’s fish, he said, “It’s a big bass. It is plenty big enough to feed this family. I’ll clean it for you, Ben. The gulls can have the head and tail for dessert.”
After a delicious lunch, Jessie said, “Oh, dear! We’ll have to stop again for ice and milk.”
Mr. Alden said, “I want to mail my letters, too.”
Henry began to watch for a landing place.
At Pomfret Landing Jessie said, “Let’s go to the post office first and get the ice and milk last. Then the ice won’t melt.”
The Henry J. Alden was soon locked up, anchored, and tied. The family walked down the path from the dock to the small town.
All at once they saw a familiar black car roaring down the main street. It was soon out of sight.
“It’s that black car again!” Benny cried. The Aldens saw that it was the same car that had almost hit their car on River Road. And Benny remembered that he had seen it parked near the restaurant where they had stopped for lunch the day before.
“Whoever drives that car always seems to be in such a hurry!” said Jessie.
“I wonder whose car it is,” said Henry. “It certainly doesn’t belong in a small town like Pomfret Landing.”
“Well, maybe we can find out just who does own that car,” Grandfather said.
The Aldens walked up the main street to the post office. As they opened the door, the man behind the counter was saying, “Here’s your stamp, Mrs. Young.”
The little lady, who was wearing a black dress, put down her money and took the stamp.
The Aldens watched politely, but the lady did not look up. She slipped out of the door like a shadow.
Mr. Alden bought a sheet of airmail stamps, some stamped envelopes, and some postcards.
Benny said, “I guess the lady who just left doesn’t write many letters. She only bought one stamp.”
“That’s right,” said the clerk. “Mrs. Young isn’t exactly poor, but she has a lot of trouble. She and her son live with her sister up the street. They own a candy store.”
“We’d better go and buy some candy,” said Henry.
“You’ll have to eat it now,” said Jessie. “There’s no place to put candy on the boat.”
“You’re from the Rivers’ houseboat, aren’t you?” asked the clerk, smiling.
“How do you know?” asked Benny.
“Oh, all the people from the houseboat come here,” said the man. “We like to meet new people. Pomfret Landing is such a small place that we know everybody’s business, I guess.”
“We just saw an enormous black car go by,” said Benny. “Who owns that?”
“I don’t know,” said the clerk, laughing. “That’s the only thing I don’t know. I’ve seen it before, but it certainly doesn’t belong in Pomfret Landing.”
The Aldens left the post office and walked up the street to the candy store. As they went in, a bell on the door rang.
“Oh, isn’t this a lovely store!” said Violet.
The wallpaper was white with pink stripes. The ruffled curtains were white with pink dots. Two small tables and some chairs stood by a tiny soda counter. The shelves were covered with lace paper. Boxes of candy were everywhere.
The store was empty, but soon a lady appeared. It was the same Mrs. Young. She now wore an apron over her black dress, and she looked more tired than ever. Jessie thought to herself, “She looks as if she has been crying.”
Mrs. Young was trying to smile now as she said, “I’m glad you like my store. People come here from miles around.”
“Do you make your own candy?” asked Mr. Alden.
“Well, my sister is really the candymaker,” answered Mrs. Young. “But I help.”
Benny looked at Mrs. Young with a bright smile. He said, “I’ve always wanted to know how they made those curly things on the top of the chocolates. Do you know?”
“I do, indeed,” she replied. “Would you like to see it done? My sister is putting on those curly tails right now.”
“What luck!” said Benny. “I certainly would.”
Henry whispered to Jessie, “That Ben can get away with anything!”
Mrs. Young pushed back a curtain and led them all into the candy kitchen.
Mrs. Young’s sister was standing over a pan of chocolate. She had gray hair and was older than Mrs. Young, but she had a tired and worried look, just like her sister.
The Aldens watched her as she worked. She took a pink center on a fork, dipped it into the melted chocolate, and set the piece of candy on some waxed paper. Then with a flip of her fork she laid the curly tail across the top.
“Oh, Violet!” said Jessie. “Wouldn’t that be fun? Let’s try it sometime. I never knew how it was done.”
The centers were pink, white, yellow, pale green, and lavender. The sister smiled at Violet and said, “Your name is Violet? Here is a good one for you.” She picked up a lavender center, covered it with chocolate, and put on the tail. “You will have to wait for it to cool before you eat it,” the lady said.
“Oh, thank you,” said Violet.
“How about a milk shake while we wait?” asked Mr. Alden.
Mrs. Young smiled again. “You’ll like our milk shakes. We make our own syrup.”
Jessie led the way back to the tables. She said, “This is a good idea. We can take our dessert home inside us this time.”
The milk shakes were delicious.
Mr. Alden said, “Mine tastes exactly like fresh strawberries.”
“It ought to,” said Mrs. Young. “The strawberries grow in our backyard.”
The Aldens did buy some candy, but it was not chocolate. It was too hot on the boat for chocolate. But Mrs. Young gave Violet hers, and one for each of the rest.
As the Aldens were leaving, Benny turned to Mrs. Young and said, “When we came down the street, we saw an enormous black car going very fast. Do you happen to know who owns it?”
To his surprise, Mrs. Young turned very red and looked more worried than ever. Indeed she turned away, saying, “I’m sure it doesn’t belong in this town.”
“Oh, I’m awfully sorry,” said Benny. “It’s none of my business.”
“It’s all right,” said Mrs. Young. “Come again.” Then nobody heard what she said, because she almost whispered the words. Jessie heard the word “worried” but that was all.
When the Aldens were halfway down the street, Benny said, “I didn’t mean to upset her. I just thought she might know who was driving that car.”
Violet said softly, “I think she does.”
That night Benny was just floating off to sleep. He was almost dreaming. But suddenly he heard Mrs. Young’s words very plainly, “I’m just worried about my boy.”
Boy? What boy? Then Benny was asleep. |