Old Miss Valenta was a retired school teacher who spent most of her time working in the yard. She grew blueberries, strawberries, pears, and plums. She was a tall, gangly woman of Italian descent and a no-nonsense attitude. She had a long, pointy nose, black and gray hair pulled back into a severe bun, and little gold rimmed glasses that made her dark, accusing eyes seem huge.
Now, Miss Valenta took great pride in her plum tree, which graced the entire left side of her meticulously manicured backyard. Every summer it would bear large, juicy red plums that were the envy of the neighborhood. She would spend most of her days picking and preparing them for her famous plum jelly. This jelly had won numerous prizes and blue ribbons at nearby county fairs. One magazine had even dubbed her “Plum Jelly Queen of the South”, a title she did not take lightly.
One bright June morning, Miss Valenta grabbed her baskets and headed out to the plum tree to harvest the day’s crop of ripe fruit. But to her horror, there was none. She immediately began searching the ground for telltale footprints. “I know those sneaky little children from down the road must have eaten them all. And they were too greedy to leave me any for jelly,” she thought to herself as she stomped back into the house.
The next day she got up early and sat by the window watching for the young thieves. “As soon as I catch them, I’ll call the authorities to escort them home,” she mused angrily.
But watch as she did, no mischievous children appeared. Finally, by that evening she was satisfied and walked outside to look at her tree. Upon inspection, she found lots of fruit that would be ready to harvest the next day. That night, she slept well and dreamed of plum orchards overflowing with edible delicacies.
But once again, no ripe fruit the next morning - only fresh, sticky seeds that littered the ground here and there. “I must have just missed those young criminals again,” she fumed. And by that afternoon, she was ready to take action. She positioned herself outside on the sidewalk, waiting for school to be dismissed. As the children passed by her, she scrutinized each one for plum stains on their shirts. Finally, in frustration, she accosted one lone youngster who lived across the street from her.
“Who has been raiding my plum tree?” she questioned the trembling boy.
“Musta been Thomas. He loves them,” lied the child. At that, Miss Valenta went marching off down the street to find Thomas. But Thomas had seen her coming and run off to the ball park. No one wanted an unpleasant encounter with the stern spinster. Finally, she gave up the search and went back home to continue her surveillance, mumbling threats the whole way.
At school the next day, several boys began discussing the situation. “I didn’t even know those plums were ripe yet,” said Thomas.
“Now we do!” exclaimed another boy.
And so it was that Thomas, the slyest of them all, formulated his plan. Just after midnight, he snuck out of his bedroom window with his father’s flashlight in hand. He was going to get those ripe plums for himself and to heck with Miss Valenta. All the lights were off in her house, so he ran around her house in the dark. But Miss Valenta had learned a few tricks of her own during her many years as a schoolteacher. She had a feeling something was up with those little hoodlums and she meant to catch them in the act. So she sat there in the darkness, waiting. Then, she saw the unmistakable glare of a flashlight. This was it - the moment she’d been waiting for!
She crept out into the night. She was careful not to trip over the bricks surrounding her strawberry patch or stub her toe on the garden faucet. Those young delinquents were not going to get the best of her this time! And sure enough, just as she rounded the corner, she saw him. “I’ve got you now!” she yelled triumphantly as she shone her flashlight on him.
But much to her surprise, and Thomas’s as well, the real culprits stood frozen and blinking in the sudden bright light. There, in front of them were four raccoons, an entire family of opossums, and a big box turtle, surrounded by seeds and covered in fresh plum juice!
