The Mystery Girl (2 page)

“Have you lost much business yet?” Henry asked.

“No, not yet,” Jerry said. “Of course, everyone will try the new place out. I don't blame them. But if they stick with me, I'll have to be ready for them. And that means having enough help.”

Just then, the woman who had been looking at the pans walked past them and went outside.

“Gosh,” Benny said. “She didn't buy anything, either.”

The red-haired girl came over to Jerry and the others. She looked disappointed. “I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor,” she said. “I thought for sure that woman was going to buy the pan, even though I knocked them off the shelf. But at the last minute, she said she wanted to look in some other places.”

“Probably the new shopping center,” Jerry said. He shook his head and then patted the girl on the shoulder. “That's all right, Nancy,” he said. “I'm sure you did your best to sell it.” He turned to the others. “This is Nancy Baldwin,” he said. “She started working for me a week ago, and I sure am glad to have her.”

“Hi, I'm Jessie Alden,” Jessie said. “This is my sister, Violet, and my brothers, Henry and Benny. And this is our Aunt Jane. She lives in Elmford and we're visiting her.”

Nancy smiled and shook hands with the children and Aunt Jane. But before they could say any more than hello, the door opened and a woman came in. She started looking at the fruit.

“Excuse me,” Nancy said to the Aldens and Aunt Jane. “I'd better get back to work. Cross your fingers that I don't knock anything else down!”

After Nancy walked over to the customer, a telephone rang. “Good,” Mr. Taylor said. “I hope it's someone about the job. I sure do need the help.” He went back into his office.

“This is too bad,” Aunt Jane said as she and the children walked over to look at the bolts of fabric. “I hope Jerry finds another person to work here soon.”

“He is really worried about the new shopping center, too,” Violet said. “Is there anything we can do to cheer him up?”

“Let's buy lots of curtain material and candy,” Benny suggested. “That will make him happy.”

“That's a good idea, Benny,” Henry said, laughing. “It's too bad we can't do it every day.”

Just then, a man came into the store. He looked around and then said loudly, “Excuse me, but I need to buy some nails, and I'm in a big hurry.”

Nancy Baldwin, who was still busy with the other customer, said, “I'll be with you just as soon as I can.”

The man frowned. “I can't wait long. I'm in the middle of repairing my front steps. Where is Jerry? Can't he help me?”

“Not right now, I'm afraid,” Nancy said nervously. She was holding a bunch of bananas that the other customer had picked out. “He should be back in just a few minutes, though.”

The man frowned even harder. Nancy looked even more nervous and dropped the bananas she was holding.

“Oh, no!” her customer said. “Now they're probably bruised.”

“I'm sorry,” Nancy said. “Please, pick out another bunch.”

“Another bunch?” said the man who wanted the nails. “I'm going to be waiting here forever.”

“Poor Nancy,” Violet whispered. “She's

having a hard time trying to do everything herself.”

“I can help out with this,” said Henry. He walked over to the man and said, “I'll be glad to show you the nails.”

“Do you work here?” the man asked.

Henry shook his head. “No, but I worked in a hardware store once. And I was just looking at the hammers and bolts and nails. What kind of nails do you need?”

The two of them walked over to where the nails were, and soon, Henry had helped the man find the ones he needed. Henry took the man's money and gave him his change and a receipt from the cash register.

When the man left, Nancy was ready to weigh the new bananas the woman had picked out. “Let me see,” she said, “bananas are thirty-nine cents a pound.” She put a small bunch of bananas on the big brass scale and stared at it. “These weigh—”

“A pound, exactly,” the customer interrupted.

“You're right!” Nancy sounded relieved. “That will be thirty-nine cents.”

The woman counted out the change. Henry was still at the cash register, so he opened it and Nancy put in the thirty-nine cents. Then the woman decided to look at gardening tools, so Nancy went with her. “Thanks for helping that man with the nails,” she said to Henry as she left the counter. “Tell your aunt I'll be with her just as soon as I can.”

“The store is pretty busy,” Henry said as he joined Aunt Jane and the others. “That's good. But if Mr. Taylor doesn't find another person to work here, I'm afraid people won't want to wait until Nancy can help them.”

Jessie nodded. “Then he
will
lose business, just like he said.”

“He's not going to lose
your
business is he, Aunt Jane?” Benny asked.

“Of course not, Benny,” Aunt Jane said. “I've been coming to his store for years and I've always been satisfied.” She held the material she and Violet had been looking at. It was blue with light brown stripes running through it. “What does everyone think of this?” she asked.

Benny and Jessie said it was just right for the den, and Henry said, “I think Andy will like it a lot.”

“I do, too,” Aunt Jane agreed. “And Violet gave me a good idea. I'll buy some extra material and use it to cover the throw pillows on the couch.”

“That's a great idea, Violet,” Jessie said. “I'll help you measure the material.”

“I'll pick out a dog collar,” Henry said.

“And I'll get the candy,” Benny volunteered eagerly.

“Good,” Jessie said. “Since Nancy and Mr. Taylor are so busy, we can save them time by doing the work ourselves.”

CHAPTER 3

The Aldens Get a Job

I
t didn't take long for Violet and Jessie to measure and cut the material. By the time they finished, Benny had filled two small bags with peppermint drops, and Henry had chosen a blue dog collar for Watch.

