The Clue in the Corn Maze Read online

  “Why did you bring your own corn when Ken has so much right here?” Benny asked.

  Kurt smiled. “Well, I’ll tell you, Benny. Ken can build a corn maze so spectacular that people will come from all over Iowa to see it. But you wouldn’t want to eat his corn! My corn is at least fit for eating.”

  “That’s because you grow sweet corn,” Ken pointed out. “I grow field corn.”

  “What did I tell you?” Kurt leaned toward Benny. “Would you want to eat the same kind of corn the cows eat?” he asked.

  Benny quickly shook his head.

  Kurt dipped a pair of tongs into the boiling pot and pulled out a steaming ear of corn-on-the-cob. He set it on a plate to cool.

  “Let me put a little butter on this corn and then we’ll see what you think. Okay, Benny?” Kurt said as he grabbed the butter dish and a knife.

  “Okay,” Benny said, his mouth watering.

  The butter melted on the corn as fast as Kurt could spread it. Kurt added a little salt, then handed the plate to Benny.

  “Now you tell me, have you ever tasted better corn-on-the-cob?” Kurt asked. He watched Benny’s face anxiously.

  Benny picked up the corn and took a big bite. “Mmm!” he cried, his eyes wide with amazement. “This is the best corn-on-the-cob I’ve ever had!”

  “Let’s get some more plates,” Kurt said. “There’s plenty for everyone.”

  While Kurt dished up the corn, David started talking to Ken. “So, Dad,” he said carefully. “Uncle Kurt told me about the trouble in the maze today. I hope you weren’t out there working in the hot sun.”

  “I wish my brother would mind his own business,” Ken said with a pointed look at Kurt. “I’m perfectly capable of doing a little work in my own field.”

  “But Dad. Your arthritis!” David said.

  “My arthritis is fine. Besides, Jack did most of the work.”

  David took a deep breath. “I know you don’t want to hear this. But it seems to me the maze and the King Corn Days Festival are getting to be an awful lot of work.”

  Ken scowled. “We’ve had this argument before. I’m not selling the farm and I’m not moving into town with you and Linda.”

  “You’re not as young as you used to be, Pops,” David said. “This is getting to be too much for you.”

  “I’ll decide when something’s too much for me,” Ken said stiffly. “Now we’re not going to talk about this anymore. Are you staying for supper, David?”

  David sighed. “Yes. Linda’s got a meeting tonight, so I’ll stay.”

  “Good.” Ken nodded. “Then why don’t you go fire up the grill. I’ll take some hamburgers out of the freezer. We can have hamburgers and fresh garden salads with our corn.” He got up and shuffled into the other room with his cane.

  “I know how much Dad loves this farm and the festival,” David said to the Aldens once Ken was gone. “But it scares me to think about someone prowling around the maze with toilet paper and leaving threatening notes. If this is going to keep up, I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist that Dad give up the farm.”

  “I think that would just about break his heart,” Grandfather said.

  “I know,” David admitted. He looked sad. “But what else can I do? I don’t want him to get hurt.”

  “Don’t worry,” Henry said. “We’ll figure out who vandalized the maze and wrote that note. And we’ll get them to stop.”

  “For my father’s sake, I hope you can,” David said.

  CHAPTER 3

  Yuck!

  Violet woke up during the night. She was thirsty, so she decided to go down to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

  She slipped quietly out of bed. As she crept across the room, something out the window caught her eye.

  Violet tiptoed over to the window and peered out into the darkness. She saw a round white light bobbing through the cornfield. Was it a flashlight? Was somebody in the maze in the middle of the night?

  “Jessie!” Violet whispered. She hurried over to the other bed and gently shook her sister’s shoulder. “Jessie, wake up! I think there’s someone in the corn maze.”

  Jessie rubbed her eyes and rolled toward Violet. “What?” she said sleepily.

  “There’s a light in the corn maze,” Violet hissed. “I think someone’s in there.”

  Jessie tossed her covers aside and followed Violet over to the window. But now, when the girls looked, the light was gone.

  “That’s strange,” Violet said.

