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儿童英语读物 The Pumpkin Head Mystery CHAPTER 3 A Haunted Farm?

时间:2017-12-18 03:10来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Denny called for help. Soon Bessie was resting under a tree in the soft grass. Violet placed a wet cloth on her forehead. Benny ran to get her a glass of water.

“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “I guess I fainted.”

“It gets hot in that booth,” Sally said. She and Jason had helped Bessie get up and walk outside. “It’s one more old thing around here that needs fixing up.”

Bessie tried to sit up.

“You rest,” Mrs. Beckett said. “George will call the doctor.”

“No!” Bessie sat up against the trunk of the tree. “I can’t afford any more doctor bills. I am fine.”

A big, black car drove up the lane and parked in the lot. A man in a dark suit got out.

“Looks like there’s been some trouble here,” the man said.

Jessie noticed that the man did not look concerned about the trouble. He seemed happy as he looked at the wheelbarrow full of broken pumpkins2.

Benny handed Bessie the glass of water. Her hand began to shake when the man looked down at her.

“There’s no trouble here we can’t take care of on our own!” Jason said angrily. “You should mind your own business.”

“Jason is right, Mr. Bolger,” Mr. Beckett said. “You are wasting your time here. I will never sell my farm to you.”

Mr. Bolger smiled. “The Wilsons said the same thing. But they did sell to me. And one day soon, you will, too.” He took a check out of his pocket. “See this?” he asked. “I will give you thousands of dollars right now just for agreeing to sell.”

Jason’s face was red. He walked back and forth3 in the grass. “Your money can’t buy you everything you want!” he shouted.

Mr. Bolger handed the check to Sally. Her eyes grew wide. “Dad! Mom!” she said. “This is a lot of money! Won’t you please think about it? You could buy a beautiful new home in Florida.”

Mr. Beckett leaned tiredly on his crutches4. “We’ve already thought about it, Sally. We are not selling to Mr. Bolger.”

Mrs. Beckett put her arm around her husband. They turned away and walked slowly back toward the house.

Jason’s hands were clenched5 into fists. “I think you should leave now,” he said to Mr. Bolger. “You are not welcome here.” He stalked off toward the barn.

Jessie looked at the concerned faces of her sister and brothers. “Let’s get back to work,” she suggested.

Henry and Benny cleaned up the pumpkin1 pieces. Jessie helped Violet arrange the flowers on the stand.

Sally turned to Mr. Bolger. “I will keep talking to my parents,” she said. “Maybe they will change their minds.”

“They will have to,” Mr. Bolger said. “A lot of problems have been going on at this farm. Soon they won’t be able to afford to stay here.”

“How do you know about the problems?” Sally asked. “How do you know what they can afford?”

Mr. Bolger winked6 at Sally. “Oh, word gets around,” he said.

Suddenly Bessie groaned7 and held her head.

“Bessie!” cried Sally. “Are you okay?”

Bessie’s face was white and she was shaking. She tried to stand.

“Let me help you,” Henry said.

Bessie grabbed Henry’s arm and stood up. “Maybe I should go home,” she said. “I don’t feel very well.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” Mr. Bolger said.

Bessie waved him away. “No! I don’t need your help.”

“But I insist!” Mr. Bolger said. “You don’t live far and, besides, I wanted to give you…” He leaned close to Bessie and whispered the rest of the sentence in her ear.

Bessie looked surprised. She quickly got into Mr. Bolger’s car and they drove away.

Sally helped pick up the rest of the pumpkin pieces. “It’s nice of you children to help out here,” she said. “My own children are about your age. They love their grandparents and this farm, too.”

“We don’t mind helping8 out,” Jessie said. “We like it here.”

“And your parents are very nice,” Violet added.

Sally tucked her hair behind her ears. “Yes,” she said. “They are nice, but stubborn, too. This farm is no place for them anymore. I live in a very nice neighborhood in Florida. It is important for my parents to live near me and my family. One way or another, I must convince them to sell this farm.”

“It’s such a beautiful farm,” said Violet. “I can see why they don’t want to leave.”

Sally stood up and brushed the dirt from her jeans. “It is beautiful. But it is so much work. And strange things have been happening here. It worries me a lot.”

“Like the broken pumpkins?” Benny asked.

“Yes, and…” Sally hesitated for a moment. “Other things, too.”

“What other things?” asked Benny.

Sally crossed her arms. “All right, I’ll tell you,” she finally said. “My parents didn’t want me to frighten you, but you should know that this farm is haunted.”

“But that’s impossible!” Henry said.

“I know!” Sally agreed. “It does seem impossible. But all I know is that something strange is happening out in the fields at night. A glowing pumpkin head floats through the air like a ghost. It has no body beneath it. It is very creepy. There are voices, too.”

“What kinds of voices?” asked Violet. Her eyes were wide.

“Spooky voices,” Sally said. “They say things like ‘Stay away from this farm’ and ‘Leave our spirits in peace.’ ”

Benny dropped a large pumpkin piece that was in his hand. He looked nervously9 around. “Has your farm always been haunted?”

“No,” Sally said. “It was a peaceful farm when I grew up here. It all seemed to start about the time I came for my visit. Some of our workers have been so frightened, they have quit. My father can’t even figure it out. He rode his horse into the fields one night to chase the pumpkin head. But the horse was so startled, she bolted. My father fell off and hurt his leg.”

“That’s terrible!” Violet exclaimed.

Just then a bus pulled up the lane and into the gravel10 lot. “Oh my!” Sally said. “It’s the Girl Scouts12. They’re early. Henry, would you please run to the barn and ask Jason to get the tractor ready?”

Soon, girls in scout11 uniforms were everywhere. They picked up small pumpkins and gourds13. Some liked the flowers and others wanted to buy the colorful Indian corn. A few leaned over the fence and threw feed to the goats. They were polite, but they kept the Aldens busy.

