When Jessie and Benny got back to the Woodruffs’ house, they wanted to tell the others what had happened in town. But Sara was there, and they decided to wait until they were alone.
All the decorations were done except the stars. The children quickly mixed the glitter with the yellow paint and painted the stars.
As they were working, Mr. Woodruff came downstairs, as grouchy as ever.
“Are you kids here again?” he asked.
“We’ve got a lot to do if we want this party to be really great,” Henry explained.
Mr. Woodruff walked slowly around the basement, looking at all the decorations the children had painted. He was frowning the whole time. The children waited anxiously wondering what he would say about them. But he said nothing. Instead he noticed some spots on the linoleum floor. “You spilled some paint here,” he said, annoyed.
“Don’t worry Mr. Woodruff. It’s washable paint,” said Henry quickly. “We’ll clean everything up before we go.”
“Make sure you do,” Mr. Woodruff grumbled. “There are cleaning supplies in there.” He motioned to a door. “And Sara, have you cleaned your room yet?”
“No, Dad,” Sara said quietly. “I was going to do it later.”
“You’d better have it done before dinnertime,” her father said before heading upstairs.
Benny was sitting silently. He had a thoughtful look on his face.
Sara was also sitting quietly, her face red. At last she spoke softly. “I’m sorry about my dad. He’s not usually like this. It’s been a hard year. Ever since Uncle John …” She stopped, and said nothing more.
“That’s okay,” Violet said. “Sometimes people act differently when they’re feeling sad or something is bothering them.”
“Yes, I guess so,” Sara muttered.
Henry opened the door Mr. Woodruff had indicated, looking for a sponge. The door led into a large workshop. There were some large pieces of machinery and some long wooden boards propped up in a corner. The floor was covered with sawdust.
Sara followed him in. “This is my dad’s workshop,” she explained.
“Looks like he’s good with his hands,” Henry said, impressed by all the tools. “What kind of things does he make?”
“He doesn’t make things as much as fix things,” Sara said. “You know, anything that breaks—my mom’s radio, my Rollerblades. Once he even had to fix the lock on our safe when it got stuck.”
“The lock on your safe?” Henry repeated.
“Yeah, we have a safe built into a cabinet in our living room,” Sara said. “My parents keep jewelry in there, you know, expensive stuff like that.”
Henry nodded quietly, but his mind was racing. He’d had no idea that Mr. Woodruff was good at fixing things—like locks on safes. Could he be the one who’d been breaking into safes? He’d have to discuss this with the others on their way home.
Sara and Henry found cleaning supplies in a corner cabinet. They returned to the main part of the basement and wiped up the drips of paint. Violet was setting out the last few painted stars to dry.
“Well, we’re all done here. We’d better get going. We promised Mrs. McGregor we would help her with chores today,” said Jessie.
“And she’s making macaroni and cheese tonight!” Benny said excitedly.
“You wouldn’t want to miss that,” Sara said with a smile.
On the way home, Jessie said, “Wait until you hear what Benny and I overheard today at Party Time,” and she told them the whole story of Cassandra’s angry words and of the magic show she had gotten tickets for.
“Cassandra the Great?” Henry asked.
“The one and only!” Jessie said. “She’s doing the show tomorrow night at the community theater. I thought we should see who our competition is!”
“Do you really think Cassandra was talking about us in Party Time?” Violet asked.
“I don’t know,” said Jessie. “It’s possible. Right, Benny?”
But Benny didn’t answer. He hadn’t been listening.
“Benny, what’s the matter?” Jessie asked. “Is something bothering you?”
“I was just thinking about when Mr. Woodruff came down to the basement,” Benny said. “Did anyone notice how he was walking?”
“Was there something odd about the way he walked?” Henry asked.
“No,” Benny said.
Now the others were really confused.
“Benny, what are you talking about?” Jessie demanded.
“Don’t you see?” said Benny. “He walked like everybody else. Mr. Woodruff didn’t have a limp!” Benny said.
“Oh,” Jessie said, understanding at last. “But when you saw him following us, he was limping.”
“Yes,” said Benny. “I just don’t get it.”
“Maybe he only limps when he walks a long way,” Jessie said. “Or maybe he had pulled a muscle and now it’s healed.”
“Yes, or maybe it wasn’t really Mr. Woodruff you saw,” Violet suggested.
“But I was sure it was,” Benny said, looking confused. “Now I don’t know what to think!”
“Well, listen to this,” Henry said. He told the others what Sara had told him about her father fixing the lock on a safe. And then he added, “If he can fix a lock, he probably knows how to break into one.” |