The four Aldens followed the white car through Greenfield. They stayed as far behind it as they could while still keeping it in sight. The driver didn’t seem to notice that her car was being followed.
At last the car turned into a driveway on Walnut Street in a neighborhood on the other side of Greenfield.
“Oh, good,” Benny panted. “I was getting tired.”
Jessie braked to a stop on the sidewalk a short distance from the house.
“What are we doing? Why are we following that customer?” Henry asked.
Jessie nodded toward the house. “That white car looked familiar,” she explained. “Remember that time when we got to the Ice Cream Barn early and a white car was outside? The one that drove away so fast?”
“That’s the same car?” Benny asked.
“I think so,” said Jessie.
“What is the name on the mailbox?” Benny asked. “I can’t read it.”
Violet read the name aloud softly.
They all stared at the mailbox. Henry let out his breath. “We’ve heard that name before,” he said.
“Johnston...Isn’t that the name of the person who keeps calling the Ice Cream Barn?”
Jessie nodded. “The one who wants Katy to hire her to make the Ice Cream Barn a big business.”
“Is Butterscotch here?” Benny asked.
“There’s no place to hide a horse here,” Henry said. “She must be keeping Butterscotch someplace else.”
“Then how will we find her?” demanded Benny.
Jessie’s eyes had begun to dance. “I think I know how,” she said. “I think what we need to do is deliver a fake order.”
“A fake order? Of ice cream?” asked Benny.
“No, not ice cream, Benny. Oats,” said Jessie.
The Aldens biked home as fast as they could go. They ran into the house and went straight to the phone in the kitchen.
Violet took out the phone book and found the number they needed. “Ready?” she asked.
“Ready,” said the others.
Violet crossed her fingers, then dialed the number. She handed the phone to Henry.
“Hello, I’m calling to confirm a delivery for Jean Johnston,” Henry said, speaking into the receiver.
“What?” the woman who had answered replied.
“Forty pounds of oats,” Henry said. “To be delivered to 53 Walnut Street.”
“No. Not for me! Bring it to the Three-Mile Farm. That’s where all these deliveries are supposed to go,” the woman said.
“That’s not the address I was given,” Henry said.
“I’m the one who pays the bills, not the one who eats the oats,” she said impatiently. “You’ve got it all mixed up. Take it to Three-Mile Farm. Honestly! What am I going to do with forty pounds of oats? I’ll be there tomorrow to meet the delivery.”
And with that, Jean Johnston slammed down the phone.
Henry placed the receiver back in its cradle, then turned to his siblings and smiled.
“Three-Mile Farm,” said Henry. “I think we’ve found Butterscotch.”
“Let’s go get her,” Benny urged.
“Not tonight, Benny. We’ll go get her tomorrow—and we’ll also get the thief,” Henry promised. “Now let’s call Brianna.”
The big old barn at Three-Mile Farm was very quiet in the middle of the day. But in the field nearby, Mack, the owner, drove his tractor next to the rows of potato plants. Chickens scratched in the barnyard. A sleek cat sunned on a bale of hay, purring loudly.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t bring Watch,” Benny whispered. “He might have wanted to chase the cat.”
Benny was crouched next to Violet behind a bale of hay. Across the barn, Henry was hiding behind a stall door. Jessie and Brianna stood near the front of the barn behind some sacks of feed.
“Here comes the car,” Jessie called softly. They all crouched down a little lower and listened as a car pulled up to the front of the barn.
Benny wrinkled his nose. “I need to sneeze,” he whispered.
“Don’t sneeze,” Violet told him.
Benny pinched his nose to keep from sneezing.
A car door slammed.
Footsteps pounded through the front of the barn, then halted.
“Hello?” Jean Johnston called.
Everyone held their breath—everyone except Butterscotch, who was standing in her stall, chewing on a wisp of hay.
Jean Johnston walked down the short row of stalls until she reached Butterscotch. “Well,” she said crossly. “Why am I here? I’m paying good money for someone to take care of you, and it’s his job to meet the feed truck, not mine. You are turning out to be more trouble than it’s worth.”
Jessie stepped out into the barn behind Jean Johnston, followed by Violet, Henry, Benny, and Brianna. “The only trouble with Butterscotch,” Jessie said in a loud voice, “is that you stole her.”
Jean Johnston spun around. Her blond hair seemed to almost stand on end. Her black eyebrows shot up.
“No!” she said. Then she saw Brianna and her face grew pale. “Oh, no!” she moaned. “What are you doing here?”
Brianna folded her arms. “Catching a thief who tried very hard to help put the Ice Cream Barn out of business.”
“You don’t understand,” said Jean Johnston. “I just wanted to help you!” |