Pet Shop Mystery (2 page)

Mr. Fowler put down the fish food box without replacing the lid. “I can’t be carrying things outside and tending the store at the same time, Mrs. Tweedy,” the children overheard him complain.

The Aldens usually loved browsing in the Pretty Bird Pet Shop, but not after hearing Mr. Fowler. Although Benny had permission from Mrs. Tweedy to pet Doughnut, the guinea pig, today he didn’t feel like it. Violet even skipped her visit to her two favorite parakeets, Milo and Magic.

“No more long faces,” Mrs. Tweedy said when she returned. “Mr. Fowler is very grateful that you found Grayfellow. Truly he is. In fact, he has some notion that we should carry more unusual birds like Grayfellow. Of course, I wouldn’t dream of it. The bigger birds don’t belong in my small pet shop.”

Violet’s blue eyes widened. “You’re not planning to sell Grayfellow, are you?”

Mrs. Tweedy shook her head. “Never. I promised Dr. Scott from the animal shelter that I would care for Grayfellow myself after he was abandoned. My canaries and parakeets are the biggest birds I care to sell.”

Jessie stroked Grayfellow’s head with the back of her finger. “Why does Mr. Fowler want to sell bigger birds?”

Mrs. Tweedy shrugged. “I don’t know, really. Parrots are quite expensive, in the thousands of dollars. I suppose it would mean more money. But I have no such plans. I do hope Mr. Fowler will come around to my way of doing things. He’s taking a while to get used to his job here. This is the second time Grayfellow got away.”

Benny looked up at Mrs. Tweedy with his big brown eyes. “We’re animal finders. We wouldn’t let an animal get lost.”

Mrs. Tweedy patted Benny’s curly head. “Of course you wouldn’t, Benny. I know how good you Aldens are with animals. Dr. Scott has often told me what a help you are at the shelter.”

The children were all smiles now.

Mrs. Tweedy pushed her glasses on top of her fluffy white hair. “You know, I’ve been thinking of getting someone to help Mr. Fowler with some of the jobs in my shop. He might get used to the work sooner if he had a helper. Problem is, I’ll be traveling for the next few weeks, and I won’t have a minute to interview anyone.”

Jessie lined up several cat food cans on the shelves so they were nice and straight. “Maybe Dr. Scott knows someone from the animal shelter. There are lots of volunteers.”

That’s when Mrs. Tweedy winked at the children. “I don’t suppose you children would be available a few hours a day after school, and maybe a couple of weekends?”

“When can we start?” Henry asked.

“How about right now?” Mrs. Tweedy asked. She pulled out a clipboard from under the counter. “I made up this job list for Mr. Fowler. But I’ll check off the small jobs that are just right for the four of you.”

“I can clean Doughnut’s cage,” Benny piped up. “And make sure he and the other guinea pigs get brushed and petted every day. Isn’t that what guinea pigs like?”

Mrs. Tweedy smiled. “That’s just what guinea pigs like, Benny, especially when they’re in a pet shop. If someone can groom them once a day, they will make much friendlier pets. I’ll put you down for that job.”

Benny went up to the guinea pig cage. “Can I start now?”

“Of course,” Mrs. Tweedy said.

Benny found a grooming brush. He opened the cage door and gently lifted Doughnut out. Soon Doughnut was squeaking the way guinea pigs do when they are happy.

Jessie stood over Mrs. Tweedy’s shoulder to see what else needed doing. “Henry and I can make some of the deliveries or go feed pets if the owners are away. A lot of your customers know us from my paper route anyway. We can do two jobs at the same time.”

“Don’t you think I can do more than one job at a time, Mrs. Tweedy?” Mr. Fowler demanded when he returned and overheard Jessie.

Mrs. Tweedy waved over Mr. Fowler. “Of course you can. I was just about to tell the Aldens that. In fact, you’ll be doing much more than two jobs while I’m gone. And one of them will be supervising the Aldens.”

“These kids?” Mr. Fowler asked, almost shouting. “I thought I was in charge of running the shop, not looking after a bunch of kids.”

Mrs. Tweedy took a deep breath before she spoke. “They need very little supervision. Before their grandfather found them, the Aldens lived on their own in a boxcar in the woods. They did very well for themselves. They are hardworking, clever children. They can clean cages and help with the feeding and deliveries. That will free up your time for the bigger jobs.”

