Clue in the Corn Maze (4 page)

Mr. Sweeney looked away as though he were embarrassed by the compliment.

“I know you wish I’d never started the King Corn Days Festival,” Ken continued. “I know you don’t like having all these strangers milling around. But I love the festival! I love planning a new maze each year. I love building it and caring for it and sharing my love of farming with all the people who come to see it.”

Mr. Sweeney didn’t say anything.

Ken took a slow, deep breath. “I won’t give up the festival, but I’ll see that these people don’t interfere with your work anymore. Okay, Jack?”

Mr. Sweeney nodded. He put his hat back on his head. “I’d appreciate that,” he said as he walked away.

“So, who’d like to go on a quick hayride before supper?” Ken asked after the last customer had gone home and the maze was closed for the day.

“A hayride! Oh, boy!” Benny cried, jumping up and down.

Ken led the Aldens back over to the barn. There was a large green tractor parked there. A trailer with bales of hay was hitched to the tractor.

“Climb aboard!” Ken said.

“Hey, this looks like fun!” Jessie said. She hopped up onto the trailer.

“It sure does,” Violet agreed. “But where do we sit?”

“On the hay,” Ken said with a laugh. “That’s why they call it a hayride.”

The Aldens laughed, too.

Grandfather helped Benny onto the trailer, then turned to Ken, who was climbing awkwardly onto the tractor seat. “Can I help you there, Ken?” Grandfather asked.

“No, no,” Ken waved his hand. “I’m fine.” He started the tractor, and with a quick lurch, they were off.

Ken drove the Aldens all around his property. It wasn’t a fast ride, but it was a lot of fun.

“This land is really quite hilly,” Grandfather noted. “I always think of the Midwest as being flat.”

“Parts of Iowa are flat, but we’ve got some gentle rolling hills around here,” Ken said with a smile. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“It sure is,” Grandfather agreed.

Ken drove along the edge of his cornfield, then turned down a narrow, rutted road. The road led to the top of a ridge, then down to a small lake. Mr. Sweeney was sitting by the lake. As the group drew closer, they could see he was cutting pieces out of a newspaper.

“Hey, Jack,” Ken said. “What are you doing?”

Jack quickly gathered up the newspaper scraps. “I-I-I’m uh, just t-t-taking a little break,” he stammered. “I have a nephew who lives in California now, but he likes to keep up with the local sports coverage. So I’m clipping articles.”

“Well, we won’t disturb you,” Ken said. He turned the tractor in a wide circle and drove back up the hill.

When they got back to the utility barn, Ken parked the tractor.

“Thank you for taking us on a hayride, Ken,” Jessie said.

“You’re welcome, Jessie,” Ken replied. Then he and Grandfather went inside to start supper. The children decided to stay outside and look at the animals. Benny especially wanted to visit Sunny, the llama.

While they were petting Sunny, Benny noticed a scrap from an empty feed bag lying on the ground. He picked it up.

“Does anybody know where there’s a garbage can?” Benny asked.

“There’s one over by Mr. Sweeney’s trailer,” Violet said, pointing.

Benny skipped over to the garbage. He lifted the lid and was surprised to find the entire can full of empty toilet paper rolls and plastic wrapping from Softee brand toilet paper.

“Hey, come look at this!” he called to the other kids.

They came over and peered into the garbage can.

“I wonder if all of this came from the toilet paper in the maze?” Jessie asked.

“I bet it did,” Violet said. “Look!” She pointed to a cardboard roll that still had a little toilet paper attached to it. “This is the same swirly pattern we saw on the toilet paper we found in the maze.”

“And the paper at Peggy Rodman’s,” Benny added.

Just then, Mr. Sweeney came up behind them. “What do you kids think you’re doing digging in my garbage?” he asked.

Mr. Sweeney’s tone of voice startled Benny so much that he dropped the metal lid. “I was just throwing some garbage away,” he said.

Henry picked the lid up and replaced it on the garbage can. “We couldn’t help but notice all the toilet paper rolls and packaging,” Henry said.

