At three o’clock sharp, the Aldens reported to the lodge’s laundry room. The huge, warm room was filled with swooshing sounds and soapy smells.
“I hear a gurgling sound again,” Benny said. “Only this time, it really is washing machines, not mud pots.”
“Mud pots?” Mrs. Crabtree said when she overheard the Aldens. “Did you go to the Chocolate Pots up over by Gibbon Meadow this morning? I thought for sure you children would be up on the trails breaking in your new hiking boots.”
“We did see mud pots, but not the Chocolate Pots,” Jessie said. “There are some others near the Lost Cabin Trails. That’s where we were.”
Mrs. Crabtree put her finger to her lips. “Shhh. I hope my husband isn’t around to hear you say that. He likes to think those are his own private trails. Every summer he spends all the free time he has searching for some silly treasure.”
Now Benny Alden was a boy who thought treasures were serious business. “But it’s not a silly treasure,” he said. “It’s gold nuggets! And they might be hidden in a cabin. Only the cabin is hidden, too. Nobody can find it—except us, maybe.”
Mrs. Crabtree patted Benny’s head. “You know, the more I think about it, the more I think you children should be out having fun. This is your vacation time. You should be searching for lost cabins and gold nuggets, not working in this busy lodge.”
Henry checked the schedule book lying open on Mrs. Crabtree’s desk. “But working at the lodge is fun, too. It’s like being backstage in a play. We get to be guests and workers at the same time. When I go to college someday, I want to spend my summers working here, just like Sam Jackson.”
Mrs. Crabtree sighed. “Ah, yes, Sam. I wish he’d been placed in one of our outdoor programs, not in the lodge. He spends all his free time, and some work time, too, with one of the rangers. Unfortunately, I need him in here, not outside. Anyway, I sent him to town this morning on an errand.”
The Aldens looked at each other. They said nothing. It was up to Sam to explain why he had been on the Lost Cabin Trails that morning and not running errands in town.
“Well, since Sam isn’t here, what chores can we do?” Jessie asked.
Mrs. Crabtree checked her schedule book. “If you don’t mind getting a little dusty, there’s some room cleaning to do. A tour bus just left, and another one is coming in two hours. It would be a huge help to my staff if you could empty the waste-baskets and vacuum each of the rooms the tour bus guests were in,” Mrs. Crabtree said. “That will give the regular staff more time to do everything else. Take one of those cleaning carts over there and a vacuum cleaner. Here’s a list of the rooms that need immediate attention. Oh, and here are some smocks so you don’t get dusty.”
Jessie buttoned up her smock. “Okay, troops. All set?”
“All set,” Henry said. He turned to Mrs. Crabtree. “We’ll make sure to be done by five o’clock. We want to be ready to babysit the guests’ children.”
Mrs. Crabtree nodded. “Thank you for reminding me. Oh, and I’ll have Sam join you. Tonight twelve children are signed up, so I need lots of helpers. Sam said he’d be back from town by then. In fact, I expected to see him a lot sooner.”
“Back from town?” Jessie whispered to Henry after Mrs. Crabtree left. “Sam was on the trails with Ranger Crowe. I wonder whether he changed his plans.”
“Or maybe his plans are to change his story,” Henry replied.
The Aldens pushed their cleaning cart and dragged along the vacuum cleaner to the hall where most of the tour bus guests had been staying. Room by room, they went down the hall, vacuuming and emptying trash into a big barrel on the cart before moving on.
“This barrel is full,” Henry said after they finished cleaning several rooms. “Let’s take it to one of the Dumpsters in the laundry area. There’s a freight elevator at the end of this hall that goes downstairs.”
When the Aldens arrived in the laundry room, Mr. and Mrs. Crabtree were there.
“Now, Lester, don’t tell me you were out hiking alone this morning,” Mrs. Crabtree was telling her husband. “It’s too dangerous to be out on those trails by yourself.”
“Hi, Mrs. Crabtree,” Henry said. “Hi, Mr. Crabtree. We need to empty this barrel so we can finish cleaning up the last few rooms.”
Mrs. Crabtree seemed relieved to see the children. “Lester,” she said, turning to her husband again, “if you want help finding that silly treasure, bring the Aldens along. Then you’ll have four extra sets of eyes and some extra voices to keep the bears away. Truly, it worries me so when you hike alone.”
“Nonsense, Eleanor,” Mr. Crabtree said. “I never get far from the parking lot. Now let me take that barrel from you kids,” he said to the Aldens. “Otherwise Eleanor will have me baby-sitting or entertaining the guests, and I’ll get fired.”
The Aldens looked at Mrs. Crabtree. She was the boss.
“Fine, Lester. You can finish the Aldens’ cleanup chores,” she told her husband.
The Aldens carried the barrel to one of the Dumpsters just outside the laundry room. Jessie opened the side door of the Dumpster for Henry.
Before Henry had lifted the trash barrel, Jessie noticed a familiar piece of paper. She pulled it from the top of the trash. “Wait, Henry! Look what I found.”
“Our copy of Oz’s lost cabin map!” Violet cried. “Why is it in the trash?”
At that moment, Mr. Crabtree came in. “What are you kids up to? You’re not picking through the trash, are you? Shut the Dumpster. We don’t want to attract field mice.”
Henry banged the door shut. “Sorry. It’s just that we found something we were looking for.”
When the children turned around, Mr. Crabtree had taken the barrel and dumped it in a second Dumpster.
“Mr. Crabtree! Mr. Crabtree!” Jessie waved her copy of Oz’s map. “Do you know anything about this?”
Mr. Crabtree didn’t even turn around. He simply took the barrel and boarded the freight elevator. Before the Aldens could catch up, the doors closed, and Mr. Crabtree was gone.
“He sure was acting strange,” Violet said.
“But at least we found our copy of the map,” Jessie said. |