Chakrit was very surprised by Jessie’s story. “That is a very bad trick to play on visitors to our country,” he said. “Do you know who it is? I can contact the police and report it.”
“We don’t know the person’s name, but he isn’t from Thailand.” Henry described the man and his English accent. “We aren’t sure the police could do anything because the man hasn’t tried to steal anything yet. We just want him to go away. That’s why Jessie came up with the plan for the taxis.”
“I’ll certainly help you,” Chakrit said. “I know how you can do this. My friends own a restaurant on the way back to Bangkok. To reach it, a car goes up a big hill, and right after the hill it turns into the driveway. There are many plants in front of the restaurant. A taxi can pull in and let you out and then continue on its way. Then the owners of the restaurant will call you a taxi back here.”
“That is a good idea,” Jessie said. “Thank you.”
“Let me make some telephone calls.”
“Alice and Soo Lee and I will stay here,” Cousin Joe said. “We won’t all fit in a taxi anyway, and the red-haired man knows it’s you four who are carrying the artifacts.” He patted his stomach. “I am getting hungry though. Should we meet you at the restaurant a little later so we can all eat dinner?”
“Yes,” Benny said, patting his own stomach. “I’m hungry too.”
Henry invited Chakrit to come eat with them and the man agreed. It took only a few minutes for the taxi to arrive. Violet was nervous about the plan but tried to act as if she wasn’t. The taxi driver was very nice, though he was surprised at what Chakrit asked him to do. Cousin Joe paid him in advance so the children could jump out and hide as fast as possible.
Once they were inside the taxi, Jessie leaned out the window, waved, and called to Chakrit, “Thank you for showing us around. We’ll bring our Grandfather back some day.” She wasn’t sure the red-haired man could hear them from across the road, but she thought it was worth a try.
Chakrit played along and waved back. “Good-bye. Enjoy the rest of your visit!”
They didn’t see any other cars on the road for quite a while. Henry said, “I hope he saw us leave.”
“Me too,” Benny said. “I don’t want to go back to the lodge if he’s still watching for us.”
Violet had been watching out the back window. When the road straightened out, she gave a start and then sank down in the seat. “I see the green van,” she whispered in a scared voice.
“I don’t see anything,” Jessie said, looking out the back window. “No, wait, yes I do. I see the van. He was watching for us.”
The van drew closer to the taxi. “I’m not sure our plan is going to work,” Henry said.
“Keep your fingers crossed,” Jessie said. “How close are we?” she asked the taxi driver.
“We are very close. It’s just over the next hill,” the man said.
“Is everybody ready?” Jessie asked. The others nodded. The taxi sped up and came up over the hill. They could see a driveway to the right and a sign that read The Orchid Restaurant.
The driver pulled in. “Everybody out and hide!” Henry said. He and Violet scrambled out. Jessie started to get out but Benny cried. “I can’t get my seat belt off!” She turned back and helped him unbuckle it. They both jumped out of the car and ran together to hide behind a big clump of plants covered in flowers. Henry and Violet were already behind some plants that looked like short palm trees.
The taxi pulled back out on the road and headed in the direction of Bangkok. The Aldens waited. “I hope the red-haired man doesn’t turn in here,” Henry said. “If he does, everyone run inside the restaurant. We’ll ask for help in there.”
“I see the van,” Violet said. They all looked back to the road. The van was just coming up over the hill. Everyone held very still.
Benny whispered, “Go right on by. Go right on by.”
Caught in the Act
The van slowed. Jessie said, “Get ready to run inside.” Just as they thought the van was going to turn into the restaurant drive, it sped up and drove right by, continuing down the road. The red-haired man didn’t even look in their direction.
Jessie let out a sigh of relief.
“Yay!” Benny said. “The trick worked!”
Everyone came out from their hiding places, happy the first part of the plan worked. Jessie got out her cell phone and dialed Emilio. He answered, sounding very happy to hear from them. “We were worried!” he said. “We’ll be there tomorrow to get you. We are taking off early in the morning. Is everyone okay?”
