Mystery at the Ballpark by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online Page B

things.”
    “What kind of things?”
    “Just about everything. Furniture and dolls and antiques …”
    “Oh.” Benny looked disappointed.
    “Cheer up, Benny,” Violet said teasingly. “There will be lots of good things to eat, like homemade cookies and cakes and doughnuts.”
    “Oh, good!” Benny said, polishing off a waffle and reaching for another. “Then I know I’ll like it.”
    Half an hour later, they met Michael and Nicole and headed for the fairgrounds. “This is going to be fun,” Nicole said. “I can hardly wait to get there.”
    “And guess what,” Michael spoke up. “Did you see the notice in today’s paper? Someone’s selling baseball cards and autographs!”
    “Let’s head there first,” Henry said.
    The fairgrounds were crowded when the children arrived. Everyone was excited by a display of gingerbread houses. “Oh, they’re pretty,” Nicole said. “They look just like something out of Hansel and Gretel.”
    “But I bet they’re really expensive,” Violet said. She had brought her allowance money with her in case she wanted to buy something.
    “Maybe we can learn to make them ourselves,” Jessie suggested. The Aldens always loved to figure out how to do things on their own.
    Benny asked the woman behind the booth, “Can you eat the houses?”
    She laughed. “I certainly hope not. Each one of them took almost a whole week to decorate.”
    “C’mon,” Henry said, putting his arm around his younger brother’s shoulders. “Let’s take a look at those baseball cards.”
    A large group was gathered around the baseball card vendor’s booth, and Michael recognized a familiar face. “See that woman in the red dress?” he whispered to the others. “Isn’t that Susan’s aunt—the one who’s always hanging around the field?”
    Nicole watched as a dark-haired woman backed out of the crowd and headed toward another booth. “That’s her, all right. I wonder what she was doing at this booth?”
    “It can’t be because she likes baseball,” Jessie said. “She thinks it’s a waste of time.”
    “Well, I think it’s the most fun game in the whole world,” Benny said loudly.
    “You’re right,” Henry said, laughing. “Now let’s see the cards for ourselves.”
    They had been sorting through bins of cards for a few minutes when Benny suddenly grabbed Jessie’s arm. “That’s it!” he said hoarsely.
    “That’s what?” Jessie said blankly. She was looking at a baseball card that pictured Hank Aaron and listed his 733 home runs.
    “Your glove!” Benny said, continuing to tug at her. “The one Aunt Jane gave you.”
    “What—where?” Now he had her full attention.
    Benny pointed silently to a slightly battered glove just out of reach on a display shelf. The autograph was clearly visible—Hank Aaron.
    “Can I see that glove—the one on the left?” Jessie asked the man running the booth. She was so excited her hands were trembling. How in the world had her glove ended up here? Had someone stolen it from the dugout and sold it?
    “This is a nice glove. I can give you a good price on it.”
    Jessie turned it over thoughtfully in her hands. It certainly looked like her glove! But she wasn’t sure what to say. She couldn’t accuse the man of stealing it! “I …I had a glove just like this one,” she said finally. “My aunt gave it to me.”
    “You mean you had a glove signed by Hank Aaron,” the man said in a friendly voice.
    “That’s right!” Jessie said.
    “So do lots of people,” he replied, arranging a stack of baseball caps.
    Jessie was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
    “The big-name players sign lots of gloves. Everybody knows that.”
    “I didn’t,” Jessie said softly. She slipped her hand inside the glove. There was a little rough spot inside that rubbed against her knuckle—just like her glove.

    Was it hers? And anyway what could she do? Even if it was, there was no way she could prove it.
    “How much is it?” Henry asked. He