Giant Yo-Yo Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

wobbled at the bottom of the string and came to a stop. It didn’t spin at all.
    “It takes practice,” Grandfather said. “If you learn how to throw a sleeper, then I’ll show you how to walk the dog.”
    Benny nodded. “I’ll keep working on it.”
    “What other tricks do you know, Grandfather?” Jessie asked.

    “Oh, I used to do the ‘rattlesnake,’ ‘man on the flying trapeze,’ ‘double or nothing,’ ‘the pinwheel’ …” Grandfather smiled as he remembered. “But I’m not sure I can do any of those tricks anymore. Say, if you kids are interested in yo-yos, I should introduce you to my friend, Jeff Naylor. He’s a furniture builder, but he knows some really fancy yo-yo tricks. In fact, he’s in the middle of a new project that I think you kids would find interesting.”
    “What kind of project?” Henry asked.
    “Jeff is trying to build the world’s largest yo-yo,” Grandfather explained. “It’s pretty incredible. I saw it when I was in his shop just the other day.”
    “How big is the world’s largest yo-yo?” Benny asked.
    “I’m not sure,” Grandfather said. “But I know that when Jeff’s yo-yo is done, it’s going to be so big that it’ll be launched from a big crane.”
    “You mean it’s actually going to go up and down like a regular yo-yo?” Jessie asked.
    “That’s what Jeff says,” Grandfather replied.
    “Can we see it go up and down?” Benny asked.
    “I’m sure we can,” Grandfather said. “Jeff says the whole town will be invited. Would you like me to take you to meet Jeff right now?”
    “Oh yes,” the children said eagerly.
    The Aldens hopped into the car and Grandfather drove across town. Jeff’s shop was in an over-sized, white building that sat on a corner of a residential street. It had a huge garage door in the front. The door looked big enough to drive a semi truck though. Beside it was a regular door. A sign in the small parking lot read: Jeff’s Custom Furniture.
    The children followed Grandfather across the parking lot. They could hear hammering, sawing, and loud music coming from inside the building.
    Grandfather pushed open the door and the Aldens walked inside. The hammering, sawing, and music were so loud that Benny put his bands over his ears.
    The inside of the building was one large open space. There were several unfinished wood cabinets scattered in the middle of the room, and a video camera sat on a tripod in the back corner.
    A woman dressed in faded overalls was sawing boards at one end of the shop. Her brown, curly hair was tied back in a pony-tail. She didn’t notice the Aldens at first.
    The man who was hammering boards together at the other end of the shop saw them walk in. He reached behind him and turned down the volume on the radio.
    “James!” he exclaimed. “I’m so glad you stopped back. These must be your grandchildren.”
    “Yes. This is Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny.” Grandfather introduced them. “Kids, this is my good friend, Jeff Naylor.”
    Jeff was a tall, thin man with very short hair and a nice smile. He shook hands with each of the children. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
    Jeff cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Emily!” to the woman in overalls. He motioned for her to stop sawing for a minute.
    Emily turned off the saw. “Yes?” she said loudly.
    “I want to introduce you to some friends of mine,” Jeff said. “These are the Aldens. Everyone, this is my assistant, Emily Kaye.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” Emily said politely. Then she turned the saw back on and got right back to work.
    “Emily is amazing,” Jeff said loudly, leading the Aldens away from the noise. “I just hired her a couple months ago, but she jumped right in on this order of cabinets I have. I hardly had to train her. And then besides working hard for me all day, she’s been staying after hours to help me with this yo-yo project.”
    “That’s wonderful,” Grandfather said. “I know you’ve had a