Hannah's Secret

  “What?” Nancy and George asked at the same time.

  “I know what kind of job Hannah’s looking for,” Bess said. “Yesterday Old Crabapple told my mom she needs a new housekeeper!”

  4

  Operation Cleanup

  I guess it must be true,” Nancy said as the girls biked home. “Old Crabapple needs a housekeeper, and Hannah has an interview with her on Saturday. She’s really leaving. Case closed.”

  George shook her head until her dark curls bounced. “No way,” she said. “We can’t let Hannah work for a nasty old woman. It would be horrible.”

  George was right. Nancy had to think of a way to make Hannah want to stay. Hannah’s interview wasn’t until Saturday. There was still hope.

  When Nancy got home, she found Hannah in the kitchen, feeding Chip.

  “Dinner should be ready soon,” Hannah said.

  Nancy scratched Chip behind the ears. “Can I do anything to help?”

  “How nice of you to offer,” Hannah said, looking pleased. “You could set the table.”

  “Can we eat in the dining room tonight?” Nancy asked Hannah. She wanted to make their dinner extra special.

  “Okay,” Hannah said. “We’re having hamburgers, so don’t forget the ketchup.”

  Nancy carried the dishes Hannah handed her to the dining room as Chocolate Chip jumped around her feet. Then she opened the wooden cabinet against the wall.

  There’s lots of fancy stuff in here, Nancy said to herself. She picked up a beautiful plate. I’m going to make the table superspecial. That way Hannah will see that dinner here can be just as nice as at Old Crabapple’s fancy house.

  Chip put her paws on Nancy’s knees. Nancy gently pushed her down. “Don’t trip me,” she warned. “I don’t want to break anything.”

  She set a crystal glass at each place, admiring the way they made the whole table seem prettier.

  “Okay, what else?” Nancy said, going back to the cabinet. “How about these cloth napkins, Chip?”

  “Woof,” Chip answered.

  “I agree.” Nancy laughed. “They’re perfect.”

  By the time Hannah came in with the food, the table was ready. Nancy had set shiny silver forks on top of the napkins. The butter was in a crystal dish and the ketchup in a china gravy boat.

  Hannah laughed when she saw what Nancy had done. “Are you expecting the President for dinner?”

  Nancy shrugged. “I just thought it would be fun to use these dishes. It looks nice, doesn’t it?”

  “It’s beautiful,” Hannah said, setting down the food and taking her seat. “Most of these fancy dishes are very delicate. I’ll have to be careful when I hand-wash them.”

  “Oops,” Nancy said, trying to smile. Extra work for Hannah wasn’t part of her plan. “I didn’t think about that. I’ll wash the dishes myself.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Hannah said, reaching for the ketchup. “I don’t mind.”

  After dinner Nancy cleared the table without being asked. Then she went upstairs to use the phone.

  She called Bess and told her the whole story. “Now I have to think of another nice thing to do for Hannah.”

  “You could clean your room,” Bess suggested.

  “That’s a good idea,” Nancy said. “But what if I cleaned the whole house tomorrow as a surprise?”

  “That sounds like a lot of work,” Bess said doubtfully. “But I’ll come over and help.”

  “Great,” Nancy said. “I’ll ask George to come, too. I’m going to need all the help I can get!”

  • • •

  The next day Nancy, Bess, and George went to Nancy’s house after school. Hannah was upstairs. The girls called hello to her and went into the living room.

  Chip was already there, lying next to the couch.

  “Where do we start?” Bess asked. She wrinkled her nose. “I hope you don’t want us to clean the bathroom.”

  Nancy looked around. “Let’s start in here,” she said. “I’ll vacuum.”

  “I’ll dust the furniture,” Bess offered.

  George started straightening up while Nancy and Bess went to get the cleaning supplies. Bess grabbed a rag for dusting. Then she helped Nancy drag the vacuum cleaner to the living room. When Nancy turned it on, Chip raced out of the room.

  “Girls?” Hannah called from upstairs. “What’s going on down there?”

  “We’re just helping out,” Nancy shouted back cheerfully over the roar of the vacuum.

