The Absent Author (2 page)

They looked through the window, out of breath. The bookstore was crowded with kids. The Book Nook’s owner, Mr. Paskey had set up folding chairs. Dink noticed that most of them were already taken.

Dink saw Mr. Paskey sitting behind a table. A big white sign on the table said WELCOME, WALLIS WALLACE!

But the chair behind the sign was empty. Dink gulped and stared at the empty seat.

Where was Wallis Wallace?

Dink raced into the Book Nook. Josh and Ruth Rose were right behind him. They found three seats behind Tommy Tomko and Eddie Carini.

Dink plopped his pack on the floor. The clock over the cash register said three minutes after eleven.

“Where is he?” Dink whispered to Tommy Tomko.

Tommy turned around. “Beats me. He’s not here yet, and Mr. Paskey looks worried.”

“What’s going on?” Ruth Rose said.

Dink told her and Josh what Tommy had said.

“Paskey does look pretty nervous,” Josh whispered.

“Mr. Paskey always looks nervous,” Dink whispered back, looking around the room. He saw about thirty kids he knew. Mrs. Davis, Dink’s neighbor, was looking at gardening books.

Dink checked out the other grownups in the store. None of them looked like a famous mystery writer.

Mr. Paskey stood up. “Boys and girls, welcome to the Book Nook! Wallis Wallace should be here any second. How many of you have books to be autographed?”

Everyone waved a book in the air.

“Wonderful! I’m sure Wallis Wallace will be happy to know that Green Lawn is a reading town!”

The kids clapped and cheered.

Dink glanced at the clock. Five past eleven. He swallowed, trying to stay calm. Wallis Wallace was late, but it was only by five minutes.

Slowly five more minutes passed. Dink felt his palms getting damp.
Where
is
Wallis Wallace
? he wondered.

Some of the kids started getting restless. Dink heard one kid say “Whenever
I’m
late, I get grounded!”

“So where is he?” Josh asked.

Ruth Rose looked at her watch. “It’s only ten after,” she said. “Famous people are always late.”

Now Dink stared at the clock. The big hand jerked forward, paused, then wobbled forward again.

At 11:15, Mr. Paskey stood up again. “I don’t understand why Wallis Wallace is late,” he said. Dink noticed that his bald head was shiny with sweat. His bow tie was getting a workout.

Mr. Paskey smiled bravely, but his eyes were blinking like crazy through his thick glasses. “Shall we give him a few more minutes?”

The crowd grumbled, but nobody wanted to go anywhere.

Ruth Rose started to read her book.

Josh opened his sketch pad and began drawing Mr. Paskey. Dink turned and stared at the door. He mentally ordered Wallis Wallace to walk through it.
You have to come
! thought Dink.

Ever since he had received Wallis Wallace’s letter, he’d thought about only one thing: meeting him today.

Suddenly Dink felt his heart skip a beat. THE LETTER!
Short of being kidnapped
, the letter said,
nothing will stop me from, coming
.

Kidnapped
! Dink shook himself. Of course Wallis Wallace hadn’t been kidnapped!

Mr. Paskey stood again, but this time he wasn’t smiling. “I’m sorry, kids,” he said. “But Wallis Wallace doesn’t seem to be coming after all.”

The kids groaned. They got up, scraping chairs and bumping knees. Mr. Paskey apologized to them as they crowded past, heading for the door.

“I’ve read every single one of his books,” Dink heard Amy Flower tell another girl. “Now I’ll probably
never
meet anyone famous!”

“I can’t believe we gave up a soccer game for this!” Tommy Tomko muttered to Eddie Carini on their way out.

Ruth Rose and Josh went next, but Dink remained in his seat. He was too stunned to move.

He felt the letter through his jeans.
Short of being kidnapped
… Finally Dink got up and walked out.

Josh and Ruth Rose were waiting for him.

“What’s the matter?” Ruth Rose said. “You look sick!”

“I
am
sick,” Dink mumbled. “I invited him here. It’s all my fault.”

“What’s all your fault?” Josh asked.

“This!” he said, thrusting the letter into Josh’s hands. “Wallis Wallace has been
kidnapped
!”

“KIDNAPPED?” Ruth Rose shrieked. Her blue eyes were huge.

Josh and Dink covered their ears.

“Shh!” said Josh. He handed the letter back to Dink and gave a quick gesture with his head. “Some strange woman is watching us!”

Dink had noticed the woman earlier. She’d been sitting in the back of the Book Nook.

