儿童英语读物 The Box That Watch Found Chapter 1 The Strange Box

“Whoa! Slow down, Watch!” six-year-old Benny Alden cried as he held tight to his dog’s leash 1. “I can’t run that fast!”



Benny’s eight-year-old sister, Violet, laughed. “I don’t think Watch can slow down, Benny. He’s too excited!”



“That’s because he knows we’re going to the dog park,” twelve-year-old Jessie said.



It looked like the girls were right. Watch’s tongue lolled to the side of his mouth as he led the children up the hill. If dogs could smile, Watch was definitely smiling. But poor Benny could hardly keep up with him.



Fourteen-year-old Henry trotted 2 up alongside his younger brother. A Frisbee 3 dangled 4 from one hand. “Do you want me to take Watch for you, Benny?”



“No,” Benny said, huffing and puffing 5. He gripped the leash so tight his knuckles 6 were turning white. “I’ve got him.”



“Are you sure?” Jessie asked as she and Violet ran up behind Henry.



“Yes,” Benny said. “We’re almost there.” They could hear dogs yipping and barking in the distance.



A few minutes later, the Aldens entered a large fenced-in area that was bordered by woods. A sign on the fence read: Welcome to Greenfield Dog Park.



“Sit, Watch!” Benny commanded.



Watch let out a little whimper. He clearly wanted to run and play with the other dogs. But he sat right there on the path. His tail swished the dirt from side to side.



Watch had been with the Aldens since their days of living in the boxcar. Their parents had just died and the children were supposed to go and live with their grandfather, James Alden. But they didn’t know him. They were afraid he’d be mean. So they ran away and lived in an abandoned boxcar in the woods. Watch joined them soon after that.



Eventually, their grandfather found the children in the woods and took them to live with him. He let Watch come, too. The children found out Grandfather wasn’t mean at all. In fact, he was so nice that he even had the boxcar moved to his backyard so they could play in it anytime they wanted to.



Benny unsnapped Watch’s leash, then put it in his pocket. “Okay, boy,” he said cheerfully. “You’re free!”



That was all Watch needed. He dashed off toward a tall white poodle.



“Hey, that poodle looks a lot like Chester,” Violet said, shading her eyes.



Chester was a dog that belonged to their grandfather’s longtime friend, Cal Edwards. Cal ran the Greenfield Nature Center, which was located on the other side of the woods. He was also the person Grandfather called when he needed help fixing something.



“I think that is Chester,” Henry said as he watched the poodle and Watch nuzzle noses.



“If Chester’s here, then Cal must be here, too,” Jessie said.



“There he is!” Benny pointed 7 at a man who was just walking from behind a tree. He carried a large black garbage bag in one hand and a small red ball in the other.



Henry waved to him. “Hello, Cal,” he called. The children hurried toward him.



Cal smiled. “Well, hello there!” he called back. “When I saw Watch, I figured you kids and James had to be here, too.”



“Grandfather’s not here,” Violet said. “He had a meeting this afternoon.”



“That’s too bad,” Cal said. “It’s a beautiful day for the dog park.”



“Yes, it is,” Jessie agreed. The others nodded.



Chester nuzzled the ball in Cal’s hand and Cal threw it as far as he could. Both Chester and Watch bolted after it.



“It’s nice that your job is so close that you can come to the dog park with Chester,” Henry said.



“It sure is,” said Cal. “We just cut through those woods over there. It takes us only a few minutes.”



“You must pick up lots of garbage on your way,” Benny said.



“What makes you say that, Benny?” Cal asked with surprise.



“Because you have such a big garbage bag,” Benny replied.



“Oh, this?” Cal said, lifting the big black bag. “This isn’t garbage. It’s—” But before Cal could explain what was in the bag, his cell phone rang.



“Excuse me,” he said. He reached into his front pocket and pulled out his phone. He flipped 8 it open and put it to his ear. “Hello? Yes, this is Cal.” A look of concern flashed across his face. “Just a minute, please.”



