Pumpkin Head Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

recognize him anywhere. I ran after him. The head was floating around and screaming. But there was no body. Then all of a sudden it disappeared.”
    “That’s very odd. How could that happen?” asked Jessie.
    Benny shook his head. “I don’t know. One minute the pumpkin head was there and the next minute it was gone.” He took a small bite of his waffle. “Why would my scarecrow keep running away from me?”
    “Scarecrows can’t really run, Benny,” Henry said. “Someone is playing tricks. I think your scarecrow is somewhere on the Beckett’s farm. If we can find Sam, maybe we can find out who is playing the tricks and why.”
    Jessie opened up her notebook. “Do you have any idea who could be playing the tricks, Henry?”
    “It could have been Jason,” Henry said. “He was not on the tractor when the pumpkin head was floating in the fields.”
    “That’s true,” said Violet. “But maybe he just went back to get help.”
    “Sally said that she saw the pumpkin head,” Jessie added. “And then after it disappeared, she showed up with a flashlight. So it could have been Sally, too.”
    Violet poured syrup over her waffle. She remembered what she had overheard last night. “Don’t forget about Bessie. When I went to get my water bottle from the booth, I heard Bessie talking to someone on her cell phone. She was mentioning how the customers weren’t scared enough by the pumpkin head. She thought something worse needed to happen on the farm to scare people away.”
    “But wasn’t Bessie in the booth all night?” Henry asked. “How could she have caused the trouble with the pumpkin head?”
    “I don’t know,” said Violet. “I suppose you’re right.”
    “No!” Jessie was writing quickly in the notebook. “Bessie was not in the booth all night. When Sally and I went looking for you in the fields, we saw Bessie in the cornstalks. She said she was there to help. But she was surprised to see Sally and me.”
    Benny finished his waffle. He did not ask for seconds. He was thinking hard. “Maybe it was not Sally, or Jason, or Bessie,” he said. “Maybe Sam really is a haunted scarecrow!”
    “But there’s no such thing,” said Violet.
    Benny pushed his plate away. “Watch was afraid of Sam. Then Sam disappeared. Now he floats without his body. How can anyone make a pumpkin head float unless it is haunted?” Benny’s eyes were wide.
    Henry, Jessie, and Violet did not know how to answer Benny’s question. The floating pumpkin head was a mystery.
    When they arrived at the farm later in the morning, the four Aldens saw Mr. and Mrs. Beckett getting into their car.
    “We’re off to the doctor!” Mrs. Beckett said. “It’s time to get a checkup on Mr. Beckett’s leg. We’ll be back soon.”
    “Good luck!” Violet said. “I hope you get good news from the doctor.”
    “Thank you.” Mrs. Beckett put her husband’s crutches in the back seat. She pulled a key from her pocket and handed it to Violet. “This is for the booth,” she said. “Would you children be able to open up the farm stand today? Bessie has called in sick again. That poor woman has not been well lately.”
    “We would be happy to,” Violet said.
    Mrs. Beckett smiled. “Thanks to your wonderful fliers, we sold a lot of pumpkins and flowers last night. You may need to get more pumpkins for the farm stand. You can pick them from the pumpkin patch. The mum plants are sitting in rows beside the barn. Choose whichever ones you like for the stand.” Mrs. Beckett got into the driver’s seat. She waved good-bye as the car pulled away.
    Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny headed into the barn.
    “The wheelbarrows are in the back,” Jessie said.
    “Hey! Look at me!” Benny called. He had climbed to the top of a big pile of hay bales.
    “Be careful, Benny,” Jessie said.
    Henry and Jessie each grabbed a large wheelbarrow. “I’ll give you a ride again, Benny,” Jessie said.
    “Where did he go?” Violet asked. “He was