“We’re fine,” Jessie said. “We are staying at a terrific place.” She told him all about the lodge and the elephants.
“That sounds like fun,” Emilio said.
“Is Mr. Ganert with you?” Henry asked.
“He is. He’s been listening in,” Emilio said.
“Good,” Jessie said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” She hung up the phone. “Now they both know. We’ll see what happens next.”
A taxi pulled up with Cousin Joe, Cousin Alice, Soo Lee, and Chakrit. They were happy to hear the red-haired man hadn’t even noticed the Aldens had gotten out of the taxi. Everyone went inside the restaurant, ready to enjoy themselves. Chakrit ordered for all of them.
“This is the best food ever!” Benny declared.
“I thought you said the dumplings in Beijing were the best ever,” Cousin Alice teased.
“They were. Lots of food can be the best ever!”
Once everyone was finished, Henry said, “I’ve been thinking. As soon as it is dark, it will be hard to tell if the red-haired man has come back. We need to know for sure. Let’s go back and I’ll explain my plan on the way.”
As they rode back in the taxi, Henry told them the details. “We need to use one of the empty camera bags as a decoy. We can set it out on the deck. If the red-haired man comes back and really wants to steal something, he’ll come sneaking around to see if he can break in. He won’t be able to resist taking a camera bag.”
“I don’t like the idea of someone sneaking around the reserve,” Chakrit said. “It will disturb the elephants.”
“I don’t like the idea either,” Benny said.
“I’ll leave my camera bag out on the deck,” Violet said. She took the wooden box holding the artifact case out of the bag.
“I suppose we should put the wooden box in the camera case,” Jessie said. “If someone takes the case, they’ll check to see if there is anything inside it. They’ll know the empty cardboard box in there doesn’t weigh enough to hold an artifact.”
“We could put some little stones inside the wooden box,” Violet said.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Henry said. “I wish we had some way to make it more difficult for them. The wooden box is too easy to open.”
“We have some padlocks,” Chakrit said. “You could lock it up with one of those.”
“If they steal the case, the padlock will be stolen too,” Jessie pointed out.
“That’s all right. If it will fool thieves, I don’t mind. I can easily get another.”
Back at the reserve, Chakrit went to get the padlock and then joined them in the living room of the cabin.
“If he’s coming back, he should be here soon,” Cousin Joe said. “We were at the restaurant long enough for him to go to Bangkok and back. Or he might be here already if he caught up to the taxi and saw you weren’t in it any longer.”
Henry and Jessie had been talking. Jessie said, “Henry and I are going to go hide outside and watch for him. If he tries to steal the case, we’ll yell at him, and then he’ll know we know who it is. That may make him go away.”
“I will go over to the store to see if his van is there,” Chakrit said. “If he gets away with the case, I will have his license plate number and we can report him.”
They fixed up the camera case with the padlocked wooden box and set it on the deck. Chakrit left to go see if he could find the van.
&nbs
p; “We want the man to think we aren’t paying any attention,” Henry said. “We need to be like the elephants Chakrit told us about. Everyone in here, make a lot of noise and pretend we are here too. That way when we hide outside, the man won’t know we are waiting for him.” They opened all the windows so their voices would carry outside. Chakrit had showed them a cabinet full of games, and Benny picked out a few they could play.
As Henry and Jessie crept down the stairs to find a place to watch, the others talked loudly about which game they wanted to play. “Here’s a good spot,” Henry said. There was a clump of bushes near the deck growing on both sides of the fence.
They took up spots where they could see most of the deck. It was very dark but the light spilling out from inside lit up the space where the camera bag sat. Jessie and Henry could hear the others inside laughing and talking.
They waited, trying to hold still. Nothing moved, and it was very quiet. Jessie began to wonder if they had been wrong about one of the pilots working for the Argents. Maybe the Argents had figured out another way to follow them everywhere.
