The Great Turkey Heist

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  Jessie was writing a lot in her notebook. She told her sister and brothers about the conversation she had with Ms. Matthews at the snack stand.

  “So Ms. Matthews was not angry about the food pantry idea?” asked Violet.

  “No,” Jessie replied. “She likes the food pantry idea. She just does not like Mr. Grayson. She insists that Mr. Grayson is sneaky. She said that she saw Mr. Grayson sneaking around behind Higgins’s Grocery Store. She saw him carrying a very large package wrapped in plastic.”

  “So Ms. Matthews still believes that Mr. Grayson is not really going to open the food pantry?” asked Henry.

  “That’s right, Henry,” Jessie said.

  “Do you think Ms. Matthews could be right?” asked Violet. “Do you think we did all that work for nothing?”

  Jessie stared into the fire. “Mr. Grayson seems very sincere about the food pantry. But I have to admit that something is not right. Where did Mr. Grayson go during the movie? Why didn’t he watch the donations in the office? Why was he not upset that the money was stolen?”

  “We should not forget that Ms. Matthews was at the theater, as well,” Henry said. “She could have gone into the office and stolen the donations.”

  “I forgot to tell you!” Violet said. “Mr. Higgins was at the movie, too.”

  “That’s right!” Henry said. “I saw him, also. He put a very large donation into the bin.”

  “That’s odd,” Jessie said. “Mr. Higgins hates the idea of a food pantry. Why would he make a large donation?”

  “By making the donation, he got into the theater,” Violet said. “If he was there, we must include him as a suspect. He could have gone into the office and stolen the money, too.”

  Benny jumped up from the floor. “And where is Tom the turkey? Why did he come to the movie and then run away? You should write those questions in your notebook, Jessie.”

  “I will, Benny,” Jessie said. “Those are very good questions. Why would someone go to the trouble of stealing Violet’s turkey sign and then show up at the movie with it?”

  “It could be just a prank,” Violet said.

  “I think someone planned the whole thing,” Henry said. “The turkey thief knew where the door was so that he or she could make a quick escape. Also, there was the chair that was jammed against the door.”

  “Do you think something will happen at the football game tomorrow?” Benny asked, yawning.

  “I don’t know,” Jessie said. “But we will be on the lookout.”

  The next morning, the children ate a quick breakfast. Henry read them the story from the newspaper. There was a picture of Mr. Tipton’s office with all the boxes and cans spilled on the floor. The story told about the stolen donation jar. And it continued the story of the mystery of the missing turkey sign. At the end of the story, the reporter asked, “Where will the giant turkey show up next?”

  When they arrived at the high school, the children had a plan. There was only one gate for fans to come into the stadium. The children would stand at the gate and watch all the donation bins. When they got full, Henry and Violet would take the bins back to a storage spot right behind the football players’ bench. Coach Stanton had lent them some pushcarts to use. The players and the fans could see the donated goods. Nobody could steal them without being seen.

  Henry was right. It was a very crowded game. It seemed as if all of Greenfield had come to watch the football team win the division championship. Even Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor had come to the game. Mr. Carroll from the hardware store, Colette from the office supply store, and Mr. Tipton were at the game. Ms. Sweeney, the reporter from the Greenfield Times, came and brought a photographer with her, as well. She asked the children if there was any sign of Tom the turkey. She said her readers were following the story closely. She said a lot of people were buying the newspaper to find out what had happened to the turkey.

  Henry and Violet were very busy pushing the carts back and forth between the gate and the players’ bench. Jessie and Benny collected the donations and gave out the tickets.

  Jessie was surprised to see Ms. Matthews. She carried a bag full of canned goods. She placed it in the bin.

  “Thank you for the donation,” Jessie said.

  Ms. Matthews smiled at her. “I’m still hoping that I am wrong,” she said. Ten minutes later, Mr. Higgins came to the gate. He also had a very large bag full of donated goods.

  “Thank you, Mr. Higgins!” Jessie said. “You are very generous.”

