The Pumpkin Head Mystery Read online

  “That sounds wonderful,” said Jessie. “Thank you.”

  Benny rested his head in his hands. “I’ll be there in a minute,” he said.

  Henry, Jessie, and Violet went inside to wash up for dinner. Benny sat by the pole with Watch, thinking.

  “You have straw in your coat, Watch,” Benny said. “And you had a piece of my scarecrow’s pants. That means you must be guilty of taking Sam. But where did you put him?”

  Watch barked and growled. He ran in circles around the pole.

  “Wait a minute,” Benny said. “Something does not make sense.” He felt around in the grass underneath the pole. The only thing he found was a few pieces of straw. Benny stood up. “Wait here, Watch. I’ll be right back.”

  Benny ran inside and took a flashlight out of the closet. He jumped down the porch steps and into the yard. “Come on, Watch,” he said, turning on the flashlight. “Let’s go look for Sam. Maybe we can rescue him. I’ll bet you know something, don’t you?”

  Watch barked excitedly. He ran toward a stand of trees at the far end of Grandfather’s property. It was very dark, but Benny followed. He shone the flashlight through the trees and under the bushes. He saw two fat toads and a possum with a long tail, but no scarecrow. Benny walked deeper and deeper into the small patch of woods.

  Mrs. McGregor put a steaming roast on the table. Henry, Jessie, and Violet helped to set out the mashed potatoes, green beans, and applesauce.

  Grandfather filled all their glasses with milk. “That’s odd,” he said. “A table full of food and no Benny. Where is your brother?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Jessie. “I thought he was getting washed for dinner. I’ll go check.”

  Jessie was back in a minute. Her face looked worried. “He’s not upstairs,” she said, “and he’s not in the yard either.”

  “Oh, my,” said Mrs. McGregor. “I hope he’s not still upset about his scarecrow. Where could he have gone?”

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Grandfather all grabbed flashlights and ran outside to search for Benny. Grandfather checked the back yard. Jessie looked in the garage.

  “Benny!” Henry yelled. “Where are you?” Henry’s voice was loud, but Benny did not answer.

  Violet was shining her flashlight up the driveway. “Listen!” she exclaimed. “I think I can hear Watch barking!”

  Grandfather and the children hurried toward the patch of woods where the sound had come from. “Careful,” Grandfather said. They stepped over fallen branches and past prickly bushes. An owl hooted in the trees above them.

  Suddenly Watch burst from the bushes, panting. “Watch!” Jessie called. “Where is Benny?”

  “I’m over here!” Benny shouted. “I’m stuck!”

  Henry ran. He found Benny by a wire fence next to the road. Some of the wire had come loose and was on the ground. Benny’s foot was tangled in it!

  “I didn’t see the wire,” Benny explained. “It was dark. And then I stepped into it. But look what I found!” He pointed to a pile of straw on the ground.

  A round circle of blood stained Benny’s sock. Grandfather worked Benny free from the wire and carried him home.

  Mrs. McGregor stood nervously on the porch. “Thank goodness he’s safe!” she exclaimed. When she saw the blood on Benny’s leg, she hurried to get the first aid kit.

  Inside, Jessie washed Benny’s cut and put a bandage over it. “You should never go that close to the road, Benny,” she said. “It’s too dangerous. We were so worried.”

  “I’m sorry,” Benny said. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I wanted to find Sam. I thought maybe Watch knew where he was.”

  “Sam?” Grandfather asked, as they all sat down to dinner. “Do you mean your scarecrow?”

  “Yes.” Benny explained how they had come home to find the scarecrow missing. “At first, we all thought Watch did it. But he didn’t! Watch is innocent!”

  “How can he be innocent?” asked Violet. “Watch had a piece of Sam’s pants in his mouth.”

  “I know.” Benny scooped a mountain of mashed potatoes onto his plate. “But remember all the broken pumpkins at the Beckett farm today?”

  “Of course,” Violet answered.

  “It made me think. If Watch had pulled down my scarecrow, wouldn’t the pumpkin head have fallen onto the ground?” Benny poured gravy over his potatoes. “And when pumpkins fall to the ground, they break open. Watch could never have cleaned up all the pieces of a broken pumpkin head.”

