“I just sold a box of old towels,” Violet reported, handing Lina the money. Lina was sitting at one of the tables with a metal box for the money. She was the yard sale treasurer. The Aldens were walking among all the boxes, tables, chairs, lamps, and other items for sale, helping the shoppers.
“This is great!” Jessie said, coming to join them. “We’ve barely been here an hour, and just look at all these people!”
“All the signs you put up helped,” Lina said. “In fact, I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Violet blushed. “Thanks,” she said. “But it wasn’t just us. Regina Lott gets some credit, too. A lot of people saw that story she did.”
A customer came up to pay for two flowerpots, and Violet let her gaze wander around the crowded yard sale. She noticed a short, bouncy-looking man who seemed to be looking as much at Lina as at the things for sale. He picked up an old vase, looked at the bottom of it, then put it down. He looked around again, then walked toward the house and moved partway behind an overgrown bush.
Violet frowned and stood up.
The man slipped out from behind the bush, glanced over his shoulder, then disappeared from sight around the corner of the house.
What was he doing? Where was he going? Violet turned to tell Lina, but Lina was busy helping another customer. Quickly, Violet walked toward where the man had disappeared.
Henry caught up with her. “What’s wrong?” he said.
“Someone just went around the side of the house,” Violet said.
“We should check it out,” Henry said.
With Henry leading the way, the two of them hurried after the man.
“Maybe he’s just using the shortcut back to his house,” Henry said.
“I don’t think so,” Violet said. “He acted as if he didn’t want anyone to see him.”
They saw no sign of the man in the backyard.
“Hmm,” said Henry. He turned and Violet followed as he walked up the back steps. The door to the kitchen was unlocked. Henry pushed it open.
The two Aldens slipped quietly inside and listened.
Muffled footsteps sounded on the stairs.
“Come on,” said Henry in a low voice.
Still moving as silently as they could, Henry and Violet rushed to the bottom of the staircase just as the man bounced out of sight. They heard a door open and close, more footsteps, then another door open.
Henry and Violet tiptoed up the stairs. The door at the end of the hall stood ajar.
Violet ran to the door and pushed through it just as the bouncy man was opening a closet door to peer inside.
“What are you doing?” asked Henry.
“Oh!” cried the man. He jumped, letting the door slam, then turned to face them.
He was dressed in an old navy jacket, neat khakis, and a pale blue shirt with a little animal stitched on the pocket. He was wearing very white, very clean sneakers.
The man gave Violet and Henry a hurt look. “You scared me,” he said.
“We’re sorry we scared you, but what are you doing in Lina’s house?” asked Violet.
The man sighed. “It’s a nice house,” he said.
“But you have no right to be in here,” said Henry.
“I’m… looking for the bathroom,” the man said.
“It’s downstairs, right past where you came in,” Violet said. “The door was open. You couldn’t miss it.”
The man’s eyebrows went up. He reached out, picked up a small mirror on a nearby table, and turned it over to look at it. “Was it?” he said, putting the mirror down. “I must have missed it.”
“We’ll show you where it is,” Henry said, stepping back and holding the door open.
“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” said the man, going past with his odd, bouncy step. He bounded down the steps and around the corner down the hall. Henry and Violet had to move fast to keep up. They barely made it to the kitchen before the back door slammed shut behind the odd visitor.
“How strange,” said Violet.
“Yes,” agreed Henry. “And I don’t think he really was looking for the bathroom.”
Violet and Henry locked the door carefully behind them and headed back to the yard sale.
People were everywhere. But the bouncy man was nowhere to be seen.
“Where have you been?” Jessie cried as they walked toward her. She was kneeling, pulling boxes from beneath a table. “We need to put the rest of these books out on this table. And Lina needs someone to be the treasurer while she takes a break. And — ”
An elderly couple interrupted her to ask the price of a lamp.
“I’ll help with the books,” Henry said.
Violet nodded. “I’ll give Lina a break,” she said. She added in a lower voice, “We can tell them about the bouncy man when the yard sale is over.”
By noon, most of the things were sold, and Lina’s cash box was fall of money. People still kept coming, though, and asking about the treasure.