All of the sudden, Henry let out a muffled cry and leaped out of the bushes. He scared Jessie, who bolted out of their hiding place too. “What is it?” she whispered.
“Someone touched me on the shoulder,” Henry said.
They heard rustling in the bushes. “Who’s there?” Jessie said. There wasn’t any answer, just more rustling.
“I see someone, or something,” Henry said. They both froze.
The shape came closer. Jessie burst out giggling.
“Jessie, why are you laughing?” Henry asked.
She giggled again. “It’s Saree.” The little elephant came up to them and reached through the fence with her trunk.
Henry let out a sigh of relief. “Saree, we don’t really need your help.” They petted her, not knowing what else to do.
Henry froze again. “I see someone moving over there,” he whispered and pointed into the elephant area.
As Jessie watched, she could make out a figure creeping closer and closer to the deck. It was so dark, she couldn’t see very clearly, but she was almost sure it was the red-haired man. Just as the figure reached up to climb up on the deck, an elephant trumpeted close by. Jessie and Henry were both so startled, they let out shrieks of surprise. The elephant trumpeted again. An adult elephant lumbered toward Saree. The little elephant trotted up to the larger elephant and then followed it away.
“Look,” Henry said. “The camera case is gone.”
Back on Track
Henry and Jessie went back inside and explained what had happened. “Now we know either Emilio or Mr. Ganert can’t be trusted,” Henry said. “One of them must be working with the Argents.”
They heard a knock on the door of the cabin. Violet went to open it. It was Chakrit. “I saw the man,” he said. “He ran and jumped in his van with the camera case and drove away very fast. He won’t get far, though. I’ve already called the police and reported his license number. They will arrest him.”
“He was also sneaking around in the elephant area,” Benny said. “Can he get in trouble for that?”
Chakrit grew very angry at that news. “Yes, we will have him charged with trespassing too. If everyone is all right, I need to go check on the elephants. They will be upset someone was in their area.”
“We are fine,” Jessie said. “Thank you, Chakrit. At least we won’t have to worry about him anymore.”
Chakrit said good night and left. Everyone else sat down in the living room to talk about what to do next.
“It will be hard to pretend we don’t suspect either one of them,” Violet said.
Cousin Joe scratched his head. “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t they just take the artifacts and give them to the Argents? Why is the person pretending to work for the Silvertons?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Henry said. “If he gives himself away, he won’t be able to arrange for anymore artifacts to be stolen from the Silvertons in the future. He will be kicked out of the Reddimus Society and arrested. Whoever it is wants to continue to fool the Silvertons so he can keep taking things that don’t belong to him.” He yawned. “I’m too tired to think of anymore plans tonight. Let’s work on some tomorrow.”
Everyone went to bed. The next morning, they visited the elephants again and then collected their things for the ride back to Bangkok.
Chakrit helped them load their bags into the taxi. “I received a call that the man has been arrested. You won’t have any more trouble with him.”
“Thank you again for all your help,” Jessie said.
“You’re welcome. If you ever come back to Thailand and want to learn how to care for elephants, we always have openings.”
Benny and Soo Lee looked at each other. “How old do we have to be?” Benny asked.
Chakrit grinned. “Sixteen would be a good age.”
“We won’t be sixteen for a long time!” Soo Lee said.
“Don’t worry,” Chakrit said. “The elephants will still be here.”
On the way back to Bangkok, Jessie said, “We’ll have to find a time when we can talk to Trudy about all of this. I don’t think she suspects either one of them.”
“I don’t either,” Violet said. “She would have told us.”
“I still don’t think it’s Emilio,” Benny said. “It just can’t be.”
Jessie checked her phone. “I’ve got a message from Trudy,” she said. “She’s arranged for a flight for Cousin Joe and Cousin Alice and Soo Lee back to the United States later this afternoon.”
