Great Turkey Heist Read Free Page A

If Mr. Grayson agrees, we will paint the walls and the door outside, too. I can paint the name of the food pantry right on the door. No one will be able to steal it then.”
    “But there’s no food,” Benny said. His stomach was already growling for lunch.
    “A new sign is a good idea, Violet,” Jessie said. “But Benny is right. It will not help if there is no food on the shelves.”
    Violet looked thoughtful. “Maybe it will,” she said. “I have an idea.”
    Just then, there was a faint scratching at the door. The children sat very still.
    “Do you think the bad person is back?” whispered Benny.
    The scratching noise continued.
    Jessie opened the door a crack. She peeked outside. She felt something brush against her legs and she jumped back. It was the yellow cat! It snuck into the room and sat right next to Benny. It mewed.
    The children laughed.

    “This time it was the cat!” Benny said.
    Violet found a bowl and a small can of tuna fish in the cupboard in the back room. She set it out for the cat.
    “Poor little thing,” she said. “You must be very hungry.”
    The cat began to quickly eat the tuna fish. Violet ran her fingers through the cat’s soft fur. “This cat is our first customer at the food pantry!” she said.
    “I suppose you are right about that, Violet,” Henry said. “I hope she is not our last.”
    Benny’s stomach growled so loudly that even the cat looked up.
    “Sorry,” Benny said. “I guess all this talk of food is making my stomach go crazy.”
    Henry laughed. “The cat is not the only hungry one in this room. Let’s go get some lunch, and Violet can tell us about her ideas.”

CHAPTER 3
Mind Your Own Business!
    Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny sat in a back booth at Green Fields restaurant. Jessie squirted ketchup on Benny’s burger.
    Noreen, the waitress, set four cold glasses of apple cider on the table. “Mr. Grayson is a little busy in the kitchen right now,” she said. “But he’ll be out to talk with you as soon as he can.”
    “Of course,” Jessie said. “We understand.”
    Violet took a long drink of her cider. “I was thinking,” she said, “that we need a lot of donations if we are going to fill up the shelves at the food pantry. I will paint a sign on the door. But no one will see it. We need to let everyone know about the food pantry.”
    “How about flyers?” Jessie asked.
    Violet took a bite of her salad. “Yes,” she said. “We could make flyers and put them up around town.”
    “The grocery store would be the best place,” Henry said.
    Jessie agreed. “People could buy food and donate it right at the checkout!”
    “And we could set up donation jars, too,” Violet said.
    Benny took a gulp of his apple cider. “What’s a donation jar?” he asked.
    Violet reached for a large glass container of mustard. She put it in the center of the table. “We could clean out jars like this, Benny,” she said. “Then we could tape a small sign to the front asking for donations. If stores will put them on their checkout counters, people could drop their change into the jar. We could use that money to buy more food for the food pantry.”
    Mr. Grayson walked up to the booth. He was wearing a white apron and carrying a warm apple pie. “May I join you for some dessert?” he asked.
    “Oh boy!” Benny said. “Pie!”
    Noreen brought five plates and five forks and sliced the pie. Everyone had a large piece.
    “Mr. Grayson,” Henry said. “We were wondering if we could paint the food pantry.”
    “It’s clean now,” Jessie added. “But it is still dark inside. Maybe a fresh coat of paint would brighten it up.”
    “That sounds wonderful!” Mr. Grayson said.
    “And Violet can paint a sign on the door,” Benny mumbled, his mouth full of pie. “Violet is a good artist. She can draw anything!”
    Violet’s face turned red. “Not anything, Benny,” she said. “But I’m sure I can design a nice sign for your door, Mr. Grayson.”
    “And