  “Are you sure you saw a light in the field?” Jessie asked. “There’s a light on inside Mr. Sweeney’s trailer. Maybe that’s what you saw?”

  Violet couldn’t remember whether there had been a light on in Mr. Sweeney’s trailer when she looked before, but she was sure she’d seen another light in the field.

  “The light I saw was moving,” Violet said. “It was bobbing up and down—the way it would if someone was carrying a flashlight.”

  A moment later the light in Mr. Sweeney’s trailer went out. Everything was dark.

  “Maybe it was just Mr. Sweeney checking to make sure no one was in the maze,” Jessie suggested. “He probably didn’t see anything, so he went back to bed.”

  “You’re probably right, Jessie,” Violet agreed. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

  “That’s okay,” Jessie said. “Let’s try and get some sleep.”

  The next morning, Ken had stacks of pancakes and a frying pan full of sausages ready when the Aldens came downstairs.

  “You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble, Ken,” Grandfather said.

  “Why not?” Ken asked. “I love to cook. Always have. You know that. Now eat up, before everything gets cold.”

  “Okay,” Benny said as he slid into a chair. Grandfather, Henry, Jessie, and Violet sat down, too.

  Benny helped himself to several pancakes. A warm breeze blew through the open kitchen window. The Aldens could tell it was going to be another hot day.

  A strange odor caught Benny’s attention. “What’s that smell?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.

  “It must be pancakes,” Henry answered. “You sure have a lot of them on your plate.”

  “No,” Benny shook his head. “I know how pancakes smell. This is something else. Something that doesn’t smell very good.”

  Violet sniffed. “I smell it, too.”

  “Me, too,” Jessie said.

  Ken set a plate of toast on the table. “I think what you all are smelling is fresh manure,” Ken said. “I’m afraid that’s not an unusual smell when you live in the country. But you get used to it.”

  There was a knock at the back door and Jack Sweeney poked his head inside. “Ken?” he said in a serious voice. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “What is it?” Ken asked.

  “Come outside,” Mr. Sweeney said. He was dressed in overalls and the same muddy cowboy boots he had worn the day before.

  Ken grabbed his cane and followed Mr. Sweeney. The Aldens went outside, too. Mr. Sweeney glared at the children, but said nothing. He led them all down the porch steps and out toward the corn maze. The smell of manure was getting stronger. It was so strong that Benny pinched his nose shut.

  Mr. Sweeney stopped at the entrance to the maze. The maze path was completely buried under a layer of manure.

  “Oh!” Jessie gasped.

  “A little manure helps things grow,” Ken said. “But this is more than a little manure. People who come to visit the maze aren’t going to want to wade through this. Is it all through the maze?”

  “’Fraid so,” Mr. Sweeney replied. “It’ll take a while to shovel it all out and then spread hay over the paths. Looks like you’re going to have to close up the maze a second time.” But Mr. Sweeney didn’t look very disappointed. In fact, he almost looked happy.

  “We can help you clean it up, Mr. Sweeney,” Henry offered.

  “Of course we can,” Jessie put in. “You don’t want to close the maze two days in a row.”

  “I
don’t want a bunch of kids tromping through a maze full of manure, Ken,” Mr. Sweeney said. “They’ll just make more work for me.”

  “No, we won’t,” Benny said.

  “I assure you, Mr. Sweeney, these children are very good workers,” Grandfather said. “With their help, I’m sure you’ll be able to open on time, Ken.”

  “It’s settled then.” Ken banged his cane on the ground. “Let’s finish our breakfast. You’re welcome to join us, Jack.”

  “I’ve already eaten,” Mr. Sweeney said coldly.

  “After breakfast, we’ll find some old clothes, gloves, and shoes for you all,” Ken told the Aldens. “Then you can help Jack clean things up. With a little luck, the maze will open on schedule today.”

  Once the Aldens were dressed for cleaning up manure, Mr. Sweeney passed out shovels and a wheelbarrow. Then he showed them where to dump the manure.

  “I may use it for the garden later,” Mr. Sweeney explained.

