儿童英语读物 The Great Turkey Heist CHAPTER 8 A Turkey at the Movies?

The line to get into the movie was very long. Violet sat in the booth and sold the tickets as fast as she could. Everyone seemed to have brought bagfuls of donations.

“What a wonderful idea!” one woman said.

“How kind of you to support the food pantry,” a man said to Mr. Tipton. He dropped an armful of cereal boxes into the donation bins.

Henry and Mr. Tipton were very busy watching the bins. They soon became full. Henry had to empty them several times. He put all the items in Mr. Tipton’s office. Then he brought the empty bins back to the front of the theater.

Mr. Grayson came early and helped, as well. He shook Mr. Tipton’s hand. “This is wonderful!” he said. “With all these donations, we will be able to open the food pantry in time for Thanksgiving.”

Jessie and Benny were very busy behind the snack counter. They made a lot of popcorn and sold many candy bars. The line was growing long.

“Hi, kids!” Noreen, the waitress from Green Fields restaurant, stood in front of the counter. “Would you like some help back there?” she asked.

“Yes, please!” Jessie said.

Mr. Tipton stopped by the snack counter. “See anything suspicious?” he whispered to Jessie.

“No,” she said. “But we have been so busy selling snacks. I am afraid we have not been watching as best we can.”

“Keep up the good work,” Mr. Tipton said. “I will donate half of all the money you make here tonight to the food pantry. So, the more you sell, the more I will donate.”

Jessie smiled. “That is very generous,” she said.

There were crowds of people standing in the lobby. They were talking excitedly about the new movie. Jessie started when she saw Ms. Matthews. She was standing in a corner watching all the excitement. Soon, she saw Jessie looking at her. She walked over to the snack counter.

“I see that you children did not take my advice,” Ms. Matthews said. “You are still helping Mr. Grayson with the food pantry.”

“Yes,” Jessie said. “We believe that a food pantry in Greenfield is a very nice idea.”

“You still believe that he is going to open up a food pantry?” Ms. Matthews shook her head. “I do not think so.”

“So many people have come here tonight,” Jessie said. “They all believe in the food pantry.”

Ms. Matthews looked around the lobby. “The people of Greenfield are good and kind people,” she said. “They are also very generous. But they do not know Mr. Grayson like I know him. He is sneaky. He was sneaking around Mr. Higgins’s grocery store the other day. I saw him carrying a very big package out of the back alley. It was covered in plastic. When he saw me watching him, he hurried away. Do you know what he was doing?”

Jessie was surprised. “No. I do not.”

Ms. Matthews started to walk away. She turned back to Jessie. “I do think a food pantry would be a good idea for our town. And I would like to be wrong about Mr. Grayson. But I don’t think that I am.”

Noreen handed a drink across the counter to a customer. Then she hurried over to Jessie. “What was that all about?” she asked. “Ms. Matthews is always so angry.”

“She does not believe that there is really going to be a food pantry,” Jessie said. “But she was not angry.”

Noreen untied the apron that she had been wearing. “Is it okay if I leave?” she asked. “I need to go get ready.”

“Get ready?” asked Jessie.

“I mean . . . get ready . . . get ready for the movie, of course!” Noreen handed the apron to Jessie.

“Oh yes,” Jessie said. “I hope you enjoy the movie.”

All the customers had filed into the theater. The lobby became quiet. Benny dramatically slid to the floor.

“Are you okay?” asked Jessie.

“That was hard work!” Benny said, hopping back to his feet. “I’m tired. But selling snacks is almost as fun as eating them.”

Mr. Tipton, Henry, and Violet joined Jessie and Benny at the snack stand.

“Thank you for all your help,” Mr. Tipton said. “This night is a big success because of you.”

“It was fun!” Benny said. “I had never worked at a snack stand before.”

“We collected so many donations,” Henry said. “You should see Mr. Tipton’s office. It is piled high with canned goods and cereal boxes. All of the customers were very generous.”

Jessie showed them the donation jar on the counter. It was filled with coins and dollar bills. “People even made donations at the snack counter,” Jessie said. “Mr. Grayson will be very pleased. Where is he?”

“He said he would watch over the donations in my office,” Mr. Tipton said. “We are trying to be very careful tonight.”

Just then Ms. Sweeney, the reporter from the newspaper, walked up to the snack counter. “Congratulations, kids!” she said. “You have done a great job here. This movie theater is packed with people.”

