The Mystery Girl

  As Benny and Violet watched, Mrs. Edwards went up the step onto Nancy’s porch. She looked back and forth again. Then she walked over to the front window, cupped her hands against the glass, and peered inside.

  “What should we do, Violet?” Benny asked.

  “Nothing right now, Benny,” Violet whispered. “Just wait.”

  In a moment, Mrs. Edwards stepped back from the window. Then she left Nancy’s cabin, walked down the path, and went into her own cabin.

  Benny let out a big breath. “That was a little scary, Violet.”

  Violet kept her hand on Benny’s shoulder as they walked to their cabin. “Mrs. Edwards didn’t really do anything bad.”

  “We should tell Nancy, shouldn’t we?” Benny asked.

  “Let’s tell Henry and Jessie first,” Violet said. “I want to know what they think.”

  Benny agreed, and the two of them got the milk and cups and went back to the others. But for Violet and Benny, the picnic wasn’t as much fun as before.

  Later that night, Henry and Jessie built a fire in the big stone fireplace. When they all sat down in front of it, Jessie and Henry told Benny and Violet about seeing Nancy put the money in the cash register.

  “It was so strange,” Jessie said.

  “We saw something strange, too,” Violet said.

  “Strange and sort of scary,” Benny added.

  “What was it?” Henry asked.

  Violet told them about seeing Mrs. Edwards, and how she’d looked in Nancy’s cabin window.

  “Why was it scary, Benny?” Henry asked.

  Benny frowned. “Because of the way she acted,” he said.

  “I know what Benny means,” Violet said. “Before Mrs. Edwards went up on the porch, she looked all around. And she did the same thing before she looked in Nancy’s window. I think she didn’t want anyone to see her.”

  “Like she was sneaking,” Benny said. “Like she was doing something wrong.”

  “That’s exactly what it was like,” Violet agreed.

  “And that’s the way Nancy acted with the money,” Jessie said.

  “Maybe Mrs. Edwards and Nancy know each other. Maybe Mrs. Edwards was just looking to see if Nancy was in her cabin,” Henry said.

  “Nancy has never said anything about her,” Jessie said. “And Mrs. Edwards doesn’t seem to know Nancy. Remember, she asked us about her.”

  Benny was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his chin in his hands. “But we never asked if they knew each other,” he said.

  Jessie had to laugh. “You’re right, Benny. We haven’t.”

  “Maybe we should,” Henry said. He stared thoughtfully into the fire. “Maybe we should ask Nancy about everything.”

  The others thought about it. Then Jessie said, “But what if Nancy is trying to hide something? What do you think she would do if we started asking lots of questions?”

  “I know what I would do,” Benny said, yawning. “I would run away.”

  “We don’t want Nancy to do that,” Violet said quickly. “Maybe she’s in some kind of trouble. If she is, we should help her.”

  Benny yawned again. “Can we help her tomorrow? I’m too sleepy to do anything tonight.”

  “Good idea, Benny,” Henry said with a smile. He took Benny’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, let’s all go to sleep. Maybe we will wake up with some ideas.”

  Benny went to sleep right away. But after he helped make sure the fire was out, Henry lay awake in his bottom bunk for a long time. In the big front room on the open couch, Jessie and Violet lay awake, too. The three of them were all trying to think of what they should do about Nancy Baldwin.

  CHAPTER 7

  Worries About Nancy

  At seven o’clock in the morning, Jessie and Violet were awakened by a knock on the door. Jessie threw back the soft yellow quilt and got out of bed. She peered out the window and then hurried to open the door.

  “Aunt Jane!” she said, giving her aunt a hug. “Violet, Benny, Henry!” she called out, “Aunt Jane’s here!”

  Violet was already out of bed, and in a few minutes, Henry and Benny came in from the back room. Everyone was happy to see Aunt Jane.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you,” Aunt Jane said, sitting down at the table. “But I got up very early this morning missing you. So I decided to drive out and see how you are.”

  “We’re great,” Benny said. “Working in Mr. Taylor’s store is fun. I know how to use the scale now.”

  “Good for you, Benny,” Aunt Jane said. She smiled at everyone. “Jerry was in Elmford last evening and he stopped by for a few minutes. He said the four of you are doing fine work.”