  “Wait until Hannah sees what a good job we’re doing,” Nancy said to Bess and George. “She’ll never want to leave!”

  “Hey, Nancy,” George called. “I found this under the couch.” She held up a shiny gold pen.

  Nancy glanced up. “That’s my dad’s favorite pen,” she said. “He was looking for it before he left on his trip. We should put it back in his study.”

  “I’ll do it,” Bess offered.

  “Okay, catch!” George tossed the pen to Bess.

  Bess reached out to catch it, but missed. The pen bounced off her fingertips—right into Nancy’s path. Before Nancy realized what had happened, the vacuum had sucked the pen right up.

  She switched off the machine as quickly as she could, but it was too late.

  “I’m sorry,” Bess cried.

  “No, I’m sorry,” George said. “I shouldn’t have thrown it.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nancy said. She unplugged the vacuum and opened the front panel. “All we have to do is dig the pen out of the bag.”

  Nancy tugged at the mushy paper sack inside the machine, but it didn’t budge. “It’s stuck,” she said.

  “Let me try,” George said. She yanked at the bag, hard. It came loose with a jerk and ripped open. A cloud of gray dust filled the air as clumps of dirt flew out of the bag. One of them landed on Bess’s arm.

  “Eeewww!” Bess flicked it off, and the clump exploded in midair. “Aaah, aaah.” She put her finger underneath her nose. “Phew,” Bess said. “I thought I was going to sneeze.”

  George laughed. “You have gray hair, Bess.”

  “So do y—aaah, aaah . . .” Bess grabbed her cousin’s arm.

  “We look like Old Crabapple!” Nancy added. “Gross!”

  Bess sighed. “My sneeze went away again,” she said, and shook the dust from her hair.

  “ACHOOOOOOOOO!”

  The three friends burst out laughing.

  Nancy reached into the vacuum bag up to her elbow to get her father’s pen. When she pulled it out, more dirt spilled onto the rug. Nancy’s arm was fuzzy and gray.

  At that moment Hannah appeared in the doorway, carrying a suitcase. When she saw the mess the girls had made, she let out a gasp and dropped the suitcase on the floor.

  “What on earth is going on here?”

  Nancy looked at Hannah’s angry face. Uh-oh, she thought. We’re in big trouble!

  5

  Flower Power

  We were just trying to help,” Nancy said in a small voice. “We found Daddy’s pen.”

  But Hannah wasn’t listening. She was busy looking at the dusty gray carpet, the yucky rag lying on a table, and the girls’ dirty faces.

  “We’re sorry,” Bess said. “We’ll clean it all up.”

  Hannah sighed. “Don’t worry, girls,” she said. She picked up the suitcase, but it snapped open, dumping a pile of clothes on the floor.

  Nancy, Bess, and George ran over to pick them up.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Hannah said quickly. “Why don’t you go outside and play?”

  “But we want to help clean up,” Nancy insisted, handing Hannah a long red dress.

  “Wow, I bet you look great in that, Hannah,” George said, looking at the gown.

  “I used to,” Hannah said. “But I’m afraid this one doesn’t fit me anymore.” She glanced at the pile of clothes on the floor. “Most of these don’t.”

  Hannah started to pick up the rest of the clothes. “Go along now,” she said to the girls. “I’
ll get this done more quickly on my own.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George washed up, then went out to the yard. Chip followed the girls outside and started sniffing around near the house.

  “We really messed up, huh?” Bess said.

  “That’s not the worst part,” Nancy said. “You both saw the suitcase. Hannah’s packing already. That’s another clue that shows we’re right about her secret. She must be sure she’s getting the job at Old Crabapple’s.

  “First there was the note and the phone call to Joan,” Nancy continued. “Then we found out she was meeting with Old Crabapple, who needs a housekeeper. Now this.”

  “Hey,” George said suddenly. “Is Chip supposed to be digging there?”

  Nancy saw Chip wagging her tail and growling as she made a hole under a red-leafed bush near the house. Nancy ran over to pull the playful puppy away.

  “Stop it, Chip!” Nancy scolded. “Hannah’s already mad at us. She’ll probably throw you in doggie jail if you mess up the plants in the yard, too.”