  “That’s true,” Henry said. “I never thought of that. Good detective work, Benny!”

  “But why did you go into the woods?” Jessie asked. She handed Benny a napkin. Gravy was running down his chin.

  “Since Watch had a piece of Sam’s pants, I thought that he might know where Sam was. We searched everywhere. I followed Watch to the fence. Something there made him bark a lot. I found some of Sam’s straw on the ground by the fence. Then I got stuck.” Benny rubbed his sore leg.

  “Looks like you have another mystery on your hands,” said Grandfather.

  “One thing is for sure,” Henry said. “Scarecrows cannot get down from their posts all by themselves.”

  “That’s right,” said Benny. “Even the scarecrow in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ needed Dorothy’s help! And he could talk!”

  “But if Watch did not pull Sam down, who did?” Jessie tapped her fork on the table. “And who would want to steal a scarecrow?”

  Violet rested her arms on the table and leaned toward her brother. “Benny,” she said, “I think Sam has been kidnapped!”

  “No, Violet,” Benny said. “He’s been scarecrow-napped!”

  CHAPTER 5

  Violet’s Fliers

  Early the next morning Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny rode their bicycles to the farm.

  “You did a good job fixing the sign, Henry,” Jessie said as they rested at the end of the farm lane. “It looks straight and sturdy now.” “Thanks,” Henry said. “But what is that on the sign?”

  Someone had painted an angry pumpkin face at the top of the sign. Underneath it said, Stay Away! Or Else!

  The children quickly pedaled down the lane. Bessie was just opening up the booth. The children were relieved that nothing seemed to have been disturbed at the farm stand.

  Mrs. Beckett smiled and called to the children from her front porch. “Come on up to the house! I have something for you.”

  A tray of freshly baked cranberry muffins and a pitcher of cold milk sat on the table. Mr. Beckett rested in a chair with an account book on his lap. He wrote numbers in columns. There were dark circles under his eyes. Sally leaned against the porch rail with a cup of coffee and a newspaper in her hands.

  “Good morning!” said Mrs. Beckett. “Please help yourselves to some muffins. They’re still warm.”

  “Oh, boy!” said Benny. “I love muffins.”

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny thanked Mrs. Beckett. They each took a muffin and a glass of milk.

  “I don’t know if you noticed,” Henry said, “but someone wrote on your sign up by the road.”

  Sally gulped her coffee. “Oh, no!” she said. “What did they write?”

  Henry explained what they had seen. Sally’s face went white.

  “Don’t worry,” Henry said. “I can clean it off for you.”

  “Thank you,” said Sally. “But it’s worse than you think.”

  Mr. Beckett dropped his papers into his lap. “It’s nothing but nonsense,” he said.

  “Maybe so,” Sally agreed. “But some people believe it. It is scary. And now that more workers have quit, how will you ever run the haunted hayrides?”

  “We do need the money from those haunted hayrides, George.” Mrs. Beckett wrung her hands together. “I don’t know what we’ll do without it.”

  “Did something happen last night?” asked Henry.

  “Yes, and it was very frightening.” Bessie walked up the porch steps. She poured herself a cup of coffee.

  “We saw
a new pumpkin head floating through the fields last night,” Sally explained. “It had a very scary face. It glowed in the dark.”

  “It also made horrible screaming noises.” Bessie shuddered. “And it warned people to stay away from the farm.”

  “Our employees were frightened,” Mrs. Beckett said. “They quit and we had to cancel the haunted hayride. We have no workers left.”

  Benny’s eyes were wide. Jessie knew he was thinking of ghosts. She put her arm around her little brother.

  Henry had a hunch about the glowing pumpkin head. He wished he had seen it. “We could help out tonight,” he offered. “It would be fun to be part of a haunted hayride.”

  “But who will come to our hayrides after this article in the paper?” Sally asked. She pointed to the headline: Strange Happenings at Local Farm. “The story says our farm is haunted. It says that our employees have quit because they are afraid.”