  Jessie poured some orange juice for everyone. “Have you made the curtains for the den yet?” she asked.

  “I’m almost finished,” Aunt Jane said. “They’re going to look wonderful.”

  “I can’t wait to see them,” Violet said. “Andy is going to be so surprised.”

  “Yes, he is,” Aunt Jane agreed, looking pleased. “Oh, I spoke to your Grandfather on the phone last night. He sends all of you his love.”

  “I miss him,” Benny said. “Does he miss us?”

  “Of course he does, Benny,” Aunt Jane said.

  “He’s going to want us to come back to Greenfield soon,” Henry said. “I hope Mr. Taylor finds someone to work in the store before we have to leave.”

  “I hope so, too,” Aunt Jane said. “I’ve been talking to people in Elmford about the job. Maybe someone will be interested in it.”

  Jessie looked at the clock on the stove. “We better hurry and have breakfast,” she said. “It’s almost time to go to work.”

  “Can we have pancakes tonight?” Benny asked. “We still haven’t had pancakes,” he told Aunt Jane. “Violet said we could have them for dinner.”

  “That sounds good,” Aunt Jane said. “And that reminds me. When we came out here the other day, I forgot to buy some more maple syrup. So I’ll go along to the store with you when you’re ready.”

  The Aldens ate a breakfast of fruit, toast with honey, and milk. Then they got dressed and walked to the general store with Aunt Jane.

  Jerry Taylor was sweeping the porch when the Aldens and Aunt Jane arrived. “Good morning,” he said with a smile.

  “I came to buy some of your delicious maple syrup, Jerry,” Aunt Jane said. “It looks like I’m your first customer of the day.”

  “The first of many, I hope,” Mr. Taylor said. He suddenly looked worried.

  “You aren’t losing business, are you?” Aunt Jane asked.

  “There were a lot of customers yesterday,” Jessie said.

  “You’re right, Jessie. But not all of them buy things,” Mr. Taylor said. “And everyone keeps talking about the new shopping center.”

  “I went there yesterday to see what it was like,” Aunt Jane said. “It certainly is fancy. But it is also very expensive. And the things they sell aren’t any better than what I can find right here.”

  Mr. Taylor smiled again. “You’re not only my first customer, Jane,” he said. “You’re my best customer.”

  Everyone went into the store then. Aunt Jane bought the syrup and stayed for a while, talking to the Aldens. Then she looked at her watch. “I think I’d better get back,” she said. “It’s almost an hour’s drive to Elmford, and I want to finish those curtains today.”

  “Come back and see us again soon,” Jessie said.

  “I will,” Aunt Jane promised. She gave all the Aldens a hug, and said good-bye.

  Soon after Aunt Jane left, a farmer drove up in his truck. Henry helped him unload the fresh tomatoes he had brought. Jessie and Violet put them on the table in the store. Benny dusted the counter and made sure all the candy jars were full.

  “A man’s coming soon about the job,” Mr. Taylor said to the Aldens. “Nancy told me that he called yesterday.” He stopped talking and looked around. “Where is Nancy?”

  Henry looked around too. “I’ve been so bu
sy, I didn’t even notice that she wasn’t here.”

  “I hope she isn’t sick,” Jessie said. “I’ll go to her cabin and see.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Violet said.

  “If she isn’t feeling well, tell her to stay in bed,” Mr. Taylor called after the two girls.

  But Nancy wasn’t sick. When Jessie and Violet knocked on the door, Nancy opened it and smiled. But her short red hair was not combed, she had only one shoe on, and she was holding her toothbrush.

  “I overslept!” she cried, pulling the door open wider. “My clock stopped during the night and the alarm didn’t go off. It’s a brand-new clock, too!”

  “We were afraid you were sick,” Jessie said as she and Violet stepped inside.

  “I’m fine, but I’m a mess,” Nancy laughed. “Let me brush my teeth and comb my hair. Then I’ll walk back to the store with you.” She hurried into the bathroom.

  Violet and Jessie waited in the big front room. “This room is just like ours,” Jessie said. “I guess all the cabins are alike.”

  “But there’s something strange about it,” Violet said quietly, looking around. “I don’t know what it is. But this room doesn’t look right.”