“This is the only garbage can around here. The person who wound all that toilet paper through the maze must have put the garbage here,” Mr. Sweeney said gruffly. He checked the garbage can lid to make sure it was secure. “I suppose that’s better than leaving it in the maze.”

Mr. Sweeney brushed past the children and thudded up the steps to his trailer. “Please find someplace else to play,” he said. “And don’t dig in the garbage.”

“Okay, Mr. Sweeney,” Henry said. “We’re sorry we bothered you.”

“Mr. Sweeney doesn’t like us,” Benny grumbled as they headed back toward Ken’s house. “He’s mean.”

“I don’t think he realized Benny had picked up some trash,” Jessie said. “Instead he got mad at us for digging in his garbage.”

“Maybe he got mad because he didn’t want us to see all the toilet paper rolls and plastic wrapping,” Henry said.

“Why would he care about what we saw in his garbage?” Jessie asked. “Unless he’s the one who put all the toilet paper and manure in the maze?”

“That seems kind of strange when he’s the one who has to clean up the mess,” Violet said.

“Still, I think we should keep an eye on Mr. Sweeney,” Henry said.

The others nodded in agreement.

The children went inside the house and found David pacing back and forth in the kitchen. His dress shirt was unbuttoned and his tie was loose. He looked upset.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Dad?” David demanded.

“I just did,” Ken replied calmly as he checked the casserole in the oven.

David frowned. “I mean, why didn’t you tell me as soon as you discovered the manure in the maze?”

“What difference does it make when I tell you?” Ken asked.

“I could have come over and helped with the cleanup,” David replied.

“Don’t be silly,” Ken said. He sat down at the table next to Grandfather. “You can’t leave your job at the bank every time I have a little problem.”

“That sounds like a big problem to me,” David said. “You know I don’t like you working in the fields, Dad. You’re not a young man anymore.”

“So you keep telling me,” Ken muttered. “But I assure you I wasn’t working in the fields. Jack and the Aldens did all of the work.”

“That’s true, David,” Violet piped up. “We helped Mr. Sweeney.”

“We didn’t want Ken to work too hard, either,” Henry added.

The back door burst open. “Hello, everyone!” Kurt said as he came into the kitchen carrying two brown bags that were overflowing with corn.

“Oh, boy! Did you bring us more corn, Kurt?” Benny squealed with excitement.

“I sure did, Benny,” Kurt smiled. He set the bags on the counter.

“Hooray!” Benny jumped up and down.

“Did you hear there was some more trouble with that maze this morning, Uncle Kurt?” David asked.

“Yes, I did.”

Ken whirled around. “Who told you?”

“Jack did. Just now. Honestly, Ken. Farming is hard enough by itself, especially with your arthritis. I don’t know why you bother with this maze, too.”

“Because I enjoy it,” Ken said. “If I have to give up my maze, I may as well give up the whole farm and move into town with David and his wife.”

“That’s not such a terrible idea, Dad,” David said.

“Listen to your son, Ken,” Kurt said. “I really think that once the King Corn Days Festival is behind us, we should sit down with our lawyers and work out some sort of deal. I’d like to buy you out.”

“You don’t have the money to buy me out,” Ken said.

Kurt and David exchanged a look. “Well, Ken,” Kurt said carefully. “I went to see somebody at the bank about getting a loan.”

Ken opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“I think I could swing it,” Kurt went on.

“No,” Ken said, shaking his head.

Kurt pulled out a chair next to Ken and sat down. “You don’t have to sell the house. Just sell me the land. Let me farm it.”

“No!”

Kurt leaned back in his chair. “You’re being stubborn!” he declared.

“It’s my land!” Ken exclaimed. “I can be stubborn with my own land if I want to be.”

“Think of your health, Dad,” David pleaded. “If Kurt wants to buy you out, I think you should at least consider it.”

“You can still be involved,” Kurt promised. “I’d take your advice. Just let me handle the hard work.”

“If you keep pestering me, I’ll sell to Peggy Rodman instead of you,” Ken threatened.

Kurt looked stunned. “You wouldn’t,” he said.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Ken asked. “She made me an offer a few months ago. A pretty good one, I might add.”

