Book: The Boxcar Children Halloween Special
Quotes of Book: The Boxcar Children Halloween
Well, young fellow, I hope you're not trying to see what cards I'm holding," one of the cardplayers said with a twinkle in his eye. "Your eyes are bigger than my ice-cream bowl."Benny felt his ears get red. "Are you playing Go Fish?" he asked. "That's what we played in the car when we drove from Greenfield. Only now it's time for Go Eat Ice Cream, not Go Fish."Everyone at the table chuckled."I'm getting chocolate ice cream," Benny continued. "And know what? We're going to Skeleton Point. Grandfather's cousin Charlotte bought it--even the skeletons. She asked us to help her fix up the house. We might even get to stay there overnight."The players looked up from their cards when they heard this."Well," one silver-haired lady said, "you must be very brave. A lot of strange things have been going on at Skeleton Point ever since Charlotte bought Dr. Tibbs's old place."Another man at the table put his finger to his lips. "Now, don't go scaring the boy with all that foolish talk about the Walking Skeleton."The woman ignored the man. "Well, don't say we didn't warn you. I heard from William Mason, who's working out there, that there's a skeleton in the house trying to turn into a real person again. If you ask me, that's why some of those statues have missing parts."Now Benny's eyes were bigger than dinner plates. "Everything's been falling down at Skeleton Point for years, especially those statues. I was glad to hear Charlotte's going to fix up the place. That'll stop all this Walking Skeleton nonsense.""Maybe the Walking Skeleton is a real person already," Benny said. "I'm a walking skeleton, too. Only I have muscles on top of my skeleton."The cardplayers laughed again and returned to their game.When the Aldens got their cones, they sat on the front porch of the general store to enjoy their ice cream."Where to next?" Grandfather asked when everyone had finished. "As if I didn't know.""Skeleton Point!" the children cried at the same time."Skeleton Point it is," Grandfather said.The Mystery at Skeleton Point book-quoteDid someone break in?"
"Looks that way," Henry said. "We locked the door last night, so whoever it was must have picked the lock."
"Wait a minute," Jessie said suddenly. "If someone was trying to get in, they'd pick the lock from the , right?" she asked.
"They'd have to," said Henry.
"Well, look at these scratch marks." The children bent and looked where Jessie was pointing.
"So?" Benny asked.
"If someone was trying to get in, he or she would be on the outside of the door, right?" Jessie asked. "But the scratches are on the "
"So this lock was picked from the inside," Henry said.
"So that means…" Violet began.
"Someone was trying to break ," said Jessie.
The children looked back into the room. They looked all the way down to the other end where the coffin lay. And then they noticed something they hadn't noticed before.
Something even more frightening than the picked lock.
The lid of the coffin was open.
The Mystery of the Mummy's Curse book-quoteWhen the children returned to the studio, the STUDIO CLOSED sign was still on the door. This didn't stop the Aldens.
"Hi, Hilda! It's the Aldens," Jessie yelled as she rapped on the window.
Hilda whirled around, startled to see four pairs of eyes staring at her. She opened the door slightly. "What are you doing here? My studio is closed right now."
Violet looked past Hilda. "Oh, so you have the Clover Dodge statue," she said before the young woman could block her view. "Are you fixing it? I'd love to see how."
Hilda stared at Violet. "I'm not here to teach art classes, Violet. I'm here to…well, I haven't time to explain."
Henry, who was taller than Hilda, peered right over her shoulder. "Are you fixing the arm from the angel statue, too? Charlotte will be glad you got started on that."
Hilda studied the Aldens' faces. "What do you mean? William was the one who got me working on the angel statue, not Charlotte. He told me she left most of the decisions up to him." Hilda pushed the door to keep the children back. "I really must get back to my work. I'll see you at Skeleton Point later this afternoon."
The Aldens had a lot more to say, but they never got the chance. After she slammed the door, Hilda walked over to the windows and pulled the shade down one by one. The Mystery at Skeleton Point book-quoteThere was a full-sized seated skeleton in front of them on the steps. "The Walking Skeleton!" Benny said.Henry chuckled. "No, I guess you'd have to call it the Sitting Skeleton. It's just sitting there as if it stopped to take a rest.""I'm not afraid of Halloween tricks even when it's not Halloween." Benny scurried past the skeleton.Henry looked very serious. "Now I know someone is trying to scare us away from Skeleton Point again," he said."You're probably right, Henry," said Jessie. "But who could it be?""William Mason and Hilda Stone," said Benny, almost immediately. "They're mean to us, and they don't want us around.""You're right, Benny. Remember that man in town said William Mason wanted to buy Skeleton Point for himself? Maybe he's mad at Charlotte for buying it first."Jessie looked thoughtful. "What about Greeny?" she asked. "We know he doesn't want us around, either--and we know he's taking things from the house. Maybe he wants to scare us away so we won't figure out what he's up to. We should still keep an eye on him."Henry agreed. "In fact, we should keep an eye on all of them."When they returned to the house, the Aldens found that William had joined Hilda outside.Jessie waved. "Hi!" she called out, as if she had come straight from her errand across the lake. "Sorry we took so long. The hardware store was out of those light switches." Hilda and William kept working. It seemed neither of them wanted to say anything.Finally Hilda spoke up. "Oh, it turns out we don't need them after all."William pushed back the brim of his red hat and checked his watch. "Half the day's gone. I don't see much use for you kids sticking around here. Hilda and I are doing some technical work Charlotte asked us to do--not something suitable for children.""We know how to measure, too" Benny said. "I learned in kindergarten."Hilda hesitated. "What we're doing is a little more complicated than what you do in school. Now, why don't you children go for a bike ride. Or a swim," she suggested before going into the house.Henry turned to William. "We already went for a swim," he said. "An unplanned one."William didn't say anything about untying the Alden's boat, but he looked away and cleared his throat. "Well, then, go for a planned one this afternoon. Take tomorrow off, too. Everything's under control here."Before William turned to go into the house, the Aldens looked down. Just as they suspected, William was wearing heavy work boots that left deep prints just like the ones near the statue. The Mystery at Skeleton Point book-quote