  On the stone mantel of the fireplace were two photographs in silver frames. Violet walked over and looked at them. One was a picture of a man and a woman. The second was a picture of a young boy and girl. They were standing near a tree, and the boy’s face was in shadow. But the girl’s face was in sunlight. “This girl looks a little like Nancy,” Violet said. “But she has long, brown hair. Nancy’s is red and short.”

  Jessie didn’t answer. She was staring at a small shopping bag on the kitchen counter. “Look,” she said to Violet, pointing.

  The bag was white, with green letters that spelled the words Elmford Shopping Center.

  Just then, Nancy came into the room, ready to go. Jessie and Violet didn’t say anymore to each other. But they both wondered why Nancy would buy things at the new shopping center when she knew how worried Mr. Taylor was about it.

  There were a lot of customers at the general store in the morning. But the afternoon wasn’t very busy. Violet decided to make a new sign. When she finished, she showed it to Mr. Taylor.

  “Something Aunt Jane said made me think of it,” Violet told him. On the sign, she had drawn a picture of the general store. It looked just like the real one. Below the picture were the words, Taylor’s General Store. Old-fashioned Quality. Old-fashioned Prices.

  Jessie said to Mr. Taylor, “Aunt Jane said your things were just as good as the ones in the new shopping center. But not as expensive.”

  “It’s a perfect sign, Violet,” Mr. Taylor said. “Thank you. I’m going to put it out on that tree by the road.”

  “I’ll help you hang it up,” Henry said.

  Violet went out with Mr. Taylor and Henry. Jessie stayed inside to help Benny fill one of the candy jars with sour balls.

  “I haven’t tried one of these yet,” Benny said, as he held the jar steady. When Jessie was finished pouring the candy, he took a penny out of his pocket and put it on the counter. Then he popped a sour ball into his mouth.

  “Benny!” Jessie said, laughing. “You should see the face you’re making.”

  “It is sour,” Benny mumbled because his mouth was full. “But I like it.”

  “I don’t think there is any candy you don’t like.” Jessie was still laughing. But when she looked across the room, she saw Nancy, and she stopped laughing.

  Nancy was standing by the shelves of clothes. A new shipment of T-shirts had arrived that morning. As Jessie watched, Nancy took a yellow shirt off the shelf. Then she rolled it up and tucked it under the shirt she was wearing. It hardly showed.

  Jessie could hardly believe that Nancy was really stealing something. But she had seen it. She was so shocked that she gasped, and Benny heard her.

  “What’s wrong, Jessie?” he asked.

  Jessie shook her head. She didn’t want to tell Benny about it now. “I’ll explain later,” she said.

  Just then, Mr. Taylor, Henry, and Violet came back inside. “Time to close up for the day,” Mr. Taylor said. “Remember, Nancy, you have tomorrow morning off.”

  “I haven’t forgotten, Mr. Taylor,” Nancy said. “Maybe I’ll go see a movie tonight.”

  Everyone helped to clean up the store for the day. As Henry swept the floor, he noticed that Jessie was very quiet.

  “What’s the matter, Jessie?” he asked.

  “I asked her the same thing,” Benny said. “But she wouldn’t tell me.”

  “I can’t right now,” Jessie said. She looked at Nancy, who was nearby, dusting the counter. “I’ll have to tell you . . .”

  “Later,” Benny finished. He made a face. “I’m always having to wait.”

  Henry smiled. “This time, we both have to wait, Benny.”

  Jessie tried to smile, too, but it was hard. She couldn’t forget that she had seen Nancy Baldwin stealing from Mr. Taylor’s store.

  CHAPTER 8

  The Visitor

  That night, Benny got his pancake dinner. Jessie cooked bacon, too, which everyone liked. But when they sat down at the table, Violet noticed that Jessie wasn’t eating much.

  “What’s wrong, Jessie?” she asked. “Do you feel bad?”

  “Yes, but not the way you mean,” Jessie said. “I saw something awful happen at the store earlier.”

  “Is that why you were so quiet?” Henry asked.

  Jessie nodded.

  “Well, tell us,” Benny said. “It’s ‘later,’ isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is,” Jessie agreed. “It happened while Henry and Violet were outside with Mr. Taylor. Benny was eating a sour ball and I was laughing. Then I saw Nancy. She didn’t see me.”

