The Mystery at the Fair

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “Whew,” Courtney said as she held the top of her sack and tried to walk. “Moving around in this sack is harder than it looks.”

  “If you think this is hard,” Jessie said, “just wait until the three-legged race starts.”

  When all the children had slipped on a sack, they waddled over to join the rest of the crowd.

  “I feel like a duck,” Benny said.

  “Well,” Courtney said. “You’ll need to hop like a rabbit in order to win.”

  After everyone was in line, the contest began.

  “Ready, Set, Go!” the judge said as he waved his arms to start the race.

  Everyone began hopping toward the finish line. Benny was halfway across the field when, suddenly, he tripped. Michael stumbled over him. Jessie collided with Michael. Violet and Courtney landed in a pile next to her. Soon Henry was laughing so much he could hardly breathe. All the other children began to laugh with him.

  “Well, at least no one is hurt,” Henry said.

  “Only my pride,” Jessie said as she struggled to her feet. Henry helped her up.

  “Let’s try the three-legged race now,” Violet said. “We had better luck with that race last year.”

  “I didn’t fall down during the three-legged race,” Benny said.

  “Good,” Michael said. “We can race together.”

  The children chose a brightly colored scarf from a pile that was marked Three-Legged Race. Henry helped Benny and Michael tie their ankles together. Then he pulled them up on their feet. The two little boys practiced hopping around and around while they waited for the older children to get ready.

  “This is fun!” Michael said happily.

  Finally, the race began. Violet and Henry hopped along together, followed by Jessie and Courtney. Benny and Michael were behind a large group of adults at the beginning of the race. Suddenly, the two little boys began to move faster and faster. Before long, they had hopped past everyone else and crossed the finish line.

  “Hooray for Michael and Benny!” the older children shouted.

  “We beat you to the finish line,” Benny said.

  “We hopped as fast as we could,” Michael explained. “That’s how we won.”

  “Good job,” Henry said as he untied their legs. “There’s nothing like teamwork.”

  “I think we’d better get back to the craft competition tent now,” Jessie said.

  “Oh, I’m getting nervous again,” Courtney said. “I was having so much fun, I forgot all about the competition.”

  “I wonder if the judges have reached a decision,” Violet said.

  “I’m sure they have by now,” Henry said. “Let’s go.”

  Most of the bleachers were filled by the time the children arrived. They found a place to sit near the top of the stands. The crowd whispered excitedly as the judges entered the tent. The judge with the flowered hat picked up the microphone.

  “We are now ready to announce the winner,” the judge said.

  Courtney and Jessie held hands tightly. Violet held her breath. Mrs. Stephens began to twist her handkerchief again. She leaned forward anxiously as the judge read the winner.

  “The winning entry in the Greenfield County Fair Crafts Competition is the African necklace and earrings which were made by Courtney Jenkins and Jessie Alden. Girls, please come over to the winner’s table.”

  “You won, you won!” Benny and Michael said as they clapped the girls on the back. Cheers and applause rang out from the audience.

  Violet hugged her sister and her friend. Courtney and Jessie walked down the aisle toward the winners’ table. But as they approached the judges, they could see that something was terribly wrong.

  “I can’t believe this!” said one judge.

  “It must be here,” said the woman in the flowered hat.”

  “No — I’ve looked and looked,” said the third judge. “The money and the trophy are gone.” He turned to the girls. “I’m so sorry,” the judge said. “It appears that someone has taken the trophy and the envelope that had the check for $25 in it!”

  “Oh, no,” Courtney said. “I can’t believe this is happening.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  “It’ll be all right, Courtney,” Jessie said. “You’ll see.”

  The judges whispered together for a moment. Then the lady with the flowered hat picked up the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she began. “The trophy and prize money which were to be awarded to these young ladies is missing. The theft must have taken place while we were in the contest official’s office. If anyone has any information on the identity of the person or persons who may have taken the prizes from the awards table, please contact us immediately.”

  Henry, Violet, Benny, and Michael worked their way through the crowd until they reached Jessie and Courtney.

  “This is awful,” Violet said.

  “I can’t believe someone would do something like this,” Henry said. “I think we need to talk to the judges about what’s been going on since the contests were announced.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Courtney said.

  “May we talk with you for a moment?” Jessie asked the lady in the flowered hat.

  “Certainly,” she replied.

  “Something very strange has been going on since the fair began,” Jessie said. “But we haven’t been able to figure it out.”

  “What do you mean?” another judge asked.

  The children told the judges every suspicious thing they had seen and heard since the fair began.

  “My goodness,” the judge with the flowered hat said. “Imagine someone deliberately trying to ruin the fair contests!”

  “Well, someone is,” Henry said. “The question is who?”

  “I know one thing,” Violet said. “Whoever took the trophy and prize money didn’t have very long to hide it.”

  “That’s true,” Jessie said. “They wouldn’t be able to carry that trophy around without someone seeing them.”

  “Maybe,” Violet said, “they hid it somewhere nearby. Then, after the fair, they could go back and get it.”

  “Let’s look around,” Henry said.

  Just then, Jessie saw the man with the baseball cap near the entrance to the tent.