“B-but,” Kurt stammered, clearly upset. “She’s never liked either one of us. Why would you sell to her instead of to your own flesh and blood?”

“Because at one time, all this land belonged to her family,” Ken explained. “I bought this farm from her dad, you know. Letting her buy it back might go a long way toward mending fences between us.”

Kurt was so angry the Aldens could almost see smoke coming out of his ears. “If you sell to her instead of to me, I’ll never forgive you, Ken.”

“Well, right now, I’m not planning on selling to anybody,” Ken said. “So why don’t we quit talking about this. Let’s cook the corn and eat some supper.”

“I’m not hungry,” Kurt said, rising to his feet. He stormed out of the house.

The Aldens sat in silence. They felt bad about having heard the argument between Ken and his brother.

Ken seemed a little embarrassed about it, too. “I’m sorry you Aldens had to hear our family squabbles,” he said.

Grandfather waved his hand to let Ken know it didn’t matter. “I know how important it is to you to hang onto this farm,” Grandfather said.

“I bought this farm with my own money, James,” Ken said. “I didn’t even take out a loan. I paid cash.”

“I remember,” Grandfather said.

“Believe it or not, Dad, Uncle Kurt and I really do have your best interests at heart. We’re worried about you,” David said.

“Well, stop worrying,” Ken said. “What’s best for me is to stay right here and keep farming my land.”

“I wish I was as sure of that as you are,” David said. He picked up his briefcase and gave his father a hug.

“I need to get home,” David said. As he was leaving, he noticed the red cap sitting on the counter.

“Hey, I was wondering what happened to my cap,” he said, picking it up.

Jessie looked up. “You mean that cap belongs to you?” she asked.

“Yes. I just got it a couple weeks ago. It’s got a light on it, see?” He flipped the switch and the bulb lit up. “I was really upset when I noticed it was missing this morning.”

The Aldens all looked at each other. “We found it in the maze this morning,” Henry said.

“You did?” David sounded surprised. “Gee, I wonder how it got there.” He scratched his head. “Now that I think about it, I remember I borrowed a rake from the shed the other night. I’ll bet I left it in the shed then.”

“How did it get from the shed to the middle of the maze?” Jessie wondered.

“That’s a mystery, isn’t it,” David said with a smile. “I just know I didn’t put it there. I haven’t been in the maze for days.”

“Maybe the person who dumped the manure in the maze went into the shed to get a shovel or something and found it,” Violet suggested.

“Maybe,” David said. “In fact, maybe they left it in the maze on purpose so you’d think
I
was the vandal.”

“I would never think that, Son,” Ken said.

David smiled again. “I hope not.” He picked up his cap. “Well, I’d better be going. See you all later.”

After a hearty supper, the Aldens decided to take a walk through the maze before bed. It was just starting to get dark, so they borrowed flashlights from Ken. Ken and Grandfather sat on rocking chairs on the back porch.

“I wonder how David’s cap got from the shed to the maze,” Violet said as she shined her flashlight on the path ahead of them.

The cornstalks rippled in the night breeze as the children turned a corner.

“Obviously someone took it out of the shed,” Henry said. “But who? Who could have gotten in there?”

“It could have been anybody,” Violet said. “Ken doesn’t keep the shed locked.”

“I’ll bet Mr. Sweeney goes in there a lot,” Jessie said.

Henry could see the light from Mr. Sweeney’s trailer through the cornstalks. “He lives here, so it would be pretty easy for him to sneak into the maze at night when no one’s watching,” Henry said.

“What about Peggy Rodman?” Benny asked. “She lives pretty close. It wouldn’t be very hard for her to sneak in during the night, either.”

“Plus, she wanted to buy this land,” Jessie said. “Ken said it used to belong to her family.”

“He also said this maze is the one thing that’s preventing him from selling his farm right now,” Henry said. “So maybe she thinks Ken will sell if he doesn’t have his maze anymore.”

“Peggy Rodman isn’t the only person who wants to buy this farm,” Benny said. “Kurt wants to buy it, too.”