Jessie stood in the booth and added up their purchases. She took the money and made change. She sold the tickets for the hayride. Violet tried to calm one little girl who had been stung by a bee. Benny didn’t know what to do. He had never been surrounded by so many girls!

The troop leader clapped her hands several times. The scouts became quiet and formed a group. They walked toward the barn where Jason was pulling out the tractor. A long farm wagon14 with metal rails was hitched15 to the back of the tractor. It was padded with bales of hay.

Henry helped the girls up and they took seats in the hay. The tractor rumbled16 away and the girls laughed and clapped.

Jessie stepped out of the hot booth. She wiped her brow. “Whew!” she said. “I can see why Bessie fainted in there. We should get her a fan.”

“I wonder if the Girl Scouts brought cookies?” Benny asked.

Violet smiled. “I don’t think so.”

Just then, Mrs. Beckett walked toward them with a large picnic basket. “You children must be hungry,” she said. “I made you some lunch.”

Benny ran to take the basket from Mrs. Beckett. “Thank you!” he said. “Wow! The basket is warm.”

“I made some fresh pumpkin bread.” Mrs. Beckett spread a blanket under an old maple17 tree. “It’s one of my specialties18. I hope you enjoy it.”

Later, after the Girl Scouts’ bus drove away, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny sat under the tree and opened the basket. There were tasty sandwiches, fruit, and a pitcher19 of juice.

Benny took a big bite of his sandwich. “Do you think this farm is really haunted, Henry?” he asked.

“No,” Henry replied. “There is no such thing. I think someone is playing tricks to get the Becketts to move away.”

“But who would do that?” Benny asked.

Jessie took a bite of her apple. “Mr. Bolger certainly wants the Becketts to leave. He wants to buy their farm so he can build houses on it. He could be trying to scare them away.”

“I think Bessie is acting20 suspiciously,” Henry said. “It was terrible how she accused Violet of sneaking21 around. And what was the secret Mr. Bolger whispered to her?”

Violet held a handful of grapes. She remembered something from yesterday. “The reason I went into the booth was that Bessie was not there. But I soon heard loud voices. Bessie was standing22 by those trees arguing with someone.”

Jessie began to cut slices of the pumpkin bread. “Even Sally wants the Becketts to move. She said she had to convince them, one way or another.”

“That’s true,” Violet said. “And she admitted that the haunting started right about the time she arrived for her visit.”

“And don’t forget about Jason,” Henry said.

“Jason? But he loves the farm. He told Mr. Bolger to go away,” Violet said.

Henry took a long drink from his cup. “That’s true, Violet,” he said. “But when I went into the barn to tell him that the Girl Scouts were here, he was working on the tractor’s motor.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Benny asked.

“Nothing,” Henry replied. “Except that Jason said yesterday that he didn’t know anything about motors.”

“This sure is a hard mystery,” Benny said, helping himself to another large piece of pumpkin bread. “It makes my head hurt.”

Jessie smiled. “At least your appetite seems to be okay.”

Benny put an apple on his plate as well. “Mysteries always make me hungry!” he said.

As they cleaned up their picnic, Violet noticed straw sticking out of Benny’s pockets.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s for Sam, my scarecrow,” Benny said. “He might have gotten hungry while we were gone today. I can’t wait to light the candle in his pumpkin head tonight.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pumpkin NtKy8     
n.南瓜
参考例句:
  • They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
  • It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你!
2 pumpkins 09a64387fb624e33eb24dc6c908c2681     
n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 );南瓜的果肉,南瓜囊
参考例句:
  • I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜,但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸,并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分(高三)
3 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
4 crutches crutches     
n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑
参考例句:
  • After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
  • When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后,不得不靠拐杖走路。
5 clenched clenched     
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
  • She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上,以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 winked af6ada503978fa80fce7e5d109333278     
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼,她便知道他的想法和她一样。
  • He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
7 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
9 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
10 gravel s6hyT     
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石
参考例句:
  • We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
  • More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
11 scout oDGzi     
n.童子军,侦察员;v.侦察,搜索
参考例句:
  • He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵,受了重伤。
  • The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。
12 scouts e6d47327278af4317aaf05d42afdbe25     
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员
参考例句:
  • to join the Scouts 参加童子军
  • The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组,然后开始巡逻这个地区。
13 gourds 1636ce21bb8431b34145df5b9c485150     
n.葫芦( gourd的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Dried gourds are sometimes used as ornaments. 干葫芦有时用作饰品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The villagers use gourds for holding water. 村民们用葫芦盛水。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
15 hitched fc65ed4d8ef2e272cfe190bf8919d2d2     
(免费)搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 ); 搭便车; 攀上; 跃上
参考例句:
  • They hitched a ride in a truck. 他们搭乘了一辆路过的货车。
  • We hitched a ride in a truck yesterday. 我们昨天顺便搭乘了一辆卡车。
16 rumbled e155775f10a34eef1cb1235a085c6253     
发出隆隆声,发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 轰鸣着缓慢行进; 发现…的真相; 看穿(阴谋)
参考例句:
  • The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
  • Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了,然而,在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声,持续不断。
17 maple BBpxj     
n.槭树,枫树,槭木
参考例句:
  • Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
  • The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
18 specialties 4f19670e38d5e63c785879e223b3bde0     
n.专门,特性,特别;专业( specialty的名词复数 );特性;特制品;盖印的契约
参考例句:
  • Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典,艰深难懂,而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
  • Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句
19 pitcher S2Gz7     
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手
参考例句:
  • He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
  • Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。
20 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
21 sneaking iibzMu     
a.秘密的,不公开的
参考例句:
  • She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
  • She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走,躲开采访者。
22 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
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