In the first two weeks of summer vacation, Fenton Hardy had news for his family. He had an opportunity to go into business for himself, and had gained enough reputation and renown on the east coast that he should be able to manage a fairly decent income if he did. At the moment, he worked for an investigation firm, and although he made decent money, he had always to branch out on his own. "But it would require us moving out of state," said Fenton. "Not too far, the town I'm thinking of is in New York, right on the bay, less than a day's drive. I know the chief of police there, and he is willing to help me get my license."
Joe, or Joey as people seemed to want to call him, did not care where the family lived, just so he had a family. But Frank had set up a whole holy howl, making it known in no uncertain terms that he had no intentions of moving. Fenton and Laura exchanged glances at this. They intended to move, but they did not want to do so when Frank was so dead set against it. Obviously, the last thing they wanted was for one of their children to be miserable. Fenton and Laura told the boys to think on it for a few days, and they would discuss it again then.
"I don't want to!" Frank cried. "I'm not gonna ever wanna move! Not ever!" With that, the child ran off, heading for his room, while Joe sat on the couch looking uncomfortable. Fenton sighed, and rubbed his temples.
"It's okay, Fenton," said Laura, going over to give him a sort of one-armed hug. "That's nothing different from what we expected."
"I know," said Fenton. "That doesn't make it any more pleasant, though." Fenton looked down at Joey, who seemed to be at a loss as to how to react. He thought Frank was acting kinda silly, but then Joey was a highly adaptable child. Being an orphan, he almost had to be. "You doin' okay, kiddo?" Fenton asked.
Joey nodded. "Yeah."
Fenton smiled a big, and ruffled his hair. "That's good. Well, supper'll be in a little bit. You might as well get some playing in before then."
Joey was agreeable enough to this, and headed out into the backyard to play by himself. That was one thing he was having difficulty getting used to, not having a whole room full of children to play with. He wished Frank would play with him more often. He didn't think Frank really liked him very much anymore.
In the end, it was eventually decided that the family would move. Frank was still unhappy about this, but they had managed to transform his attitude to a sullen sort of disagreement, rather than a full-blown temper tantrum. The argument that they would be too far from Aunt Gertrude for her to baby-sit anymore helped in this endeavor a great deal, and the idea of being very close to the ocean was another factor. They had gone to the beach twice on vacation, and Frank loved it.
There was a great deal of excitement around the Hardy household in the next week. There was packing to be done, in itself a daunting task. Joey and Frank helped a great deal in this, and thankfully it kept them both busy enough to avoid any unpleasant confrontations. They Hardys decided what they wanted to keep, and what they would give to the Salvation Army, in the way of clothing, toys and other belongings. Fenton and Laura did not make the boys get rid of anything they did not want to give up, but they did encourage them to donate the things they truly never used, and that meant nothing to them. The fact that they respected their children enough to give them this choice actually made the boys more likely to contribute to the charity donations. Both boys ended up giving a few things away.
Once the pickups of the donated items had been completed, the rest of the belongings packed, and the moving date set, the family was ready for relocation. Laura had gone and gotten the boys' school records and copies of things like their birth certificates (Joey's was far easier to obtain, as they'd had to get a new copy put on file with Joey's new name on it) and things like doctors' contact information for whoever ended up being the Hardys' new family doctor.
Fenton had gotten his own personal records copied, and given his two-weeks' notice with the detective firm he worked for. The orphanage had to be told of the move, and the new address and phone number given to them. (And what kind of street name was "High", anyway? Frank thought. Although the idea of living on Elm street seemed kind of cool to him. He had seen Nightmare on Elm Street, after all.)
The Hardys' neighbors gave them a going away party, which was a surprise to all of them, and quite appreciated. This took place on their last day in the neighborhood, and Laura was highly grateful that she wouldn't have to cook that night. She was understandably very tired, and there was more than enough food at the party to count as supper. The Hardys went to bed well fed that night.
Exactly one month into summer vacation, all of the boxes and furniture was packed into the moving van, any very special belongings were packed safely into the family's two cars, and they said their last good-byes to the house.
The journey was not exceedingly long; they did stay on the road most of the day, but they did not have to stay in a hotel for the night. They reached the town of Bayport around midnight, and spent twenty minutes locating their new home. The moving van had beaten them there, and the men had already sought out a hotel for the night. The unloading would be accomplished on the morrow!
