The Mystery at the Dog Show by Gertrude Chandler Warner

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

CHAPTER 7

A Surprise for Sunny

I want to make a surprise for Sunny,” announced Benny the next morning after the Aldens and the Teagues had finished breakfast and Grandfather had taken the Teagues on a tour of Greenfield. Benny and his brother and two sisters had gone to their boxcar. Violet and Henry were sweeping it out and dusting it while Jessie and Benny oiled a squeaky hinge on the boxcar door and fixed a rickety leg on the table.

“A surprise, Benny? What kind of a surprise?” asked Violet.

“Something special for when Sunny wins the whole show,” Benny told her. He frowned, thinking hard. “Maybe a chocolate cake.”

Henry laughed and shook his head. “Sunny might like chocolate cake, Benny, but I don’t think it would be very good for her.”

“Oh, yes,” said Benny. “I remember Mrs. Teague telling us that chocolate could make dogs very, very sick.” His eyes widened at the awful thought of not being able to eat chocolate.

Violet had been thinking hard, too. Suddenly she clapped her hands together. “I know! We could make a flag for Sunny, or a banner, to wave at the show for her when she wins!”

Benny clapped his hands together, too. “Yes! A beautiful, big banner!”

Violet reached up and pulled a shoebox off one of the shelves in the boxcar. “We still have paints in here from the time we made signs for our helper service,” she said. She studied the contents of the box thoughtfully and said, “But not enough to make a really great banner.”

“Well, we’re almost finished here,” said Henry. “As soon as we do, let’s ride our bicycles into town and get some more art supplies.”

“Good idea,” said Jessie. She checked the leg on the table one last time to make sure that it wasn’t loose anymore and then stood up. “We can get a long roll of paper for the banner.”

“We need some way to hold it up, too,” said Violet. “Maybe a stick or pole — sort of like a short flagpole — at each end, so we can raise it up high.”

Henry added, “Yes, and we could roll the banner up from each end, then. That would make it easy to carry without tearing it.”

“I get to hold one end of the banner, don’t I?” demanded Benny.

“You and I will hold one end, Benny, and Violet and Jessie can hold the other,” answered Henry.

“Okay,” Benny agreed.

As quickly as they could, the Aldens finished their work in the boxcar. Soon they were on their bicycles riding into town to get supplies to make a banner for Sunny.

In the art supply store, they found just the right roll of paper for making a long banner. Benny picked out some gold paint for writing Sunny’s name on the banner. “It sort of matches her coat,” he explained.

But they couldn’t find poles to attach to the ends of the banner.

“Why don’t you try the hardware store,” suggested the owner of the art supply store. “Maybe a yardstick would be just the thing.

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