“Your article was very helpful,” Henry said. “Thank you for printing it on the front page.”

Ms. Sweeney smiled. “Just doing my job,” she said. “I would like to write another article about this movie donation night,” she said. “Can I interview you, Mr. Tipton?”

Mr. Tipton looked proud. “Of course,” he said. “But I could not have done it without the Aldens. Let me show you my office. You will see how many donations we received tonight.”

Everyone walked back toward Mr. Tipton’s office. When they opened the door, they were shocked! All the stacks of donations that Henry had piled so neatly were knocked to the floor. The room was a mess.

Ms. Sweeney took out her camera. She took many pictures. “Who could have done this?” she asked.

The children and Mr. Tipton looked at one another. “We don’t know,” Mr. Tipton said.

“Do you think any of the food was stolen?” asked the reporter.

Mr. Tipton looked around the room. “I don’t think so. But there was a donation jar on my desk and it is not there anymore. It was filled with money. Many people put dollars in it as they came into the theater. Someone has stolen it.”

The reporter quickly scribbled notes in her notebook. Then she left. The children helped Mr. Tipton straighten up his office. He sat behind his desk.

“I am going to stay here,” he said. “You children go enjoy the movie now. You deserve it.”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny found seats at the very back of the theater. It seemed like an exciting movie. Something scary was hidden under the stairs. The actress walked carefully down the creaking stairs. Spiderwebs hung in front of her face. She carried a candle. Noises came from under the stairs.

Suddenly, Benny cried out. Jessie turned to him. “It’s just a movie,” she whispered. “Don’t be scared.”

“No,” Benny said. “It’s not just a movie! Look there!”

A loud gasp went up from the theater. Everyone saw it. It was Tom the turkey! He moved across the front of the movie screen.

“Hey!” someone called. “What’s that giant turkey doing? Get that out of here! We want to see the movie.”

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny jumped from their seats and raced to the front of the theater. But whoever had the turkey moved faster. Henry jumped up on the stage and ran to the edge of the screen. A door on the side opened and shut. Henry grabbed the doorknob, but the door was stuck. Someone was holding it from the other side! He could not get it open.

“Quick!” he said to his brother and sisters. “Let’s go out the front door.”

The Aldens ran through the lobby. They went outside and raced to the side of the theater. But no one was there.

“This is why I could not get the door open,” Henry said. A chair was pushed up against the door. It was a wooden chair with green leaves painted on the sides.

“That chair looks familiar,” Violet said.

“Violet is right. I have seen that chair somewhere, also,” Jessie said. “But we should probably get back inside. The movie will be over soon, and we should help Mr. Tipton clean up.”

After all the customers had left the theater, Mr. Tipton and the children walked to the screen. All the lights were on. They checked the stage and the screen. There was no damage. Most customers had thrown away their trash, but a few did not. The children picked up a few candy wrappers and popcorn boxes. Henry and Jessie swept the rows, and Mr. Tipton vacuumed the aisles. Soon, the theater was clean and ready for its next movie.

Everyone turned sharply when they heard the door open. But it was just Mr. Grayson. He seemed very happy. “We got so many wonderful donations!” he said. “My thanks to all of you.”

“Yes,” Mr. Tipton said, “but someone stole one of our donation jars. We could have had much more money for the food pantry.”

“Oh well. I wouldn’t worry about that. We’ll get more. There will be another story in the paper tomorrow. People will want to read about the theft and about the giant turkey waddling across the movie screen,” Mr. Grayson said. “C’mon kids, I will give you a ride home.”

On the way to Grandfather’s house, Mr. Grayson talked excitedly about the food pantry. He asked the children if they would help set up the donations on the shelves.

“Of course we will help,” Jessie said.

“And I have more good news,” Mr. Grayson said. “Some of the players from the Greenfield High football team want to help, also. At tomorrow’s division championship game against Westtown High, everyone must bring a donation to get a ticket.”

“That’s wonderful,” Jessie said.

“The football stadium is very large,” Henry said. “And this is a big game for our team. If Greenfield High wins, they win the championship. There will be a lot of donations.”

“Exactly!” Mr. Grayson said. “I think that several exciting things will happen tomorrow!” He winked at the children and dropped them by the front porch of Grandfather’s house.