Pet Shop Mystery (5 page)

“Mr. Fowler, Mrs. Doolittle, the old woman who told Benny how to comb Doughnut. She seems nicer now that Mrs. Tweedy is here,” Jessie said. “She has on a light-colored sweater. But I don’t think she’d let Grayfellow out. All she does is complain about how everybody else treats the animals.”

Henry held out a large seed for Grayfellow. The parrot plucked it from Henry’s hand. He cracked it open in no time at all.

“Who else is in the store?” Henry asked. “I thought I spotted that boy Arthur.”

Jessie nodded. “He was in the store, but he had on a dark blue denim jacket. I tried to say hi to him, but he ran out. He’s so shy.”

By this time Grayfellow was up on Henry’s hand. “Watch. Watch,” the bird said.

Henry laughed. “No, you don’t, Grayfellow. You’re not going to take my watch apart.”

“He does love shiny things,” Jessie said. “I wonder why that is with parrots.”

“He’s finally settling down,” Henry said when he heard the bell on the shop door jingle. “We got here just in time. Grayfellow could have gotten out again.”

Henry and Jessie headed to the bird area in the back of the shop. Violet had already filled Rainbow’s water bottle and food dish.

“Come see Rainbow,” Violet said in her soft voice. “She wants to go home.”

“Go home! Go home!” the Aldens heard Grayfellow yell all the way from the store window in front.

Mrs. Tweedy laughed. “That’s the first funny thing that’s happened all day. Every night I tell Grayfellow that I have to go home. That’s how he knows those words.”

“Smart parrot,” Benny said. “Well, I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here and take care of animals.”

“And so you shall,” said Mrs. Tweedy. “I’m so glad you children are here. I’ve been upset with Mr. Fowler about Rainbow and George. I suppose he was doing a good deed, but it breaks my heart to see these beautiful wild creatures cooped up.”

George let Benny scratch his head through the cage. “It’s nicer in here than in the cold storage building, isn’t it, George?”

Mrs. Tweedy looked alarmed. “What do you mean? Were these animals in the unheated building?”

Henry nodded. “That’s where Mr. Fowler’s friend dropped them off last night. We had to come back because the orders got mixed up.”

Mrs. Tweedy’s jaw dropped. “That’s not at all what Mr. Fowler told me. He said the animals were left in a cage in front of the store. A note said the owner couldn’t take care of George and Rainbow anymore.”

Benny had something to add. “That happens at the animal shelter, too. People sometimes leave their pets if they get too big.”

“Or too much trouble,” Violet said in a sad voice. “Maybe some people shouldn’t get pets.”

Mrs. Tweedy was upset now. “Certainly not pets who belong in the wild. I’m going to speak to Mr. Fowler and get to the bottom of this.”

The Aldens went about their chores that afternoon without talking much. They shredded newspapers for the hamster and guinea pig cages. Violet sprinkled pinches of food into the fish tanks. She didn’t mind when she had to spray water on the plants inside the lizard tank, even though the lizard was a little scary-looking.

“There you go, Lizzy,” Violet said. “You can drink the drops of water from the plants now so you won’t be thirsty.”

Lizzy, the lizard, stared at Violet as if she understood every word. Soon she was flicking her long tongue at the water drops dripping from the plants.

As they worked, the children heard Mr. Fowler and Mrs. Tweedy arguing.

“You led me to understand that Rainbow and George were abandoned, Mr. Fowler. I’ve now discovered that a friend of yours delivered them here,” Mrs. Tweedy said in a quiet, low voice.

Mr. Fowler banged something down before he spoke. “Were those kids telling stories about me? They don’t know a thing. I had them out delivering orders, and they couldn’t even get that right. In all the excitement, I guess I forgot to say that my old friend Jack found the animals where he works at Bird Jungle, over in Tannersville.”

Mrs. Tweedy interrupted. “Then how did they wind up in my shop?”

Mr. Fowler didn’t answer right away. “Well … uh … Bird Jungle had no place for them, so Jack … uh, came here. He remembered that I knew all about wild animals from when I worked on a fishing boat out of South America. He couldn’t leave them out on the street. He knew this was a good place.”

“The rain forest was a better place,” Mrs. Tweedy said in a sad voice. “Now do you understand why I don’t sell animals like George and Rainbow? If no one would sell them, no one could buy these beautiful creatures. They wouldn’t be taken from their homes. Now, when did you say the Tropical Animal Society will be coming for them?”

Mr. Fowler cleared his throat. “Um … this weekend. But before they do, why not consider selling animals and birds like that to your customers? Look how many people asked about buying them today.”

Henry peeked over the shelves. Mrs. Tweedy’s blue eyes were as dark as slate. “I have told you before, and this is the last time I will repeat it. The Pretty Bird Pet Shop will
never
sell wild animals or birds. Never. I’ll trust you to make sure they are safely gone to the zoo by next week,” Mrs. Tweedy said. “I have to go home now to pack for the convention. Are we agreed?”

“Agreed,” Mr. Fowler answered, ripping open a cardboard box with his hands instead of cutting off the top with scissors.

Mrs. Tweedy called the children to the bird room. Her voice was calm again now. “I’m off for a few days, children. I’ve been meaning to show you something you’ll enjoy doing while I’m gone. I’m going to teach you how to train young parakeets to come out onto your finger.”

Violet followed Mrs. Tweedy’s directions. “Just put your index finger in front of the bird over and over. Each time say, ‘Hop up. Hop up.’ Soon the bird will think your finger is a safe perch.”

Violet held her finger very still in front of Milo. “Hop up. Hop up,” she said. “It tickles,” she said softly when Milo hopped onto her finger.

“What if the parakeets fly around?” Jessie wanted to know. “How would we catch them?”

