Mrs. Tweedy was at the curb as soon as Grandfather Alden’s car pulled up. “Thank you so much, James, for bringing back Grayfellow. And thank you children for being clever enough to catch him.”
After their grandfather left, the children gathered around Mrs. Tweedy.
Benny just had to tell her about their adventure. “A boy named Arthur was trying to find his cat. He knows Grayfellow, too. Then the boy ran away.”
Mrs. Tweedy fiddled with her earring.
“Oh, I think I know who you mean. A boy named Arthur often comes in here. Such a shy boy. I always get the feeling he wants to tell me something. He only seems happy visiting my animals, especially Grayfellow. In fact, the last time Grayfellow escaped, Arthur brought him back.”
“This time we brought him back, Mrs. Tweedy.” Violet held out her arm for the older woman to take the parrot.
“Tweedy,” Grayfellow said. The parrot pecked at Mrs. Tweedy’s silver earrings.
“Naughty boy,” Mrs. Tweedy scolded, but she didn’t mean it. “Well, then, let’s get you safely back into your cage.”
The Aldens followed Mrs. Tweedy into the shop. A man the children hadn’t met before stood behind the counter.
Jessie poked Henry. “That must be the new manager Mrs. Tweedy hired,” she whispered to her brother. “He doesn’t look very friendly. I hope he doesn’t think we let Grayfellow escape.”
The man stared at the Aldens.
Finally Mrs. Tweedy called him over.
“Oh, Mr. Fowler, let me introduce you to some friends of mine. They found Grayfellow while they were on their paper route. You’ll be seeing the Aldens while I’m gone. They often drop off old newspapers for our bird and animal cages.”
Mr. Fowler went right on feeding some goldfish. “I met one of them just a while ago, thank you.”
The Aldens looked at each other, then at Mrs. Tweedy.
“But we were in school,” Jessie said. “Then we did our paper route. In fact, we haven’t been in this shop for a few weeks.”
“Well, a boy who is always hanging around here came by earlier this afternoon, snooping and bothering our birds. Probably went poking around where he didn’t belong. Next thing I knew, that parrot was gone,” Mr. Fowler said, shaking far too much fish food into the aquarium. “Children shouldn’t be allowed in here without an adult.”
“Now, now, Mr. Fowler,” Mrs. Tweedy said. “You’ll get used to having children in the store once you’ve been here awhile. After all, it was that boy who found Grayfellow the last time he got loose. Now the Aldens have found him. Most children are wonderful with animals.”
“Well, all I know is that the parrot disappeared right after I saw a boy in here, maybe even one of these kids.”
Mrs. Tweedy’s face grew bright pink. “May I see you out front, Mr. Fowler? Let’s collect the newspapers that Mr. Alden left on the sidewalk and take them to the storage building.”
Mr. Fowler put down the fish food box without replacing the lid. “I can’t be carrying things outside and tending the store at the same time, Mrs. Tweedy,” the children overheard him complain.
The Aldens usually loved browsing in the Pretty Bird Pet Shop, but not after hearing Mr. Fowler. Although Benny had permission from Mrs. Tweedy to pet Doughnut, the guinea pig, today he didn’t feel like it. Violet even skipped her visit to her two favorite parakeets, Milo and Magic.
“No more long faces,” Mrs. Tweedy said when she returned. “Mr. Fowler is very grateful that you found Grayfellow. Truly he is. In fact, he has some notion that we should carry more unusual birds like Grayfellow. Of course, I wouldn’t dream of it. The bigger birds don’t belong in my small pet shop.”
Violet’s blue eyes widened. “You’re not planning to sell Grayfellow, are you?”
Mrs. Tweedy shook her head. “Never. I promised Dr. Scott from the animal shelter that I would care for Grayfellow myself after he was abandoned. My canaries and parakeets are the biggest birds I care to sell.”
Jessie stroked Grayfellow’s head with the back of her finger. “Why does Mr. Fowler want to sell bigger birds?”
Mrs. Tweedy shrugged. “I don’t know, really. Parrots are quite expensive, in the thousands of dollars. I suppose it would mean more money. But I have no such plans. I do hope Mr. Fowler will come around to my way of doing things. He’s taking a while to get used to his job here. This is the second time Grayfellow got away.”
Benny looked up at Mrs. Tweedy with his big brown eyes. “We’re animal finders. We wouldn’t let an animal get lost.”