“She’s coming over here!” Ruth Rose said.

The woman had brown hair up in a neat bun. Half-glasses perched on her
nose. She was wearing a brown dress and brown shoes, and carried a book bag with a picture of a moose on the side. Around her neck she wore a red scarf covered with tiny black letters.

“Excuse me,” she said in a soft, trembly voice. “Did you say Wallis Wallace has been
kidnapped
?” The woman poked her glasses nervously.

Dink wasn’t sure what to say. He
thought
Wallis Wallace had been kidnapped, but he couldn’t be sure. Finally he said, “Well, he might have been.”

“My goodness!” gasped the woman.

“Who are you?” Josh asked her.

“Oh, pardon me!” The woman blushed. “My name is Mavis Green,” she mumbled. “I’m a writer, and I came to meet Mr. Wallace.”

Dink said, “I’m Dink Duncan. These are my friends Ruth Rose and Josh.”

Mavis shook hands shyly.

Then she reached into her book bag and pulled out a folded paper.

“Wallis Wallace wrote to me last week. He said something very peculiar in his letter. I didn’t think much of it at the time. But when he didn’t show up today and then I heard you mention kidnapping…”

She handed the letter to Dink. Josh and Ruth Rose read it over his shoulder.

“Wow!” said Ruth Rose. “First he says he’s being followed, and then he winds up missing!”

Dink told Mavis about his letter from Wallis Wallace. “He said the only thing that would keep him from coming today was if he was kidnapped!”

“Oh, dear!” said Mavis. “I just don’t understand. Why would anyone want to kidnap Wallis Wallace?”

“If he’s the most famous mystery writer in the world, he must be rich, right?” Josh said. “Maybe someone kidnapped him for a ransom!”

Suddenly Josh grabbed Dink and spun him around, pointing toward the street. “Look! The cops are coming! They must have heard about the kid-napping!”

A police officer was walking toward them.

“Josh, that’s just Officer Fallon,
Jimmy Fallon’s grandfather,” said Dink. “Jimmy came to get a book signed. I saw him inside the Book Nook.”

“Maybe we should show Officer Fallon these letters,” Ruth Rose suggested. “They could be clues if Wallis Wallace has really been kidnapped!”

“Who’s been kidnapped?” asked Officer Fallon, who was now standing near them. “Not my grandson, I hope,” he added, grinning.

Dink showed Officer Fallon the two letters. “We think Wallis Wallace might have been kidnapped,” he said. “He promised he’d come to sign books, but he isn’t here.”

Officer Fallon read Mavis’s letter first, then Dink’s. He scratched his chin, then handed the letters back.

“The letters do sound a bit suspicious,” he said. “But it’s more likely that Mr. Wallace just missed his flight.”

Jimmy Fallon ran out of the Book Nook, waving a Wallis Wallace book at his grandfather. “Grampa, he never came! Can we go for ice cream anyway?”

Officer Fallon put a big hand on Jimmy’s head. “In a minute, son.” To Dink he said, “I wouldn’t worry. Mr. Wallace will turn up. Call me tomorrow if there’s no news, okay?”

They watched Jimmy and his grandfather walk away.

Dink handed Mavis’s letter back to her. He folded his and slid it into his pocket. Crazy thoughts were bouncing around in his head.
What if Wallis Wallace really has been kidnapped? It happened because I invited him to Green Lawn. I’m practically an accomplice
!

“I don’t want to wait till tomorrow,” he said finally. “I say we start looking for Wallis Wallace now!”

“Where do we start?” Ruth Rose asked.

Dink jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Right here at the Book Nook.”

“Excuse me,” Mavis Green said shyly. “May I come along, too?”

“Sure,” Dink said. He marched back inside the Book Nook, with the others following.

Mr. Paskey was putting the Wallis Wallace books back on a shelf. He looked even more nervous than before.

“Excuse me, Mr. Paskey,” Dink said. “Have you heard from Wallis Wallace?”

Mr. Paskey’s hand shot up to his bow tie. “No, Dink, not a word.”

“We think he was kidnapped!” Josh said.

Mr. Paskey swallowed, making his bow tie wiggle. “Now, Joshua, let’s not jump to conclusions. I’m sure there’s a
rational explanation for his absence.”

Dink told Mr. Paskey about the two letters. “I’m really worried, Mr. Paskey. Where could he be?”

Mr. Paskey took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. “I have no idea.” He removed a paper from his desk and handed it to Dink. “All I have is his itinerary.”

The others looked over Dink’s shoulder as he read: