The Mystery Girl (8 page)

“Let me start from the beginning,” Nancy said. “You see, my family is very wealthy,” she explained. “There was almost nothing I wanted that I didn't get.”

“That doesn't sound too terrible,” Mr. Taylor said with a smile.

“No. I know I'm very lucky to have so much,” Nancy said. “But there was one thing I wanted that I didn't get. That was the chance to make my own decisions about things.”

“Like what?” Henry asked.

“Oh, about how late I could stay out and the places I could go,” Nancy said. “My parents and I even argued about the kind of clothes I should wear. I felt like a baby. It seemed like they were always telling me what to do.”

“And you wanted to decide things for yourself?” Jessie asked.

“That's right,” Nancy said. “When I graduated from high school, they expected me to go straight to college. They even had the school all picked out.”

“But you didn't want to go?” Violet asked.

“Actually, I did,” Nancy said with a smile. “But it was just one more thing they were telling me to do. And I got stubborn and said I wouldn't go at all. We had some awful arguments about it. Finally, two weeks ago, I ran away.”

“Two weeks?” Henry said as he passed out glasses of orange juice to everyone. “Then we were right. You never worked, did you? This is your very first job.”

“You're right, it is,” Nancy admitted. “But you sound like you already guessed. How did you do that?”

“Because you couldn't work the cash register or anything,” Henry said. “If you had worked a lot, you would have known how.”

“You're right,” Nancy said again. She took a sip of juice. “I'm sorry I lied to you, Mr. Taylor,” she said. “I needed the job so much.”

Mr. Taylor chuckled. “I had a feeling you hadn't worked much,” he told her. “But it's all right, Nancy. My customers liked you a lot.”

“We all like you a lot, too, Nancy,” Jessie said. “But we kept noticing things about you that didn't make sense.”

“Like what?” Nancy asked.

Before anyone could answer, there was a knock at the cabin door. It was the young man named Tony. “I'm sorry to bother you,” he said to Henry, who opened the door. “I'm looking for Nancy Baldwin. Have you seen her?”

“Tony!” Nancy cried. She jumped up from the chair as Henry let Tony in. “I called Mother and Dad,” she told him. “I'm coming home. And then I'm going to college.”

Tony looked very happy. “That's great, Nancy!”

Nancy turned to the others. “This is my brother,” she said. “Tony Baldwin.”

“We thought he might be your brother,” Jessie said. “Or your boyfriend.”

“You mean you've met?” Nancy asked.

“Not exactly,” Violet said. “But I saw his picture in your room that morning Jessie and I came to get you. And when he came into the store yesterday, I recognized him.”

“You sure did guess a lot about me,” Nancy said. Suddenly, she looked at Mrs. Edwards, who had been sitting quietly on the couch, listening to the conversation. “I'm sorry,” she said to Mrs. Edwards. “I know your name. But I still don't know who
you
are.”

“I do, Nancy,” Tony said. “Mrs. Edwards is a private investigator.”

“Wow!” Benny said. “A real one?”

Mrs. Edwards smiled. She had a nice smile. “Yes, a real one,” she said.

“Mother and Dad hired her to find you and keep an eye on you,” Tony explained to Nancy. “They wanted to know you were safe.”

“So that's why you went into her cabin,” Violet said. “To make sure she was the right Nancy.”

“And that's why I didn't want to drive you anywhere this morning,” Mrs. Edwards said to Nancy. “You were in such a hurry, I thought you were running away again.”

“Now I feel silly,” Jessie said to Mrs. Edwards. “I thought you and Nancy might be doing something together to hurt Mr. Taylor's store.” She told them about the shopping bags. “I'm glad I was wrong.”

“I bought things at the shopping center because I didn't want to keep coming into the general store,” Mrs. Edwards said. “I didn't want Nancy to suspect me.”

“I bought my alarm clock there,” Nancy said. “And a few other things. But I would never do anything to hurt Mr. Taylor's store.”

“We know that now,” Jessie said with a smile.

“I'm going to miss working there,” Nancy said. “Even though I wasn't very good at it.”

“What did Mom and Dad say when you talked to them?” Tony asked.

“They said they'd try not to tell me what to do so much,” Nancy answered. “I didn't think they would be so understanding.”

“It's like when we ran away from Grandfather,” Benny said. “We didn't know how kind he was.”

“That's right, Benny,” Violet said. Suddenly, Jessie jumped up from her chair by the table. “Everyone must be starving,” she said. “Let's have some breakfast.”

“Tell me what else you figured out about me,” Nancy said to the Aldens, as they started to fix breakfast.

While Jessie cooked the pancakes, she and the others took turns telling Nancy everything. They talked about how much trouble she had in the store and how nervous she got when they asked her about her family. Jessie and Violet talked about her ring.

Nancy looked down at her hand. She wasn't wearing the ring. “My parents gave it to me. I wore it because even though I was mad at them, I missed them, and it reminded me of them. But after you saw it, I put it away. It's a real emerald.”

“That's what Jessie and I thought,” Violet said.

“That made us think you weren't poor, like you said,” Jessie told Nancy. “And Violet noticed that your cabin was bare,” she continued, turning the pancakes over. “If you'd been on your own for a year, you would have had a lot more things.”

“Things like socks and shirts, especially,” Henry said. “Jessie saw you take the T-shirt. You didn't really steal from Mr. Taylor, did you?”

