Ice Cream Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page B

explained. “Now we use it as a playhouse.”
    “That’s an amazing story,” said Brianna.
    Just then Katy bustled back in. “Well,” she said, “I’m glad to see my favorite customers and my favorite granddaughter have met.”
    “I’m your only granddaughter, Granna Katy,” Brianna answered, laughing again.
    “Granddaughter? But you said you were the new partner,” Jessie said.
    “That, too,” Brianna agreed. “Katy’s favorite and only granddaughter, and her new partner.”
    “You said Butterscotch was a new partner, too,” Henry reminded her.
    “Does Butterscotch test ice cream for you?” guessed Benny.
    “Good grief, no!” Katy exclaimed. “What an idea!”
    Brianna said, “What flavor of ice cream did you say Mrs. McGregor likes?”
    “Your chocolate mint chip,” said Violet.
    “What has that got to do with Butterscotch?”
    “It’s a surprise. A mystery,” said Brianna.
    “We’re good at solving mysteries,” Benny said promptly. “We’ve solved lots and lots of them.”
    “I can guarantee you’ll have this one solved by this afternoon,” said Brianna.
    “How?” Violet wanted to know.
    “You’ll see,” said Brianna. No matter how many questions the Aldens asked before they left the ice-cream shop, she wouldn’t give them even a single clue to help them solve the mystery.

CHAPTER 2
A Melted Ice Cream Mess
    Violet heard it first. She and Benny were sitting on the front porch later that afternoon giving a tea party for her dolls and Benny’s stuffed animals. Watch was sleeping in a patch of sunlight nearby.
    Ding, ding, dingaling, a bell chimed from not very far away.
    Violet looked up. She carefully set down a doll-sized teacup.
    Ding, ding, dingalinggggg. The sound was getting closer and louder.
    Suddenly Violet jumped to her feet. “Look!” she cried.
    Around the corner and down the street came a large, tan-colored horse.
    Henry and Jessie looked up from the bicycle they were repairing on the front lawn.
    “It’s Butterscotch,” Benny said excitedly, jumping up so suddenly that his stuffed bear fell facefirst into the plate of imaginary cookies.
    “It is Butterscotch,” said Jessie.
    “And she’s pulling a wagon,” said Henry.
    As the wagon got closer, Henry began to laugh. “I know that wagon! That’s Sam and Susie’s wagon.” Sam and his horse Susie had driven an ice-cream wagon in Greenfield every summer for as long as anyone could remember. “Brianna is inside!”
    The wagon pulled up in front of the big white house. “Whoa, girl,” said Brianna, and Butterscotch stopped and turned her head to look at the Aldens lined up on the sidewalk.
    Watch jumped off the porch to trot over and touch noses with Butterscotch.

    “Isn’t that Sam’s wagon?” Henry asked.
    “It was,” said Brianna. She jumped down and patted Butterscotch’s nose. “I bought it from him. He and Susie have retired, you know. But Sam wanted the ice-cream wagon tradition to continue, so he passed it on to me.
    “I’m so glad the wagon didn’t retire,” said Violet.
    “So that’s how Butterscotch is a partner in the Ice Cream Barn. She pulls the ice-cream wagon just like Susie used to pull it,” Jessie said.
    “That’s right,” said Brianna with a smile, as she looped Butterscotch’s reins over a fence post.
    Climbing back into the wagon, Brianna opened a sliding wooden panel on one side. Then she reached down into a freezer inside the wagon, pulled out a small container, and set it on the counter of the window. “For Mrs. McGregor,” she said.
    “Chocolate mint chip ice cream, right?” asked Henry.
    “Right.” Brianna winked at Benny. “If you hurry and give it to Mrs. McGregor, it won’t melt one bit.”
    “Wow, is Mrs. McGregor going to be surprised,” said Benny. He took the container of ice cream and hurried into the house. A moment later he came hurrying out with a carrot in his hand. “This is for Butterscotch,” he said a little