Pumpkin Head Mystery (6 page)

Sally and Jessie helped the customers down from the wagon. Sally shone her big flashlight along the path and everyone followed.

“Where are your brothers and sister?” asked Sally.

Jessie explained about the screaming pumpkin head. “Benny ran after it,” she said. “Henry and Violet went to find him. I hope they are okay.”

“Oh my!” said Sally. “I did see the pumpkin head. It was here last night as well. It seems to float over the ground. I can’t figure it out.” She turned to look at Jessie. “But why would Benny run after it?”

Jessie stared nervously into the dark fields. “He thinks it might be his missing scarecrow.”

Sally put her arm around Jessie’s shoulder. ”I’m sure your brother will be all right,” she said. “When we get everyone back safely, I will help you to look for him.”

“Thank you,” Jessie said. “I am worried about him and Henry and Violet, too.”

Back at the barn, the customers quickly lined up for the cider and cookies. Many sat on benches around the crackling bonfire. Bessie was busy selling pumpkins and corn. Mrs. Beckett poured the cider and refilled the cookie trays. She waved to Sally and Jessie.

“What happened out there?” Mrs. Beckett asked.

“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “Jason told everyone that the tractor was broken. We thought it was part of the show, but the tractor didn’t move. When we looked for Jason, he was gone.”

“Poor Jason,” Sally said. “He must feel so bad.”

Mr. Beckett limped over on his crutches. “I don’t understand what is wrong with that tractor,” he said. “First the wires on the motor came loose. Now something else seems to be wrong. I’m sure I checked it just this morning.”

“Excuse me,” Jessie said. “I need to go look for my brothers and sister.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” Sally said. “Why don’t you run into the barn and grab another big flashlight. There is one on the shelf in the back.”

Jessie ran into the barn. She quickly found the flashlight. She was standing in the dark corner taking off her bride costume when she heard a noise. Someone else was in the barn! It was Jason. He pulled off a black cape and threw it behind a bale of hay. Then he grabbed a gas can and ran from the barn.

Jessie did not have time to think about what she had seen. Sally was calling her name. She dashed outside. They had to find her sister and brothers first!

“Ready?” Sally asked. “I think I see some flashlights shining in the cornfields. Let’s head that way.”

Jessie and Sally walked through the fields. The dirt was soft beneath their feet. They did not see Benny or Henry or Violet.

“Maybe we should stand still for a minute,” Jessie suggested. “Perhaps if we are quiet, we will hear them.”

“That’s a good idea,” Sally said.

They stood quietly, but the dried cornstalks rustled loudly in the wind. They were about to move on when Sally held up her hand. Something was moving. It was coming toward them.

Sally gripped Jessie’s hand. “I do not believe in ghosts,” she said. “But I am afraid of mice. If it is a mouse, I might scream.” She shone her flashlight on her feet.

“It sounds too big to be a mouse,” Jessie answered.

Suddenly, someone burst through the stalks.

“Bessie!” Sally cried. “What are you doing here? You nearly scared us to death.”

Bessie was so frightened she dropped her flashlight. She put her hand over her heart. “Oh my!” she cried. “I’m sorry. I…I…was just trying to see what was going on out here. I thought maybe I could help.”

“But who is taking care of the farm stand?” Sally asked.

“You’re right,” Bessie replied. “I should get back to the booth.”

“Have you seen Benny?” Jessie asked.

“No,” Bessie answered. “But I think I heard your sister and brothers on the path a few minutes ago.” She pointed to her right. “If you run that way, you should be able to catch them.”

“Thank you!” Jessie ran through the stalks. She was not afraid of mice, but she did not like being in these dark fields all alone. She remembered the warning of the shrieking pumpkin head. Finally, she came to the path. She shone her flashlight up ahead. She could just make out three figures walking close together.

“Benny!” she called. “Is that you?”

“Jessie! We’re over here!” Benny called.

Henry, Violet, and Benny ran toward Jessie. “What happened?” she asked them. “Is everyone okay?”

“We’re fine,” Henry said. “We’ll explain later. Let’s all go back and get warm first.”