  “I am happy to help.” Mr. Higgins looked down at the donation bins. Jessie noticed that most of the bags in the bins were from Higgins’s Grocery Store. Mr. Higgins noticed it too. He smiled.

  After all the tickets were sold, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny were invited to sit with the players on the sidelines. They could watch the game and also keep an eye on the large pile of donations behind them. Mr. Grayson paced back and forth behind the bench. He was very happy about the large amount of donations. But Jessie thought that he seemed nervous as well.

  Benny was very excited. “Look at me!” he cried. “I’m a football player!” One of the players had put a helmet on Benny’s head.

  Henry tossed a ball to Benny. “Good catch, Benny!” Henry said.

  “Do you think I can try running on the field at halftime?” Benny asked. “I want to be a football player!”

  “I’m not sure,” Henry said. “You might not be allowed. Usually the band plays at halftime.”

  “The band?” asked Benny.

  Henry pointed to the section in the stands where the band members were sitting in their bright red uniforms, holding their instruments.

  “Wow! That will be cool,” Benny said. “When is halftime?”

  Jessie looked at the scoreboard. “Halftime is in just a few minutes,” she said.

  Soon, the referee blew his whistle. The Greenfield team was winning by three points. The players all ran to the locker room. Then the band marched out onto the field. Everyone lined up and held their instruments. But before they started to play, Mr. Grayson walked out onto the field. He had a microphone. He thanked everyone for their donations. He told them that the food pantry was almost ready to open. The crowd clapped loudly. Mr. Grayson also announced that Green Fields restaurant would give a free turkey dinner on Thanksgiving to anyone who needed it.

  Then the music started. There were flags and horns and banging drums. There were girls who wore capes and twirled batons. Benny clapped his hands. The music was loud. He felt like the drums were banging in his stomach! He wished he could march in the band, too.

  Suddenly, the crowd started to mumble. Something was happening. The children could not see. Some people began to laugh and point.

  “Look!” Violet cried. “There is something that is trying to march with the band! What is it?”

  “I see it! It’s Tom the turkey!” Benny cried. “Stop!” Benny raced onto the field and soon disappeared into the marching band.

  “Benny! Wait!” Jessie cried.

  Henry, Jessie, and Violet ran after their little brother. They tried to be careful. They did not want to bump into anyone from the band. The band members looked very surprised. They tried to keep playing and marching. The crowd was laughing harder. Everyone could see the tall head of the turkey. It was moving quickly across the field. Henry, Jessie, and Violet tried to follow the turkey as quickly as they could. Finally, they got through the band. They looked all around. But they did not see the turkey. They only saw Benny. He was running into the end zone. He was still wearing the big helmet. He looked like a very small football player.

  When Henry, Jessie, and Violet caught up with Benny, they were all out of breath.

  “I couldn’t catch him,” Benny said. “He ran through there.” Benny pointed to an opening in the fence.

  Someone dressed in black jumped into a big car that was parked on the other side of the fence behind some bushes. The children could just see Tom the turkey’s feet sticking out of the trunk. The ca
r raced away.

  “You almost got him, Benny,” Henry said.

  “I really want him back!” Benny said. “He should be outside of the food pantry. Violet made him! He would let everyone know where the food pantry is. Why won’t they give him back?”

  The second half of the game was very exciting. The Greenfield football team won. Everyone cheered. But Benny sat on the sidelines. His head was in his hands.

  Coach Stanton stopped next to Benny. “This is for you,” he said. He handed Benny a football. “You ran very fast into the end zone. You almost caught that big turkey. When you are old enough to go to high school, I want you to be a player on our team.”

  “Really?” Benny said.

  “Yes,” said Coach Stanton. “You are very fast. And I am sure you will be a good football player.” All the football players clapped for Benny.

  Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor were there, as well. “I am proud of all of you children,” Grandfather said. “Look at how many donations you have collected.”

  “It’s enough to feed the whole town!” Mrs. McGregor said.

