儿童英语读物 The Mystery Girl CHAPTER 10 Last Day at Work

Everyone started to go into the Aldens’ cabin 1. But suddenly Nancy stopped. “I almost forgot,” she said. “I need to make a telephone call. Mr. Taylor, may I use the phone in your cabin?”



“Of course you can,” he said, gesturing toward 2 his cabin door. “Go on inside, Nancy. The phone’s on the wall, next to the refrigerator.”



“Thanks.” Nancy started toward his cabin, then turned back. “Don’t worry,” she said to the others. “I won’t be too long. When I come back, I’ll tell you the whole story.”



The others went into the Aldens’ cabin. Jessie got out the things she needed to make pancakes. Henry took out glasses and started pouring orange juice for everyone. Benny and Violet 3 put plates and silverware and napkins 4 on the table.



Jessie was stirring 5 the pancake batter 6 when Nancy came back in. She was smiling.



“You look so happy, Nancy,” Violet said.



“I am,” Nancy said. “I just talked to my parents. I haven’t spoken to them since I ran away from home.”



“We were right,” Jessie said. “She was running away.”



Nancy smiled. “Why don’t we all sit down and I’ll tell you everything.”



Everyone found a place to sit. Nancy sat on one of the chairs by the fireplace 7. She still looked very happy. “It was so good to hear my parents’ voices,” she said. “I can’t stop smiling.”



“You sound like you love them,” Benny said.



“I do love them, Benny,” Nancy told him.



“Then why did you run away?”



“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 8 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 9 or anything,” Henry said. “If you had worked a lot, you would have known 10 how.”



“You’re right,” Nancy said again. She took a sip 11 of juice. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Mr. Taylor,” she said. “I needed the job so much.”



Mr. Taylor chuckled 12. “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 13, 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 14.”



“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 15 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 16 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 17 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 18 is just as good. And your prices are much better.”



Mr. Taylor looked relieved 19. “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.”