Stuffed Bear Mystery (4 page)

When the Aldens arrived, the Old Mills Town Hall was buzzing with bear people. They carried big bears, little bears, and in-between bears. Some were unpacking bear music boxes; others bear T-shirts, bear books, and every kind of bear knick-knack.

The Teddy Bear Jamboree was nearly under way.

“Let’s get our badges,” Jessie said. She soon found the blue badges Peggy had arranged for them ahead of time.

“We belong to Peggy Bears,” Benny said when a security guard stopped the Aldens at the entrance.

The man winked at the older children. “You can go in, young man, but no growling.”

“Only my stomach growls at lunch time,” Benny said.

The man laughed, then waved them in.

People were swarming all over. The children looked for the row where Peggy told them she had left her things.

“
Eleven E.
Oh, good,” Henry said when he found the right row. “Peggy has one of the best spots. It’s right near the entrance. That way everyone will see it.”

The shelves, lights, signs—and boxes of Peggy Bears, of course—were piled up, ready for the Alden touch.

Jessie took an envelope from her backpack. “Peggy put in a note saying we can fix up the booth any way we want. Here are photographs from last year’s booth. See how great it looked?”

“Oh, they’re so cute,” Violet said when she saw pictures of fuzzy Peggy Bears lined up on shelves the year before. “I love her bears best. Most of them are the same color as the sheep—not dyed red or purple or strange colors that animals don’t have. I wish we could open her bear boxes right now.”

“Not yet,” Jessie advised. “We need to put the shelves and tables together first. Here’s Doc’s toolbox.”

Soon the Aldens were busy hammering in nails and putting up shelves for the display. A couple rows away, they heard a recording of “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic,” so they hummed along as they worked. It didn’t feel like work at all.

A few minutes later, loud voices nearby interrupted these happy sounds. One of the voices belonged to the woman they’d seen at Doc’s.

“I must switch my location immediately,” the woman was saying. “I cannot have a successful booth with all these children running about.”

“Now, now, Mrs. Keppel,” the security guard said to the woman. “These children are good friends of Peggy Firman. She told me herself they are quite responsible. Why, just look at the job they’ve done on the booth already.”

The woman pushed back a loose strand of hair from the old-fashioned braid on her head. Staring at the guard, she didn’t seem about to give in. “How will there be room for my customers with these children nearby? After all, my Woodland Bears are very delicate.”

Violet put down her hammer and went over to the woman. “Hello, I’m Violet Alden. We met at Doctor Firman’s Toy Hospital. I love Woodland Bears. My aunt Jane sends me one for every birthday. Now I have a whole collection. I haven’t broken a single one. I even take them down from the shelf to dust them once a week. I think they’re wonderful.”

Violet’s voice seemed to calm down the woman. “Well, then. Do you wash them regularly with baby soap and dry them with soft flannel?” the woman asked.

“Yes,” Violet answered. “Once a month, I give them a bath in warm, soapy water, just like it says on your little booklets. Do you need help unpacking all your boxes? It probably takes longer to set up little china bears than Peggy Bears.”

The woman seemed about to say yes, then changed her mind. “No. I … I can’t have anyone else handling my bears. Especially not children.”

By this time, the security guard came by again. “Everything okay now, Mrs. Keppel?”

“
Ja
,” Mrs. Keppel answered.

Benny took his head out of a box of Peggy Bears. He whispered in Violet’s ear, “Mrs. Keppel sounded just like Mr. Walder, down the street near Grandfather’s house.”

“I know,” Violet whispered back. “I think she’s from Europe, just like Mr. Walder. That’s where Woodland Bears are made.”

When the Peggy Bear booth was done, other bear sellers came by to admire the Aldens’ work.

Soon Benny’s stomach began to growl, just like he’d told the security man. “It must be time for lunch.”

Jessie checked her watch. “Almost. Oh, there’s Peggy. She’s taking us to lunch, remember?”

Peggy lit up with smiles when she saw the way the Aldens had fixed up her booth. “You children certainly have the right touch,” she said, looking around. “I never thought to put the little bears in the laps of the bigger bears. I might even sell them as a set. What a clever idea. I love it!”

“Thanks.” Henry folded the stepladder and placed it behind the display. “With four of us working, we got a lot done.” He lowered his voice and nodded toward Mrs. Keppel in the next booth. “At first that lady didn’t want us here. Then she was nice after she found out Violet has a Woodland Bear collection.”

Peggy’s eyes widened. “Oh, how lucky that my booth is next to hers.” Peggy walked over to Mrs. Keppel. “Hello. I’m Peggy Firman of Peggy Bears. I’m delighted our booths are side by side. We’ve never had Woodland Bears at the jamboree. Did you bring them all the way from Europe?”

“
Ja
,” Mrs. Keppel said. “I mean, no. Well, I must finish my work. Farewell.” Mrs. Keppel turned away.

The Aldens bundled up a few boxes, dusted shelves, and swept the booth. They put up the velvet rope so no one would come inside the booth while they were gone.

An announcement came over the loudspeakers: “The delivery truck has just arrived. Would the following people please come to the back of the auditorium to pick up your shipments? Benson, Davis, Firman, Hudson, Keppel, Laramie, Richman, and Sayer. Please pick up your deliveries at the back of the room.”

“Don’t you want to come with me?” Peggy asked Mrs. Keppel.

“
Nein
,” Mrs. Keppel answered. “I mean, no.”

After Peggy left, Mrs. Keppel looked at the Aldens.

“Do not touch anything here,” Mrs. Keppel said. “I know how children are. It is very tempting to take things that don’t belong to you.”

