The Perfect Hamburger by Alexander Mccall Smith

Author:Alexander Mccall Smith [Smith, Alexander Mccall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781599905020
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Published: 2007-01-15T08:00:00+00:00

Tangled Up

John and Nicky watched quietly as Mr. Pipelli picked up a screwdriver and began to unscrew a metal plate on the side of the machine.

"This is the inspection hatch," he explained cheerfully. "It will allow us to get inside."

John looked doubtfully at Nicky and gulped. What would be inside that great, gleaming machine? And what could they possibly do once they were inside it? Was Mr. Pipelli sure that it was turned off completely?

Mr. Pipelli unscrewed the last screw and put the screwdriver down. Then, carefully holding the edges of the plate, he took it off and laid it down on the floor.

John and Nicky peered through the hatch.

"It's very dark inside," ventured John. "Maybe we should call a mechanic. He might know where everything is."

Mr. Pipelli chuckled. "Why go to all that trouble and expense?" he said breezily. "Most machines are very simple once you work out what's what. And as for the darkness, there's a flashlight here. So let's go in."

Mr. Pipelli led the way, followed by Nicky. John brought up the rear.

"I'm scared," whispered Nicky. "What if somebody turns the machine on while we're in here?"

John did not try to answer her question. Yet there was no doubt in his mind that they would be in very serious trouble if that happened. All around them were rollers, sifters, crushers, and squeezers. The squeezers looked particularly dangerous, and John thought that anybody who got caught in one of those would have a very good chance of looking like a piece of spaghetti when they eventually got out.

"There's no need to worry about that," said Mr. Pipelli jovially. "It's impossible to turn the machine on when the inspection hatch is open. Now we have to locate the part that controls the length. Can anybody see it?"

John looked up, but at that precise moment a large blob of unsqueezed spaghetti dough fell down the back of his neck.

"Perhaps we should be wearing overalls," said Mr. Pipelli, noticing what had happened. "Still, one can't expect to visit a spaghetti factory and not have a little bit of spaghetti dough fall on them!"

Mr. Pipelli moved his flashlight around him. Suddenly he let out a cry of triumph.

"That's it," he said. "That's where the problem is."

The children looked at the place where the beam of light was resting. High up at the top of the machine, the spaghetti had become hopelessly tangled. It was like a giant ball of knitting that had gone terribly wrong.

Mr. Pipelli passed the flashlight to John to hold while he tried to pull down the tangle, but try as he might, he could not reach high enough. After he had failed three times, he stood back and scratched his head.

"I know what we'll do," he said after a while. "You climb onto my shoulders, John, and we'll do it that way."

Nicky held the flashlight while John clambered onto Mr. Pipelli's shoulders. Then, as Mr. Pipelli moved into position, John began to tug at the mess of spaghetti.

It was not easy work.

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