Fenton and Laura woke the boys (one in each car to prevent the outbreak of typical car-trip fights) and brought them inside. Joey woke easily enough and stumbled in, but Frank ended up being carried in by Laura. Too tired even to explore their new home, the Hardys slept on the living room floor that night.
The next morning, Frank opened his eyes to find himself in a strange place; on the floor. At first, he thought that he had fallen out of bed, but no, there was no bed! And stranger still, he was not wearing his pajamas. He was wearing jeans cut-offs and a very wrinkled T-shirt. He sat up, blinking, and looked around. And why was it so hot in here? Wasn't the air conditioning on?
The sun shone in through curtain-less windows, illuminating a bare, carpeted living room. It was a bigger one than in the house back home, he realized, once he remembered where he was. Joey still slept curled up on the floor (also in his clothing), and he could hear his parents outside, talking with the movers.
Rubbing his eyes, Frank stumbled outside to see what his new neighborhood looked like. The houses were different, of course, but it still looked fairly similar. It was a big, tree-lined street, with one and two story houses all along it. Their house was an old, big, white one with two stories, a basement, and an attic. The Hardys had gotten a good deal on the mortgage, and their payments would not be much higher than they had been before, and the house was bigger. Three was an extra bedroom, as well as the full attic.
"Morning, Frank!" Fenton called from the truck, where he was helping the movers with the heavy, oak entertainment center. "Look out, kiddo, big stuff comin' through!"
Frank, having little desire to be run over by the entertainment center, moved aside. "Don't step on Joey," Frank told them as they maneuvered the piece of furniture inside.
"Thanks, son," said Fenton. The warning seemed a positive sign until Frank finished his comment.
"Yeah...or else you'll trip and break the TV shelf."
Okay, Fenton thought, maybe not. He said nothing for the moment, however, simply continued helping the movers get their belongings into the house. After all, the more people worked on it, the faster it went.
Eventually, Joey woke up, and both boys were recruited to help bring in whatever they were able to carry. All in all, the six people emptied the truck fairly quickly. The boys had been allowed to choose their rooms, aside from the master bedroom, and their belongings had been brought there. Fenton and Laura's things were in their room, and the furniture and items that belonged in the rest of the house were sitting on the living room floor, ready to be sorted, arranged, and unpacked.
"Well!" said Laura, standing up and grimacing as her back crackled. "Ahh, that's better. Well, I'm starving. Who's up for some breakfast?"
"Me!" Frank and Joey cried in unison.
"Me too," said Fenton. "Although none of our kitchen equipment is out. Let's just go to a Denney's, or something. Sound good to you?"
"Sounds fabulous to me," said Laura, who had not felt much like cooking. Joey said he was hungry enough to eat the whole restaurant, and Frank said he was okay with the decision as well. And so the Hardys left to enjoy a well-earned breakfast.
In the coming days, Frank noticed that Mom and Dad had seemed to be hurrying to get the house in order, and for that, he was grateful. He had never moved anywhere before, but he decided he did not like it at all. Aside from moving from a home he was familiar with, and leaving people he liked, and going to a new school it disturbed him to see all their belongings in boxes like that. It felt empty and lonely when he'd woken to see a bare living room, windows without drapes, a kitchen with nothing in the cupboards. He liked things much better once the rooms were filled, their old stuff put in storage in the attic, and their camping equipment and sleds and the like put in the basement. It felt far more like home, and none of the rooms were barren.
He did like his new room, though. It was bigger than his old one, and the window ledge was big enough for a grown man to sit on if he wished. It was quite big enough for Frank to sit on, and watch the world outside. That would be great for storms, he thought. He enjoyed watching storms, always had. Unlike most children, Frank had never been scared of thunder or lightning. It was summer now, and he hoped that New York had good thunderstorms.
The room Joey had chosen was one on the corner, and there were two windows in it. He liked the windows, for the sunlight that would be let though them. His few belongings were arranged to the boy's liking, which ended up being haphazardly placed around the room on the floor. Joey liked the new house very much, and when he wasn't helping the Hardys move in, he had run all around it, up and down the stairs, and investigating everything that he could reach.
The day after the Hardys were completely moved in, Frank and Joey were outside playing in the front yard, while their mother went about setting up a garden around the side. This day, Frank seemed to be more tolerant of his new brother than usual, and Fenton and Laura were grateful to this, as they were both very busy. Fenton was setting up his study, getting it ready for when he went into business for himself, and Laura had been busy all day making the house their home.
