The farm stand was very busy. Customers were buying pumpkins and fall wreaths and fresh vegetables.
Sally walked toward the stand with a large basket of tomatoes. “I just picked these from the greenhouse. Do we have room for them?”
Jessie quickly made a spot on a table for the basket. “They look wonderful,” she said.
“Yes,” Sally answered. “Jason has a special talent. Everything he plants grows big and tasty! Every year his tomatoes are the best. I use them to make sauce and I bring some of it home to Florida.”
Henry was standing nearby. He was breathing hard. He had just carried a very large pumpkin to a customer’s car. “He certainly grows big pumpkins, too.”
Sally looked out toward the fields. “No,” she said. “My father grows the pumpkins.”
“Doesn’t Jason like pumpkins?” Benny asked.
“It’s not that,” Sally explained. “Jason would rather plant other crops. I suppose farmers have different ideas about what is best to grow.”
Henry unloaded more pumpkins from the last wheelbarrow. “What would Jason do if Mr. Bolger bought the farm and built houses here?” he asked.
Sally sat in an old chair next to the vegetable stand. “I asked about that. Mr. Bolger said that he would give Jason a job building the houses.”
“I don’t think Jason would like that,” Henry said.
Sally sighed. “You’re right, Henry. Jason would not like it. He has worked on the Beckett farm his whole life. It is a special place to him. I cannot imagine him as anything but a farmer.”
Jessie picked up a few gourds that had fallen under the table. “When your parents are ready to sell, perhaps Jason can buy the farm.”
“I’ve thought of that, too,” Sally said. “But Mr. Bolger has a lot of money and Jason does not.”
After her customer left, Violet came out of the booth to get some air. “It certainly has been busy today.”
“Isn’t Bessie here?” Sally asked.
“No.” Violet fanned herself. Her face was red. “Bessie called in sick. She cannot work today.”
“That’s odd,” Sally said. “I saw Bessie in town this morning. I went to the bank and she was walking down Main Street. She did not look sick.”
“Maybe she was going to the doctor,” Jessie said.
Violet and Henry looked at each other. They thought they knew where Bessie was going, but they did not know for sure.
“I have only a few more days on the farm,” Sally said. “Then I must go home to Florida. I hope Bessie gets better before I have to leave.”
“Your parents will miss you,” Violet said.
“Yes.” Sally wrung her hands together. “And I am so worried about the problems here. I must try one more time to convince my parents to move to Florida with me.”
Just then, the Beckett’s car drove up the driveway and parked in front of the farmhouse.
“Excuse me,” Sally said. She walked away toward the house.
There were no customers at the stand, so Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny sat in the shade of the big tree. Henry and Violet explained about the newspaper they had found in the booth.
Jessie was surprised. “So you think that Bessie is working for Mr. Bolger?”
“I think she is,” Violet said. “Remember how we saw her coming out of his office when we were having lunch at the diner?”
Benny was munching on an apple. “But doesn’t Bessie already have a job on the farm? How could she work for Mr. Bolger?”
“Some people work two jobs when they need extra money,” Henry explained. “She might work at night or on days that she has off.”
Violet leaned back against the tree. “Or on days when she calls in sick!”
Jessie remembered something. “Didn’t the waitress at the diner tell us that Bessie was working two jobs?”
“That’s right,” Henry said. “I had forgotten that. She said that Bessie needed money because her husband was sick.”
“I feel bad for Bessie,” Violet said. “But do you think she is causing the problems on the farm? Maybe she is helping Mr. Bolger to force the Becketts into selling.”
“It’s hard to say,” Jessie answered. “We do not even know for sure if Bessie is working for Mr. Bolger.”
Violet was staring at the booth. “I think I have a way of finding out for sure.”
Violet was about to explain, but Mrs. Beckett was calling to the children from the front porch. “Come on up to the house!”
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny hurried to the farmhouse. “Is everything all right?” Jessie asked.
“Yes,” said Mrs. Beckett. “We are having a celebration lunch. We wanted you to join us!”
Mr. Beckett smiled at the Aldens. “In a few days, the doctor will take the cast off my leg. I will be as good as new!”
“That is wonderful!” Jessie said. “We are very happy for you.”
Everyone sat at the table. There was crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes, turkey, and warm bread fresh from the oven. Mrs. Beckett passed the apple cider around the table.
“I am so glad you are feeling better, Dad,” Sally said. “But please promise me that you won’t go chasing that pumpkin head in the fields. I don’t want you to break your other leg. I already have too much to worry about.”
“But I have to do something!” Mr. Beckett said. “I must catch whoever is causing all the problems around here. I want this farm to be peaceful again. I want our workers to come back. They will not come if they believe the farm is haunted.”
“Do you have any idea about who is causing the problems?” asked Henry.
Mr. Beckett sprinkled salt on his turkey. “The only person I can think of would be Dave Bolger. But I don’t know how he could do it. I know this farm better than anyone. How could Dave Bolger find his way through my fields at night? The person haunting the fields always disappears without a trace.”
Mrs. Beckett passed a bowl of cranberry sauce to Benny. “But Mr. Bolger always seems to know what is happening on our farm. He shows up with an offer after every problem occurs.”
Violet looked at Henry. She did not want to accuse Bessie. She had no proof. But she did have an idea. She needed Mr. and Mrs. Beckett’s approval. Violet shyly explained her plan.
Everyone agreed that Violet’s plan was good. They would try it tomorrow when Bessie was back at work.
After lunch, the Aldens went back to finish their jobs on the farm. Henry cleaned the sign by the road. Jessie and Violet added more mum plants to the wooden stands. Benny set up the small pumpkins in row. Soon, the farm stand was clean and full of good things to buy. It was all ready for the next morning.
“We need to put the wheelbarrows back in the barn,” Henry said. “Then I think we can go home.”
Henry pushed the biggest wheelbarrow and Benny pushed the smallest one. Jessie opened the big barn door.
Benny ran inside first. “Hi, Jason!” he said. “We are putting the wheelbarrows back. What are you doing in the barn? Can we help, too?”
Jason looked surprised. He held something behind his back. “No! I am just…I was cleaning up these costumes. Someone has left them a mess. They are all over the floor.”
“I will take care of it for you,” Jessie said.
Jason mumbled a quick thank you. Then he hurried from the barn. The costumes were in a tangle. It looked as though someone had dumped the box over. Jessie carefully shook out each costume and folded it. She put them back in the box.
“I could have sworn that the long, black cape was here earlier,” she said. “I folded it and put it with the other costumes.”
“My skeleton costume is still here,” Benny said. “Can I wear it for fun? I can scare Grandfather when we go home.”
“I’m sure the Becketts won’t mind,” Jessie said. “There are no haunted hayrides tonight. You can bring the costume back tomorrow.”
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