The Disappearing Friend Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Author:Gertrude Chandler Warner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2010-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

“Oh!” said Violet. No one else could think of anything to say.

“Yep,” said Charlie, looking off into the distance. “See you later.” He leaned back in the window, put the truck in gear, and drove away.

“Do you think we really are taking work away from Charlie?” asked Jessie.

“I don’t know,” said Henry, wiping his forehead. It was a very hot day.

“If the Millers usually have Charlie do their gardening, I wonder why they hired us,” Violet said.

“Maybe Charlie did something they didn’t like,” Henry suggested.

Just then Mr. Miller came out onto the back porch and invited the Aldens and Beth in for lemonade.

“Yes, please!” said Benny quickly.

“That would be great,” said Henry, propping his shovel against a tree. “We only have a little more to do.”

But Beth shook her head regretfully. “I have to go. I promised I’d help out at home today, too.”

“You kids are doing a great job,” said Mr. Miller.

Beth smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “See you tomorrow,” she told the Aldens. She went around the side of the house toward her bicycle and everyone else went inside for glasses of cold lemonade. It was delicious. Benny had two glasses.

“Whew,” said Henry as they went back outside. “That’s hot, thirsty work.”

Violet nodded. “I like gardening, but I’m glad we’re almost through. . . .”

Her voice trailed off in horror as she looked past Henry at the garden they had so carefully dug.

All the neat rows had been kicked and shoveled every which way. Rocks and sticks and weeds were scattered all over the garden plot. And the soft, crumbly dirt had been stomped down hard.

“Oh, no!” cried Jessie.

“My rocks!” wailed Benny.

They all ran forward to look more closely.

“This is awful,” said Violet. “We’ll have to do it all over again.”

Benny trudged out into the garden and began to pick up rocks.

“Wait a minute, Benny,” said Henry. “Maybe we can find some clue to who did this. Like footprints.”

But it was impossible to pick out individual footprints because there were so many and the dirt was so scuffed up.

Sadly, the Aldens went back to work. As they worked, they talked about who could have done such an awful thing.

“Why doesn’t someone want us to earn money for the hospital?” wondered Henry.

“Maybe it was that doctor,” Violet said. “She was very angry about the hospital wing —both times we saw her.”

“Did she follow us here?” Benny asked.

“I guess she might have. Or maybe it was Charlie. He may be angry that we’re taking some of the jobs he used to do—like this garden. And he definitely knew we were here.”

“He was just down the street the day we saw the torn poster,” Violet pointed out.

“And he was in town when the air was being let out of my tires,” Benny added.

The children kept working. When they were almost done Jessie said, “You know . . . there’s another person it could be. Have you thought about all the strange things that have happened? They all have something in common.”

“What do you mean?” Violet asked.

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