  “It is a lot,” Henry said. “We will need some help to get everything to the food pantry.”

  “Where is Mr. Grayson?” asked Jessie.

  “I haven’t seen him since halftime,” Grandfather said. “I’m sure he must be around here somewhere. We can put some of the donations in my car.”

  “I’ll help, too.” Mr. Carroll from the hardware store was there as well. “I have a truck and I can fit many of the bags.”

  The children loaded the food onto the carts and pushed them into the parking lot. They helped place all the bags into Grandfather’s trunk and into Mr. Carroll’s truck.

  “It won’t all fit!” Benny said.

  Just then, Mr. Grayson drove into the parking lot. “Hello!” he called. He pulled up next to the Aldens. “Sorry to be late. I had an emergency at the restaurant. I think we can fit the rest of these bags into my trunk.”

  The children carried the last bags to Mr. Grayson’s car. As Jessie placed her bag in the trunk, she saw something. She quietly picked it up and put it in her pocket.

  When the cars were loaded, everyone drove to the food pantry. Mr. Grayson unlocked the door and everyone unloaded the packages.

  “What a bright and cheerful place!” Mrs. McGregor cried.

  “Thanks to the Aldens,” Mr. Grayson said. “They cleaned up and painted the walls.”

  “When do you think the food pantry will be able to open?” asked Grandfather.

  “I was hoping to open it on Friday,” Mr. Grayson said. “But since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I will be cooking for everyone at the restaurant, I won’t have time to set it up. Maybe next week.”

  “We can help,” Violet said. “We can put everything on the shelves tomorrow morning.”

  “And then we could come to the restaurant and help with serving the meals to the needy,” Jessie said.

  “That would be fantastic!” Mr. Grayson said.

  Benny left a small bowl of cat food in the alley for Sunny. She was shy with all the people around and had hidden from them.

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny climbed into Grandfather’s car. “Are you children sure that you do not mind having Thanksgiving at the restaurant? It will be hard work. You will be serving people and cleaning up plates. You will not be able to relax at home on the holiday.”

  “We’re sure, Grandfather,” Jessie said. “Mrs. McGregor makes wonderful meals for us every night. We want to make sure that people who don’t have as much as we do can have a good Thanksgiving meal.”

  Just then there was a loud growl in the car. Even Grandfather was startled.

  Benny’s face turned red. “My stomach can’t help it!” he cried. “Everyone keeps talking about food!”

  “I have a nice warm stew in the slow- cooker,” Mrs. McGregor said. “And I baked a fresh loaf of wheat bread this morning. We can eat as soon as we get home.”

  Jessie was the only one not thinking about food. She kept her hand in her pocket. She was holding something, and she wanted to show it to her sister and brothers.

  CHAPTER 10

  Two Confessions

  Benny dipped a thick slice of fresh bread into his stew. He was still holding the football that the coach had given to him after the game.

  “Benny,” Grandfather said. “Why don’t you go put your football in your room?”

  “I need to carry the football everywhere, Grandfather,” Benny said. “I have to practice so I can be on the team when I am in high school.”

  “I thought you liked the band,” Violet said.

  “I did!” Benny scooped a potato chunk into his mouth. “I liked both. I am going to play football, and then I will play in the band at halftime. I want to play the drums.”

  Everyone talked about how much fun the football game had been. It was exciting that Greenfield High had won the championship. After dinner, the children helped Mrs. McGregor in the kitchen. She was baking pumpkin pies to donate for the free Thanksgiving dinner at Green Fields restaurant. Soon, the whole table was filled with delicious pies.

  “We’ll let them cool,” Mrs. McGregor said. “I will put them in boxes later. All except for this one.”

  “Is there something wrong with that one?” asked Benny.

  Mrs. McGregor shook her head. “No, but I made one pie too many. Do you have any ideas what we could do with it?”

  “Eat it!” Benny cried. “Did you make that pie for us?”

  Mrs. McGregor cut four large slices of pie. “I sure did,” she said.