As Joey was seeing how high he could climb in the big tree out front, and Frank was trying to see if this tree would be good for a treehouse, another boy came walking curiously towards the lawn. He was a very chubby little boy, about Joey's age, and he looked at them shyly without saying anything. Frank tentatively waved.
"Hi," the chubby boy replied, smiling uncertainly, and lifting his own hand in a little wave.
"Hi," Frank replied, walking over towards him. Joey climbed downwards to hang nearly upside down in order to peer below the foliage of the tree.
The visitor smiled. "I'm Chet. What's your name?"
"Frank," said Frank.
Chet seemed to be a fairly shy boy, but seemed equally pleased to have met a new kid. He was about to reply, but ended up being slightly startled by Joey's voice, from in the tree. "Hi! I'm Mik-, er, Joey!" Joey liked his new name, but remembering he had one was not always easy. The little boy climbed from the tree and also ran over, while Frank rolled his eyes.
Chet cocked his head at Joey's verbal stumble, but did not comment. "Hi. Are you guys gonna stay here?"
"Yep!" Joey said with a grin. "Where do you live?" Joey missed the scowl that Frank was sending his way.
"Well...I live on a farm, it's that way," Chet said, pointing towards the more rural part of town. "But my mom's visiting her friend, she lives across the street." Again he pointed, indicating a dark green house directly opposite the Hardys'.
"A real farm?" said Joey excitedly. "I was never on a farm before!"
Chet smiled. "I could ask my mom if you can come see it."
"Okay!" Joey looked up at a woman's voice from across the street, calling Chet's name. He grinned and waved at the woman, and she smiled back, and waved also.
"I gotta go," said Chet.
"Bye!"
Chet grinned at the boys before looking both ways, and then running across the street to join his mother. There was man there, also, and a little girl that was even younger than Joey was. Joey went back to climbing his tree, while Frank scowled. He had been talking to the new boy! Why did Joey have to just butt in?
Eventually, Frank stalked inside and shut himself up in his room.
The Hardy boys met Chet a few more times in the next week, when his mother came into town to visit. The fourth time, Chet's mother came over to talk to the Hardys, and the grown-ups spent a few hours talking, and getting to know each other. The boys played in the backyard, while the adults talked, and after a while, Chet's little sister came into the yard to play, also. Chet kept trying to make her go back inside, but finally his mother told him he was to play with her for a little while. This had caused some sulking on Chet's part, but Frank's suggestion to play hide-and-seek banished the gloom from the boy's round face. It was something they could all participate in, and where Chet's sister, Iola, would not seem so pesky.
The meeting turned into an impromptu barbecue, during which everyone stuffed themselves silly. Joe draped himself all over the porch, claiming that his stomach was as big as Fenton's car. Frank groaned and slumped back in his seat, expressing the worry that his own stomach might blow up. Chet pretended to die of overeating.
"Wow," said Laura. "That's amazing. I guess you three don't want ice cream, then." To the amusement of the adults, the boys were miraculously cured, and stood up with hopeful faces. Laura laughed. "You sure? I wouldn't want anyone's stomach to burst, or get bigger than the house or anything."
"One dish of ice cream'll only make my stomach get a little bigger," Joey said, walking up to Laura and grinning. "Honest!"
She did finally give in and give the boys a bit of chocolate ice cream, which they ate with gusto. Iola also got a dish and ate hers over by her mother.
Soon after that, Chet, Iola, and their parents said that they had to get back to the farm. "I really enjoyed the visit," said Chet's mother, shaking hands with Laura. "We'll have to have you at the farm soon for a good, old-fashioned, home-cooked dinner."
"Yeah, an' you can see all the animals and stuff!" Chet told his new friends.
"Cool!" said Frank.
Laura smiled. "We'd like that very much. I'm glad to have finally met you all! Frank and Joey have been talking about you all week."
Frank and Joey waved as the Mortons headed out the gate.
Once the guests were gone, Frank and Joey were herded inside for baths, and then bed. Though both boys were about dead on their feet, they put up a protest at sleeping. But the protests were easily defeated, and soon both were sleeping soundly. "Well?" said Fenton when Laura and he were down in the living room alone. "I think that this is going to work out."
Laura sighed and leaned against him. "Which part? The new house, your new job, or Frank and Joey?"
"Yes," said Fenton, referring to all three. They both laughed softly, and then Fenton stood. "Well, I'm meeting with Chief Collig tomorrow. I'd better get my sleep."
Laura nodded. "I'll be going job hunting the next few days, so I'm right there with ya." And so, they went to bed.