“We have to go on by ourselves?” Benny asked. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to continue the Reddimus Society mission. The Argents scared him. He didn’t like knowing Anna Argent might already be on her way to their next stop.
Cousin Alice put her arm around Benny and smiled. “There will be someone to meet you when you land at the next destination.”
“Who?” Violet asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Cousin Joe said. “This has been quite an adventure, but Alice and I need to go back to work.”
At the airport, Cousin Joe and Cousin Alice and Soo Lee walked with them to the terminal where the Reddimus plane was parked. They waited while the Aldens climbed on board and then waved good-bye. Emilio met the children on board. He was his usual self, laughing and making jokes. Henry began to wonder if Benny was right. If anyone was working for the Argents, it didn’t seem like it could be Emilio.
“I’ll miss them,” Benny said, watching the cousins walk away.
“I will too,” Jessie said. “But it will be exciting to see who meets us next.”
Mr. Ganert came out of the cockpit. “We were worried,” he snapped. “We were afraid all the artifacts had been lost. How could you fall for such a silly trick? Going all the way to Thailand? Someone did a good job of fooling you. I think I should talk to Mrs. Silverton about this. Clearly, we should get someone else to return the remaining artifacts.”
“They’re doing just fine,” Emilio said. “Any of us could have fallen for that trick. And besides, they haven’t lost an artifact yet. I’d say that means they should keep going.”
“We’re taking good care of them,” Jessie said. “And we’re all working together to keep them safe.”
“Yes,” Benny said. “Just like elephants. If we work together, we can do the job.”
Everyone but Mr. Ganert laughed. “You’re right, Benny. We are good at working together.”
“We have three artifacts left,” Jessie said. “I wonder where we are going next.”
“The answer may be here. I’ve got another package for you,” Emilio said. “A messenger delivered it to us in Beijing.” He took an oddly shaped package out of a storage cabinet and handed it to Jessie.
“Benny, do you want to open this?” Jessie asked.
“Yes!” Benny said.
He ripped off the wrapping. Inside was a folded envelope and an angled piece of wood. The woo
d was decorated with a pattern of dots and lines on it.
“What is that?” Violet asked. “It kind of looks like an L, though the edges are curved.”
“Or it could be part of a triangle,” Benny said. “But it’s missing a side.”
“It’s a boomerang,” Henry said. “I have an idea of where we are going.” He smiled. “This should be fun.”
Read on for a sneak preview of
THE SHACKLETON SABOTAGE
The fourth book of the Boxcar Children Great Adventure!
The Aldens mission to return lost artifacts around the world leads them Down Under, where they must return an artifact to a dingo sanctuary!
“We should let you know that someone might try to steal the artifact,” Henry told to Dr. Webb, the owner of the sanctuary. “There’s a woman who works for a group called the Argents, who has been trying to take all the artifacts we’re supposed to return. It’s probably a good idea to return it to the museum as soon as you can.”
“No worries, my friend!” said Dr. Webb with a smile. “Out here, there is nothing to worry about. The dingoes will bark if they see anything suspicious. Ha ha! They also bark if they see anything fun or exciting! Oh, and some of them bark when they’re hungry.”
“They’re even barking right now,” Violet said.
The dingoes were barking. It sounded like excitement and fun, the way Watch would bark when he saw Benny pick up his favorite tennis ball. He knew that meant it was time to play.
The sounds of the barking grew fainter, and Violet frowned.
“Doesn’t it sound like they’re going farther and farther from the yard?” she asked.
Dr. Webb tilted his head.
“Yes, it does a bit,” he said. “Let’s go see what’s going on out there.”
The Aldens went with Dr. Webb out to the yard, where they found all the dingoes were running around, outside the pen. Someone had opened the gate! Dr. Webb’s assistant, Mimi, was holding one of the puppies and trying to call the others back to the pen, but the dingoes were having too much fun romping and running beyond the yard. Some of them thought Mimi was playing a game of tag with them.