  “It’s in the paper?” Bessie put her hand to her mouth. “I didn’t think he…” Bessie did not finish her sentence. “I have to get to work,” she said. “Remember, Mae, I have an appointment later today.” She quickly headed toward the farm stand.

  Mrs. Beckett sighed. She began to collect the dishes and coffee cups. Mr. Beckett crossed out some numbers in his account book. “I suppose we’ll have to shut down,” he said. “Sally is right. Who will come to the farm now?”

  “Wait a minute,” Henry said. “Maybe the newspaper article will bring more customers to the farm. After all, don’t people expect strange happenings on a haunted hayride? Maybe they will want to come and see this scary pumpkin head.”

  “That makes a lot of sense,” Violet said. “I think we should make fliers. We can advertise how scary the hayride will be.”

  “What a great idea.” Jessie smiled at her younger sister. “Violet is very talented. She could design the fliers. We could put them up all around Greenfield. After seeing them, I bet a lot of people will want to come for the hayrides!”

  “What do you think, Mae?” Mr. Beckett asked his wife.

  “I think the Alden children are very clever! Let’s give it a try.” Mrs. Beckett opened the screen door. “Come on inside. I have some art supplies in the closet.”

  “And I’ll drive you into town when the flier is ready,” Sally said. “That will be quicker than riding your bikes.”

  Violet got right to work on designing the flier. Jessie suggested using bright autumn colors. Henry thought that drawing a few ghosts and the scary pumpkin head would be a good idea. At the bottom, Violet added a phone number and directions to the farm.

  Benny was hard at work with his own paper and crayons. “How do you spell ‘pumpkin head’?” asked Benny. “How do you spell ‘scarecrow’?” He was just learning how to read and write. Jessie spelled the big words for him.

  Benny jumped up from the table. “There!” he said. “I made my own flier.” He held it up for his brother and sisters. He had drawn a picture of Sam. Underneath were the words Missin! Pumpkin Head Scarecrow.

  Jessie smiled. “That looks great, Benny. Just one little mistake to fix.” Jessie squeezed the letter g onto Benny’s paper.

  “I’m going to put my flier up in Greenfield, too,” Benny said. “Maybe somebody has seen Sam.”

  Henry was about to say something about his hunch when Sally came into the room. “All ready?” she asked.

  It was a beautiful, warm day. Sally and the children climbed into the car to head for town. Some customers were already at the farm stand buying tomatoes and corn.

  “Do you miss the farm when you are in Florida?” asked Jessie.

  “A little bit. Mostly, I miss my parents,” said Sally. “I was never much good as a farmer. I prefer to work in an office. Jason was always more help to my parents than I was.”

  “Jason?” asked Henry.

  “Yes,” Sally explained. “Jason and I have been friends since we were little children. He has always loved the Beckett farm. He would come over to play with me, but he would soon be out in the fields with my father. I think Jason was helping with the planting when he was only ten years old!” Sally laughed. “I hated to get my shoes dirty! I never went out into the fields. Even the mice in the barn scared me! I was never meant to be a farmer.”

  “But mice aren’t scary!” Benny said. “They can’t hurt you.”

  Sally shivered. “I suppose you’re right, Benny. Maybe it’s just that I don’t like them very much.”

  “That’s like our dog, Watch,” Benny said. “I told him that scarecrows weren’t dangerous, but he was still afraid. Do you want to see Sam?” Benny held up his drawing.

  Sally pulled into a parking space in front of the office store. When she looked at Benny’s drawing, a funny look crossed her face.

  “Sally!” A woman in a green dress waved at the car.

  “Excuse me, children,” Sally said. “That is an old friend of mine. How about we meet back here in a few hours?” she asked.

  “Of course,” Jessie said.

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny headed into the store to make copies of their fliers. They each took a handful and began to walk down Main Street. They stopped in many offices and stores to ask if they could tape a flier in the window. Most people were very kind and gave permission. Several admired Violet’s drawing. They said that the haunted hayride sounded like a lot of fun.

  At the end of one long block, Benny stopped. “My feet hurt,” he said. “Are we almost done?”

  “Yes,” Jessie said. “Then we’ll get a cool drink and rest. Do you think you can make it a little farther?”