Mrs. Tweedy patted Benny’s curly head. “Of course you wouldn’t, Benny. I know how good you Aldens are with animals. Dr. Scott has often told me what a help you are at the shelter.”
The children were all smiles now.
Mrs. Tweedy pushed her glasses on top of her fluffy white hair. “You know, I’ve been thinking of getting someone to help Mr. Fowler with some of the jobs in my shop. He might get used to the work sooner if he had a helper. Problem is, I’ll be traveling for the next few weeks, and I won’t have a minute to interview anyone.”
Jessie lined up several cat food cans on the shelves so they were nice and straight. “Maybe Dr. Scott knows someone from the animal shelter. There are lots of volunteers.”
That’s when Mrs. Tweedy winked at the children. “I don’t suppose you children would be available a few hours a day after school, and maybe a couple of weekends?”
“When can we start?” Henry asked.
“How about right now?” Mrs. Tweedy asked. She pulled out a clipboard from under the counter. “I made up this job list for Mr. Fowler. But I’ll check off the small jobs that are just right for the four of you.”
“I can clean Doughnut’s cage,” Benny piped up. “And make sure he and the other guinea pigs get brushed and petted every day. Isn’t that what guinea pigs like?”
Mrs. Tweedy smiled. “That’s just what guinea pigs like, Benny, especially when they’re in a pet shop. If someone can groom them once a day, they will make much friendlier pets. I’ll put you down for that job.”
Benny went up to the guinea pig cage. “Can I start now?”
“Of course,” Mrs. Tweedy said.
Benny found a grooming brush. He opened the cage door and gently lifted Doughnut out. Soon Doughnut was squeaking the way guinea pigs do when they are happy.
Jessie stood over Mrs. Tweedy’s shoulder to see what else needed doing. “Henry and I can make some of the deliveries or go feed pets if the owners are away. A lot of your customers know us from my paper route anyway. We can do two jobs at the same time.”
“Don’t you think I can do more than one job at a time, Mrs. Tweedy?” Mr. Fowler demanded when he returned and overheard Jessie.
Mrs. Tweedy waved over Mr. Fowler. “Of course you can. I was just about to tell the Aldens that. In fact, you’ll be doing much more than two jobs while I’m gone. And one of them will be supervising the Aldens.”
“These kids?” Mr. Fowler asked, almost shouting. “I thought I was in charge of running the shop, not looking after a bunch of kids.”
Mrs. Tweedy took a deep breath before she spoke. “They need very little supervision. Before their grandfather found them, the Aldens lived on their own in a boxcar in the woods. They did very well for themselves. They are hardworking, clever children. They can clean cages and help with the feeding and deliveries. That will free up your time for the bigger jobs.”
Mr. Fowler banged a box of dog food cans on the counter. “What if they let the animals loose? That’s what happened today.”
Mrs. Tweedy’s face grew red for the second time that day. “The Aldens had nothing to do with Grayfellow getting out, Mr. Fowler. I’m sure it happened because you’ve had too much to do. Now you’ll have more time to supervise everything. I’m counting on you for that.”
This seemed to calm down Mr. Fowler a bit. “All right,” he agreed. “But make sure they know exactly what jobs on that list are theirs and what ones are mine.”
Mrs. Tweedy nodded. “First of all, I want you to get to know the Aldens so you don’t confuse them with other children. Henry is the oldest and Jessie the next oldest. They’re both strong and very organized.”
Mrs. Tweedy pointed out Violet and Benny, who were already on the job. “You’ll be happy to have those two around, Mr. Fowler. Violet and Benny are so gentle with animals. They know how to give them attention without getting them nervous. Their second cousin Soo Lee is welcome here, too. Remember, you sold her a hamster a couple of weeks ago? She’s been wonderful with it.”
Mr. Fowler stared at the children but didn’t seem to believe Mrs. Tweedy. “Don’t see why the animals should be handled anyway. They’re not playthings.”
“Animals aren’t playthings, Mr. Fowler, but they do like to play,” Mrs. Tweedy said, going over to pet Doughnut. “I want all my animals to enjoy people so they’ll make good pets. While I’m gone, no matter how busy everyone gets, I hope each of you—including you, Mr. Fowler—will give all my critters plenty of attention.”
“We will!” the Aldens yelled, so loudly that no one noticed Mr. Fowler didn’t join in.