American Triumph: 1939-1945: 4 STORIES IN 1 by Susan Martins Miller Norma Jean Lutz Bonnie Hinman & Veda Boyd Jones

Author:Susan Martins Miller, Norma Jean Lutz, Bonnie Hinman & Veda Boyd Jones [Miller, Susan Martins]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781607420170
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2006-08-17T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 3

Sliding into Trouble

Colleen was all ears when Jennie told her about Pietro and his claim to have arrived in Seattle just that morning. In fact, Colleen said the girls should march back up the stairs to demand the truth from Mr. Romano’s cousin.

Jennie shook her head at that idea. She wasn’t sure what to do, but facing Pietro right now didn’t appeal to her. All during the Girl Scout meeting Jennie kept thinking about the stranger. Could she have mistaken Pietro for some other dark-haired man?

At last the meeting was over, and the scouts gathered up their sacks and boxes of cans to cart off to the collection center. Jennie and Colleen joined the parade with their wagonload and cheered with the others as the pile of crushed cans towered higher.

“I still think that’s enough tin for an airplane wing,” Colleen said. The friends stood back a little from the pile. “Don’t you?”

Jennie didn’t answer.

“Jennie, don’t you?” Colleen repeated and shook her friend’s arm.

“Oh, sorry,” Jennie replied. “I was thinking about something else.”

“Are you thinking about that Pietro character? I still think we should go right up to him and ask him why he lied.” Colleen put the empty sacks in the wagon and grabbed the handle.

“I’ve thought and thought, and I’m positive that it was him last week.” Jennie shoved her hands in her pockets and walked beside Colleen, who pulled the wagon. Jennie had always been able to remember faces better than anyone else in her family, and this time was no exception.

“So let’s go find him,” Colleen insisted.

“No, if he’s up to something, it might scare him off,” Jennie said. “We’ll just keep an eye on him. See what we can find out.”

“How will we do that?” Colleen asked.

“He lives in the hotel. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Since Jennie was helping a lot at the hotel, it was Wednesday after school before she got a chance to check up on Pietro and Mr. Romano. Wednesday was the day that Jennie and Tommy usually collected waste fat from people who lived in the hotel’s apartments. Jennie thought it was the worst smelling job of the war, but the fat could be used to make ammunition. She held her nose when possible and reminded herself that these bullets might save Roger.

Jennie and Tommy took turns carrying a big can into which people dumped their smaller cans of collected fat. After they made their rounds, they took the nearly full can of fat to the butcher’s shop, which was the official collection center. At least that was what they used to do. Jennie had decided last week that she and Colleen would collect fat themselves. That way they could contribute the pennies they were paid for the fat to their Girl Scout troop’s war bond fund.

So today Jennie was collecting on her own, which suited her fine. That way she could visit with Mr. Romano and find out more about Cousin Pietro.

“Mr. Romano,” Jennie called after knocking on her neighbor’s door.

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