Boxcar Children 54 - Hurricane Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

my finger on. A little piece of the ship had been chipped away, leaving a little hollow place. But before I could take the gate away safely — ”
    “We came along,” said Violet. “And made you give the gate back to Mrs. Ashleigh. That’s why you were so rude to us.”
    Jackie shrugged. “I still didn’t realize what that gate was made of. I thought that something in the design of it was a clue to where the treasure was hidden. Or maybe that a clue or map was actually hidden in the hollow ship. I knew the ship was cast iron and thought it sounded hollow when I accidentally banged it against my truck.”
    She glanced over at the gate, then looked away as if it pained her to look at it. She went on, “Because I’m a history buff, I knew that Ellen had papers dating back from Mr. Fitzhugh’s time, including plans for the house and designs for the gate. I thought if I could just get a look at those papers, I might be able to piece together the clues, come up with a map for the treasure.”
    “So you invited us to a carriage tour and broke into the house while we were gone,” said Violet.
    “Yes,” Jackie said.
    Mike said, “I was supposed to keep you busy while I searched.” He glanced at Jackie.
    “When I opened the window and climbed through,” Jackie continued, “I accidentally knocked most of the papers off the desk. A gust of wind came through and did the rest. I barely had time to find the design and start tracing a copy when you came back.”
    “With Mike following us. Dressed in a gray raincoat, right?” guessed Jessie.
    “Yeah,” Mike said. “I heard you say something about a treasure hunt and a map. So I followed you and stole the map. But it wasn’t a real map.”
    Jackie gave him a disgusted look.
    Mike sighed. “I’m Jackie’s partner in the tour guide business,” he said. “And in the hunt for the treasure. We were going to split it fifty-fifty.”
    “Then I studied the design I’d copied — I remembered that hollow sound and realized the gate was filled with gold. After all this time, the pirate’s treasure was right there in front of my nose,” said Jackie.
    “That’s when you tried to break into Mr. Farrier’s shop,” said Henry.
    “And failed,” said Jackie.
    “We thought the old iron fence might be made of gold, but it wasn’t,” added Mike.
    “You found out because you came back to look. You hit the hinges with a hammer,” said Violet.
    Mike nodded. “We couldn’t do anything else but keep an eye on you, then. Or hope I could persuade Mr. Ashleigh to convince his mother to sell us the house, gate and all.”
    “Forrest didn’t know about this?” his mother cried out.
    “No. He didn’t even know who I was,” said Mike. “Just that I represented somebody who would pay a lot of money for the old house.”
    “You kept watching us and saw Mr. Farrier deliver the gate. Then you saw us hang it up,” Jessie said.
    “We didn’t think you knew!” said Jackie, glaring at the Boxcar Children. “I thought you’d think that this hurricane had blown it away. And we could have gotten away with it, too.”
    “If we hadn’t set the trap,” said Violet quietly.
    Jackie’s cheeks turned a dull, angry red. “Ooh, that trap,” she muttered.
    “What do you want to do?” asked Jessie. “Should we tell the police?”
    Mrs. Ashleigh looked dazed. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. But I think Jackie and Mike should leave.”
    The two gate thieves got up and walked to the door. Mike said to Mrs. Ashleigh, “I’m sorry. I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway. I’m sorry.”
    He went out.
    Jackie lifted her chin. “It was pirate’s gold. It was stolen in the first place. How can you steal what’s already been stolen?”
    She and Ellen Ashleigh stared at one another. Then Jackie said, so softly that they could barely hear her, “I’m sorry, too. That’s what I get for being greedy.”
    She followed Mike, closing the door behind her.
    And at that