Chocolate Sundae Mystery (8 page)

“It’s not ruined yet,” Jessie assured him. “Once all this is explained, the customers will be back in no time.”

Brian smiled, giving Violet a shy admiring look.

The following day, the Aldens and Grandfather came to the Shoppe a little late. They wanted to give Mr. Brown and Brian plenty of time to talk.

When they arrived, Mr. Brown had his arm around Brian. “I can’t thank you enough for getting to the bottom of this mystery,” Mr. Brown said when he saw the Aldens.

The Aldens beamed and proudly introduced Mr. Brown to their grandfather.

“If I’d known your grandchildren were going to stay here after closing, I wouldn’t have allowed it,” Mr. Brown said shaking his head. “But I’m glad they did,” he added, winking.

“I just told Mr. Brown the whole story,” Brian said. “I have to work at the parlor one month for free.” He looked at Mr. Brown and grinned. “But Eric and his brothers can still come to the Shoppe and get a free treat every week.”

Grandfather said, “I’ll talk to Eric’s parents. I’m sure the children and I can help in some way.”

“Yes,” Mr. Brown said nodding. “I’ll also give them our leftover food. We always have lunch fixings left over at the end of the day. That would be better for them than ice cream.”

“All I have to do now is think of a way to bring customers back to the parlor,” Brian said.

“You know,” Jessie said grinning, “I think I have an idea.”

A
week later, Grandfather drove his whole family over to the Shoppe in the big station wagon. Soo Lee, Joe, and Alice came too.

A big sign that said
OPEN HOUSE
hung over the Shoppe’s front door. Inside, white and red balloons hung from the Shoppe’s ceiling. Streamers draped the counter. A big long table at one end of the parlor held several cartons of fresh, homemade ice cream in silver buckets of ice.

“Yum, there are fresh berries and cherries cut up into some of the ice cream,” Jessie said happily.

“Jessie, look at the counter,” Benny beamed. He pointed toward the pots of chocolate, butterscotch, marshmallow, and raspberry sauces that were being heated over small burners. Festive jars of sprinkles, candy, and fresh fruit lined the rest of the counter. Over it was a sign that said:
MAKE YOUR OWN BENNY SPECIAL SUNDAE
.

“Oh, it looks beautiful in here,” Violet said admiringly.

Mr. Brown beamed as he greeted his company. Mr. Richards had come back to see how the Shoppe was faring. Eric and his brothers and Mrs. Saunders were also among the many guests. Simone, Brian, Ruth, and Tom carried trays of fresh lemonade in sparkling glasses.

“Tom, you came back!” Benny almost shouted when he saw his favorite waiter.

“Yes. Once we found out what had been happening around here, Ruth and I decided to come back. Mr. Brown needs the help, and we like working here better than anywhere,” Tom said.

“I’m glad to see so many people from the neighborhood,” Grandfather observed as he helped himself to some strawberry ice cream.

“Good choice. I just made it this morning,” Mr. Brown said, coming by with Mr. Richards.

“Hello, James,” Mr. Richards greeted his old friend. “I heard your grandchildren saved the Shoppe.”

“Well, they helped,” Mr. Alden answered modestly as he put his arm around Violet.

“Oh, Mr. Brown. Brian has been telling me about all the problems you’ve had in your parlor,” Mrs. Saunders called as she came toward them. She balanced her sundae in one hand and adjusted her long scarf with the other. She towered over Mr. Brown in her high spiked heels.

“Yes,” Mr. Brown nodded solemnly, “but I hope all that trouble is behind us, since I had someone come in and fix the old clock.”

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Mrs. Saunders said. She looked genuinely concerned. “Listen, I hope you didn’t think I was trying to take some business away from you with my truck.”

“I did think so at one time,” Mr. Brown admitted.

Mrs. Saunders put her sundae down. “I know I’ve been difficult,” Mrs. Saunders said. “It’s just so hard to start a new business, especially when there’s someone in town who carries better ice cream than I do.”

Violet, Henry, and Mr. Alden looked at Mrs. Saunders in surprise.

“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Saunders admitted. “I’ve always been a little jealous of the parlor, but I would never do anything to hurt a fellow ice cream maker. I know how hard we work,” she added looking at Mr. Brown, who nodded.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Mrs. Saunders continued. “Greenfield is so small. I’m going to try the bigger towns like Silver City during the week. I can come to Greenfield on weekends when we both have a lot of business.”

Mr. Brown chuckled. “You shouldn’t feel you have to do that,” he said. “I’m sure with the summer coming, there will be more than enough business in Greenfield for both of us.”

Jessie waved to Simone and her red-haired friend. “Oh, Jessie, I’d like to introduce you to Martin,” Simone said proudly. “We’ve just started, uh . . . going up. Is that how you say it here?”

“Going
out
,”Jessie said and smiled while Martin blushed. “I’m happy to meet you,” she said. “So that’s what was going on,” she whispered to Simone when Martin went off to get more sprinkles.

“Jessie, you didn’t think Martin or I were involved in the mystery?” Simone looked surprised.

“I wasn’t sure, especially after Violet saw you hiding your note,” Jessie was forced to admit.

“Oh, that!” Simone said smiling. “Martin often wrote sweet little notes to me while I worked.”

Before everyone sat down to eat, Mr. Brown gave a speech, but just a short one. He didn’t want everyone’s ice cream to melt while he spoke.

“Thank you so much for coming,” he began. “I know we’ve had a little trouble getting started without Mr. Richards, but those problems are behind us. From now on, we’ll all make sure to have enough fresh ice cream, whipped cream, and any sauce you like on hand.”

Suddenly, everyone heard the old clock chiming. “Ding ding ding ding!”

“Look!” Benny exclaimed. “The old clock is fixed.”

Everyone cheered and began eating.

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 the 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.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND
THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON

T
HE
M
YSTERY
B
OOKSTORE

T
HE
P
ILGRIM
V
ILLAGE
M
YSTERY