Mr. Fowler banged a box of dog food cans on the counter. “What if they let the animals loose? That’s what happened today.”

Mrs. Tweedy’s face grew red for the second time that day. “The Aldens had nothing to do with Grayfellow getting out, Mr. Fowler. I’m sure it happened because you’ve had too much to do. Now you’ll have more time to supervise everything. I’m counting on you for that.”

This seemed to calm down Mr. Fowler a bit. “All right,” he agreed. “But make sure they know exactly what jobs on that list are theirs and what ones are mine.”

Mrs. Tweedy nodded. “First of all, I want you to get to know the Aldens so you don’t confuse them with other children. Henry is the oldest and Jessie the next oldest. They’re both strong and very organized.”

Mrs. Tweedy pointed out Violet and Benny, who were already on the job. “You’ll be happy to have those two around, Mr. Fowler. Violet and Benny are so gentle with animals. They know how to give them attention without getting them nervous. Their second cousin Soo Lee is welcome here, too. Remember, you sold her a hamster a couple of weeks ago? She’s been wonderful with it.”

Mr. Fowler stared at the children but didn’t seem to believe Mrs. Tweedy. “Don’t see why the animals should be handled anyway. They’re not playthings.”

“Animals aren’t playthings, Mr. Fowler, but they do like to play,” Mrs. Tweedy said, going over to pet Doughnut. “I want all my animals to enjoy people so they’ll make good pets. While I’m gone, no matter how busy everyone gets, I hope each of you—including you, Mr. Fowler—will give all my critters plenty of attention.”

“We will!” the Aldens yelled, so loudly that no one noticed Mr. Fowler didn’t join in.

On the way home, the Aldens planned their pet shop schedules. Jessie walked along the sidewalk, reading her list.

“I divided all the chores. Some have to be done every few days. But some jobs are daily—like filling water bottles and feeding the animals who need to eat every day.”

“Like me?” Benny asked, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. “I have to eat every day. And lots more than once. I wouldn’t make a good turtle or fish.”

Jessie gave Benny a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“You do make a good helper, though. After school we’ll do our newspaper route on the way to the pet shop. As for the pet-sitting and deliveries, we can do some of those jobs at the end of the day, on our way home.”

The children turned into the driveway. When they caught a whiff of something delicious, they walked a little faster—so fast that they missed seeing Arthur Byrd in the shadows. He had followed the Aldens all the way home from the Pretty Bird Pet Shop.

Watch and Mrs. McGregor, the family housekeeper, were in the kitchen when the children burst in with their news.

“We have jobs! Guess what kind?” Benny cried. He raced over to the stove to see what was cooking for dinner. “Yum! Beef stew.”

He sniffed the cornbread cooling on the counter. “When’s dinner?”

Mrs. McGregor sliced into the cornbread and held out a piece for Benny. “Test this to make sure it’s done. We’re eating at six-thirty instead of six. Your cousins Joe and Alice are coming to dinner with Soo Lee. That’s why I made cornbread to go with the beef stew your cousin Joe likes so much.”

Benny smacked his lips. “And I like so much, too.”

Mrs. McGregor’s beef stew disappeared in no time. Joe Alden had an extra helping, and so did Benny. The only one who didn’t seem to eat much was Soo Lee Alden, the little Korean girl Joe and Alice Alden had adopted.

“Don’t you like beef stew?” Benny asked Soo Lee. “It’s good.”

“I have a surprise,” Soo Lee answered, “but I can’t tell.”

“Shhh,” Cousin Alice said to Soo Lee. “We’re almost done. In a few minutes you can show Benny your surprise.”

Now Benny Alden had a problem. He loved surprises, and he loved dessert. How could he sit still when he was waiting for both of them? “Can you give me a clue, Soo Lee?” he begged.

Soo Lee’s brown eyes were serious. She shook her head without saying a word.

“Now, Benny, don’t make it so hard for Soo Lee,” Mr. Alden said. “When you’re seven years old, it’s hard to keep secrets.”

Henry came in from the kitchen with Jessie, just in time to keep Soo Lee from telling her surprise.

“Gingerbread, everybody!” Jessie set down a glass plate with a big square of gingerbread on the table. Henry carried in a bowl filled with whipped cream.

