儿童英语读物 The Stuffed Bear Mystery CHAPTER 6 Big, Fuzzy Heads

On the way to lunch, the Aldens told Peggy about Mrs. Keppel and the furry 1 ears.



“I couldn’t tell if they were Herr Bear ears,” Benny said. “But you know what? They sure weren’t made out of china stuff like those other bears she has.”



“I almost asked her about the Herr Bear again to see if she would get nervous,” Henry said. “Then the newspaper photographer showed up to take pictures. That seemed to upset her.”



“How odd,” Peggy said. “Do you believe she took the Herr Bear?”



Before the others could answer, Violet spoke 2 up. “We saw her put the bear back and lock the cabinet. Woodland Bears are special. I don’t think someone who makes them could be a thief.”



Benny disagreed. “Who would want small china bears that you have to dust and everything? You could have a cuddly 3 bear that doesn’t need dusting.”



“There’s one way to find out,” Violet said. “We’ll have to go back and talk to her more. I’d like to get to know Mrs. Keppel better, anyway.”



By this time, Peggy and the Aldens had arrived in front of the town restaurant.



Peggy felt for something in her pocket. “Oh, dear. I think I left my keys on the table in the booth. Would one of you run back and get them for me?”



“I’ll go,” Henry said before sprinting 4 off.



“Bring Mister B. back,” Benny called out to Henry. “I hid him under the table. I sure don’t want him to get lost like the Herr Bear did.”



Henry made his way through the crowds. When he came to Peggy’s booth, he spotted 5 her keys right away. “There they are,” he said, dropping them into the pocket of his jeans. Then he bent 6 down to reach for Mister B.



A familiar pair of green mud boots was sticking out from under the table!



“Miss Sayer!” Henry said when he realized who was wearing the boots. “What are you doing under there?”



“What am I doing?” Miss Sayer grabbed her orange tote bag. “What are you doing with a blue badge? Those are only for bear sellers, not customers and children.”



Henry held the badge out for Miss Sayer to read. “See? We’re Peggy’s assistants. That’s how we got our badges. Did you come to help her, too?”



Miss Sayer seemed annoyed at Henry’s question. “Of course not. I have my own seller’s badge, as you can see. However, Peggy said I could borrow things I needed for my booth. I was looking for … for gift boxes.”



Henry looked down. Something with Peggy’s name on it was sticking out of Miss Sayer’s tote bag.



“Were you planning to tell her about taking her pattern book?” a voice nearby said. It was Mrs. Keppel, and she was frowning at Miss Sayer.



Miss Sayer looked away from the woman. “I … well, it was dark under there. How was I supposed to tell a book from a box?” Miss Sayer shoved Peggy’s pattern book back under the table. She quickly gathered up her things and left.



“Thanks,” Henry told Mrs. Keppel. “I’m glad she didn’t take Peggy’s keys, too. I’m Henry Alden.”



“I’m Elsa.” Mrs. Keppel almost smiled, but not quite. “Elsa Keppel. Don’t leave important things lying about. You must be careful about thieves.”



“We try to be,” Henry said. “This is what I was looking for,” he said when he reached under the table and found Mister B. “So long.” Henry quickly glanced into Mrs. Keppel’s booth. There was nothing but china bears to be seen—no furry ears at all.



Henry left the hall, eager to tell Peggy and his brother and sisters about Miss Sayer and Mrs. Keppel. When he stepped outside, he saw a crowd of children and their parents. As he drew closer, he discovered what everyone was looking at—three furry bear characters mingling 7 in the crowd.



Henry saw Peggy on the far side of the crowd and called out to her. “Hey, Peggy,” Henry said. “Where are my sisters and Benny? They’d sure like to see these bears, too.”



Peggy put her hand over her mouth to cover a grin.



“What’s up?” Henry asked when he reached her. “Did they go inside already?”



That’s when the shortest bear came up to Henry and began to giggle 8.