The children and Aunt Jane walked over to the counter and put their things on it. Nancy and her customer came over at the same time. Nancy looked very happy when she saw the curtain material all measured and cut. “Oh, thank you,” she said. “That was a big help. I'll be with you in just a minute.”

Nancy wrapped up the customer's gardening gloves and tools. Then she stared at the cash register and bit her lip.

“What's the matter, Nancy?” Jessie asked.

“It's silly,” Nancy said, “but I keep forgetting how to work this cash register. The others stores I've worked in had more modern ones.”

“The hardware store where I worked had this kind,” Henry said. “I'll be glad to show you again.”

Henry rang up the sale, took the money from the customer, and made change. Nancy watched him closely. While they were doing that, Violet helped Benny weigh the candy on the scale, and Jessie and Aunt Jane figured out how much money the curtain material would cost. Henry took the money for everything, and made change again.

“Thank you,” Nancy said. “I'm sure I won't forget next time.”

“What other kinds of stores have you worked in?” Henry asked Nancy as she was putting their things in a bag.

“What do you mean?” Nancy looked confused.

Henry and Jessie looked at each other. They both remembered that Nancy had just talked about working in other stores with more modern cash registers.

Nancy noticed them looking at her and laughed nervously. She said quickly, “This is my first
full-time
job. I'm nineteen and I just finished high school a year ago.”

“Oh, then the others must have been after-school jobs,” Henry said.

“That's right, they were!” Nancy replied.

“What kinds of jobs?” Benny asked.

“Oh, gosh, there were so many, it's hard to remember them all.” Nancy was twisting the bag holding the Aldens' things. Suddenly, she dropped it. As she bent to pick it up, Henry and Jessie looked at each other again. Nancy seemed
very
nervous. Why didn't she want to talk about the other jobs she'd had?

When Nancy put the bag on the counter, Benny said, “You must like to work if you've had so many jobs.”

“Maybe Nancy worked to help out with expenses,” Aunt Jane suggested.

“That's right,” Nancy said, looking relieved. “My family doesn't have a lot of money, and I always took jobs to help out.”

“Do you still live at home?” Jessie said.

Nancy shook her head. “No, I'm on my own now,” she answered.

“We were on our own once, too,” Henry said. He told Nancy about their parents and described the boxcar they had lived in. “The boxcar was fun,” he said, “but I'm glad we live with Grandfather now.”

“He moved the boxcar to his backyard for us,” Violet said. “We still have picnics in it sometimes.”

“Does your family live near Elmford, Nancy?” Jessie asked.

Nancy looked nervous again. “They live far away, in another state.”

“Gosh, you must miss them,” Benny said.

Nancy blushed and looked down at the counter. “I do,” she said softly. Then she looked up and smiled. “But being on my own is fun, like you said, Henry.”

“Where do you live?” Violet asked.

“In one of Mr. Taylor's cabins,” Nancy told her. “Even though it's small, it's very comfortable.”

Just then, Jerry Taylor came out of his office. He looked worried again.

“Oh dear,” said Aunt Jane. “It looks like Jerry still hasn't found anyone else to work here.”

“What happened, Mr. Taylor?” Nancy asked as he came over to the counter.

“Well, the woman who called wanted the job,” Mr. Taylor said. “But she only wanted to work for a month or so.” He sighed. “I need someone who's willing to stay on.”

“I'm sure you'll find somebody soon,” Aunt Jane said.

“I hope so,” Jerry said. “This isn't a big store, but it still takes a lot of work. Nancy can't do it all by herself, and I don't always have time to help out.”

“Do you have more people coming about the job?” Jessie asked.

“Yes, I do, thank goodness,” Jerry said. “I put an ad in the newspaper and people will be coming to see me all week.” He smiled at Jessie. “Why did you ask?”

“I'll bet I know why!” Violet said excitedly. “Jessie thinks
we
could work here until you find someone. Isn't that right, Jessie?”

“That's exactly what I was thinking,” Jessie said. “You must be a mind reader, Violet.”

Mr. Taylor looked too surprised to say anything. But Nancy was excited. “It's a wonderful idea, Mr. Taylor,” she said. “They've already helped out. Henry took care of a customer when I was too busy, and Jessie cut the material, and—”

“And Violet showed me how to use the scale,” Benny interrupted. “Now I can do it myself.”

“We can do other things for you, too,” Henry said to Mr. Taylor. “Sweep out the store, and put prices on things.”

“I could make signs if you need them,” Violet said, smiling shyly at Mr. Taylor. “I like to do that.”

“And she's good at it, too,” Jessie said.

“Violet's the best,” Benny added admiringly.

Mr. Taylor scratched his head. “It's nice of you to offer. I'm very grateful. But I just don't know,” he said doubtfully. He looked at Aunt Jane. “What do you think about this?”

Aunt Jane smiled. “I think you couldn't find four better helpers anywhere,” she said.

“Well . . . ” Mr. Taylor scratched his head again. “It sure would take a big worry off my mind,” he said. “Of course, you can't go back and forth to Elmford every day. That would take too much time.”

“We could stay in one of your cabins, just like Nancy does,” Jessie said.

Mr. Taylor laughed. “That's just what I was going to suggest, Jessie. You can stay in the cabin next to mine, that way I can keep an eye on you. Your aunt can come by from time to time to make sure everything's all right.”