“Wake up, Violet,” Jessie nudged her sister. “Grandfather, look!”
Someone was inserting a key into the front door of the drugstore. And the person was too short to be Bob, the store owner.
Grandfather picked up the walkie-talkie and said, “We’ve got someone entering the drugstore through the front door. Could be an employee, but given the late hour, I think we better go check it out.”
The walkie-talkie crackled, then Carter’s voice came over it. “Copy that. We’ll wait here in case the person tries to make a getaway through the back door.”
Violet, Jessie, and Grandfather slipped quietly out of the van and tiptoed across the parking lot. The drugstore was still dark.
Jessie tried the door. It was unlocked. “Let’s go in,” she whispered to Violet.
Violet nodded as Jessie pushed the door all the way open.
“Hello?” Grandfather called. There was a panel of light switches beside the door. Grandfather flipped them all and light flooded the store.
Jessie and Violet squinted in the sudden brightness.
There was a rustle in the back of the store. Then footsteps. Someone was running out the back.
Jessie, Violet, and Grandfather followed the sound of the footsteps through the store, through the back room, and out the back door.
Tony Silver stood with his hands above his head. Carter’s headlights lit up the whole alley.
“The police are on their way,” Carter said as he held up his cell phone. Henry and Benny stood on either side of him.
“How can you be the robber?” Benny asked, shielding his eyes from the bright headlights. “You sell safes. You’re supposed to keep people’s money safe.”
“I know.” Tony hung his head in shame. “But I’ve got a lot of credit card bills. I can’t seem to get ahead. And breaking into these stores is just so easy. I know all the combinations to the safes because I help the store owners set them. And getting keys is easy, too. Everyone seems to leave spare keys lying around. I know it was wrong, but I just couldn’t help myself.”
“So you’re the one who put CARTER ROBBER on the sign out front?” Carter asked angrily.
Tony nodded. “I saw you taking letters off that sign one night. And so did Bob. I thought people might believe you were the robber since a couple of people already knew you were sneaking around the mall late at night.”
“I would never rob anyone,” Carter said.
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t,” Tony said.
They all heard sirens in the distance. The sirens grew louder and louder as two police cars zoomed around the corner and pulled into the alley.
“This is Tony Silver,” Grandfather told the officers when they got out of their vehicles. “We just caught him breaking into the drugstore.”
A white-haired officer stepped forward and took out his handcuffs. “Tony Silver,” he said, “you’re under arrest.”
The Aldens didn’t get much sleep that night. They wanted to be at the mall first thing the next morning so they could see Queenie’s reaction to the sign.
Queenie smiled when she saw them. “What’s all this?” she asked as she stepped out of her car. She hadn’t noticed the sign yet.
“We just wanted to say good morning,” Carter said cheerfully.
“And it is a good morning indeed,” Queenie replied as they all walked across the parking lot. “I understand our robber was caught last night and I have all of you to thank for that.”
“You were right about Raina all along, Queenie,” Benny said. “She wasn’t the robber.”
“Of course she wasn’t,” Queenie said. “Raina can be a little bit scatter-brained, and she doesn’t always make the best decisions when it comes to money. But she would never steal.”
All of a sudden, Queenie stopped walking. Her bottom jaw dropped open and she looked at Carter.
“D-did you do this?” she asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Carter and the sign.
Carter took Queenie’s hand, then got down on one knee right in the middle of the parking lot. With his other hand, he reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box.
“Oh, my goodness!” Queenie put her hand to her chest when Carter raised the lid of the box. A diamond ring gleamed in the sunlight.
“You’ll make me the happiest man in the world if you say you’ll be my wife, Queenie,” Carter said.
“I-I don’t know what to say,” Queenie said shyly. Her cheeks were glowing. A smile played at the corners of her mouth.
“Say yes!” Benny blurted.
“Benny!” Jessie hissed. She put her finger to her lips.
But Queenie just laughed. “It’s okay, Jessie. Benny’s right. That’s exactly what I should say.” She turned to Carter, who was still down on one knee, and smiled. “Yes, dear. I’ll marry you.”
Carter took the ring out of the box and slipped it on Queenie’s third finger. Then he stood up, and the two of them hugged.
The Aldens clapped and cheered.
A car that was trying to get past them honked.
“We better get out of the way,” Carter said as the group moved quickly toward the sidewalk.
“We’ve got a lot of planning to do,” Queenie said.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Carter replied, smiling.
On Saturday, the big Word Master tournament was held at the Game Spot. There was a children’s tournament and an adult tournament. More than fifty people had signed up for both tournaments, which made the store unusually crowded.
Jessie had won all three of her games so far. So now she was seated at the yellow table in the Kids’ Korner playing for the championship. A crowd of children had gathered around Jessie and her opponent, a serious-looking boy named Andy.
Andy was a little younger than Jessie, but he was good at finding words. He was fast, too. Jessie knew she’d have to concentrate if she wanted to beat him.
While Jessie and Andy puzzled over the letters in round three, there was a sudden eruption of cheers from the front of the store.
Carter and a woman with straight blond hair stood up and shook hands.
“Congratulations, Carter,” Queenie said as she presented Carter with a small trophy.
“Thank you,” Carter said with a small smile.
Jessie turned back to the letters in front of her. She wondered how Andy was doing? Did he have more words than she did?
But she knew it was a mistake to worry so much about her opponent. It was better to simply look at the letters in front of her and do the best she could.
Finally, the game was over and they counted up their points.
“I have 212 points,” Jessie announced. “How many do you have?”
“I have 204,” Andy replied. He reached across the table to shake Jessie’s hand. “Good game.”
“Good game,” Jessie echoed. “Maybe we can play again sometime.”
Andy nodded. “I’d like that.”
Jessie and Andy started picking up the game. Queenie came over and handed Jessie a small trophy. Carter and Raina stood right behind Queenie and clapped. So did Grandfather, Henry, Violet, and Benny.
“Thank you,” Jessie said with a grin. She turned the trophy around and looked at it. It had a gold cup on top of a wooden pedestal. The lettering on the front of the pedestal read WORD MASTER CHAMPION. It was identical to Carter’s trophy.
“Perhaps the two Word Master champions should play a game next,” Carter suggested, once everyone except the Aldens had left.
“Really?” Jessie asked eagerly. “You’d play a game with me, Carter?” He had said no when Jessie had asked him before.
“I’d be honored. In fact,” Carter gestured for everyone else to come and sit down, “why don’t we all play a game? Just for fun?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Grandfather said as he pulled out a chair and sat down. The children, Queenie and Raina sat down, too.
Then Carter divided up the letters and they all got ready for another game. |