“Oh, no!” Nancy cried. “I wouldn't do anything like that. I took some socks and a shirt because when I ran away, I didn't bring enough clothes. I just didn't want anyone to start asking why I needed such basic things, so I took them. Then, later, I put the money in the cash register.”

“So that's what you were doing,” Jessie said. “Henry and I saw you but we couldn't understand why.”

“And I couldn't understand why Tony looked so familiar when he came into the store,” Violet said. “Then when we saw you at the picnic spot later, I remembered the picture in your cabin.”

“You followed us to the picnic spot?” Nancy asked.

“We were worried about you,” Jessie said. “We thought you were in some kind of trouble.”

“We were afraid to ask you because we thought you might get scared and run away,” Henry said. “We wanted to help, but we weren't sure what to do.”

“You helped just by being my friends,” Nancy said. “And you sure did figure out a lot about me.”

“We like mysteries,” Benny told her.

“And
you
were a mystery, Nancy,” Jessie said.

Everyone laughed. Then Jessie said, “The pancakes are ready. Let's eat!”

“Good,” Benny said. He looked at Mrs. Edwards. “Do private investigators like pancakes?”

“This one does, Benny,” Mrs. Edwards answered.

Everyone got a plate, and Jessie served the pancakes. They were all starting to eat when Aunt Jane arrived.

“Aunt Jane!” Benny shouted, opening the door for her. “Wait until you hear! We solved another mystery!”

“Come eat with us, Aunt Jane,” Jessie said. “We'll tell you all about it.”

When she had heard the story, Aunt Jane smiled. “You all have certainly been busy,” she said. “Working in a store
and
helping to solve a mystery.”

“
And
being my friends,” Nancy said. “I'll miss you all.”

Violet asked, “Will you be leaving soon?”

“As soon as I can,” Nancy said. “But don't worry, Mr. Taylor. I told my parents I couldn't go until you found someone to take my place.” She laughed. “Thanks to the Aldens, I can
really
work in a store now.”

“That's good, Nancy,” Aunt Jane said. “But you might be able to go very soon.” She turned to Mr. Taylor. “I found someone who wants to work in your store, Jerry,” she said. “Her name is Jenny Parks. She just moved to Elmford, and she has worked in a lot of stores. She'll come out to see you tomorrow.”

Mr. Taylor looked very happy. “Thank you, Jane,” he said. “That's wonderful news.”

After breakfast, Mrs. Edwards said good-bye and left. Tony drove into Elmford where he had been staying so he could pack his things. The others walked with Mr. Taylor to open the store.

“What a morning this has been,” Nancy said as they all went inside. “So much has happened!”

“I told you we're always having adventures,” Benny said.

“Yes, you did, Benny,” Nancy laughed.

In just a few minutes, a customer arrived. She walked over to Mr. Taylor. “I just wanted you to know that I've tried that new Elmford Shopping Center,” she said to him.

Mr. Taylor looked worried. “Yes?”

The customer nodded. “And your store is much better,” she said firmly. “Your fruit and vegetables are fresher. Your fabric is just as good. And your prices are much better.”

Mr. Taylor looked relieved. “That's very good to hear,” he said.

“I knew your customers wouldn't desert you, Jerry,” Aunt Jane said.

“I'm beginning to think you're right,” Mr. Taylor said.

Aunt Jane was just about to leave when a man came into the store. “Hello, Dick,” she said. “Look, Jerry, it's Dick Forest, who used to work here.”

“Hi, Mr. Taylor,” Dick said. He looked around and saw Nancy and the Aldens putting out fruit, dusting, and pricing things. “I see you have plenty of people working for you.”

“As a matter of fact, I don't,” Mr. Taylor said. He explained that Nancy and the Aldens would be leaving soon.

Dick looked very happy. “Then would you hire me again?” he asked.

“Of course I would,” Mr. Taylor said. “But what about your job at the Elmford Shopping Center?”

Dick shook his head. “I quit, Mr. Taylor. I thought it would be a nice place to work. But the people who own it aren't very friendly. I'm just not happy there.”

“Then you're welcome to come back here,” Mr. Taylor said. “That way, we'll
both
be happy.”

The Aldens smiled at each other. “Everything is turning out great,” Jessie said.

“Now when we all go home, we won't have to worry about Mr. Taylor not having anyone to work for him,” Henry said.

“I'm glad,” Violet said. “I can't wait to see Grandfather and tell him about it.”

Benny went over to Jerry Taylor. “Aren't you glad, Mr. Taylor?” he said. “Now you have someone to take our place.”

“I'm glad about Dick, Benny,” Mr. Taylor said with a smile. He looked at all the Aldens. “But no one can ever replace the four of you.”

“That's what Grandfather says,” Benny told him.

“He's right,” Mr. Taylor said.

Violet smiled at Mr. Taylor. “I'm glad everything is working out for you,” she said. “Maybe I could make more signs for your store someday.”

“That would be just fine, Violet,” Mr. Taylor said.

“And maybe when we come to visit Aunt Jane again, we could work here, just for a day,” Benny said.

Mr. Taylor laughed. “You're all welcome here anytime, and you don't have to do any work,” he said. “But if I ever
do
need help again, I'll know exactly who to turn to.”

“You can count on us
anytime,
Mr. Taylor,”Benny said.

“Right,” Jessie said.

“Yes,” Violet said. “But now it's time to go home to Grandfather.”

About the Author

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write each mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car—the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner's books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens' independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible—something else that delights young readers.