  Jessie poured glasses of cold milk. The children sat in the warm kitchen to eat the pumpkin pie.

  “We will have to leave early tomorrow morning,” Jessie said. “It will take a long time to empty all those bags and put all the food on the shelves.”

  “Grandfather will drop us off at the food pantry,” Henry said. “He is going into town to take Mrs. McGregor’s pies to Green Fields restaurant.”

  Violet poured herself another glass of milk. “Did you know that Grandfather and Mr. Carroll and Colette have offered to drive people to the Thanksgiving dinner?”

  Benny licked a dab of whipped cream from his fork. “But why don’t they drive themselves?” he asked.

  “Some are not healthy enough to drive,” Henry said. “And some people don’t have cars.”

  “Grandfather said that some of our neighbors have already volunteered to drive others to the food pantry once it opens,” Jessie said.

  “There are a lot of thoughtful people in Greenfield,” Violet said. “But I hope they can find the food pantry. I wish it was not in such a hidden spot.”

  Suddenly, Jessie remembered what she had in her pocket. She pulled it out and set it on the table.

  “What’s that?” asked Benny.

  “I found it in the trunk of Mr. Grayson’s car today,” Jessie said.

  Henry and Violet looked surprised. It was a curled piece of twine. It looked very much like the twine Mr. Carroll had used to tie down Violet’s turkey sign.

  “We will need to work fast at the food pantry tomorrow,” Jessie said. “Because when we are done, I think I know where we can find Violet’s giant turkey sign.”

  “You know where Tom the turkey is?” Benny asked. He was so excited that he dropped his football, and it rolled across the floor.

  “Maybe,” Jessie said. “But we will know for sure tomorrow.”

  The next morning, Mrs. McGregor made an especially big Thanksgiving Day breakfast. The children ate platefuls of eggs and bacon and French toast.

  “Thank you, Mrs. McGregor!” Violet said. “That was delicious.”

  Mrs. McGregor smiled. “I’m glad you liked it. You children have a very big Thanksgiving Day ahead with all of your volunteering. I wanted you to have a good start to the day.”

  After breakfast, Grandfather drove the children to the food pantry. Henry used the key to open the door. Everyone was glad that no one had played
any tricks. There was no trash thrown on the door. The sign that Violet had painted on the door still looked very nice.

  The children worked quickly. Benny was in charge of lining up the cereal boxes. Henry stacked the heavy cans of soup and sauce. Jessie set all the vegetables side-by-side. Violet made signs to place on the shelves so that everyone would be able to find what they were looking for.

  Soon, the food pantry looked just like a regular store. All the cans and boxes were neatly on the shelves. The floor was swept clean and the lights shone brightly. Violet’s signs explained where all the food could be found.

  The children were just about ready to leave when they heard a banging on the door.

  “Oh no!” Violet said. “Do you think the person who played all the tricks is back?”

  Henry carefully opened the door. “It’s Mr. Higgins!” he said.

  Mr. Higgins walked into the food pantry. He was wearing a dark brown hat and scarf. He looked around at all the food stacked on the shelves. “It looks very nice in here,” he said. “I think that you children have done a wonderful job. I have to admit that I am very embarrassed. In the beginning, I hated the food pantry. I was worried. I thought that no one would shop at my grocery store. I thought everyone would come for the free food at the food pantry.”

  “We’re sorry,” Jessie said. “We did not want the food pantry to hurt your grocery store.”

  “But it didn’t!” Mr. Higgins said. “It helped my grocery store! When you had the food pantry movie night and football game, my store was very crowded. Everyone in Greenfield wanted to buy cans of beans and vegetables and boxes of cereal to donate to the food pantry. My business has never been better.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Jessie said.

  “It made me realize something,” Mr. Higgins said. “I was being selfish. I was not thinking. People who shop at my store will not go to the food pantry. They will buy groceries at my store to donate to the food pantry. And people who are hungry will now have a place to go to find something to eat.”

  “We are glad that you stopped by to tell us,” Violet said.