  “There’s that man again,” Jessie whispered to the others. “I wonder how long he’s been listening to us.”

  “What man?” one of the judges asked.

  “It’s that man in the baseball cap we told you about,” Jessie said. “Look, he just ran outside.”

  “Maybe if we hurry we can follow him,” Henry said.

  “Let’s go,” Jessie said.

  The children hurried outside. They looked around carefully, but they couldn’t find the man with the baseball cap in the crowd.

  “He seems to have disappeared,” Courtney said. “What are we going to do now?”

  “I’ll take the boys and we’ll look all around the area in back of the tent for the missing trophy and prize money,” Henry said. “Maybe the rest of you can search around the other sides.”

  Jessie said, “Let’s meet in front of the tent in about ten minutes. If no one has found anything we’ll spread out a little farther.”

  The children began searching the area around the crafts tent. After several minutes, the girls heard Benny calling their names.

  “Violet, Jessie, and Courtney, come here,” Benny said. “Look what we found!”

  The girls ran as fast as they could to the back of the crafts tent. Benny was holding a bag in one hand and the trophy in the other.

  “Where did you find it?” Jessie asked.

  “Someone stuffed it in this bag. It was partly hidden inside this empty box,” Henry explained.

  “We saw the trophy shining in the sun,” Michael said.

  “Let me see that bag, Benny,” Violet said. “This looks like the bag Kristie was carrying at the crafts store.”

  “Look at the initials embroidered on the front of the bag,” Courtney said. “KGS.” />
  “Yes,” Violet said. “Those are Kristie’s initials. But I can’t believe she’d do something like this.”

  “The judge said that Mrs. Stephens’s first name is Kathy,” Henry said. “This could be her bag and not Kristie’s.”

  “Maybe,” Jessie said. “But Kristie was holding the bag as if it were hers.”

  “Why do you think Kristie would take the trophy and the prize money?” Courtney asked.

  “Let’s see if we can find her and ask her before we tell the judges about this,” Jessie said. “Maybe she can explain what happened.”

  “Where do you think Kristie went?” Henry asked.

  “Mrs. Stephens said earlier that she was going to talk with the contest official,” Jessie said. “I’ll bet we can find Kristie with her mother at the registration tent.”

  The children hurried to the bright red registration tent. They could hear Mrs. Stephens before they saw her. She was loudly complaining to the contest official about the rules.

  “I demand an explanation for all this confusion,” Mrs. Stephens was saying to the contest official.

  “Mother, please,” Kristie said. She looked like she wished she were somewhere else.

  “Excuse us, Mrs. Stephens,” Violet said. “We have something we need to talk to Kristie about.”

  “That’s my bag!” Kristie said when she saw what Violet had in her hand.

  “We found it inside one of the boxes that were stacked behind the crafts tent,” Jessie explained.

  “What was it doing there?” Kristie asked. She opened up the bag and looked inside.

  Violet watched Kristie’s face carefully. Kristie looked very shocked when she saw the trophy and prize money inside her bag.

  “Young lady,” the contest official said. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “I don’t know how that trophy or that envelope got inside my bag,” Kristie said.

  “This is outrageous,” Mrs. Stephens complained loudly.

  “Did you misplace your bag somewhere?” Violet asked.

  “Maybe someone found it and used it to hide the trophy and envelope inside. That way, it would look like you were the one who took them,” Courtney said.

  “I left my bag in the art competition tent this morning,” Kristie said. “I had my paint supplies in it.”

  Kristie dug inside the bag.

  “See,” she said as she held up several tubes of paint and a brush, “my supplies are still inside.” Kristie looked close to tears.

  “Well,” the contest official said, “the fact remains that someone stole the trophy and prize money.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Kristie said. “I would never do anything like that.”

  “Did you see anyone else around the tent while you were there?” Jessie asked.

  “Yes,” Kristie said. “Two people were there. A girl I didn’t know, and a man with a baseball cap.”

  “What did the girl look like?” Violet asked.

  “No more questions!” Mrs. Stephens interrupted. “We’ve been through quite enough for one day. We’re going home!”

  Mrs. Stephens took Kristie by the arm and hurried off.

  CHAPTER 8

  The Man with the Baseball Cap

  That evening, the Aldens gathered in the boxcar to talk. The Jenkins children had divided the prize money evenly with the Aldens. Courtney and Michael took a trophy and a blue ribbon home with them. The other trophy and blue ribbon were on the shelf that Jessie and Violet had made in the boxcar.

  “I’m glad we won the prize money,” Henry said. “But we still don’t have enough to buy Grandfather’s birthday present at the Greenfield Bookshop.”

  “We’ll have enough money when we figure out who has been trying to ruin the fair,” Benny said.

  “We’ll have enough left over to buy balloons and party hats, too. There’s a $50 reward for solving the mystery,” Violet said.

  “If we can solve the mystery,” Jessie said.

  “It’s still hard to believe all the things that have happened since we first saw that fair poster,” Violet said.

  “What we need to do now is figure out why anyone would want to ruin the fair contests,” Henry said.

  “Maybe they wanted the trophy and the money,” Benny suggested.

