The Garden Thief Read online

  Benny laughed. “That tickles!” he said, rubbing his nose.

  Lucasta twisted the wooden handle that locked the rabbit hutch from the outside.

  She opened the door and gently lifted the spotted rabbit into her arms and stroked it.

  The rabbit looked at Benny. The rabbit’s nose twitched.

  “It has a pink nose,” said Benny. “And the rabbit in the next cage has a black nose.”

  “There are many different kinds of rabbits,” Lucasta explained, “but I raise only Rex and American rabbits. This is a Rex.”

  She returned the Rex rabbit to its hutch, closed the lock, and moved to the next cage, which had a gray rabbit inside. Again she opened the hutch and removed the rabbit. “This is an American blue,” she said, stroking the rabbit. “Its fur is so gray and black that the rabbit looks blue.”

  “Your rabbits are beautiful,” said Violet, who admired the rabbits’ glossy fur and cute noses and long ears.

  “All of my rabbits are prize-winning rabbits,” said Lucasta. “I give them the best food and the best care.”

  “Do you feed them a special food to keep them so healthy?” asked Jessie.

  “I feed them special rabbit food that we buy at the farmers store,” Lucasta answered. “And I feed them the best and freshest vegetables like cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, chard, carrots, beans, and peas.”

  “Wow,” said Benny. “Rabbits like a lot of different foods.”

  Jessie noticed an apron hanging from the end of the cages. The apron had many pockets, and a carrot was sticking out of one of the pockets. There was a large green trash bag next to the apron.

  “Is that where you keep the vegetables?” she asked, pointing to the apron.

  Lucasta frowned.

  “No,” said Alex as he pulled the apron and trash bag from the wall and rolled them up. He put them on top of the rabbit cages. “That’s just an old cobbler’s apron.”

  Alex handed the carrot that had been in the apron to Lucasta and she fed it to the rabbit she was holding.

  “I used to feed my rabbits all the vegetables I grew,” she said, “but when Mr. Yee broke my leg, I couldn’t garden this year.”

  “I did not break your leg!” shouted Mr. Yee. “Your rabbits ran in front of my bicycle and made me break my arm!”

  “I can grow all the vegetables Lucasta needs,” said Alex.

  “I deserve all of my blue ribbons,” said Lucasta.

  Taylor Harris sighed. “I deserve blue ribbons, too. I’m going back to my garden, and I better never see one of your rabbits inside it,” she said.

  Taylor left.

  “This is too bad,” said Roger Walski.

  Henry looked at him in surprise. The entire time they had been in the barn, Roger hadn’t said anything.

  “It just goes to show that we should move the community gardens some place else. Away from vandals, away from thieves, and even away from these prize-winning rabbits.”

  Roger followed Taylor out the wide barn doors. “My cucumbers need my attention,” he said as he left.

  “We are leaving, also,” said Mr. Yee. “I don’t like rabbits.”

  The Aldens followed him out the door.

  As the five of them walked back to Mr. Yee’s plot, they talked.

  “I like the rabbits,” said Benny.

  “Me, too,” said Violet. “And they didn’t eat Taylor’s lettuce and kale, because rabbits can’t open garden gates.”

  “And rabbits don’t pull plants out of the ground,” said Henry. “Instead, they nibble the leaves.”

  The Aldens looked at one another. Something strange was definitely happening at the community garden.

  CHAPTER 5

  Bags of Lettuce and Kale

  Early the next morning Mrs. McGregor handed each of the children a thermal lunch bag.

  “There are scrambled egg sandwiches for each of you,” she said. “Plus a can of juice and an orange.”

  Just then Mr. Yee knocked on the back door.

  “Is everybody ready?” he asked.

  “We’re ready,” said Henry, stifling a yawn.

  “Here is a lunch bag for you, Mr. Yee,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Scrambled egg sandwiches.”

  “Thank you,” said Mr. Yee. “You are most generous. I will be sure to repay you with excellent vegetables.”

  Mrs. McGregor drove them all to the community gardens. Henry and Jessie talked to Mr. Yee, but Violet and Benny closed their eyes and fell asleep. When Mrs. McGregor stopped the car at the community gardens, Violet and Benny woke up.

