Pumpkin Head Mystery Read Online Free PDF

today.” She quickly headed toward the farm stand.
    Mrs. Beckett sighed. She began to collect the dishes and coffee cups. Mr. Beckett crossed out some numbers in his account book. “I suppose we’ll have to shut down,” he said. “Sally is right. Who will come to the farm now?”
    “Wait a minute,” Henry said. “Maybe the newspaper article will bring more customers to the farm. After all, don’t people expect strange happenings on a haunted hayride? Maybe they will want to come and see this scary pumpkin head.”
    “That makes a lot of sense,” Violet said. “I think we should make fliers. We can advertise how scary the hayride will be.”
    “What a great idea.” Jessie smiled at her younger sister. “Violet is very talented. She could design the fliers. We could put them up all around Greenfield. After seeing them, I bet a lot of people will want to come for the hayrides!”
    “What do you think, Mae?” Mr. Beckett asked his wife.
    “I think the Alden children are very clever! Let’s give it a try.” Mrs. Beckett opened the screen door. “Come on inside. I have some art supplies in the closet.”
    “And I’ll drive you into town when the flier is ready,” Sally said. “That will be quicker than riding your bikes.”
    Violet got right to work on designing the flier. Jessie suggested using bright autumn colors. Henry thought that drawing a few ghosts and the scary pumpkin head would be a good idea. At the bottom, Violet added a phone number and directions to the farm.
    Benny was hard at work with his own paper and crayons. “How do you spell ‘pumpkin head’?” asked Benny. “How do you spell ‘scarecrow’?” He was just learning how to read and write. Jessie spelled the big words for him.
    Benny jumped up from the table. “There!” he said. “I made my own flier.” He held it up for his brother and sisters. He had drawn a picture of Sam. Underneath were the words Missin! Pumpkin Head Scarecrow.
    Jessie smiled. “That looks great, Benny. Just one little mistake to fix.” Jessie squeezed the letter g onto Benny’s paper.
    “I’m going to put my flier up in Greenfield, too,” Benny said. “Maybe somebody has seen Sam.”
    Henry was about to say something about his hunch when Sally came into the room. “All ready?” she asked.
    It was a beautiful, warm day. Sally and the children climbed into the car to head for town. Some customers were already at the farm stand buying tomatoes and corn.
    “Do you miss the farm when you are in Florida?” asked Jessie.
    “A little bit. Mostly, I miss my parents,” said Sally. “I was never much good as a farmer. I prefer to work in an office. Jason was always more help to my parents than I was.”
    “Jason?” asked Henry.
    “Yes,” Sally explained. “Jason and I have been friends since we were little children. He has always loved the Beckett farm. He would come over to play with me, but he would soon be out in the fields with my father. I think Jason was helping with the planting when he was only ten years old!” Sally laughed. “I hated to get my shoes dirty! I never went out into the fields. Even the mice in the barn scared me! I was never meant to be a farmer.”
    “But mice aren’t scary!” Benny said. “They can’t hurt you.”
    Sally shivered. “I suppose you’re right, Benny. Maybe it’s just that I don’t like them very much.”
    “That’s like our dog, Watch,” Benny said. “I told him that scarecrows weren’t dangerous, but he was still afraid. Do you want to see Sam?” Benny held up his drawing.
    Sally pulled into a parking space in front of the office store. When she looked at Benny’s drawing, a funny look crossed her face.
    “Sally!” A woman in a green dress waved at the car.
    “Excuse me, children,” Sally said. “That is an old friend of mine. How about we meet back here in a few hours?” she asked.
    “Of course,” Jessie said.
    Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny headed into the store to make copies