Pumpkin Head Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

said Grandfather.
    “One thing is for sure,” Henry said. “Scarecrows cannot get down from their posts all by themselves.”
    “That’s right,” said Benny. “Even the scarecrow in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ needed Dorothy’s help! And he could talk!”
    “But if Watch did not pull Sam down, who did?” Jessie tapped her fork on the table. “And who would want to steal a scarecrow?”
    Violet rested her arms on the table and leaned toward her brother. “Benny,” she said, “I think Sam has been kidnapped!”
    “No, Violet,” Benny said. “He’s been scarecrow-napped!”

CHAPTER 5
Violet’s Fliers
    Early the next morning Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny rode their bicycles to the farm.
    “You did a good job fixing the sign, Henry,” Jessie said as they rested at the end of the farm lane. “It looks straight and sturdy now.” “Thanks,” Henry said. “But what is that on the sign?”
    Someone had painted an angry pumpkin face at the top of the sign. Underneath it said, Stay Away! Or Else!
    The children quickly pedaled down the lane. Bessie was just opening up the booth. The children were relieved that nothing seemed to have been disturbed at the farm stand.
    Mrs. Beckett smiled and called to the children from her front porch. “Come on up to the house! I have something for you.”
    A tray of freshly baked cranberry muffins and a pitcher of cold milk sat on the table. Mr. Beckett rested in a chair with an account book on his lap. He wrote numbers in columns. There were dark circles under his eyes. Sally leaned against the porch rail with a cup of coffee and a newspaper in her hands.
    “Good morning!” said Mrs. Beckett. “Please help yourselves to some muffins. They’re still warm.”
    “Oh, boy!” said Benny. “I love muffins.”
    Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny thanked Mrs. Beckett. They each took a muffin and a glass of milk.
    “I don’t know if you noticed,” Henry said, “but someone wrote on your sign up by the road.”
    Sally gulped her coffee. “Oh, no!” she said. “What did they write?”
    Henry explained what they had seen. Sally’s face went white.
    “Don’t worry,” Henry said. “I can clean it off for you.”
    “Thank you,” said Sally. “But it’s worse than you think.”
    Mr. Beckett dropped his papers into his lap. “It’s nothing but nonsense,” he said.
    “Maybe so,” Sally agreed. “But some people believe it. It is scary. And now that more workers have quit, how will you ever run the haunted hayrides?”
    “We do need the money from those haunted hayrides, George.” Mrs. Beckett wrung her hands together. “I don’t know what we’ll do without it.”
    “Did something happen last night?” asked Henry.
    “Yes, and it was very frightening.” Bessie walked up the porch steps. She poured herself a cup of coffee.
    “We saw a new pumpkin head floating through the fields last night,” Sally explained. “It had a very scary face. It glowed in the dark.”
    “It also made horrible screaming noises.” Bessie shuddered. “And it warned people to stay away from the farm.”
    “Our employees were frightened,” Mrs. Beckett said. “They quit and we had to cancel the haunted hayride. We have no workers left.”
    Benny’s eyes were wide. Jessie knew he was thinking of ghosts. She put her arm around her little brother.
    Henry had a hunch about the glowing pumpkin head. He wished he had seen it. “We could help out tonight,” he offered. “It would be fun to be part of a haunted hayride.”
    “But who will come to our hayrides after this article in the paper?” Sally asked. She pointed to the headline: Strange Happenings at Local Farm. “The story says our farm is haunted. It says that our employees have quit because they are afraid.”
    “It’s in the paper?” Bessie put her hand to her mouth. “I didn’t think he…” Bessie did not finish her sentence. “I have to get to work,” she said. “Remember, Mae, I have an appointment later