The Aldens were glad to sit around the big bonfire. The customers had finally all gone home. Mrs. Beckett brought out blankets for everyone. Bessie carried a steaming pitcher of hot chocolate and a plate of marshmallows. Jason sat with his head in his hands.

“Don’t worry, Jason,” Sally said. “There wasn’t anything you could do about it.”

Jason shook his head. “Were the people on the hayride very frightened? Do you think they will stay away from the farm?”

“Some were frightened,” Jessie said. “But I think that most had a very nice time.”

“Yes,” Violet added. “I heard one couple say that they would come back next week. They said that they would love to live in such a beautiful place.”

“What?” Jason jumped up. “What a thing to say! They cannot live here. This is a farm. This will always be a farm!” He turned to Mr. Beckett. “We do not even need to have these hayrides.”

“But the hayrides bring in customers and money,” Mr. Beckett said.

Jason stood near the fire. Bright orange light lit up his face. “There are better ways to make money. This is a farm, not an amusement park!”

Suddenly, Benny fell off the bench onto the ground. He had fallen asleep next to Jessie.

“Oh, my!” Mrs. Beckett said. “Are you all right, Benny?”

Benny rubbed his eyes. “I guess so. What happened?”

“It is late,” Mrs. Beckett said. “We can talk tomorrow. These children need to go home to bed.”

“They cannot ride their bikes in the dark,” Sally said. “It is too dangerous on these roads. Jason, will you give them a ride home in the truck?”

Jason stopped his pacing. “Of course,” he said. He went to load the bikes into the back of the pickup truck. Henry carried the sleepy Benny. Jessie folded the blankets for Mrs. Beckett.

“I left my water bottle in the booth,” Violet said. “I will meet you in a minute.”

Violet ran to the booth. She could hear Bessie talking inside. “Yes, some people were frightened,” she said, “but not everyone. Something much worse will have to happen to scare everyone away.”

Violet did not want to interrupt. But she felt uncomfortable listening to Bessie’s private conversation. She knocked on the door of the booth.

The door flung open. “Violet!” Bessie quickly dropped her phone into her pocket. “Don’t you know that it is not nice to snoop on people?”

“I’m sorry,” Violet said. “But I am not snooping. I just stopped by to pick up my water bottle.” Violet pointed to the bottle sitting on the counter. “I am going home now.”

“Oh.” Bessie handed the bottle to Violet.

“Me, too. I was just calling my husband to tell him that I am on my way.”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny were very tired. It was hard to stay awake on the way home. Henry sat up front. He gave directions to Jason.

“Here?” Jason asked. “This is your driveway?”

“Yes,” Henry said. “Make a left. This is where we live.”

Jason seemed surprised. He parked the truck in front of the house. He helped Henry to take the bikes out of the back. When Jessie opened the front door of the house for Benny, Watch dashed outside. He began to growl and bark at Jason.

“Watch!” Jessie called. “Stop that! Come back!”

But Watch did not stop. He barked angrily at Jason.

“You have a mean dog,” Jason said. “You should keep it on a leash.”

“Watch is not mean!” Jessie knelt down beside her dog. “I am sorry that he is barking at you this way. I don’t know what has gotten into him.”

Jessie took Watch by the collar. She led him into the house. But Watch continued to growl until Jason had driven away.

Jessie held her dog in her arms. Watch was trembling. “What is it, boy?” she asked. “What has gotten you so upset?”

Benny woke to the smell of warm apple cinnamon waffles. He jumped out of bed. The first thing he did was look out the window. There was frost on the ground. Red leaves were falling from the old tree out front. But Sam was still missing.

When Benny came downstairs, Henry, Jessie, and Violet were already at the table. Mrs. McGregor set a full plate in front of Benny. “I hope you’re hungry,” she said.

“A little bit,” Benny answered.

“A little bit!” Mrs. McGregor put her hand on Benny’s forehead. “Are you feeling sick? Benny Alden has never been only a little bit hungry.”

Benny did not smile. He rested his chin in his hand. “I just keep thinking about Sam. I wonder if I will ever get him back.”

