The Pizza Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page B

Piccolos and the Aldens soon forgot their troubles with Laurie. Everyone worked side by side in the kitchen and dining room now. Benny taught Laurie his way of smacking down the dough nice and flat. Mrs. Piccolo helped her start some herb seedlings to take to her parents’ restaurant.
    Mr. Piccolo came huffing and puffing into the kitchen after one busy lunch hour ended. It was tiring for him to go back and forth between the kitchen and dining room. “If only Nick were back, then my pizza family would be complete,” he said. “We could use his strong arms to carry these trays. Ah, well, I suppose even young fellows can get sick.”
    â€œYoung fellows can get sick,” Jessie whispered to Henry after Mr. Piccolo went back to the dining room, “but that’s not what’s wrong with Nick.”
    Henry took off his coat now that the lunch deliveries were over. “I just saw Nick again going in the factory gate, but he pretended not to see me.”
    â€œMaybe Nick isn’t sick the way Mr. Piccolo thinks,” Violet said. “I’m just sure something’s wrong that he can’t tell us about right now.”
    â€œLike what happened to you, Laurie,” Benny said as he grated piles of cheese. “What if he wants to open a restaurant, too?”
    Henry patted Benny’s head. “Not likely. What I can’t understand is why he just doesn’t come straight out and tell us he’s working at the factory. The Piccolos would be disappointed, but they’d understand.”
    â€œHe’s probably all caught up in his own troubles,” Laurie said. “I saw him, too, when I left work last night, but he went right by. He’s always wrapped up in a hat and scarf so we won’t recognize him. I still wonder if he’s the man I saw around the restaurant the first few weeks I started coming here.”
    The children spent a quiet afternoon starting to pack. Grandfather Alden was picking them up in just a few days.
    â€œI want to see Grandfather and Watch,” Jessie said as she folded some of her clothes, “but I wish things would go better here before we drive back to Greenfield.”
    â€œI know what you mean,” Henry said quietly. “I was counting on Nick to be here next week when Tom’s son starts delivering pizzas. He’s going to need someone to supervise him for a while. Everyone else is so busy.”
    â€œIf Nick would only let us talk to him,” Violet said. “Maybe he’ll come by this afternoon before the restaurant opens for dinner.”
    But Nick did not return that afternoon. When the children came down to the restaurant at four-thirty, the Piccolos looked upset.
    â€œNick, he just called in sick again,” Mrs. Piccolo said. “I’m getting so worried about him. He never really got better. These young people don’t always take good care of themselves.”
    Laurie and the Aldens looked at each other then looked away. The Piccolos were always so trusting.
    When Mr. Piccolo brought over the lunch checks and money from the cash register, everyone was relieved. Each afternoon the children sat with the Piccolos to match the lunch money and lunch checks before dinner. This job took a lot of careful attention. There wasn’t any time to talk about Nick.
    Mr. Piccolo put down the drawer of money at the center of one of the big restaurant tables. “Here, Benny. You and Violet can wrap the coins in wrappers for the bank.”
    Jessie and Henry, who were both good in math, got busy adding up all the check totals. Then everyone compared the lunch checks with the lunch money. Every day the numbers came out even.
    They had finished counting just before five when the front door bell jingled, then jingled again and again. This surprised everyone since most dinner customers arrived after five-thirty. In just a few minutes, five or six children stood in the dining room. All of them were waving