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Andy and Jacob stared at the garden. Who could have wrecked their mom's favorite plants? They looked at each other. Andy said, "Mom's going to think one of us did this." Jacob wondered, "What are we going to do?" Both of them said (at the same time), "We're going to have to find out who did this and make em’ confess!" They began to look for clues. Andy found a footprint. It was bigger than his and in a muddy spot of the garden. "Mom must have watered the garden last night", he said. Jacob looked at the bent and broken plants. "I'm not too sad that the Brussels Sprouts are gone", he said. And just then, he saw what looked like a can. It was crushed and wrinkled, but it was a soda can. "Someone was drinking soda here... and it isn't the kind we have in the house", he said. Then they noticed their dog Abraham was sniffing and wagging his tail. "What has Abe found?" asked Jerome, as he walked up to the brothers. "I don't know" answered Jacob, while Andy began to tell their friend, "We're looking for clues", Someone wrecked mom's garden and we're trying to figure out who did it, so she won't think we did it." "Can I help?" asked Jerome. "We can use all the help we can get" the brothers said. “Hey look, I found some kind of brown sticky stuff”, Jerome said. “What is it?” asked Jacob. “I’m not gonna’ touch it, it’s gross” Jerome replied. “You big sissy, I’ll find out what it is,” Andy said. As he walked up to it, he said, “Eew, it is gross. I think I’ll use a stick to pick it up.” Just then mom yelled out the window, “What are you boys doing there? Hey, who wrecked my garden? Which one of you did that?” “It wasn’t us mom, we’re looking for clues to find out who did it. Jerome is helping. He just found something gross and gooey. We’re trying to figure out what it is.” Jacob answered. Then, Jacob remembered Abe was sniffing and wagging his tail. He walked over to the dog and found a chocolate bar wrapper. As Andy began poking at the brown sticky stuff, Jacob said, “I think I know what that gross gooey stuff is”. “Me too” said Andy, as they both said “A chocolate bar”. “It has nuts in it too” said Andy. “So”, Jerome said… “another clue. Do you think we’ll find anything else?” Just as he said it, he noticed what looked like tracks in the dirt and bent grass in the lawn. It looked as if there could have been two bicycles side by side leading to the road, from the garden. “I wonder what made these tracks?” Jerome asked. “They look too wide to be a wagon, but I don’t think it was two bicycles”, said Andy. “Well, anyway, we’ve got some clues to work with now, I bet we find out who did this. I sure hope mom doesn’t plant any more Brussels Sprouts.” “I wonder if these tracks are from a wagon or a cart”, said Jerome. As they were looking for more clues on the ground, Caleb and Mitchell walked up behind them. “What are you looking for?” Mitchell asked. “Yeah, maybe we can help you find it. What did you lose?” Caleb added. Jacob was nine years old and in the third grade with Caleb and Mitchell. Jacob’s big brother Andy and Jerome were eleven, so they were all friends and went to the same School. “We’re lookin’ for clues. Someone wrecked mom’s garden. So, we’re trying to figure out who did it. “We’ll help… right Mitchell?” said Caleb. “I think we could be pretty good detectives.” Mitchell added. “Sure, you can help, maybe the five of us can figure this out before mom has lunch ready.” “Do you think she’ll make enough for all of us?” asked Jerome, “She always makes a good lunch.” “I’ll go tell her we’re going down the road and I’ll ask her”, Andy said, as he ran to the house. So, the boys started walking down the road, looking for more clues. “Are you sure we’re going the right way?” asked Caleb. “I don’t know, but if we find any more clues, we’ll soon find out”, answered Andy. “Hey, here’s another one of those candy bar wrappers, the same kind you found at the garden”, yelled Mitchell. “I guess we know we’re going the right way now”, said Jacob. Maybe when we get to the corner where Old Ben sells Fishing bait, we can ask him if he saw anybody with mud on their shoes”, Jerome said. “Hey, maybe we can get some bait and go fishin’ later”, Caleb suggested. “After we find out who messed up mom’s garden and have lunch”, Jacob said. “Yeah, we’ve got to make somebody confess first”, Andy remembered. “Fishin’ sounds like fun. I hope we find out who did this, so we can eat and go fishin’”, Mitchell thought out loud. Just a little farther down the road, they spotted Old Ben. He had his cart full of worms, hooks and bobbers. He had his cooler with soda and candy bars too. As the boys started walking up to him, Andy whispered, “look… Old Ben’s got mud on his boots”. “And, he’s drinkin’ soda in a can just like the one you found in the Brussels Sprouts”, whispered Jerome. “Hey, his cart has two wheels that look like bicycle tires”, yelled Caleb. “Shhh, not so loud, we don’t want to scare him off”, whispered Mitchell. “Hi boys. Goin’ fishin’?” asked Old Ben. “I’ve got some really big night crawlers here. I found em’ last night”. “I bet you did… in mom’s garden”, Andy said. “What makes you think I had anything to do with messin’ up your mom’s garden?” Old Ben stammered. “Why... it could have been anybody”. “We didn’t say anything about mom’s garden being wrecked. You could only know that if you did it”, said Jacob. “How did you know it was me?” asked Ben. “That’s easy” said Caleb. “Yeah, you left clues all over the place”, Mitchell added. “We followed them right to you.” “Okay, I confess. I did it while I was looking for these night crawlers last night. I didn’t mean to mess up the garden. I’m really sorry.” Ben said, with his head down. Andy said, “Okay, all we want is for you to come with us to tell mom you’re the one who wrecked the garden. We need for you to confess to her, so she knows we didn’t do it.” “How about if I give all of you some free bait? After all I did get these big worms in your yard”, said Old Ben. “That’d be great” Mitchell said, “We’d love to go fishin’ later.” “Okay, lets go tell your mom I Did it”, Old Ben said. After they got there, Old Ben confessed. Andy and Jacob’s mom asked Ben if he’d help fix the garden and plant some more Brussels Sprouts. Ben said he would, so she even let him stay for lunch. Ben said, “These boys are some good detectives.” “Yeah, we are” said Andy, “Maybe we should start a club.” “Great idea” yelled Jerome, “Let’s call it the Clue Club”. “Yeah, we’re the Clue Club”, yelled the boys, “We’re the Clue Club!” “Do you have to plant more Brussels Sprouts?” asked Jacob. Mom laughed and said, “Yes, your dad and I like them. I won’t make you eat any.” After lunch, Ben went to work on the garden, after he gave the Clue Club some free bait, candy bars and sodas. The Clue Club went fishing and began looking for anything that looked like a clue to follow. |
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© Steven Green 2007 |
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