The Absent Author by Ron Roy Page A

and had on purple running shoes. A purple baseball cap kept her black curls out of her face.
    “Hey,” she said. Then she turned around and screamed into the house. “THE GUYS ARE HERE, MOM. I’M LEAVING!”

    Dink and Josh covered their ears.
    “Geez, Ruth Rose,” Josh said. “I don’t know what’s louder, your outfit or your voice.”
    Ruth Rose smiled sweetly at Josh.
    “I can’t wait until Wallis Wallace signs my book!” she said. She held up a copy of
The Phantom in the Pharmacy
.
    “I wonder if Wallis Wallace will read from the new book he’s working on,” Dink said.
    “What’s the title?” Ruth Rose asked.
    They headed toward the Book Nook.
    “I don’t know,” said Dink. “But he wrote in his letter that he’s doing some of the research while he’s here in Connecticut.”
    Dink pulled the letter out of hispocket. He read it out loud while he walked.

    The letter was signed
Wallis Wallace
in loopy letters. Dink grinned. “Pretty neat, huh?”
    “Pretty neat,
Mister
Duncan!” teased Josh.
    “You should have that letter framed,” Ruth Rose said.
    “Great idea!” Dink said.
    They passed Howard’s Barbershop. Howard waved through his window as they hurried by.
    “Come on!” Dink urged as he dragged his friends down the street to the Book Nook.
    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