  Before Benny could answer, the Aldens heard a commotion close by.

  “What’s that?” asked Violet.

  Two men were across the street. They were standing in front of a small café. They were having a loud argument.

  Jessie grabbed Henry’s arm. “Look!” she said. “That’s Jason!”

  “I could have been killed!” shouted a man in a blue shirt.

  “I already said I was sorry.” Jason had a bright red folder tucked under his arm. He accidentally dropped it. Papers spilled onto the sidewalk. “Now look what you made me do! Why don’t you leave me alone? It is over now.”

  The man’s face was very red. “I am still upset. You need to learn how to drive!”

  People on the street were staring. A policeman stopped to ask if everything was okay.

  “He almost got me killed!” the man shouted. “He stopped his car in the middle of the road! You should give him a ticket!”

  The police officer looked around. Traffic was moving fine along Main Street. He seemed confused. “What car?” he asked.

  “Oh, forget it!” The angry man stalked off.

  The police officer shrugged his shoulders. Jason shook his head. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and clipped it to the red folder. Then he opened the door of the café and went inside.

  Jessie looked at her sister and brothers. “I wonder what that was all about.”

  “I don’t know,” Violet said. “But that man was very angry. Maybe Jason ran out of gas and had to stop in the road somewhere.”

  Benny sank to the sidewalk. “I think my feet are out of gas.”

  Henry smiled. “Can they make it one more block to the diner? It’s our last stop.”

  “Maybe they can make it,” Benny said. “Will we get something to eat there?”

  “Yes,” Jessie said. “I think we could all use a rest and a bite to eat.”

  Benny jumped up. “Then my feet have just enough gas left!”

  The diner wasn’t crowded and the children slipped into a booth by the front window. They ordered sandwiches and four tall lemonades. Their waitress’s name was Kim.

  She had short blond hair and a big smile.

  When Kim brought the food, Jessie showed her the flier. “May we hang up this flier in the diner?” she asked

  “That is a beautiful drawing,” Kim said. “I can hang it on the wall up front. More people will see it t
hat way. This hayride sounds like a fun time.”

  “Thank you,” said Jessie.

  The waitress stared at the flier. “Hey,” she said. “This is the Beckett farm!”

  “Yes,” Jessie said. “Do you know about the Beckett farm?”

  “They sell wonderful vegetables at their farm stand,” she answered. “And my friend works there. Maybe you know her. Her name is Bessie Unger.”

  “Oh, yes!” Violet said. “We know Bessie.”

  “Tell her I said hello,” Kim said. “I haven’t talked to her in a while. Is her husband feeling better?”

  “I’m sorry,” Violet answered. “But we didn’t know her husband was sick.”

  “Oh, sure,” Kim said. “That’s why she’s been working two jobs.” A bell rang in the kitchen. “Excuse me, kids,” Kim said. “The order’s up for table five.”

  After Kim left, Henry took a long drink of lemonade. “Two jobs is a lot,” he said. “Bessie must really need the extra money.”

  “I hope her husband gets better soon,” Violet said. She looked out the window at the shops across the street. Some people were stopping to look at the fliers. “Do you think the fliers will help bring customers to the farm?” she asked.

  “I sure hope so,” Jessie said. “I think the Becketts are counting on it.”

  Benny swallowed a big bite of his hamburger. “If the Becketts don’t make enough money, will they have to sell the farm to Mr. Bolger?”

  “They might,” Henry said. “Mr. Bolger seems to have a lot of money and he really wants their land.”

  “Do you think he is behind all the problems on the farm?” asked Violet.

  “He could be,” said Jessie. “He wants the farm very badly and the Becketts have refused to sell to him. Maybe he thinks he can frighten them away or force them to sell.”

  “That’s terrible,” said Violet.

  “Yes,” said Henry, “but Mr. Bolger is not the only one who wants the Becketts to sell. Sally thinks her parents are too old to take care of the farm. She wants to convince them to move to Florida with her.”

  Jessie pulled out a small notebook and pencil. She often took notes when there was a mystery to be solved. She listed Mr. Bolger and Sally. They both wanted the Becketts to sell the farm, but for different reasons.