Cal covered his phone with his hand and turned to the Aldens. “I’m sorry, kids, but I need to take this call. I’ll see you all later.”



Cal whistled for his dog, who came bounding over. Cal continued his telephone conversation while he walked. The children waved good-bye as Cal and his dog walked back toward the nature center.



“Anyone want to play Frisbee?” Henry asked, holding the Frisbee up in the air.



“Sure,” Jessie said.



They walked to the edge of the park, away from most of the other dogs, and Henry threw the disk to Jessie. Jessie threw it to Benny and Benny jumped as the Frisbee sailed over his head. But he couldn’t jump high enough. The Frisbee landed in the grass behind him.



“Sorry, Benny,” Jessie called.



“That’s okay,” Benny said. He and Watch raced to the fallen Frisbee and Watch barked eagerly when Benny stooped to pick it up.



“Do you want to try and catch it, Watch?” Benny asked the dog. The children had been trying to teach Watch to jump up and catch the Frisbee in his mouth.



Benny pulled his arm back and let the Frisbee go as hard as he could. The Frisbee wobbled in the air, bounced twice on the ground, then rolled until it hit the fence.



But Watch didn’t mind. He ran after it, his tail wagging.



“Cheer up, Benny,” Jessie said. “You’ll get the hang of throwing a Frisbee.”



“Watch me, Benny,” Violet said as she took the Frisbee from Watch. “You have to sort of flick 9 your wrist like this.” She let the Frisbee go, then watched in horror as it sailed over the fence and into the woods.



“Oh, no,” Violet said, clasping her hands to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to throw it out of the dog park!”



“That’s okay, Violet,” Jessie said. “We’ll just go and get it.” She pushed on the gate and Watch squeezed through the opening before she could hold him back. He plowed 10 ahead of them into the woods.



“Uh-oh,” Benny said. “Shouldn’t Watch be on a leash when he’s not in the dog park?” He pulled Watch’s leash out of his pocket.



“I’ll get him,” Henry said. “He’s just going after the Frisbee. I’ll put his leash on and we’ll go right back to the park as soon as we find it.”



The children hurried into the woods. They found the Frisbee just a few feet in, but they didn’t see Watch anywhere.



“Where is Watch?” Violet asked, turning her head from side to side.



Henry leaned over to pick up the Frisbee. “I don’t know,” he said.



They were on a dirt path that was covered with pine needles. Trees and bushes grew all around them.



“He wasn’t that far ahead of us,” Jessie said.



“Yeah, but he runs fast,” Benny said, growing worried. “And he might have chased a squirrel or something off the path.”



“Don’t worry, Benny,” Jessie said. “We’ll find him.” She put her hands around her mouth and called, “Watch! Here, boy!”



They heard a short bark in response. It came from a cluster of trees off to the right.



“There he is,” Violet said with relief. They all hurried over to him. Benny snapped the leash to Watch’s collar.



Watch stood on his back legs, digging at something in a pile of brush between two trees. He hardly paid any attention to the children. He was more interested in whatever was in the middle of the brush.



“Hey, he’s got something!” Benny said as Watch uncovered a square metal object in the brush.



“What is it?” Jessie asked.



“I don’t know,” Henry said.



All four of them brushed the sticks and leaves away from the metal object and Henry lifted it out. “It’s a box of some kind,” he said. The box had some black lettering on the outside. “Official Geocache,” it read.



“Geo … geo …” Benny tried to sound the word out, then gave up. “What’s that word, Henry?”



“I think it’s pronounced ‘geo-cash,’ ” Henry said.



“Geocache?” Violet asked. “What’s that?”



“I don’t know,” Henry said. “I know cache means hiding place. But I don’t know what geocache means.”



“Since it’s pronounced geo-cash, maybe it means there’s money hidden in there?” Benny said.



“Maybe,” Violet said.



“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Jessie said. “Let’s open it up and see what’s inside!”