Pumpkin Head Mystery (7 page)

“It’s like a little room,” Violet said.

“With hay bales for walls,” Henry added.

“There’s even a hay bale desk over here,” Benny said. “It has a red folder and some papers on it, but the words are too hard for me to read. And there’s a map, too.”

“That’s a map of the Beckett farm,” Henry said. “There’s the house. The fields are all marked with their crops. And here is the farm stand.”

“I think I have seen that red folder somewhere before,” Jessie said. “But I don’t remember where.”

Violet looked closely at the map. “Something is wrong,” she said. “The farm stand on this map is too big and it is close to the road. The Beckett’s farm stand is much smaller. It is closer to the house.”

“And why are there pear trees on this map?” Jessie asked. “I do not remember seeing them on the farm. Also, the pumpkin patch is missing.”

“Look what I found!” Benny was wearing a long, black cape and running around the hay bale room. “It’s your missing cape, Henry. You must have left it in here.”

“But I didn’t,” Henry said. “I have never been in here before. I only thought this was a big pile of hay bales.”

“That’s what it looks like from the outside,” Jessie said. “Someone wanted this space to be private. We should probably not intrude here.”

“I like it in here,” Benny said. “It is almost as cool as our boxcar. I think we should build a hay bale clubhouse in our backyard.”

Henry smiled. “That would take a lot of hay,” he said. “But we should listen to Jessie right now. Someone wanted to keep this room secret. We should go.”

“Can I bring the cape?” Benny asked.

“I suppose so,” Henry said. “We can put it away with the other costumes.”

After Jessie, Violet, and Benny left the little room, Henry pushed the hay bales back into place. The little room disappeared once again. It only looked like a big pile of hay bales in the corner of the barn.

Jessie took the cape from Benny and folded it. She was about to put it in the bin with the other costumes when she suddenly remembered something. She had seen this cape last night. But Henry was not the one wearing it.

“Look out!” Benny called. He raced past Jessie pushing a small wheelbarrow. “I am going to beat Henry out to the pumpkin patch!”

Jessie followed her brothers and sister out to the pumpkin patch. They picked the pumpkins from their long, green vines. They piled them into the wheelbarrows. It was hard work to push the heavy wheelbarrows through the field and back to the farm stand.

“Benny and I will unload these pumpkins,” Henry said.

Violet and Jessie placed two dozen mum plants in a long, flat wagon. They pulled the wagon back to the farm stand.

“We are just in time,” Jessie said. “Here come the first customers of the day.”

Violet remembered the key that Mrs. Beckett had given her. She quickly pulled it from her pocket. She opened the door to the booth and stepped inside. She opened the window. She set up the sign with the prices. The cash box was on a high shelf. Violet stood on her tiptoes. As she reached for the box, she knocked the shelf. It came clattering to the floor.

Henry ran inside. “Are you okay, Violet?” “Yes,” she answered. “That shelf was loose. When I reached for the cash box, I knocked it down.”

“I will fix it,” Henry said. “Don’t worry.” Violet picked up the cash box. A newspaper had fallen to the floor as well. “This is odd,” she said. “This is an old newspaper from last month.”

Henry adjusted the shelf. He tightened a loose screw. “Maybe Bessie forgot it was up on the shelf.”

“Look,” Violet said. She showed the paper to Henry.

It was the “Help Wanted” section of the local paper. A red circle was drawn around one advertisement. It read,
Office Help Wanted. Good Pay. Call Bolger Construction.

The farm stand was very busy. Customers were buying pumpkins and fall wreaths and fresh vegetables.

Sally walked toward the stand with a large basket of tomatoes. “I just picked these from the greenhouse. Do we have room for them?”

Jessie quickly made a spot on a table for the basket. “They look wonderful,” she said.

“Yes,” Sally answered. “Jason has a special talent. Everything he plants grows big and tasty! Every year his tomatoes are the best. I use them to make sauce and I bring some of it home to Florida.”

