The Mystery at the Fair (3 page)

“Good idea,” Mrs. McGregor said.

With everyone helping, it didn't take long to pack the picnic basket. Benny whistled for Watch, and the dog ran happily ahead of the children as they walked down the road to the woods. The older children took turns carrying the picnic basket. Benny carried the blueberry buckets.

“Let's sit under that tree,” Jessie suggested. “It will be nice and cool there.”

“I don't care where we eat as long as we eat soon,” Benny said.

“Help me spread this blanket and then we'll eat,” Henry said.

The two boys spread the blanket. Before they could unpack their lunch, the children heard a strange sound.

“What was that?” Jessie asked.

Watch leapt to his feet and began to bark. Then he ran into the woods. Henry chased after him.

“Wait, Henry,” Jessie called out. “We'll all go with you.”

“This reminds me of the time we heard that strange noise in the woods near our boxcar,” Violet said as they hurried after Henry.

“Violet! Jessie! Over here,” Henry called.

They found Henry talking with a girl about Jessie's age. She was wearing a purple top and matching shorts. She looked very worried and there were tears in her eyes.

“This is Courtney Jenkins,” Henry said. “Courtney, I want you to meet my sisters, Jessie and Violet, and my little brother, Benny.”

“Hello,” Courtney said softly. She wiped the tears away from her smooth brown cheeks and tried to smile.

“Hi,” Benny said.

“Nice meeting you,” Violet said.

“Hello, there,” Jessie said. “What's wrong, Courtney?”

“My brother Michael is lost somewhere in these woods,” Courtney said. “We moved into a house on Murray Street a few days ago. Today, we decided to do a little exploring. Michael wandered off while I was picking some flowers.”

“Don't worry,” Violet said. “We'll help you find him.”

The children began searching for Michael. They'd only been looking for a short time when they heard Benny calling them.

“Here he is!” Benny said excitedly. “I found him!”

A small boy sat in the center of a large patch of blueberries. His hands and mouth were full of the ripe fruit.

“Michael,” Courtney said. “Why didn't you answer me? I've been calling you for more than an hour!”

The little boy slowly chewed and swallowed the mouthful of berries.

“I heard you, Courtney,” Michael said. “But every time you called me my mouth was full. You told me don't ever talk with food in your mouth!”

The children all laughed. Courtney pulled her brother to his feet. She wiped a blue smudge off his small brown chin.

“I guess I can't be too mad at you,” Courtney said. “These blueberries do look delicious.”

“They sure do,” Benny said, “but I'm just not hungry anymore.”

“You're not?” cried Violet.

“No,” Benny said. “Now I'm starving!”

CHAPTER 3

New Friends

H
enry brought the picnic basket over to where Benny had found Michael. The girls spread the blanket near a tree. The Aldens shared their delicious lunch with Courtney and Michael.

“It's a good thing we packed some extra goodies for lunch,” Jessie said as she watched Benny and Michael divide the last few chocolate chip cookies.

“This is the first time I've ever met anyone who loves to eat as much as Michael does,” Courtney said, smiling.

“It looks like Benny's found a friend in more ways than one,” Violet said.

After they finished eating, the children began to pick the blueberries.

“These blueberries are going to make a prize-winning pie for the county fair,” Henry said.

“What fair?” Courtney asked.

“Every year, Greenfield has a county fair,” Jessie explained. “This year they have a $25 cash prize for the best baked goods, the best art project, and the best craft project.”

“Henry and I are going to bake a blueberry pie,” Benny told Michael.

“I want to help,” Michael said. “Blueberry pie with ice cream on top tastes good.”

“This pie is for the fair contest, Michael,” Henry said.

“That's okay,” Michael said. “We can make two pies. One for the fair and one for us.”

“That's a great idea,” said Benny.

“Well, then,” Jessie said. “If you're going to make two pies, you and Benny will have to stop eating the blueberries as fast as we put them in the bucket!”

“Let's have a blueberry picking race,” Violet suggested.

“Yes,” Henry said. “Let's see who fills their bucket first.”

“Ready, set, go!” Courtney said.

The children began to pick the berries as fast as they could. Soon their buckets were filled with the sweet fruit.

“We won! We won!” Michael and Benny said, holding up their bucket.

“There's nothing like teamwork,” Henry said. “Now we have plenty of blueberries to make into a pie!”

“Two pies!” Michael and Benny said together.

Everyone laughed.

“I think I'd like to enter something in the fair, too,” Courtney said.

“We can show you where the entry forms are,” Violet said. “The poster is on a lamppost near our house. Your new house on Murray Street is only three blocks away from where we live. You can walk home with us.”

As they headed home, the girls tried to decide what they would make to enter in the fair.

“I love to make jewelry,” Jessie said. “Maybe I can make something that will win a prize.”

“I love making jewelry, too,” Courtney said, smiling at her new friend.

“I think I'm going to paint a picture,” Violet said.

“Let me guess,” Henry said. “I'll bet you're going to paint a picture of some violets.”

“Yes,” Violet said, laughing. “But there will be some other pretty flowers in the picture, too.”

