“Watch your back!” Benny Alden called to his sister Violet, who was dribbling a soccer ball across their front yard. Their older brother, Henry, was hot on her trail, trying to get the ball.
Violet quickly passed the ball to Benny. Their sister, Jessie, lunged at Benny to steal the ball away. But just in time, Benny shot the ball between the two cones set up at the edge of the yard.
“Goal!” Benny cried.
“Nice play!” Violet said, giving Benny a high five. They were both grinning proudly. Even though Violet was ten years old and Benny only six, they’d just won the soccer game against twelve-year-old Jessie and fourteen-year-old Henry.
“Good job!” their grandfather, James Alden, called from the other side of the yard where he’d been playing goalie for Violet and Benny’s team.
Jessie collapsed in a heap on the grass, out of breath. “Good game, you guys.”
Watch, the family dog, ran over to Jessie and began licking her face. “Hey, Watch,” Jessie said. “We needed you on our team.”
“He could have been our goalie,” suggested Henry with a laugh. He plopped down beside Jessie.
The Aldens were all sitting on the grass, catching their breath, when they heard a voice calling from the edge of the yard. “Hello!”
They looked over to see their neighbor, Florence Murray, walking toward them. She was a small woman with bright blue eyes and white hair. With her were a bearded man and a young girl whom the Aldens didn’t recognize. The man was wearing a tweed jacket. The girl had big brown eyes and blond hair pulled up in a ponytail. She looked a little younger than Violet.
“Hello,” the Aldens called back as they all got to their feet. Watch ran to greet the visitors.
“I want to introduce my brother and my niece,” Ms. Murray said. “This is Arthur and his daughter, Claire. They’ll be staying with me for a little while. These are the Aldens, whom I was telling you about.”
“Nice to meet you,” Mr. Alden said, shaking Arthur Murray’s hand.
“Welcome to Greenfield,” said Henry.
Watch barked and everyone laughed. “I guess Watch is saying ‘welcome,’ too!” said Jessie.
“My brother is a history professor. He’s staying with me while he does some research at the Greenfield library,” Ms. Murray explained.
“We saw you playing soccer,” said Professor Murray. “Claire loves to play soccer. Don’t you, honey?”
Claire ducked her head and turned away shyly.
“You should join us,” said Violet. “My team could use another player.”
Jessie laughed. “We’re the ones who need another player!”
Claire gave a timid smile, but she remained partly hidden behind her father.
“What sort of research are you doing, Arthur?” Mr. Alden asked.
“I’m writing a book on the railroad and how it has affected our country’s history,” Professor Murray said.
“We’ve got a piece of railroad history right here in our yard,” said Henry.
“You do?” Professor Murray said, raising his eyebrows.
“Wait till you see!” cried Benny, running around the house to the backyard. Watch chased after him. “Follow me!” Benny shouted.
Professor Murray stopped in his tracks when he saw where Benny was leading them. “Is that a real antique boxcar?” he asked, staring in disbelief at the bright red train car nestled among the trees at the back of the Aldens’ yard.
“It sure is,” said Jessie. “Come and see.”
Professor Murray walked quickly across the yard. When he reached the boxcar, he placed his hand gently on the outside and ran his hand along the wooden panels. He turned to the Aldens. “Where did you find it? How did it end up here?”
The Aldens looked at one another and grinned. “It’s kind of a long story,” Jessie began. “You see, our parents died, and we were supposed to go live with our grandfather.” She smiled at Mr. Alden.
“But we didn’t know him,” said Violet, “and we were afraid he wasn’t nice.”
“So we ran away!” Benny added.
Now Henry took up the story. “We found this old boxcar in the woods and made it our home.”
“But when we finally met Grandfather, we realized he wasn’t mean after all,” Violet said. “So we came to live with him here in Greenfield.”
“And Grandfather had the boxcar moved to the backyard for us!” said Benny.
“And they’ve been a happy family ever since,” said Ms. Murray.
Benny jumped up onto the stump that was the boxcar’s front step. “Come on in!” He rolled the door open and stepped inside, motioning for the others to join him.
Professor Murray and Claire stepped carefully into the boxcar. Henry, Violet, and Jessie followed. Grandfather and Ms. Murray remained outside, throwing a ball to Watch.
Professor Murray took a deep breath and looked around slowly. “This is amazing. I feel I’ve stepped back in time.”
The Aldens smiled proudly. They loved their boxcar and were pleased to share it.
Professor Murray walked around, gently touching the wooden walls, the ceiling, even squatting down to look at the floor.
“Would you like to sit down?” Jessie asked, pulling out a chair for him.
The professor looked surprised. Apparently he had been so intent on studying the boxcar that he hadn’t noticed the table and chairs inside. “What’s all this for?” he asked.
“The boxcar is our playhouse!” Benny said.
“Your playhouse?” Claire repeated, her eyes lighting up. It was the first thing the Aldens had heard her say.
“We like to play here and — ” Jessie began, but Professor Murray interrupted her.
“Your playhouse?” he asked sharply. “You play in here?”
“Yes,” said Benny. “It’s really fun.”
Professor Murray looked upset. “This boxcar is a treasure from the past, a valuable antique. It should be in a museum, where it could be taken care of properly. There shouldn’t be children playing in it.”
“But we love our boxcar,” Benny said quietly.
“We take good care of it,” Jessie added. “We clean it and make sure all the boards are in good shape.”
“We’ve even repainted it when the paint was peeling,” said Henry.
Professor Murray frowned but did not argue. Then he looked at his watch and sighed. “I wish I could stay to look around some more, but I have an appointment I can’t miss.” He stepped reluctantly out of the boxcar. “Come on, Claire.”
Claire looked sad to leave the boxcar, too. As the others were talking, she’d been walking around, looking at the books and games the Aldens kept there.
Claire turned to Violet and opened her mouth as if she were about to ask her something. But then she seemed to change her mind. “Good-bye,” she said softly, before following her father out.
Professor Murray turned around and took one more look at the boxcar. Suddenly, a strange look came over his face.
“What is it, Dad?” Claire asked.
“Oh, nothing,” he said. “I was just thinking … ” His words trailed off. When he spoke again, his voice sounded mysterious. “I was just thinking about all the history a train car like this carries. All the people who worked or rode on this boxcar — each of them left a little bit of themselves behind.”
Professor Murray shook his head slightly, then smiled down at Claire and took her hand. They walked briskly over to where Ms. Murray was saying good-bye to Grandfather.
“Wow,” said Jessie, as she watched them go. “Professor Murray really didn’t like it that we use the boxcar as our playhouse.”
“No, he didn’t,” Henry agreed.
“I wish Claire could have stayed and played,” said Violet. “She seemed lonely.”
Henry nodded. “And shy.”
Jessie looked thoughtful. “It was interesting what Professor Murray said, though, about the history of our boxcar and all the people who have used it. I never thought about that before.”
Benny turned to her, his face aglow. “He said everyone who’s been in our boxcar left a bit of themselves behind. Do you think he’s talking about ghosts? It sounded like he thinks our boxcar is haunted.”
The others laughed.
“Oh, Benny,” said Jessie. “You know there’s no such thing as a ghost.”
But Benny didn’t look so sure. |