“Hey, I know that laugh!” Henry bent down to get a closer look at the bear. “That’s you inside there, isn’t it, Benny?” he whispered at the bear’s big furry head.



The bear laughed again. “See, I told you we could fool him!” It was Benny’s voice. “And guess what, Henry. Jessie and Violet are bears, too!”



Peggy laughed, then guided the three bears into the restaurant. They scampered 9 off to the rest rooms to change.



“I hope you like a good joke,” Peggy said to Henry. “Every year, the people who run the jamboree have three children dress up as the three bears from Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I hope you don’t mind that I volunteered Benny and your sisters for the job. They’re just the right size for the costumes. Jessie is the Papa Bear, Violet the Mama Bear. Benny is the Baby Bear, of course. It was his idea to fool you when you came back.”



“You rascal 10!” Henry said when Benny came back as a boy and not a bear. “You sure had me fooled. Now, here’s a real bear for you—a stuffed one anyway.” He handed over Mister B. “And here are your keys, Peggy, they were right where you thought you left them.”



“Know what, Henry?” Benny asked. “When we have those costumes on, we can walk around and search for the Herr Bear. Nobody will know it’s us.”



“Good plan,” Henry agreed. “Now let’s find a booth—a restaurant booth that sells sandwiches, not bears. I’m hungry. What are you going to have?” he asked his brother and sisters.



“Honey!” they all said at the same time.



“Miss Sayer had one of your pattern books in her tote bag,” Henry told Peggy before he even looked at the menu. “Mrs. Keppel told her to put it back.”



Peggy sighed. “Oh, dear. That may be my fault. This morning I told Miss Sayer that if she needed anything, she could help herself to supplies from my booth. I didn’t mean my pattern book, though. I thought she would know better than that.”



“Did she put it back?” Benny asked before deciding on a grilled 11 cheese sandwich.



“She sure did,” Henry said. “We’ve got enough to look for. We’ll be plenty busy searching for the Herr Bear and the person who took it.”



“Starting right after lunch,” Jessie told Peggy. “Unless you have plans for us.”



Peggy looked up from her menu. “Well, I was hoping you children could help me and Doc do some bear repairs at the toy hospital.”



The children wanted to be in two places at the same time.



Then Jessie figured out a way they could be. “I know. We need to find out more reasons someone might want to steal the Herr Bear. Didn’t Doc say he has lots of books about collectible bears? We could get information and maybe even search on the computer at the toy hospital. Would that be okay, Peggy?”



“Of course,” Peggy said. “At the same time, you could take turns helping 12 stuff and sew up the last of my Peggy Bears—along with Mister B., of course.”



“Hey,” Benny said. “Look who just walked by.”



“Professor Tweedy.” Henry swiveled around to see where the professor was headed. “He’s two booths back.”



“Then that’s where I’m going,” Jessie said. “Our napkin dispenser is empty. I’ll get some napkins from Professor Tweedy’s booth and see what he’s up to. He’s got that big briefcase 13 he always carries everywhere. I wonder what he’s doing here.”



Jessie waited a few minutes, then got up. The other children pretended to eat their food. They glanced up every few seconds to see what Jessie was going to do.



When she came to Professor Tweedy’s booth, Jessie saw his open briefcase on the seat. She was disappointed there was no bear inside. In front of him, the professor had spread out his notebook, some papers, and a magazine opened to bear photographs. He was copying something into his notebook.



“Oh, hi, Professor Tweedy,” Jessie said, not hesitating a bit. “I’d like a few napkins from that dispenser,” she said before the professor had a chance to protest. “The one at our booth is empty. Thanks so much. See you later.”



Jessie scooted back to her own booth with a fistful of napkins. “Guess what. Professor Tweedy didn’t have the Herr Bear, but he was definitely taking down notes about bears. I saw it for sure.”



“Then for sure we’re going to find out why,” Henry said before biting down on his double-decker turkey sandwich.