The children continued to walk and talk until suddenly Henry stopped.

“Look!” Henry said, pointing to the lamppost where the entry forms had been. “Someone's torn up the poster!”

The children gathered around the post. Scraps of paper littered the ground.

“Who would do something like this?” Henry said as he picked up the bits of paper.

“I'll bet it was the man in the baseball cap,” Benny said.

“What man?” Courtney asked.

“There was a man who was here earlier,” Jessie explained. “He was asking us a lot of questions about our entries.”

“But why would he tear up all the entry forms?” Michael asked. “That's mean.”

“It's a mystery to me,” Henry said. He looked at his sister and grinned.

“We love mysteries,” Jessie explained to Courtney.

“Well, this looks like a good one,” Courtney said. “I really want to enter that craft contest. I wonder where I can get another entry form?”

“We can make something together,” Jessie suggested. “That way we can use the same form.”

“Thank you,” Courtney said. “If we work together it won't take very long to make something.”

“And working together makes the project more fun,” Jessie said. “Why don't you come over tomorrow morning so we can get started.”

“That will be fine,” Courtney said. “See you then.”

“We can bake our pies tomorrow, too,” Benny said.

“Yes,” Michael said. “One for the contest and one to eat.”

“I can hardly wait until tomorrow,” Benny said as he waved good-bye to their new neighbors. “I love blueberry pie.”

The next morning, Violet and Jessie got up early and went out to the boxcar. They had just opened the boxes that held their art supplies when they heard someone calling their names.

“Jessie! Violet!” Courtney called out. “Where are you?”

“We're in the boxcar,” Violet said.

“Here we are, Courtney,” Jessie said, waving to her new friend from the doorway. “Where's Michael?”

“He's in the kitchen with Henry and Benny,” Courtney replied. “Mrs. McGregor is showing them how to make pie crust.”

“I can't wait to see how their pies turn out,” Violet said.

“I can't wait to taste one,” Jessie said.

“You're starting to sound like Michael and Benny,” Courtney said as she climbed inside.

Jessie and Violet showed Courtney their boxcar treasures. Courtney smiled when she saw Benny's pink cup with the crack in it.

“This is a great place to play,” Courtney said.

“It sure is,” Jessie agreed. “We love it out here.”

“You're just in time,” Violet said. “We're about to get started on our fair projects.”

“Good!” Courtney said. “I've bought something special to show you two.” She placed a small wooden box on the table. Jessie smiled when she saw what was inside.

“Look at all the beautiful beads,” Jessie said as she scooped up a handful.

“I've never seen anything like them,” Violet said. “I love the colors.” She held a small purple bead in her hand. It sparkled in the sunlight.

“These beads were made in Africa,” Courtney explained. “My parents brought them back for me when they visited there. I thought we could make a beaded necklace and earrings like some African women wear. Then we could enter them in the fair.”

“That's a wonderful idea,” Jessie said.

“Have you decided what you're going to paint, Violet?” Courtney asked.

“I finished the sketch last night,” Violet said.

“I'd love to see it,” Courtney said.

Violet opened her sketchbook and showed the drawing to Courtney. It was a vase, filled with flowers of all types, sitting on a small wooden table near a window.

“That's going to be lovely,” Courtney said.

“Thank you,” Violet said. “I'm hoping one of us wins first place, then we can buy Grandfather's surprise birthday present.”

“Oh, so that's why you all want to win so much,” Courtney said, smiling. “That's a wonderful way to use the prize money.”

“He's always doing something nice for us,” Jessie explained. “We want to do something special for him.”

“Well, let's get started,” Courtney said. “The sooner we finish, the sooner we can enter the contest.”

Violet set up her easel by the door, where the light was good. Jessie and Courtney arranged and rearranged the beads until they made just the right combination. The girls worked all morning on their projects.

“Look, Violet,” Jessie said. “We're finished with our necklace.”

“Oh,” Violet said. “It's beautiful.”

“We need to buy some more silver wire before we can finish the earrings,” Jessie said.

“You're right,” Courtney said. “There's only enough left to make one earring.”

“I need to go to the crafts store, too,” Violet said. “I'm just about out of yellow paint.”

The girls walked into town to the crafts store. Jessie and Courtney followed Violet over to the art supplies aisle.

“Here it is,” Violet said. “Shimmery Yellow #7. Can you see the little bits of metallic paper mixed in with the paint?”

“I've never seen paint like that before,” Courtney said.

“It's new,” Violet explained. “The metallic paper helps to reflect the light. It makes the paint look like sunshine. I'm going to use it to put the finishing touches on the flowers in my painting. The best thing about this paint is that as long as it's still wet, it's easy to remove. That way, if you make a mistake, you can still fix it.”

“Your painting is going to be beautiful, Violet,” Jessie said. “Come on. Let's find the wire we need to finish those earrings.”

An older woman and a young girl blocked the end of the art supplies aisle. The girl carried a beautifully embroidered book bag with the initials KGS on it.

“Kristie, decide what paints you're going to use and do it quickly,” the woman demanded. “I want to make sure you have everything you need to win that art contest at the fair.”