  “Are we there?” Benny asked.

  “Yes,” said Mr. Yee. “We will eat our breakfasts first, then we will tend to the garden.”

  Mrs. McGregor drove away and the children walked the short distance to the community gardens. They waved to other gardeners in Sections D and E, and also Sections B and C.

  When they reached Section A, they saw Taylor’s bike chained to her garden fence. Taylor was standing beside the bike. The gate to her garden was open. Henry thought that Taylor looked confused.

  “Is anything wrong?” Henry asked as they walked up to her.

  “I don’t know,” answered Taylor. “Can I show you something?”

  Henry said yes, and Taylor led everybody into her garden. They followed her down a few rows. Taylor stopped and pointed to two large burlap bags sitting on the ground, right next to the spot where the lettuce and kale had been growing.

  “Those were here when I arrived a few minutes ago,” said Taylor.

  Benny yawned. “What’s inside them?” he asked.

  “Open them,” she said, “and you’ll see.”

  Jessie opened one of the sacks. “Lettuce!” she said. “Lots of lettuce!”

  Violet opened the other sack. “Kale,” she said. “The whole sack is full of kale.”

  “What does this mean?” asked Mr. Yee.

  “That’s what I’d like to know,” said Taylor.

  She looked at the Aldens. “What do you think?” she asked.

  Henry spoke first. “I think somebody is trying to make amends,” he said.

  “I agree,” said Jessie. “Somebody is trying to say they’re sorry they stole your lettuce and kale yesterday.”

  “Yes,” said Taylor, “I think somebody feels bad about what happened and is giving me this lettuce and kale.” She frowned. “It doesn’t make sense, though.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Henry. “If somebody stole your lettuce and kale, why would he or she bother giving you more lettuce and kale?”

  “But if Lucasta’s rabbits ate my lettuce and kale, that makes sense,” said Taylor. “Rabbits can’t return what they ate, but Lucasta could.”

  Violet was starting to wake up. Thinking about a mystery always made her feel more alert. “Maybe it’s not the same person,” she said. “Maybe one person stole the lettuce and kale, but another person is giving you lettuce and kale.”

  “Hmmm,” said Taylor.

  “You will have to eat this lettuce and kale very soon,” Mr. Yee observed. “Vegetables taste best right after they’re picked.”

  “I can’t eat all of this by myself,” said Taylor. “Please take as much as you want for yourselves, and I’ll donate the rest to the food center.”

  “We can sprinkle the burlap bags with water,” said Mr. Yee, “and put them in the shade, so they stay cool.”

  Taylor nodded. “I’ll do that before I start to weed,” she said. “Be sure to take some of these with you when you go home.”

  “Will you eat some of the lettuce and kale yourself?” Violet asked.

  Taylor shook her head.

  “Why not?” asked Benny. “I’ll bet they taste good.”

  “They probably do.” Taylor laughed. “But these aren’t the same kind of lettuce and kale that I grow,” she said.

  She reached into one bag and pulled out a head of lettuce. “This is a light green butter lettuce,” she said, holding it out for the children to see. “It�
��s very tasty, but I was growing a red-tipped leaf lettuce. I like the taste of it better, and I like the dark green color.”

  Taylor put the lettuce back into one burlap bag and reached into the other bag. She pulled out some kale leaves. “This is a plain green kale,” she said, showing the leaves to the children. “I grow a very dark curly kale.”

  Mr. Yee nodded his head. “These are good vegetables,” he said, “but not as tasty as the kind you grow. If it was the thief who returned these vegetables, I wonder why he didn’t return the same kind he took?”

  Henry scratched his head. “If the thief returned the exact same kind of vegetables he or she stole, then why steal them in the first place?”

  “Do you think this lettuce and kale came from the community gardens?” Jessie asked.

  Taylor shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows,” she said. “Lots of people here grow butter lettuce and plain kale. Alex grows butter lettuce and plain kale. So does Roger. Lucasta used to grow dark green lettuce and dark curly kale, just like Mr. Yee and I do. But Alex and Lucasta don’t enter their vegetables in contests.”

  “Are you talking about me and my sister?” asked Alex Kirk.