After the grown-ups took their servings, Benny passed the cake plate to Soo Lee. “I know Mrs. McGregor’s gingerbread isn’t the surprise.”

Soo Lee took a tiny piece. She didn’t like sweets nearly as much as Benny did. She watched Benny clean every last crumb from his plate. Finally she whispered to her mother, “Can I show Benny our surprise now?”

Cousin Alice gave Benny a huge grin. “Yes, now is the perfect time. Everybody out to the boxcar.”

The three adults and five children trooped to the boxcar.

Everyone could hear Watch whining from the house. This only made the children more excited about Soo Lee’s surprise.

“Not another parrot?” Benny cried, hoping it just might be.

Soo Lee shook her head. “It’s not a parrot.”

“Hey, you brought your new hamster, Squeaky!” Benny cried when he saw a small animal cage on a table. “That’s a good surprise, Soo Lee.”

“That’s not the surprise,” Soo Lee said.

Cousin Joe took Benny by the hand. “Look inside.”

Benny stood over the cage and looked in. “Hey, Squeaky lost weight!”

Alice and Joe couldn’t keep from laughing.

“Not only did Squeaky lose weight,” Alice Alden began, “but we also discovered that Squeaky isn’t a he but a she. She had a litter of hamster pups two weeks ago. That’s Soo Lee’s surprise.”

Soo Lee opened the cage door. She gently lifted a tiny golden mouselike creature out of the cage. “There were two boy hamsters and two girl hamsters. You can have this boy hamster because you’re a boy, Benny.”

Benny looked up at Grandfather, who had returned from quieting down Watch. “May I keep the hamster, Grandfather? It doesn’t look like he eats too much.”

“Hamsters make wonderful pets, Benny,” Mr. Alden said. “Agnes told me what happened a few weeks ago when Mr. Fowler started working there. He mixed up the male and female hamsters. By mistake he sold Alice and Joe a female hamster that was about to have pups, instead of a male hamster.”

Alice picked up the hamster pup and stroked it. “Imagine our surprise two weeks ago,” she began, “when Soo Lee and I went to feed Squeaky and we found a cage full of little Squeakies! They were quite pink and bald and no bigger than my little finger.”

“They grow faster than we do, Benny,” Soo Lee told her cousin. “I kept the babies a secret the whole time.”

Mr. Alden was smiling. “I know it’s not really funny, but Agnes said several people who bought hamsters when Mr. Fowler first started working got the same surprise. Hamsters, hamsters, and more hamsters!”

Alice returned the pup to the cage. “Some people asked for their money back. But we knew just the place for one of Squeaky’s pups. Some of the neighborhood children will get the others in the litter.”

Soo Lee looked up at her cousins. “Mrs. Tweedy told my dad I can work at the shop, too.”

“We know, we know.” Violet hugged Soo Lee. “It will be so much fun taking care of the animals. We can’t wait.”

Cousin Joe handed Henry a bag with the words
PRETTY BIRD PET SHOP
on it. “You’ll find hamster food and a water bottle in there, Henry.”

Henry reached into the bag. “Hey, there’s a mix-up, Cousin Joe. This is turtle food. And I don’t see a water bottle in here, either.”

Joe Alden shook his head. “Not again! Mr. Fowler took the phone order for the cage and supplies before we came over here. He’s so disorganized, I bet he forgot. There will be hamster babies all over Greenfield with the way he does things. The sales slip is in the bag—unless Mr. Fowler forgot that, too. Maybe when you go to the pet shop you can exchange the turtle food.”

After the grown-ups went back inside, the younger Alden children took turns playing with Benny’s new hamster. They voted on names for the hamster and decided on “Pipsqueak.”

Jessie was too busy thinking to play with Pipsqueak. “I can’t figure out why Mrs. Tweedy hired somebody who keeps mixing up everything, including hamsters. Can you, Henry?”

Henry scratched his head. “I can’t figure it out, either. Mrs. Tweedy told Grandfather that Mr. Fowler had a good recommendation from another pet shop. But he doesn’t seem to care about animals enough to make sure they get the right kind of—”

“Henry. Look at this sales slip!” Jessie interrupted when she started to put the receipt back in the bag. “There’s a message on the back.”