Jessie felt her heart thump. “We wouldn’t ever do that, Mrs. Keppel. You don’t have to worry.”

Mrs. Keppel’s pale skin reddened with shame. She almost seemed about to apologize to the Aldens. Instead, she turned on the heels of her old-fashioned shoes and went off to get her packages.

“I wish I could figure her out,” Violet said. “Sometimes she starts to like us, then she doesn’t.”

Benny moved over to the farthest side of Peggy’s booth, then stretched his neck over to Mrs. Keppel’s booth. “I don’t even like china stuff.” He hoped she had something he did like. “Hey, come here. Look at those furry brown ears sticking out from a bag under one of the shelves. See?”

The other children came over for a look.

They were careful not to put one finger or toe into Mrs. Keppel’s booth.

“Good eyes, Benny,” Henry said. “But I can’t see enough of the rest of it to tell what kind of bear that is.”

“The furry old kind,” Benny said.

On the way to lunch, the Aldens told Peggy about Mrs. Keppel and the furry ears.

“I couldn’t tell if they were Herr Bear ears,” Benny said. “But you know what? They sure weren’t made out of china stuff like those other bears she has.”

“I almost asked her about the Herr Bear again to see if she would get nervous,” Henry said. “Then the newspaper photographer showed up to take pictures. That seemed to upset her.”

“How odd,” Peggy said. “Do you believe she took the Herr Bear?”

Before the others could answer, Violet spoke up. “We saw her put the bear back and lock the cabinet. Woodland Bears are special. I don’t think someone who makes them could be a thief.”

Benny disagreed. “Who would want small china bears that you have to dust and everything? You could have a cuddly bear that doesn’t need dusting.”

“There’s one way to find out,” Violet said. “We’ll have to go back and talk to her more. I’d like to get to know Mrs. Keppel better, anyway.”

By this time, Peggy and the Aldens had arrived in front of the town restaurant.

Peggy felt for something in her pocket. “Oh, dear. I think I left my keys on the table in the booth. Would one of you run back and get them for me?”

“I’ll go,” Henry said before sprinting off.

“Bring Mister B. back,” Benny called out to Henry. “I hid him under the table. I sure don’t want him to get lost like the Herr Bear did.”

Henry made his way through the crowds. When he came to Peggy’s booth, he spotted her keys right away. “There they are,” he said, dropping them into the pocket of his jeans. Then he bent down to reach for Mister B.

A familiar pair of green mud boots was sticking out from under the table!

“Miss Sayer!” Henry said when he realized who was wearing the boots. “What are you doing under there?”

“What am I doing?” Miss Sayer grabbed her orange tote bag. “What are you doing with a blue badge? Those are only for bear sellers, not customers and children.”

Henry held the badge out for Miss Sayer to read. “See? We’re Peggy’s assistants. That’s how we got our badges. Did you come to help her, too?”

Miss Sayer seemed annoyed at Henry’s question. “Of course not. I have my own seller’s badge, as you can see. However, Peggy said I could borrow things I needed for my booth. I was looking for … for gift boxes.”

Henry looked down. Something with Peggy’s name on it was sticking out of Miss Sayer’s tote bag.

“Were you planning to tell her about taking her pattern book?” a voice nearby said. It was Mrs. Keppel, and she was frowning at Miss Sayer.

Miss Sayer looked away from the woman. “I … well, it was dark under there. How was I supposed to tell a book from a box?” Miss Sayer shoved Peggy’s pattern book back under the table. She quickly gathered up her things and left.

“Thanks,” Henry told Mrs. Keppel. “I’m glad she didn’t take Peggy’s keys, too. I’m Henry Alden.”

“I’m Elsa.” Mrs. Keppel almost smiled, but not quite. “Elsa Keppel. Don’t leave important things lying about. You must be careful about thieves.”

“We try to be,” Henry said. “This is what I was looking for,” he said when he reached under the table and found Mister B. “So long.” Henry quickly glanced into Mrs. Keppel’s booth. There was nothing but china bears to be seen—no furry ears at all.

Henry left the hall, eager to tell Peggy and his brother and sisters about Miss Sayer and Mrs. Keppel. When he stepped outside, he saw a crowd of children and their parents. As he drew closer, he discovered what everyone was looking at—three furry bear characters mingling in the crowd.

Henry saw Peggy on the far side of the crowd and called out to her. “Hey, Peggy,” Henry said. “Where are my sisters and Benny? They’d sure like to see these bears, too.”

Peggy put her hand over her mouth to cover a grin.

“What’s up?” Henry asked when he reached her. “Did they go inside already?”

That’s when the shortest bear came up to Henry and began to giggle.

“Hey, I know that laugh!” Henry bent down to get a closer look at the bear. “That’s you inside there, isn’t it, Benny?” he whispered at the bear’s big furry head.

The bear laughed again. “See, I told you we could fool him!” It was Benny’s voice. “And guess what, Henry. Jessie and Violet are bears, too!”

Peggy laughed, then guided the three bears into the restaurant. They scampered off to the rest rooms to change.

“I hope you like a good joke,” Peggy said to Henry. “Every year, the people who run the jamboree have three children dress up as the three bears from
Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
I hope you don’t mind that I volunteered Benny and your sisters for the job. They’re just the right size for the costumes. Jessie is the Papa Bear, Violet the Mama Bear. Benny is the Baby Bear, of course. It was his idea to fool you when you came back.”

“You rascal!” Henry said when Benny came back as a boy and not a bear. “You sure had me fooled. Now, here’s a real bear for you—a stuffed one anyway.” He handed over Mister B. “And here are your keys, Peggy, they were right where you thought you left them.”