Boxcar Children 68 - Basketball Mystery by Charles Tang, Gertrude Chandler Warner

CHAPTER 1
Turnovers and Twins
    “O ver here! Pass it to me!” Benny Alden yelled, waving his arms. He and his sister Violet just needed one more basket to break the tie.
    Violet looked over at Benny. She looked down at Soo Lee. Her five-year-old cousin was right beside her. Violet was quick. With both hands, she passed the ball to Benny.
    Soo Lee scooted after it. Too late! Benny caught the ball. He took aim and arched it into the basket!
    “Eight to ten. You won!” Benny’s older brother, Henry, yelled from across the driveway. “Soo Lee and I will get you next time.”
    The Aldens’ backyard basketball game was over. The children plopped down on the cool grass next to twelve-year-old Jessie Alden, who had sat out this game. Their dog, Watch, waited for someone to roll him the ball. He liked basketball, too!
    “Henry’s the basketball champ in high school,” Benny said, “but we’re the champs in Grandfather’s driveway. I like our new basketball stand. It’s not too tall. The net over the garage is for big kids. But this one is just right for me and Soo Lee.”
    “You two are going to catch up to the rest of us in no time,” Jessie said. “Then watch out, everybody!” She pushed the basketball across the grass with her foot. Watch chased after it. He pushed the ball back to Jessie with his nose. She rolled it to him again.
    “Soo Lee was just like a little shadow guarding me,” Violet told everyone.
    “Speaking of shadows, look at that.” Henry pointed to a long shadow moving up the sunny driveway.
    Watch saw the shadow, too. He let the basketball roll down the driveway. He ran after the shadow instead.
    The Aldens heard the fast, pleasant thump of a basketball hitting the driveway. Then, swoosh! The ball sailed right into the big net over the garage.
    “Who threw that?” Jessie asked.
    The children looked down the driveway. The sun was in their eyes. All they saw were two skinny shadows crisscrossing each other.
    The Aldens heard a young woman’s voice. “That’s okay, Watch. We’re friends.”
    Watch yipped and yapped and ran in circles. He liked these people with the long shadows.
    The Aldens scrambled up from the grass. The two strangers dribbled and ran and jumped. They shot baskets from up close, from down the driveway, from behind their backs. They didn’t miss a single shot.
    The Aldens looked at one another. Who were these basketball wizards?
    The children heard the screen door bang. Grandfather Alden stood on the back porch. He smiled at the young woman and the young man. Both of them were tall, brown-haired, and fast on their feet.

    “Do you know them, Grandfather?” Benny asked. “They just showed up and started shooting baskets in our yard.”
    Mr. Alden broke into a big smile. “You know the surprise guests that Mrs. McGregor’s been baking for? Well, here they are!”
    The young man and woman stopped playing. They shook hands with Mr. Alden.
    “Sorry, Mr. Alden. We got carried away when we saw the basketball roll down your driveway,” the young woman said. “Buzz and I just had to try it out after being cooped up in our car.”
    “Come meet our mystery guests,” Mr. Alden said to the children. “Buzz, Tipper, these are my grandchildren. Let’s start with Henry, who’s fourteen. This one is Jessie, who’s twelve. That’s Violet, our ten-year-old. All three of them play basketball on our neighborhood teams.”
    “What about us?” Soo Lee asked.
    Mr. Alden patted the little Korean girl’s head. “Why, of course, I would never leave you out, Soo Lee. This is Cousin Joe and Cousin Alice’s daughter. And last but not least, here’s Benny. He’s six now. He and Soo Lee are catching up to my older grandchildren in basketball. I just bought them that junior-size stand to practice with. Children, meet Buzz and Tipper Nettleton.”
    Henry’s eyes opened wide. “Are you the famous Nettleton twins?”
    The young woman laughed. “Sometimes we’re the not-so-famous