“One way is to take a small lightweight cloth, like a handkerchief. I keep a few right here on this shelf. Toss the cloth gently but quickly over the bird, then pick it up. It’s a very safe way to catch the bird. Then I always give them a treat when I return them to their cages.”

Jessie showed Mrs. Tweedy her checklist of jobs the children had finished. “This is how I organized everything. We’ll be doing the pet care jobs for Mr. Fowler on Sunday, since that’s his day off.”

Mrs. Tweedy nodded. “Wonderful. Now, when you go to Jerry’s Gas Station to feed their two guard dogs, don’t be frightened. Buster and Beau sound more dangerous than they are. Jerry built a special dog run for them in back that connects to the station. There’s a hatch door where you can leave their food. Buster and Beau are used to this. There’s no need for you to go in at all.”

“Do Buster and Beau bite people?” Soo Lee asked Mrs. Tweedy.

“Not unless someone is trying to get into the gas station who shouldn’t be there,” Mrs. Tweedy said. “Anyway, the dogs are always in the dog run. Not to worry.”

“We won’t,” Jessie said. “The only thing I am worried about is how to get supplies. Your shop is closed on Sundays.”

Mrs. Tweedy patted Jessie’s hand. “No problem. Here’s an extra key to the back door. Come in for anything you need. Make sure to leave the shade down on the front door so no one thinks the shop is open.”

“Sure thing, Mrs. Tweedy,” Henry said. “Is there anything extra you want us to do?”

“See if you can get Mr. Fowler to smile,” Mrs. Tweedy whispered. “I wish he enjoyed his job as much as you children enjoy yours. He’s on the grumpy side. Maybe you can cheer him up.”

“We’re good at cheering up animals,” Benny said after Mrs. Tweedy left. “Milo and Magic like us, and so do Lizzie and Doughnut. Even Rainbow and George like us better than Mr. Fowler does.”

This was true. Already the big macaw and the little monkey seemed to enjoy having the children around. Benny and Soo Lee played monkey games with George. When they tilted their heads, George tilted his. When Soo Lee hid some food in the palm of one hand, George tried to guess which hand had a treat for him.

“He’s pretty smart,” Benny said to Soo Lee.

“So is Rainbow. Listen,” Violet said.

“Food, food,” Rainbow said when Violet came around to fill up the seed dish. “She’s already learned to say ‘food.’”

“Too bad they have to leave,” Violet said. “This might be the last time we see them before they go to the zoo.”

The children spent extra time with George and Rainbow. The smaller birds in the bird room seem excited, too. The whole bird room was filled with twittering, chattering, whistling bird talk and bird song. That is until the back door banged and everybody jumped.

“Let’s close the door,” Jessie said. “Drafts are bad for these birds and for George. Mr. Fowler is in the storage building, so I’d better see what this customer wants.”

When Jessie came out, she saw a tall, thin woman holding a small, brand-new pet carrier.

“Where is Mrs. Tweedy?” the woman demanded. “I have to see her. I specifically said the carrier I needed was for Bootsie. Why, everyone in Greenfield knows Bootsie won the Largest Cat Award in the pet show last year. This carrier wouldn’t fit a mouse!”

Jessie ran over to help the customer. “Mrs. Tweedy just left. Are you Mrs. Garfield? My brother and I dropped off that cat carrier yesterday. Is it the wrong size?”

The woman’s voice shook with anger. “Is it the wrong size, young lady? If you saw my Bootsie, you wouldn’t have to ask that question. Bootsie couldn’t get a paw into this tiny thing, let alone the rest of her.”

Jessie took the pet carrier from the woman. “I’m sorry. There’s my brother. Henry, can you pick out a large pet carrier for this customer? Do you have the sales slip, Mrs. Garfield?”

The woman reached into her pocket. “See, I ordered the Model Ten-eighty, but somebody crossed it out and wrote down Model Ten-twenty instead. I had to drive all the way to the vet’s with Bootsie jumping around inside my car.” The woman put her hand on her chest to calm herself down. “I could have had an accident! Then, to make matters worse, Bootsie ran from the car and was nearly eaten by a dog coming out of the vet’s. All because of a foolish mistake.”

By this time, Henry had pulled down the largest pet carrier in the shop. He handed it to the woman to calm her down. “Here, take this one. I can help you get your cat inside it if you want.”

“Hmmm. I might ask you to do just that,” she told Henry. “Getting Bootsie into a cat carrier is no easy task. One other thing. I never did get my monthly order of diet cat food. Could you put a bag in the car for me? Or rather for Bootsie.
I’m
certainly not on a diet.”

Henry and Jessie hoped the woman would laugh, and she did. But the children couldn’t help wondering. How did Mrs. Garfield’s orders get switched? And why?

Sundays were big breakfast days at the Aldens. The smell of bacon, sausage, and scrambled eggs filled the kitchen. The children sat with their grandfather and talked about their new jobs.

“Today’s Mr. Fowler’s day off. We get to do his pet-sitting jobs,” Benny said between gulps of orange juice. “But know what?”

“What, Benny?” Mr. Alden asked.

“We have to feed Buster and Beau while they guard Jerry’s Gas Station,” Benny said. “And know what else? There’s a little door where we have to put the food. We don’t want the dogs to think we’re burglars and chase us by mistake.”

Mr. Alden put down his coffee cup. “That sounds like an important job, Benny.”

On Sundays it was Henry’s turn to clear the table. “Mrs. Tweedy told us the dogs are kept in a dog run,” he explained to his grandfather. “We won’t be getting close to them. Still, we can’t bring Watch along. Buster and Beau might get too excited.”

Mr. Alden sat back and poured himself another cup of coffee. “I’ll get Watch out for a walk in the woods this afternoon. He misses going out with you children now that you’re so busy at the pet shop.”