“What happened when you ran into the fields last night?” asked Jessie. “Did you find anything?”

“I wasn’t afraid,” Benny said. “I knew that the pumpkin head was Sam. I would recognize him anywhere. I ran after him. The head was floating around and screaming. But there was no body. Then all of a sudden it disappeared.”

“That’s very odd. How could that happen?” asked Jessie.

Benny shook his head. “I don’t know. One minute the pumpkin head was there and the next minute it was gone.” He took a small bite of his waffle. “Why would my scarecrow keep running away from me?”

“Scarecrows can’t really run, Benny,” Henry said. “Someone is playing tricks. I think your scarecrow is somewhere on the Beckett’s farm. If we can find Sam, maybe we can find out who is playing the tricks and why.”

Jessie opened up her notebook. “Do you have any idea who could be playing the tricks, Henry?”

“It could have been Jason,” Henry said. “He was not on the tractor when the pumpkin head was floating in the fields.”

“That’s true,” said Violet. “But maybe he just went back to get help.”

“Sally said that she saw the pumpkin head,” Jessie added. “And then after it disappeared, she showed up with a flashlight. So it could have been Sally, too.”

Violet poured syrup over her waffle. She remembered what she had overheard last night. “Don’t forget about Bessie. When I went to get my water bottle from the booth, I heard Bessie talking to someone on her cell phone. She was mentioning how the customers weren’t scared enough by the pumpkin head. She thought something worse needed to happen on the farm to scare people away.”

“But wasn’t Bessie in the booth all night?” Henry asked. “How could she have caused the trouble with the pumpkin head?”

“I don’t know,” said Violet. “I suppose you’re right.”

“No!” Jessie was writing quickly in the notebook. “Bessie was not in the booth all night. When Sally and I went looking for you in the fields, we saw Bessie in the cornstalks. She said she was there to help. But she was surprised to see Sally and me.”

Benny finished his waffle. He did not ask for seconds. He was thinking hard. “Maybe it was not Sally, or Jason, or Bessie,” he said. “Maybe Sam really
is
a haunted scarecrow!”

“But there’s no such thing,” said Violet.

Benny pushed his plate away. “Watch was afraid of Sam. Then Sam disappeared. Now he floats without his body. How can anyone make a pumpkin head float unless it is haunted?” Benny’s eyes were wide.

Henry, Jessie, and Violet did not know how to answer Benny’s question. The floating pumpkin head was a mystery.

When they arrived at the farm later in the morning, the four Aldens saw Mr. and Mrs. Beckett getting into their car.

“We’re off to the doctor!” Mrs. Beckett said. “It’s time to get a checkup on Mr. Beckett’s leg. We’ll be back soon.”

“Good luck!” Violet said. “I hope you get good news from the doctor.”

“Thank you.” Mrs. Beckett put her husband’s crutches in the back seat. She pulled a key from her pocket and handed it to Violet. “This is for the booth,” she said. “Would you children be able to open up the farm stand today? Bessie has called in sick again. That poor woman has not been well lately.”

“We would be happy to,” Violet said.

Mrs. Beckett smiled. “Thanks to your wonderful fliers, we sold a lot of pumpkins and flowers last night. You may need to get more pumpkins for the farm stand. You can pick them from the pumpkin patch. The mum plants are sitting in rows beside the barn. Choose whichever ones you like for the stand.” Mrs. Beckett got into the driver’s seat. She waved good-bye as the car pulled away.

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny headed into the barn.

“The wheelbarrows are in the back,” Jessie said.

“Hey! Look at me!” Benny called. He had climbed to the top of a big pile of hay bales.

“Be careful, Benny,” Jessie said.

Henry and Jessie each grabbed a large wheelbarrow. “I’ll give you a ride again, Benny,” Jessie said.

“Where did he go?” Violet asked. “He was here a minute ago. Benny! Where are you?” Violet heard Benny’s muffled voice. “I’m back here behind the hay bales. Come and take a look. I found something!”

At first, Violet could not find Benny. Henry walked all around the pile of hay bales. Then he pushed a few out of the way. Violet, Jessie, and Henry squeezed between the bales.