  Everybody turned around at the sound of Alex’s voice. They saw him at the side of Taylor’s garden. He was standing in Lucasta’s empty plot, looking at them.

  “Yes,” said Taylor. “I was saying that you and Lucasta don’t enter your vegetables in contests to win blue ribbons.”

  “That’s right,” said Alex. “Vegetables are meant to feed people, not to win blue ribbons.”

  “They can do both things,” said Mr. Yee. “They can win blue ribbons, and then they can be eaten.”

  Alex ignored what Mr. Yee said. “I’m looking for Roger Walski,” he said, “but he’s not here yet. When you see him, can you give him a message?” he asked.

  “Sure,” said Henry. “If Mr. Walski is here today, we’ll give him a message.”

  “Good,” said Alex. “Please tell him my father still says no.”

  What did that mean? Jessie wondered.

  * * *

  The Aldens and Mr. Yee sat on the grass outside the plots and ate their breakfasts. Mr. Yee stopped in his garden first and picked some fresh snow peas and a few strawberries. They ate the snow peas with their scrambled egg sandwiches and the strawberries after.

  “This is a delicious breakfast,” said Violet.

  “It sure is,” said Henry.

  “It’s the best breakfast I’ve ever had!” shouted Benny.

  The others laughed. “Oh, Benny, you’ll say the same thing tomorrow,” kidded Jessie.

  Benny nodded. “I will if tomorrow is the best breakfast I ever had. And it will be,” he added, “if I have some of Mr. Yee’s snowpod peas and strawberries!”

  “Ah, Benny,” said Mr. Yee, “I think you are going to be a good gardener—as long as you don’t eat up everything you see!”

  They all laughed at that. Then they gathered up their sandwich wrappings and napkins and went to work in the garden.

  Henry spent the whole morning building trellises for the peas and beans. He enjoyed the work, and knew that the peas and beans would grow better once they had the trellises for support.

  Mr. Yee sat on the ground with Jessie and Violet and showed them how to transplant young broccoli plants.

  “My broccoli plants were stolen last week,” he told them. “It is too late to grow broccoli that will win a blue ribbon, but I can still grow some to eat.”

  “Why is it too late?” asked Violet.

  “Because broccoli grows best in cooler weather,” he said.

  After Mr. Yee was satisfied that Violet and Jessie were doing a good job, and that Henry didn’t need his help, he went to check on Benny, who was watering the strawberry plants.

  “Ah,” said Mr. Yee, “you are doing a very good job, Benny.”

  “Good,” said Benny. “I want the strawberries to be delicious.”

  Just then they heard the roar of a motor.

  Roger Walski zoomed up on a three-wheeled ATV that had a box strapped to the back. He turned off the motor and dismounted.

  “Today’s the day,” he told Benny. “Ready to taste a garden-fresh cucumber?”

  “Yes,” said Benny. “I love cucumbers.” He turned to Mr. Yee. “May I go taste Mr. Walski’s fresh cucumbers?” he asked.

  “Of course,” said Mr. Yee, “and I will come with you.”

  Benny and Mr. Yee followed Roger through the maze of garden paths.

  But when they reached the place where Roger’s cucumbers grew on trellises—the hanging vines were empty!

  “My cucumbers!” Roger screamed. “They’re all gone! I’ve been robbed!”

  Before Mr. Yee or Benny could say anything, Roger hopped onto his three-wheeled vehicle and roared away, still shouting.

  “Poor Roger,” said Mr. Yee. “Another victim of this terrible, terrible garden thief.”

  “Poor Mr. Walski,” said Benny. “He’s very upset. He isn’t as cool as a cucumber.”

  CHAPTER 6

  The Lumpy Shapes

  The following morning the children had breakfast at their usual time, in their usual place: at home.

  Mrs. McGregor had made granola and served it with milk and fresh strawberries that Benny had brought home from Mr. Yee’s garden.

  “These are delicious strawberries,” said Mrs. McGregor.

  “Mr. Yee has two long rows of them,” said Benny, “and it’s my job to water them. He let me pick these yesterday.”

  “I’m so glad you’re helping Mr. Yee,” said Mrs. McGregor. “When your grandfather comes home this afternoon, he’ll be very pleased that you’re helping his old friend.”