  Then he led the children back to the maze. “I’ve been working on the path straight ahead,” Mr. Sweeney said. “Why don’t you kids work the paths that go off over there? I haven’t been down that way.” Mr. Sweeney gestured toward the right.

  “Okay,” the Aldens agreed.

  Before Mr. Sweeney turned to leave, Violet told him about the light she’d seen moving through the maze during the night.

  “Jessie and I also saw a light on in your place, Mr. Sweeney,” Violet said. “So we know you were up. Did you see anything unusual?”

  “Nope,” Mr. Sweeney said.

  “What were you doing up in the middle of the night?” Jessie asked. “Did you go outside to check on the maze?”

  Mr. Sweeney looked annoyed. “No. I got up to use the bathroom. Then I went right back to bed. Same as every other night.”

  “So maybe the person who spread the manure was carrying the light,” Henry said. “Do you know anyone who would want to sabotage the corn maze?”

  “Can’t think of anyone,” Mr. Sweeney replied. “Look, I really don’t have time for all these questions,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. Now, I thought you kids wanted to help.”

  “We do,” Violet said. “But we also want to figure out who’s been making such a mess in the maze.”

  “We’re good at solving mysteries,” Henry said.

  “Well, right now I need kids who are good at cleaning things up rather than kids who are good at solving mysteries.” He set off down the maze path.

  “I don’t think Mr. Sweeney likes us very much,” Benny said after the older man had left.

  “He sure doesn’t like us asking questions,” Henry said. “Do you think he could have anything to do with the vandalism?”

  “Why would he vandalize Ken’s maze?” Violet asked. “It looks like he’s the one who ends up doing most of the cleanup.”

  “Plus, he and Ken are friends,” Benny said. “He works for Ken. And he lives right by Ken, on his land!”

  “Well, he sure isn’t very friendly,” Jessie put in. “But maybe that’s just because he’s had a lot of extra work to do lately.”

  “Speaking of work, we’d better get started,” Henry said as he grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow.

  The Aldens started down the main path, then followed the path that veered off to the right.

  “Yuck,” Benny said, stepping gingerly. This is disgusting!” He jabbed his shovel into a pile of manure and plopped it into the wheelbarrow.

  “Wait a minute!” Violet said. “Look! There are footprints over here.”

  “Mr. Sweeney said he hasn’t been down this path yet,” Henry said. “So the footprints must belong to the person who made all this mess.”

  The footprints were long and narrow and pointed at the tip.

  “They look like prints from cowboy boots,” Violet said.

  “You could be right, Violet,” Jessie said.

  “Mr. Sweeney had on cowboy boots,” Benny pointed out.

  “I bet a lot of people who live around here wear cowboy boots,” Violet said.

  “Violet’s right,” Henry said. “We don’t want to jump to any wrong conclusions.”

  “Besides,” Violet put in. “It’s possible Mr. Sweeney did come down this path after all. Maybe he just didn’t remember.”

  For the next couple of hours, the Aldens mucked out the maze paths and dumped the manure in the pile behind the storage shed.

  “There sure are a lot of paths in this maze,” Jessie said as she wiped the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead.

  Not every path was covered in manure, but the Aldens went down every path anyway. Cleaning up manure was hot, dirty work. But the important thing was getting the maze ready so Ken could open in the afternoon.

  “Hey, what’s that?” Benny asked when they turned another corner. Something red lay in the dirt up ahead. Benny ran to see what it was.

  “It’s a cap,” Benny said, picking it up.

  “Not just a cap,” Jessie said. “It’s a cap that has a built-in flashlight. Look.” She flipped a tiny switch on the side of the cap and a bulb lit up.

  “Wow! That’s pretty cool!” Benny exclaimed.

  “I knew I’d seen a light in the maze last night,” Violet cried.

  “Good work, Benny,” Henry said. “Whoever was in here last night probably dropped it.”

  Mr. Sweeney came to check on them a few minutes later. “How are you kids doing?” he asked.

  “Pretty good,” Jessie said. “We’re almost done with all the paths on this side of the maze.”

  “Good.” Mr. Sweeney nodded.

  “Mr. Sweeney?” Benny held up the cap he’d found. “We found this while we were working. Do you know who it belongs to?”