  “Or maybe someone wanted to get even with the people who were competing,” Jessie said.

  “Mrs. Stephens has been at every event and she’s never won anything,” Benny said.

  “Susie has been at every event, too,” Jessie pointed out.

  “Also,” Henry said, “Susie’s pie and Mrs. Stephens’s cake were the only ones not ruined today.”

  “It could just be a coincidence,” Jessie said.

  “Maybe,” Henry said.

  “We found the trophy and the prize money in Kristie’s bag,” Benny reminded everyone.

  “Kristie does seem like the most likely suspect,” Henry said.

  “But Kristie looked very surprised when she found out the things were in her bag,” Violet said.

  “True,” Jessie said, “but Kristie has been acting very strange lately.”

  “Kristie has been acting kind of strange,” Violet agreed, “but I think it’s because she didn’t really want to enter the contest in the first place.”

  “What about the man in the baseball cap?” Benny said. “He always seems to be around when something has gone wrong.”

  “Yes,” Violet said, “but he hasn’t been entered in any of the contests.”

  “But he sure acts suspiciously,” Jessie said.

  “Maybe if we see him tomorrow we can follow him,” Henry said.

  “I can help you follow him,” Benny offered. “I’ll be very quiet so he won’t know I’m around.”

  “This I’d like to see,” Jessie said as she smiled at her noisy younger brother.

  “I sure wish I knew who that girl was Kris-tie saw in the art tent,” Violet said.

  “When we see Kristie tomorrow maybe we can ask her again,” Henry said.

  “Speaking of tomorrow,” Jessie said, “we’d better go to bed now. The livestock show starts early in the morning. And we’ve got a mystery to solve.”

  The next morning, as the children were getting ready to leave for the fair, the phone rang.

  “Alden residence,” Jessie said. She listened quietly for a moment, then she said, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Courtney. Tell Michael I hope he feels better soon. I’ll call you after the fair and tell you everything that happened.”

  “Is something wrong?” Violet asked.

  “Michael isn’t feeling well this morning,” Jessie said. “Courtney says they won’t be able to go to the fair with us today because she has to baby-sit Michael.”

  “That’s too bad,” Henry said. “We were all having so much fun.”

  “We sure were,” Violet agreed. “I hope Michael feels well enough to come to Grandfather’s birthday party tomorrow.”

  “Courtney said that she’s going to make sure Michael stays in bed all day today,” Jessie said. “He should feel better by tomorrow.”

  “I hope so,” Benny said. “Why don’t we make him a get-well card when we get home?”

  “That’s a wonderful idea, Benny,” Violet said. “We can make a card for Grandfather’s birthday, too.”

  “Well, we’d better hurry if we’re going to get to the fair before it starts,” Jessie said.

  “And get back in time to buy Grandfather’s birthday gift,” Henry said.

  The children ran as fast as they could to the fairgrounds. The livestock show was just starting when they arrived.

  “I love the livestock show!” Benny said.

  “I love this show, too,” Violet said. “The animals are so beautiful.”

  “The parade is about to begin,” Henry said.

  “Ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls,” the announcer said. “Welcome to the Greenfield County Livestock Show! Now we will begin the animal promenade, after which the animals w
ill be on display in the livestock tent. See if you can pick the winner of the Best of Show ribbon and the $25 cash prize! Good luck, everyone!”

  The crowd began to cheer as the parade began. Children and adults marched into the arena with their animals beside them. Horses, sheep, goats, cows, and pigs, some with bright ribbons tied around their necks, walked alongside their owners. They mooed, baaed, and squealed noisily as they paraded around and around the ring.

  “Look at that little horse,” Benny said. “I could ride that one.”

  “That’s a pony, Benny,” Violet said. “Look at all the pretty ribbons tied in its mane.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Jessie said. “And so well trained.”

  The pony obediently pranced beside its owner, a little girl who wore matching yellow ribbons in her hair. The judges made notes as each contestant passed. They smiled at the little girl and her pony when they stopped in front of their booth. The pony bowed to the judges.

  “The judges liked that,” Henry said as the contestants marched around the tent. “I’ll bet the pony will win.”

  The judges talked together for a few moments and rose to make their announcement.

  “The winner of the Greenfield County Livestock Show is Cindy Morgan and her pony, Dancer!”

  “I knew they were going to win,” Henry said. The little girl smiled as the judges presented her with the trophy and the prize money. She took the Best of Show ribbon and tied it to Dancer’s mane. The crowd cheered and applauded.

  The Boxcar Children walked down the bleachers and headed toward the exits with the rest of the crowd.

  “Did you notice that nothing unusual happened during this contest?” Jessie said.

  “What do you mean?” Henry asked.

  “Well,” Jessie continued. “In all the other events something went wrong. But this one went smoothly.”

  “Maybe it’s because the person who is causing all the trouble at the fair didn’t enter the livestock show,” Violet said.

  “I think you’re right,” Henry said.

  “We’d better go over to the arts competition tent,” Violet said. “I want to make sure nothing goes wrong during that event.”

  Suddenly Benny grabbed Violet’s arm.

  “Look over there,” Benny said. “It’s the man in the baseball cap.”