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“Grandma!
Come and look,” Todd shouted. “One of your plants is gone.”
Grandma rushed out of her new home beside
the river. She hurried to the garden.
“One, two, three, four,” Todd counted the big bushy plants left in
the garden. “We planted five bushes here this morning.”
Grandma looked at the empty spot. “Who would
have taken one of my peony bushes?”
“I don’t see any footprints,” Todd said, looking all around
the soft, moist soil in Grandma’s garden. He felt a tingle go down his back. “We have a big mystery here.”
“This
is strange,” Grandma agreed. “No one could reach far enough, standing on the grass around the garden, to pull
out that bush.”
“Maybe they used a hook,” Todd said, “or a rope.”
“Those
are good ideas,” Grandma said, looking around. “But I didn’t hear any people or cars near my house this
morning.”
“And I didn’t see any boats on the river,” Todd added.
“Well, that bush
couldn’t have disappeared on its own,” Grandma declared.
“I’ll look around and see if I can
find some clues,” Todd said. “I like to solve mysteries.”
“I’ll come with you,”
Grandma said.
Todd and Grandma walked up and down the river bank.
They saw a fish jump up and plop back into the water. They saw an eagle fly overhead. They watched a bunny hop into some tall
grass.
“No clues here,” Grandma said.
“Let’s
look in those trees beside the yard,” Todd suggested.
Todd kept his eyes glued to the ground, looking for footprints
or other clues as they walked through the trees. After a few minutes, he looked up to rest his neck.
“Grandma!”
he shouted. “Look.” Todd pointed to the top of a large fir tree. “There’s your peony bush, built into
that nest.”
Grandma looked up and laughed. “Well, well,” she said. “I moved here to watch wildlife,
but it looks like the wildlife was watching me while I planted my flowers.”
“Now we know how your plant
disappeared without a clue,” Todd said, laughing, too. “It flew away!”
~The End~
Illustration Copyright ©
2008 Kim Sponaugle
Text Copyright © 2008 Marilyn Kratz
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