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Kenny Brown, Junior Detective |
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| Kenny was not sure what had startled him out of a deep sleep. The house was | ||
| very quiet this early Sunday morning. He checked the alarm clock. It was | ||
| only 6:30. In the bed across the room Michael was still sound asleep. | ||
| Kenny got up and crept over to the window. A glimmer of daylight cast eerie | ||
| shadows throughout the neighbourhood. | ||
| Suddenly a loud crash from Mr. Harris' yard broke the silence and made Kenny | ||
| jump. He hurried over to Michael's bed. | ||
| "Did you hear that noise?" whispered Kenny, shaking his older brother to | ||
| wake him. | ||
| Michael moaned and buried his head deeper into the pillow. | ||
| "Michael, someone is prowling around in Mr. Harris' yard." Again Kenny | ||
| shook his brother. | ||
| "Go back to bed," Michael finally answered. "It's probably his stupid cats." | ||
| Kenny went back to the window. Here was a mystery he, Kenny Brown, would | ||
| like to solve. | ||
| "Maybe someone is trying to break in. We should warn Mr. Harris," Kenny | ||
| said hesitantly. He remembered his last encounter with mean, old Mr. Harris. | ||
| The old man had threatened to beat him with his cane when Kenny accidentally | ||
| rode his bike through Mr. Harris' rose bushes. | ||
| Kenny fumbled around to find his clothes and slowly got dressed. He thought | ||
| about his many encounters with Mr. Harris. | ||
| It's not my fault trouble always seems to find me, Kenny thought to himself. | ||
| He had not meant to throw that baseball through the window. And how was he | ||
| to know that scrawny cat would run into the path of his perfectly launched Frisbee? | ||
| Kenny crept downstairs and hesitated before opening the front door. Finally | ||
| he decided to investigate. If something was wrong he had to warn Mr. Harris. | ||
| Kenny quickly ran across the yard. The six foot fence around the Harris property | ||
| gave the old man the privacy he wanted. It was a little lighter now and through | ||
| a few broken boards Kenny could distinguish the many contraption and pieces | ||
| of machinery that were scattered around the property. | ||
| What a scrap yard, Kenny thought. How can anyone collect so much junk? | ||
| He looked for a few minutes, but could not detect any movement. | ||
| Suddenly there was loud banging. Kenny jumped back from the fence. A soft | ||
| moan on the other side of the fence stopped him from running home. His heart | ||
| thumped loudly as Kenny reached for the rusty bolt on the gate. His mouth was | ||
| dry as he tried to slide back the bolt, but it would not budge. Leaning his entire | ||
| weight against the gate, he tugged at the bolt. Unexpectedly the gate opened | ||
| and Kenny was hurled into the yard. He scrambled to his feet and looked around. | ||
| Old, rusty equipment was strewn around the yard. Close to the house a few old | ||
| oil drums were scattered about. A large bag of cat food had fallen nearby and | ||
| several cats were nibbling on the spilled contents, pausing only momentarily to | ||
| watch Kenny cross the yard. | ||
| Suddenly there was banging again. Terrified Kenny crouched behind an | ||
| old wheelbarrow. The noise came from behind the oil drums. Slowly Kenny | ||
| crawled towards the drums. Then he noticed Mr. Harris lying on the ground. | ||
| When he got closer, Kenny noticed the old man's head was covered with blood. | ||
| In his right hand was his walking cane. | ||
| Mr. Harris moved slightly and moaned again. Kenny got down beside him. | ||
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"Mr. Harris can you hear me?" Kenny said softly. The old man opened his |
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| eyes. | ||
| Kenny looked around and noticed a rain barrel filled with water. He quickly | ||
| took off his shirt and, after dipping it into the water, gently washed the blood off | ||
| the old man's face. The cool cloth brought Mr. Harris around and he seemed | ||
| relieved to see Kenny. | ||
| "Mr. Harris, you're hurt real bad," Kenny said. "I have to leave you for a few | ||
| minutes to call an ambulance, but I'll hurry back." | ||
| Mr. Harris nodded and closed his eyes. Kenny rushed home. | ||
| "Mom! Dad!" he yelled as he opened the door. "Mr. Harris is hurt real bad. | ||
| Call 911. Call an ambulance." As soon as his mother picked up the phone he | ||
| rushed back to look after Mr. Harris. | ||
| Soon an ambulance arrived to take Mr. Harris to the hospital. A small crowd | ||
| of neighbours gathered to watch the excitement and bashfully Kenny explained | ||
| over and over how he had found Mr. Harris. | ||
| That afternoon, after she had packed an overnight bag for her father, Mr. Harris' | ||
| daughter Lucy came over to thank Kenny. | ||
| "My father is lucky to have such a good neighbour," said Lucy. | ||
| "When he went to feed his cats, Father tripped and hit his head against an oil | ||
| drum. He kept banging his cane against the drums to attract someone's | ||
| attention." She smiled at Kenny and said, "Thank goodness you went to | ||
| investigate." | ||
| Before Lucy turned to leave, she said to Kenny, "My father hopes you will visit | ||
| when he gets home. He loves to tinker with old machinery and thought you | ||
| might like to help him." | ||
| When she was gone, Kenny turned to Michael and said, with a sigh of relief, | ||
| "I guess old Mr. Harris isn't so mean after all!" | ||
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Marion de Man |
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