Great Turkey Heist Read Free

those boxes,” Mr. Grayson said. “But I haven’t decided on the best place to put them yet.”
    Jessie’s arms were folded. She looked up and down the entire room. “Mr. Grayson,” she said, “I think the first thing we need to do is clean up. If you have a mop and a bucket, I can start by washing the floors.”
    “Benny and I can dust those shelves,” Violet offered.
    “Is there a ladder in the back?” Henry asked. “I will change the lightbulbs and make it brighter in here.”
    Mr. Grayson nodded. “Your grandfather was right. You children are helpful!”
    Mr. Grayson showed the children the back room. It had plenty of cleaning supplies. Soon, he needed to leave for the restaurant. “Are you sure that you will be okay here by yourselves?” he asked.
    “We’ll be fine,” Jessie answered. She had already filled her bucket with hot, soapy water.
    Once Mr. Grayson left, Violet and Benny used rags and a bottle of spray to shine up all the shelves.
    Henry found a box of lightbulbs. He set up the ladder and began to remove the old ones.
    “This place sure is a mess,” Jessie said, wringing out her mop.
    “Yes,” Violet agreed. She wiped a cobweb from the corner of a shelf. “But even after it is clean, I am afraid it will still look dreary. It is not a very pleasant place for a food pantry.”
    Henry stood on top of the ladder. “Violet is right,” he said. “Now that the room is brighter, I can see how bad things are.”
    Benny pointed. “Look,” he said. “There are even some holes in the walls.”
    “I can fix those,” Henry said.
    “And maybe we can paint the walls a more cheerful color,” Jessie added.
    The children were standing together near the ladder when they heard a loud crash at the door. Everyone jumped.
    “What was that?” Benny asked.
    Violet took Benny’s hand.
    “Stay there,” Jessie said to her sister and brother. “Henry and I will check it out.”
    There were no windows to look outside into the alley. Henry slowly opened the door. Something red dripped down the door. Garbage was scattered in the alley.
    “What’s that smell?” Benny held his hand over his nose. “It’s terrible.”
    Henry opened the door wide. “It looks like a trash can full of garbage was overturned.”
    Jessie looked up the alley. There was no one there. The small yellow cat picked through the mess.
    “Do you think the cat knocked over the trash can?” asked Violet.
    “No,” Henry said. “Someone threw the trash can against our door.” He looked up at the red-liquid stain on the top of the door. A ketchup bottle lay broken beneath it on the ground. “For one thing, the cat could not get to the garbage up that high. And also, the sign that Mr. Grayson taped to the door is gone. I’ll be right back.”
    Henry jumped over a half-eaten sandwich and an empty soda bottle. He ran up the alley to Chestnut Street. He looked up and down the street. He only saw shoppers and people out for a stroll. No one looked suspicious.
    Jessie swept the garbage into a pile. Violet helped to dump it all back into the trash can. When they were done cleaning up, the children went back inside. They sat in a circle on the floor.
    “I don’t see how this food pantry will ever work,” Jessie said.
    “There’s not much food here,” Benny said. “It is not enough to fill up very many people.”
    Henry looked toward the door. “And someone is trying hard to hurt this food pantry.”
    Jessie looked at her brother. “Do you think that the person who threw the garbage could be the same person who knocked Mr. Grayson to the ground?”
    “It could be,” Henry said.
    “But why would anyone not like a food pantry?” asked Benny.
    Henry shook his head. “I don’t understand it, either,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
    Violet had been sitting very quietly. Now she suddenly stood up. “The person who did this is not going to stop the food pantry,” she said. “We are going to make it a big success.