At last, Henry made a sign that said YARD SALE OVER, put it on the fence, and shut the gate tight.
“I think we can begin counting the money,” Lina said.
“Let’s put everything we didn’t sell into a box and just give it away,” said Benny.
“Good idea,” said Lina. “We can leave the box outside the gate.”
Henry picked up a big cardboard box and walked to the nearest table.
“I’ll help,” said Benny. He hurried over to the table and scooped a deck of cards and some magazines into the box. At the next table, they piled in some small, chipped dishes.
At the third table, they found a woman with curly red hair kneeling by a box of old clothes.
“Oh!” said Benny when he saw the woman.
The woman looked up and smiled. “How much for this box of old clothes?” she said.
“We were going to put it all in our free box,” Benny said. “The yard sale is over.”
“I wish I could have gotten here sooner, but I couldn’t leave work,” the woman said. She looked down at the box. “Free is good, but let me at least pay something. Do you think two dollars is fair?”
“Sure,” said Henry. “You can pay Lina. She’s over there.”
“I’ll do that,” the woman said, with a smile. She had brown eyes that crinkled at the corners. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to look through a couple more boxes.”
“Okay,” said Benny.
Henry and Benny finished filling their box and left it outside the gate under a sign that said FREE. Then they walked back to the table where Lina, Jessie, and Violet stood. The red-haired woman was still there, too. She had the box of old clothes propped on one hip. An old basket stood at her feet.
Benny looked down at the basket. It was full of cut-up bits of clothes and torn rags.
“Are you buying that, too?” he asked.
The woman nodded and smiled. “I can use the scraps,” she said. She paused, then said, “So, is this all that you’re selling?”
“Well, for the time being,” said Lina. “I still have rooms of furniture I need to go through, and a few other things to sort out.”
The woman studied Lina, then glanced down at the basket, as if she might be about to say something in reply. But she didn’t.
“I could help you carry the box and the basket to your car,” Henry offered.
“No, no, no, thank you. I’m strong from all the lifting I do at my store,” the woman said.
“Store?” said Benny.
“I’m Coral Weaver, owner of Weaver Stitch Shop,” said the woman. “I sell everything for people who like to sew. And I’m one of the founding members of the Crazy Quilters Club.” She patted the box. “That’s what these scraps are for. They’ll make a great quilt.”
“Crazy quilters?” said Benny.
“We read about crazy quilts at the library, Benny, remember?” said Violet. “They’re quilts without a pattern, made of all kinds and shapes of cloth stitched together.”
“That’s right!” Coral said, looking pleased. “You like quilts?”
“Yes,” said Violet. “They’re beautiful.”
“Lina’s Great-great-aunt Hope was a crazy quilter, too,” said Benny. “But her quilts are all made from patterns.”
“I’d love to see them,” Coral said. She gave Lina a hopeful look.
“Maybe some other time,” said Lina.
“If they’re still up in the attic, I don’t mind climbing stairs,” Coral said. “Really, I don’t.”
Lina looked startled. “How did you know they’re in the attic?” she said.
“I love quilts,” Coral said, ignoring the question. “The old ones are so beautiful, so full of stories — I always wonder about the lives of the women who made them. There’s a story in every stitch. Stories of engagements, weddings, births, friendships, even deaths.” Coral smiled. “It’s kind of crazy, I know, but then, some people do call me the crazy quilt lady. Get it? Crazy quilt lady?”
Lina smiled back. “I love quilts, too,” she said.
Coral sighed. “Well, I’d better be going. But come to my shop. I’ll tell you everything you need to know about quilts. I’ll even show you how to make one.”
“That would be fun,” said Jessie.
“Is it hard?” asked Violet.
“Not at all,” said Coral. “Nothing you love to do is hard, don’t you know?”
“I never thought about it that way,” said Jessie.
“South Street, just around the corner from the bank,” Coral said as she picked up her basket. “Come anytime.”
“We will,” Jessie promised.
Coral nodded, smiled one last time, and headed for her car.
As the gate swung closed behind Coral, Lina snapped the cash box shut.
“Crazy quilt lady,” she said. She shook her head. “That’s the way I’m beginning to feel, too.”
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