  Then Nancy stopped talking. “I’ve got it!” she cried after a moment. “Hannah loves gardening. And Chip and I ruined her favorite houseplant last week. It was just about to bloom. Why don’t we get her a new one with pretty flowers?”

  “That’s a great idea,” Bess said. “Then maybe she won’t be so mad.”

  “Where can we get one?” George asked.

  Nancy looked at her watch. They still had more than an hour until Bess and George had to go home for dinner. “We’ll ask Hannah if we can go for a walk,” Nancy said. “Then we’ll go to Pete’s Garden Center. It’s only a few blocks away. All we need is some money.”

  Nancy took Chip inside and got her piggy bank, while Bess and George checked their pockets. When they counted up their money all together, they had enough to buy at least one nice plant for Hannah.

  When they arrived at the garden center, they found the owner, Pete, watering some trees.

  “Hi,” Nancy said. “We’d like to buy a houseplant.”

  “One with flowers, please,” George added.

  Pete scratched his chin thoughtfully. “None of my houseplants are blooming right now,” he said. “I’ve got some with colorful leaves, though. How about that?”

  Nancy shook her head. “Nope. We need one with flowers. It’s very important.”

  Then she had another idea. If Nancy bought Hannah some pretty flowers for the yard, she might remember her promise to teach Nancy about gardening. Maybe then she wouldn’t want to leave.

  “It’s a little late in the year for outdoor flowers,” Pete said. “Are you sure you don’t want some bulbs instead? If you plant them now, they’ll be beautiful in the spring.” He pointed to a picture of some colorful tulips. Below it was a bin full of dirty brown things that looked like dried-up onions.

  Nancy wrinkled her nose. “No, thank you,” she said.

  “Okay,” Pete said. He led them outside and pointed to a row of colorful potted flowers. “These are asters,” he said. “They’ll be blooming for a while.”

  Bess hurried forward as Pete went back inside. “Ooh, look at the colors.”

  “I like the purple ones,” George said.

  “Me, too,” Nancy said. “But the blue ones are pretty, too. I think we have enough money to get one of each.”

  Bess shook her head. “We should get the pink ones,” she said firmly. “They look the most cheerful.”

  Just then Nancy heard a voice behind her.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Nancy turned and saw Brenda standing with her mother. “Um, we’re just looking around,” she said.

  “Really?” Brenda said.

  Nancy could tell Brenda didn’t believe her.

  Luckily George came to the rescue. “We’re here picking up some stuff for my mom,” she said coolly, and grabbed two pots of pink asters.

  “Bye, Brenda,” Bess said with a smile.

  The three friends went back into the store.

  Nancy looked back at Brenda. She was watching her with narrowed eyes. Nancy was glad Brenda was with her mother and couldn’t follow them.

  The girls had just enough money for the two pots of asters. They carried the plants back to Nancy’s house.

  “Where should we put them?” Nancy asked.

  “Over there,” Bess said. She pointed to a square of dirt right under the kitchen window.

  “Perfect,” Nancy said. She carefully dumped the plants out of their pots. Then the girls dug two holes in the soft dirt with their hands.

  “What’s this?” George asked. She grabbed something out of the hole. “Hannah must have planted onions.”

  Nancy didn’t look up. “Put it in the grass,” she said. “We’ll give it to her later.” Then she picked up a plant and placed it in the hole. While she held it straight, Bess and George gently patted the earth down around it.

  Within minutes, the second plant was in place. “Awesome,” Bess said, clapping her hands. “I told you pink was the best color.”

  “I can’t wait until Hannah sees them,” Nancy said.

  Just then the girls heard the kitchen window open above them, and Hannah’s voice rang out.

  “Oh, no!” she cried. “Stop!”

  6

  All Washed Up

  Nancy looked down at her dirty jeans. Was that why Hannah was so upset?

  But Hannah’s next words explained everything. “My bulbs!” she cried. “Don’t move—I’ll be right out.”

  “George, where did you throw that onion?” Nancy asked. “We need it, quick.”

