The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm by Patricia MacLachlan Page B

father. Their mother looked frightened. In her arms was a small dog.
    Mama took the mother’s arm and pulled her to the wood stove in the kitchen. The dog jumped down.
    “Is he all right here?” the woman asked Mama.
    “Of course,” said Mama.
    She pulled a chair close to the stove.
    “Here. Bring the child here.”
    “She’s so cold,” said the woman.
    “Our car started to break down,” said the man. “No heater. I’ve been looking for a house.”
    Mama smiled at them.
    “You found one. I’ll make some tea. Jessie, can you make hot chocolate for the children? Violet, get the cups, please. And a bowl of water for the dog.”
    “The dog is Joe,” said the woman. “He won’t be trouble.”
    Violet pulled a chair over to the counter and climbed up to get cups.
    “Thank you,” said the man. “I’m Jake Clark. This is my wife, Sarah. We lost our home and we were on our way to my sister’s in New Hampshire. But the car …”
    Jake Clark couldn’t talk anymore. He was too upset.
    “I’m Kate Alden,” said Mama. “You met my husband, Ben, and son Henry. I think they’re tending to your car. This is Jessie, Violet, and Benny.”
    Benny went over to sit next to Joe, who was drinking water. In a moment, Joe finished and looked at Benny.
    “You’re a beautiful dog,” said Benny softly, patting Joe. “The most beautiful dog in the whole world.”
    Joe climbed up on Benny’s lap, making Benny grin.
    Sarah smiled at Benny. Then she spoke softly to Mama.
    “I don’t know what is going to happen to us,” she whispered.
    Mama poured tea and hot chocolate.
    “You will stay with us,” she said with a smile. “We’ll make room for you until your car can be fixed. The children—what are your names?”
    “I’m Meg,” said the girl.
    “William,” said the boy.
    “Well, Meg and William, you can share a room with Benny, Violet, Jessie, and Henry.”
    “We can hang blankets up on clotheslines,” said Jessie excitedly. “Boys on one side, girls on the other.”
    “And Joe,” said Benny.
    “And Joe,” said Jessie.
    “That’s a good idea, Jessie,” said Mama.
    “Jessie is our organizer.”
    Meg, as cold as she was, smiled.
    “You can go to school with us and you can help us with chores. We have cows to feed and stalls to clean. It will be fine,” said Jessie.
    “We’ll have fun, Mr. and Mrs. Clark. You’ll see.”
    Jake Clark smiled.
    “I think you should call us Jake and Sarah,” he said, “since we’re going to be family for a while.
    “Our family will be bigger than it was,” said Mama, reaching over and taking Sarah’s hand.
    “Just a little bigger,” Mama said softly.
    When Henry came in with Papa after chores, he looked at Jessie, and they both knew that Papa had been right about things other than snow: They would see hard times.
    “So this is how hard times look,” whispered Jessie to Henry.
    “And something has happened to add to your list,” said Henry.
    Jessie put her hand in her pocket and felt the paper list.
    “Yes, it has happened,” she said. “It has. The Clarks have come from far away in the middle of a storm.”
    “In the middle of hard times,” said Henry. “Nowhere for them to go. No home.”
    “Except Fair Meadow Farm,” said Jessie.
    She smiled at Henry.
    “Our home.”

Chapter 3
The Best Family of All
    Ice and sleet came after the snow, making it hard to walk. Papa and Henry and Jake chopped out a path to the barn to feed and water the cows. Henry found a tarpaulin to put over Jake’s car so it wouldn’t ice up.
    There was no school for two days, so most everyone stayed inside, listening to the wind and ice pellets on the windows and roof.
    The children shared one large bedroom, hanging blankets on a clothesline across the room—the boys on one side, the girls on the other. Joe divided his time between the two, always ending up curled close to Benny.
    “This is fun,” said Meg.
    “Were there other people on the road?” asked