Trading Mystery
Elementary: Grades 3–4
Story
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
When they arrived in Chicago, Uncle Boots stood leaning on his cane, looking around at the busy city streets. He shook his head and didn't say a word. Lily and Joseph glanced at each other, nervous about bringing Uncle Boots home. He wasn't very friendly. "I bet he's called Boots because he used to kick people," Joseph whispered to Lily. She giggled and told her brother to shush.
)
Over the next few days, the more Joseph and Lily watched Uncle Boots, the more mysterious he seemed. He spent hours every day just watching out the window, shaking his head every time the "L" train rumbled past. He spent hours more scratching words into a small book, squinting down at the pages. He hung a framed picture cut out of a book on the wall. Joseph was curious. The picture showed an American Indian man looking sideways, wearing a silver earring and red paint under his eye. Joseph read the words under the picture, "Me-Te-A, a Potawatomie Chief." Finally, Joseph got up his courage and asked, "Excuse me. Who is that man?"
"Who is that man? A man who got raw deal in my opinion," Uncle Boots grumbled as he settled in for his nap. Joseph didn't know what a raw deal was, and he wished Uncle Boots were a little friendlier.
The most mysterious thing of all, Joseph and Lily thought, was how Uncle Boots would shuffle into the back room and shut the door. If they listened carefully, they could hear him opening the old metal safe that had been there, locked and collecting dust, for as long as they could remember.
"Lily," Joseph whispered one day, when his curiosity had gotten the better of him, "I think we should see what he does with that safe." Lily agreed, and they began to plan.
The next morning after their chores, Lily winked at Joseph and Joseph winked at Lily. One at a time, they snuck into the back room and hid in the dark, musty closet, keeping the door open just enough to see a sliver of the room, and the safe, through the crack. They waited and waited. Then they waited some more.
Finally, they heard Uncle Boots's shuffling footsteps coming closer and closer. Joseph and Lily watched as Uncle Boots took a big metal key from his vest pocket and slid it into the lock on top of the safe. Lily grabbed her brother's hand. Uncle Boots used all his strength to open the safe's heavy iron door and began to rummage around inside. Joseph and Lily couldn't quite see, until Uncle Boots pulled something out and set it on the floor. The dull metal caught the light and Joseph and Lily could see clearly. Lily gasped, and Joseph covered her mouth with his hand. An ax! Why would Uncle Boots keep an ax in the safe? But that wasn't all. The next thing Uncle Boots took out was even worse: an old gun. Joseph and Lily were afraid. Lily grabbed Joseph's hand even more tightly, and Joseph trembled. They stayed as quiet as they could. They didn't want to get caught, not with Uncle Boots there with an ax and a gun!
After a few minutes, Uncle Boots packed everything away and shut and locked the safe. He shuffled out of the room and shut the door. Even though they wanted to run far away, Joseph and Lily stayed in the closet until they thought it was safe to leave, one at a time, their hearts still racing.
Downloads (pdf)