Henry was standing nearby. He was breathing hard. He had just carried a very large pumpkin to a customer’s car. “He certainly grows big pumpkins, too.”

Sally looked out toward the fields. “No,” she said. “My father grows the pumpkins.”

“Doesn’t Jason like pumpkins?” Benny asked.

“It’s not that,” Sally explained. “Jason would rather plant other crops. I suppose farmers have different ideas about what is best to grow.”

Henry unloaded more pumpkins from the last wheelbarrow. “What would Jason do if Mr. Bolger bought the farm and built houses here?” he asked.

Sally sat in an old chair next to the vegetable stand. “I asked about that. Mr. Bolger said that he would give Jason a job building the houses.”

“I don’t think Jason would like that,” Henry said.

Sally sighed. “You’re right, Henry. Jason would not like it. He has worked on the Beckett farm his whole life. It is a special place to him. I cannot imagine him as anything but a farmer.”

Jessie picked up a few gourds that had fallen under the table. “When your parents are ready to sell, perhaps Jason can buy the farm.”

“I’ve thought of that, too,” Sally said. “But Mr. Bolger has a lot of money and Jason does not.”

After her customer left, Violet came out of the booth to get some air. “It certainly has been busy today.”

“Isn’t Bessie here?” Sally asked.

“No.” Violet fanned herself. Her face was red. “Bessie called in sick. She cannot work today.”

“That’s odd,” Sally said. “I saw Bessie in town this morning. I went to the bank and she was walking down Main Street. She did not look sick.”

“Maybe she was going to the doctor,” Jessie said.

Violet and Henry looked at each other. They thought they knew where Bessie was going, but they did not know for sure.

“I have only a few more days on the farm,” Sally said. “Then I must go home to Florida. I hope Bessie gets better before I have to leave.”

“Your parents will miss you,” Violet said.

“Yes.” Sally wrung her hands together. “And I am so worried about the problems here. I must try one more time to convince my parents to move to Florida with me.”

Just then, the Beckett’s car drove up the driveway and parked in front of the farmhouse.

“Excuse me,” Sally said. She walked away toward the house.

There were no customers at the stand, so Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny sat in the shade of the big tree. Henry and Violet explained about the newspaper they had found in the booth.

Jessie was surprised. “So you think that Bessie is working for Mr. Bolger?”

“I think she is,” Violet said. “Remember how we saw her coming out of his office when we were having lunch at the diner?”

Benny was munching on an apple. “But doesn’t Bessie already have a job on the farm? How could she work for Mr. Bolger?”

“Some people work two jobs when they need extra money,” Henry explained. “She might work at night or on days that she has off.”

Violet leaned back against the tree. “Or on days when she calls in sick!”

Jessie remembered something. “Didn’t the waitress at the diner tell us that Bessie was working two jobs?”

“That’s right,” Henry said. “I had forgotten that. She said that Bessie needed money because her husband was sick.”

“I feel bad for Bessie,” Violet said. “But do you think she is causing the problems on the farm? Maybe she is helping Mr. Bolger to force the Becketts into selling.”

“It’s hard to say,” Jessie answered. “We do not even know for sure if Bessie is working for Mr. Bolger.”

Violet was staring at the booth. “I think I have a way of finding out for sure.”

Violet was about to explain, but Mrs. Beckett was calling to the children from the front porch. “Come on up to the house!”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny hurried to the farmhouse. “Is everything all right?” Jessie asked.

“Yes,” said Mrs. Beckett. “We are having a celebration lunch. We wanted you to join us!”

Mr. Beckett smiled at the Aldens. “In a few days, the doctor will take the cast off my leg. I will be as good as new!”

“That is wonderful!” Jessie said. “We are very happy for you.”

Everyone sat at the table. There was crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes, turkey, and warm bread fresh from the oven. Mrs. Beckett passed the apple cider around the table.

“I am so glad you are feeling better, Dad,” Sally said. “But please promise me that you won’t go chasing that pumpkin head in the fields. I don’t want you to break your other leg. I already have too much to worry about.”

