The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm Read Online Free Page B

lunch for us, too?” asked Papa, coming down the barn ladder.
    “For all of us,” said Mama.
    Jake came down the ladder, too, Joe running over to leap up to bite his shoes.
    “Joe! I’ll fall!” said Jake, laughing.
    Jake jumped down from the ladder and Sarah kissed him.
    “I promised you I’d do that,” she said.
    “You did,” said Jake, blushing.
    Under the tree was cool and quiet.
    Joe stretched out and eyed Benny’s sandwich.
    “Papa?” said Violet. “I need a wooden box.”
    “What for?”
    “Secret.”
    “How big?” asked Jake.
    Violet held her hands out and made the shape of a big square.
    “Aha!” said Jake.
    “What does aha mean?” asked Violet.
    “It means I have one in my car. I keep tools in it.”
    Violet smiled.
    “Could I borrow it?”
    “You bet.”
    “One more day,” said Henry.
    “One more day!” they echoed.
    Papa reached out to give Joe a bite of his sandwich.
    “One more day,” he whispered to Joe. “Give me a smile, Joe.”
    Joe sat up and cocked his head to one side. His tongue hung out.
    “Joe always smiles,” Benny said.
    Wind rustled the leaves of the tree. Sun filtered down over them all. And from the side meadow, Betty looked at them all. She walked to the fence.
    “Betty’s going to moo,” said Jake in a low voice.
    And she did.

Chapter 8
Circus!
    Circus day at last! It was sunny and dry.
    No child was in sight, except for Violet. Her sewing was done.
    Sarah and Mama carried out kitchen chairs and lined them up for the audience. Papa had brought balloons from town, and Violet tied them to the chairs.
    They floated like colorful clouds.
    “I wonder where Jake is,” said Sarah.
    “Where’s Jake?” Mama asked Violet.
    “He’ll be along in a bit,” said Violet with a smile.
    “Secrets,” said Mama. “And where are the others?”
    “In a bit,” repeated Violet.
    “And Joe?” asked Sarah.
    Violet took a breath.
    “In a bit,” they all said together, laughing.
    Rubin and Belle came with their own chairs and two grandchildren. Thomas and Elliot came riding their horse.
    Two families from town came, waving the signs that had been tacked on fence posts. And there were others, including a big, friendly brown dog, who sat quietly.
    Sarah and Mama served lemonade and cookies. Then everyone sat.
    A curtain had been strung from the maple tree to the barn. Suddenly it opened! Jessie and Meg scurried out of the way, making everyone laugh.
    And there was Henry, wearing a jacket with gold buttons and the black hat his father had worn on his wedding day. He had a small whip made from twisted leather. He snapped it.
    “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!” he said loudly. “Welcome, children!”
    “And dog!” said Thomas in the audience.
    “And dog,” said Henry, grinning.
    The audience applauded. Elliot put his fingers to his lips and whistled. Jessie and Meg peeked out from the curtain.
    “Welcome to our free circus,” Jessie whispered loudly.
    “The writer-director speaks,” said Mama to Papa.
    “The boss,” said Papa with a smile.
    “Welcome to our free circus!” called Henry. “Put your money away! You will see wondrous and amazing things here: jugglers, dancers, acrobats! Clowns, trained dogs, and the most stupendous surprise of all: an elephant! And a small surprise!”
    The audience applauded and looked at one another in amazement.
    “An elephant?” Mama said to Papa.
    Papa shook his head.
    “Wait and see,” Papa said.
    “But first of all, we present Jake-O and Jess, our clowns!”
    Henry snapped his whip. The curtain opened again. And there was Jake with a yarn wig and a huge dress. Jessie was dressed in a suit.
    “Where did that suit come from?” asked Mama.
    “Your closet,” said Violet.
    “That’s my marriage suit!” said Papa.
    Sarah laughed at the sight of Jake doing a cartwheel, the dress hanging like curtains around him.
    “Those are my old curtains,” said Mama.
    “Oof,” said Jake as he clumsily landed his cartwheel.