  “What did she do?” Henry asked.

  “She took a T-shirt from the shelf and tucked it under the shirt she was wearing,” Jessie told them. “I watched her the rest of the time we were there, but she didn’t take it out. When we all left, she still had the shirt hidden on her.”

  The others didn’t say anything for a moment. They were as shocked as Jessie had been.

  Finally Benny said, “How could Nancy steal from Mr. Taylor? He’s so nice.”

  Violet looked troubled. But she said, “I just can’t think Nancy would do something like that unless she had a good reason.”

  “That’s what I keep thinking,” Jessie said. “But what reason could she have?”

  “Maybe she took the shirt because she doesn’t have enough money to buy one,” Violet suggested.

  “But Mr. Taylor pays her,” Jessie said. “And she has that ring, remember? She can’t be very poor.”

  “Should we tell Mr. Taylor or Aunt Jane?” Violet asked.

  “We’ll have to tell someone soon,” Henry said. “We won’t be here much longer. And we can’t leave without saying something.”

  “I know,” Jessie agreed, pouring syrup on her pancakes. “But I wish we could solve this mystery ourselves.”

  Jessie ate some of her dinner. Then she stopped. “I just remembered something, Violet,” she said. “The shopping bag. When Violet and I were in Nancy’s cabin this morning, we saw a bag from the Elmford Shopping Center.”

  “If she can buy things there, then she doesn’t have to steal,” Henry said.

  “She didn’t buy much,” Violet said thoughtfully.

  “What do you mean?” Henry asked.

  “Now I know what bothered me about her cabin,” Violet said. “It was so empty, remember, Jessie? There weren’t any books, or little knick-knacks, only those two photographs.”

  Jessie nodded. “Nancy said she has been on her own for a year. But she just doesn’t have any things.”

  Henry shook his head in confusion. Then he snapped his fingers. “I just remembered something, too,” he said. “The first day we were here, Mr. Taylor had to order more socks. He was surprised that there were so few left.”

  “And when he
asked Nancy about them, she got real nervous,” Jessie said.

  “Then the next day, Jessie and I saw Nancy put money into the cash register,” Henry continued. “And today she took a shirt.”

  Benny stopped eating. “I don’t get it,” he said.

  Henry and Jessie had to laugh. “I don’t either, Benny,” Henry said. “This is a real puzzle.”

  “I like most puzzles,” Benny said. “But not this one.” He got up and took his plate to the sink. On his way back to the table, he glanced out of the front window. He stopped suddenly.

  “What is it, Benny?” Violet asked.

  Benny gestured for the others to join him. They did. Outside, they saw Nancy and Mrs. Edwards. They were walking together toward Mrs. Edwards’s car.

  In the morning, the Aldens were still puzzled. “I guess Mrs. Edwards and Nancy do know each other,” Violet said, as they all walked to the store. “But I still wonder why Mrs. Edwards asked us about her.”

  “So do I,” Jessie said. “And I didn’t say anything about this yesterday, but when I saw that shopping bag in Nancy’s cabin, I started to wonder if Mrs. Edwards and Nancy both might have something to do with the Elmford Shopping Center.”

  “What do you mean?” Henry asked.

  “I don’t know exactly,” Jessie admitted. “Maybe they both work for the center in some way. Maybe they’re spying on Mr. Taylor’s store to see if he’s losing business or something.”

  “If they are, that could be why Mrs. Edwards went to Nancy’s cabin during our picnic,” Henry said. “And why we saw them leaving together last night.”

  Violet looked upset. “I don’t believe Nancy would do anything to hurt Mr. Taylor,” she said.

  “I have trouble thinking that, too, Violet,” Jessie said. “In fact, I really don’t believe it. But something funny’s going on.”

  “It sure is,” Henry said. “I hope we have a lot of work today. It will take our minds off of Nancy.”

  There was a lot of work to do. No one had a chance to talk about Nancy.

  At ten-thirty, a young man came into the store. Jessie was measuring some material for a customer. Henry and Benny were in the storeroom with Mr. Taylor. Violet was putting bunches of carrots on the vegetable table.