“But I have to do something!” Mr. Beckett said. “I must catch whoever is causing all the problems around here. I want this farm to be peaceful again. I want our workers to come back. They will not come if they believe the farm is haunted.”

“Do you have any idea about who is causing the problems?” asked Henry.

Mr. Beckett sprinkled salt on his turkey. “The only person I can think of would be Dave Bolger. But I don’t know how he could do it. I know this farm better than anyone. How could Dave Bolger find his way through my fields at night? The person haunting the fields always disappears without a trace.”

Mrs. Beckett passed a bowl of cranberry sauce to Benny. “But Mr. Bolger always seems to know what is happening on our farm. He shows up with an offer after every problem occurs.”

Violet looked at Henry. She did not want to accuse Bessie. She had no proof. But she did have an idea. She needed Mr. and Mrs. Beckett’s approval. Violet shyly explained her plan.

Everyone agreed that Violet’s plan was good. They would try it tomorrow when Bessie was back at work.

After lunch, the Aldens went back to finish their jobs on the farm. Henry cleaned the sign by the road. Jessie and Violet added more mum plants to the wooden stands. Benny set up the small pumpkins in row. Soon, the farm stand was clean and full of good things to buy. It was all ready for the next morning.

“We need to put the wheelbarrows back in the barn,” Henry said. “Then I think we can go home.”

Henry pushed the biggest wheelbarrow and Benny pushed the smallest one. Jessie opened the big barn door.

Benny ran inside first. “Hi, Jason!” he said. “We are putting the wheelbarrows back. What are you doing in the barn? Can we help, too?”

Jason looked surprised. He held something behind his back. “No! I am just…I was cleaning up these costumes. Someone has left them a mess. They are all over the floor.”

“I will take care of it for you,” Jessie said.

Jason mumbled a quick thank you. Then he hurried from the barn. The costumes were in a tangle. It looked as though someone had dumped the box over. Jessie carefully shook out each costume and folded it. She put them back in the box.

“I could have sworn that the long, black cape was here earlier,” she said. “I folded it and put it with the other costumes.”

“My skeleton costume is still here,” Benny said. “Can I wear it for fun? I can scare Grandfather when we go home.”

“I’m sure the Becketts won’t mind,” Jessie said. “There are no haunted hayrides tonight. You can bring the costume back tomorrow.”

“Look!” Benny cried. “Watch is afraid of scarecrows, but he is not afraid of skeletons!”

Benny was wearing the skeleton costume. He and Watch played in Grandfather’s front yard. Watch jumped on Benny. He licked Benny’s face.

Henry, Jessie, and Violet sat on the front porch. It was dark. The air was cool and crisp. Jessie tapped her pencil on her notebook. “Let’s go over it one more time before tomorrow,” she said. “Mr. Bolger wants the Beckett farm. He wants to build houses there. And Bessie is probably working for Mr. Bolger.”

Henry nodded. “Jason loves the farm. He does not want houses built there. But he does not like the hayrides and the people who come to admire the farm.”

Violet agreed. “Maybe Jason loves the farm too much. He does not want strangers riding through the fields.”

“And he thinks Mr. Beckett has not planted the best crops.” Jessie looked thoughtful. “I think Jason wants the farm for himself.”

“Don’t forget that Sally wants her parents to move to Florida,” Henry added. “And Sally and Jason have been friends since they were children.”

Jessie turned the page in her notebook. “I feel like there is a clue that I have forgotten to write down. But I don’t remember what it is.”

“What I don’t understand,” Violet said, “is how a pumpkin head can float in the air. And how can it suddenly disappear? It seems impossible, but we all saw it.”

Jessie stood up. “Do you see Benny?” she asked.

Benny had thrown a stick for Watch to fetch. He ran after Watch to the edge of the woods.

“I don’t see Benny,” Violet said. “But I see a small skeleton!”

The white bones on Benny’s costume seemed to glow. The rest of Benny was hidden in the darkness. It looked like Watch was playing with a real skeleton!