  “What are we going to do today, Jessie?” Violet asked her sister.

  “We’re going to harvest carrots and radishes,” Jessie answered. “Mr. Yee says we can bring some home to Mrs. McGregor.”

  Mrs. McGregor was making toast for everybody. She looked confused. “How can you harvest full-grown carrots if they were baby carrots just two days ago?” she asked.

  “Because Mr. Yee has spread his plantings two weeks apart,” Jessie explained. “He plants a section of carrots every two weeks, and a section of radishes, and lettuce, and kale.”

  “I see,” said Mrs. McGregor. “That way, not all of the vegetables are ready at the same time.”

  “There’s something ready all season long,” said Henry. “Except for plants like tomatoes, which Mr. Yee put in all at the same time.”

  “Are you going to work on the broken towers today?” Jessie asked her brother.

  “Yes,” said Henry

  “Who would do something mean like break tomato towers?” asked Violet. “Why would they do that?”

  “The vandal must have a reason,” said Henry.

  “What about the thief?” asked Jessie. “I don’t think the thief and the vandal are the same person.”

  Her brothers and sister agreed with her.

  The Aldens were still speculating about who might be the vandal and who might be the thief when Mr. Yee arrived. It was time to leave.

  As before, Mrs. McGregor drove them all to the community gardens and dropped them off at the end, by Sections D and E. And as before, the children and Mr. Yee walked toward Section A, greeting all the gardeners they passed.

  This morning, they did not see Taylor Harris standing at her garden gate, looking perplexed. This morning, they saw two lumpy shapes on the ground, in front of Section A, Plot 1. One shape was long and low. The other shape was round and high.

  “What in the world is that?” asked Mr. Yee, scratching underneath the cast of his broken arm. “It’s in front of Roger’s plot.”

  “Look!” Benny pointed at something that sat between the two shapes. “It’s a Rex rabbit!”

  As the Aldens and Mr. Yee got closer, they saw that the long low shape was a sleeping bag, with somebody inside it. The high round shape was a burlap bag. The Rex rabbit was sitting and
scratching an ear with a hind leg.

  Just then, Lucasta Kirk came around the far corner of Plot 1. She hobbled along slowly, dragging her broken leg, which was covered from toe to knee with a green trash bag.

  “Why are you limping?” Mr. Yee asked her. “You are young, you should be healed by now.”

  “I need my cast,” said Lucasta, picking up her rabbit.

  “Did you let your rabbit out of its cage?” Benny asked her.

  Lucasta frowned. “It hopped out when I went to put lettuce inside.”

  The shape in the sleeping bag groaned. It moved. Then it sat up.

  Everybody could see that it was Roger Walski inside the sleeping bag.

  “What’s going on here?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

  “What are you doing on the ground?” asked Mr. Yee.

  “I’m guarding my plot,” Roger answered. “So that nothing else is stolen.”

  “Is that your breakfast in the big bag?” asked Benny, pointing to the bag.

  “Bag?” asked Roger, looking around. “What bag?” Then he saw the big burlap bag sitting on the ground. “What’s that? That wasn’t there when I went to sleep,” he said.

  “That means somebody put the bag there after you fell asleep,” said Henry.

  “And that means you are not much of a guard,” said Mr. Yee. “Not if somebody can sneak up in the middle of the night and deposit a big bag next to your head.”

  Roger scowled. “Never you mind,” he said to Mr. Yee. He crawled out of his sleeping bag. As Roger crawled out of the bag, a clipboard and pen fell out of the bag. Henry stooped to pick them up, but Roger shouted at him. “No! Leave that alone!” Roger quickly grabbled the clipboard and pen and shoved them far into the sleeping bag.

  Henry wondered why Roger didn’t want him to see the clipboard. I wonder what’s on it, thought Henry.

  And then Henry noticed a small tool kit alongside the sleeping bag. When Roger saw Henry looking at the tool kit, he shoved it into the sleeping bag, also.

  Roger stood and stretched. Then he leaned down and cautiously opened the lumpy burlap bag. “Cucumbers!” he said in surprise. “The bag is full of cucumbers!” Roger removed a cucumber from the bag, inspected it, and bit into it. Everybody heard the loud, juicy crunch as he did so.