  Mr. Sweeney squinted at the cap in Benny’s hand. “It’s not mine.”

  “Does it belong to Ken?” Violet asked.

  “Don’t know,” Mr. Sweeney replied. “You’d have to ask him.”

  “No, it’s not my cap,” Ken said later when the Aldens showed the cap to him. “Where did you find it?”

  “We found it inside the maze,” Henry said.

  “We’re wondering if it belongs to the person who dumped the manure there,” Jessie added.

  Ken frowned. “I wish I knew who that was.”

  “You don’t have any idea?” Grandfather asked.

  “Not a clue,” Ken replied. “But I’ll tell you something. No one is going to scare me into canceling the festival. The King Corn Days Festival must go on!” He pounded his fist on the table.

  “Yeah!” shouted Benny.

  CHAPTER 4

  Open for Business

  The Aldens got cleaned up and changed clothes. Then Jessie and Violet made sandwiches for lunch.

  “Could I watch the people in the maze from the lookout tower?” Benny asked as he set the table.

  “Sure, Benny,” Ken answered. “If anybody gets lost, you can direct them out.”

  “Oh, boy!” Benny clapped his hands.

  “In fact, the rest of you can help, too, if you want,” Ken said. “I could use a couple of ticket-takers. And sometimes people want to buy vegetables. It can get pretty busy if a lot of customers come at the same time.”

  “We’d love to help,” Violet said as she carried a plate of sandwiches to the table. Jessie carried a pitcher of lemonade. Then everyone sat down to eat.

  “Oh, before I forget,” Ken reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out an envelope. “The mail carrier delivered this to the wrong house. This letter should go to Peggy Rodman, my neighbor down the street. You would have passed her place on your way here.”

  “Is that the house with all the vegetables out front?” Henry asked.

  “Yes,” Ken answered. He handed the letter to Henry. “Would you kids mind delivering this letter to her after lunch? I can take care of the visitors until you get back.”

  Henry took the letter. “Sure, Ken. We’d be happy to.”

  The Aldens walked along the s
ide of the road to get to Peggy Rodman’s place. Corn grew tall in the field beside them.

  As soon as the Aldens started up the gravel drive that led to Peggy Rodman’s house, a black dog leaped against the kennel beside the garage and barked.

  “Quiet, Rosie!” a woman said from her chair on the porch. The dog immediately quieted down.

  The woman stood up when she noticed the children. She was around David’s age, with chin-length blond hair. She wore a plaid shirt, faded jeans, and tennis shoes.

  “Can I help you?” the woman asked cheerfully as the Aldens approached. “Are you here to buy some vegetables?”

  There were bins of carrots, onions, cucumbers, beans, corn, and several kinds of squash spread out on the grassy front lawn. The vegetables took up most of her yard. Up close, some of them didn’t look very good. Several had rotten spots. They must have been sitting out for a long time.

  “No,” Henry said. “We’re looking for Ms. Peggy Rodman.”

  “I’m Peggy,” the woman said.

  Henry handed Peggy the letter. “We’re staying with Ken Johnson. This letter was delivered to him by mistake, so he asked us to bring it to you.”

  “Oh.” Peggy’s smile disappeared when Henry mentioned Ken’s name. “Well, thank you for bringing it down here,” she said stiffly.

  “It was no trouble,” Jessie said.

  Peggy turned to walk away, but Benny called after her. “Have you seen Ken’s corn maze yet?”

  Peggy stopped. She looked a little surprised by Benny’s question. “No,” she said slowly. “And I probably never will see it.”

  “Why not?” Violet asked.

  Peggy seemed a little embarrassed. “Well, I’m afraid Mr. Johnson and I don’t get along very well,” she said.

  The Aldens looked at each other. Ken was so nice. Why wouldn’t he and Peggy get along?

  “Did you know there’s been trouble with Ken’s maze this week?” Jessie asked.

  “Yes, I heard he had to close yesterday. One of my customers said there had been some vandalism the night before.”

  “That’s right,” Jessie said. “Somebody toilet-papered the whole maze.”

  “What a shame,” Peggy said.