  “It’s somewhere over there.” George pointed to where she had tossed it. “Why?”

  “I think you might have dug up a bulb,” Nancy said, remembering the bin at Pete’s Garden Center. “We have to find it before Hannah comes out.”

  The girls scrambled to search for it.

  “I found it,” Bess said, and handed the bulb to Nancy.

  Nancy looked at it. She was right. The bulb looked just like the ones she had seen earlier.

  Hannah came out the back door and hurried over. “Why are you pulling out my tulips?” she demanded angrily.

  Nancy’s eyes filled with tears. “We wanted to make you a garden. We didn’t know you’d planted tulips.”

  “Oh,” Hannah said. She didn’t look so angry anymore. She put her arm around Nancy. “What a nice thought,” she said. “I’m sorry for yelling. It’s just that I spent all morning planting tulip bulbs in this flower bed.”

  “I’m sorry we ruined them,” Nancy said.

  Bess and George apologized, too.

  “You didn’t,” Hannah assured them. She looked at the plants and smiled. “Pink is my favorite color.”

  “But what about your bulbs?” Nancy asked. She handed Hannah the one George had dug up.

  Hannah knelt down and used her hands to make a small hole in the earth near the new plants. She stuck the bulb in with the pointed end up, then pushed some dirt into the hole.

  “There,” she said. “No harm done. Now we can enjoy your lovely flowers all autumn, and in spring my tulips will come up around them.”

  “Do you think Daddy will like the flowers?” Nancy asked.

  “Of course,” Hannah said, looking down at them. “By the way, Nancy, your dad called today. His business is taking longer than he thought, so he won’t be home until tomorrow afternoon. I have an important appointment, so I’ve arranged for you to spend the morning at George’s house. Okay?”

  Nancy nodded, giving her friends a worried glance. They all knew where Hannah was going on Saturday.

  “It’s almost dinnertime,” Hannah said to Bess and George. “I’m sure your families are expecting you. And, Nancy, you’d better change out of those dirty clothes. Just leave them by the washer.”

  “Okay,” Nancy said. “I just want to say goodbye to George and Bess first.”

  As soon as Hannah had gone inside, Nancy whispered, “We’ve got to do something—and fast.”
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  George nodded. “But what? Hannah’s interview is tomorrow.”

  “I know!” Bess cried. “Let’s make her a superspecial breakfast before she leaves.”

  “Great idea,” Nancy said. “Can you guys come over early to help?”

  “We’ll be here,” George promised, crossing her heart.

  Bess did the same.

  • • •

  Early the next morning, while waiting for Bess and George to arrive, Nancy had another idea. Hannah hadn’t had a chance to do the laundry the evening before. Nancy’s dirty clothes were still sitting beside the washing machine. She loaded in her jeans and T-shirt. But the washing machine still looked almost empty.

  Just then Nancy heard a knock at the door and hurried to let in Bess and George. “Hannah hasn’t come downstairs yet,” she said. “I think she’s still in the shower.”

  “Good,” Bess said. “Then we have plenty of time to get breakfast ready.”

  Nancy nodded. “Right. But I have something else for us to do first.” She told her friends her plan to give Hannah an extra surprise by doing the laundry.

  The three of them tiptoed around the house, looking for more clothes to fill up the washing machine. They put in the sheets and pillowcases from Nancy’s bed, several of her father’s shirts, the rug from the downstairs bathroom, and the towel from Chip’s doghouse.

  “That should do it,” Nancy said, tossing in her favorite pair of purple socks.

  George read the box of detergent. “It says to put in one and a half scoops of soap.”

  “And more if the clothes are really dirty,” Bess added.

  Nancy looked inside the machine. “This stuff is really, really dirty,” she said. “I think we should put in the rest of the box.”

  “Okay.” George poured the detergent into the washing machine.

  Nancy turned it on.

  Then the girls went out to the kitchen and got to work. George squeezed oranges for juice. Nancy made toast with honey, just the way Hannah liked it. Bess set the table.

  “What’s this?” Hannah asked when she came into the kitchen a few minutes later. She was wearing her rose-colored suit.

  “Surprise!” the girls cried.