other customers. Thereâs been no sign of her. Iâm getting worried.â
âAnd she doesnât have a phone,â Violet commented.
âNo, and I canât leave the storeâitâs delivery day,â Doris said.
âWe could stop to check on her,â Henry offered.
âOh, would you?â Doris sounded relieved.
âSure,â Violet said. âBut she probably wonât want to see us.â
âI wouldnât ask you to do it,â Doris said, âitâs just that ⦠well, Iâm worried.â
With her help, the children gathered the things on Jessieâs list. Then, promising to be careful, they hurried off.
Henry and Violet raced into camp.
Breathing hard, Henry announced, âSomethingâs happened to Hildy!â
âWhoa! Slow down,â Mr. Alden said to them. âYou look as though youâre being chased.â
Jessie and Benny took the grocery bags from their brother and sister and set them on the table.
âSit down,â Jessie said. âCatch your breath.â
They sank to the picnic bench. Benny sat between them.
Grandfather hobbled over and sat down, too. He gave the children time to calm down before saying, âNow, tell us what happened.â
Violet started at the beginning. âWe met the Changs in the parking lot,â she said. âThey were leaving because they couldnât stand the music and the other things that have been happening.â
Henry picked up the story. âAnd then we went to the store. Doris was upset because Hildy hadnât come in for her groceries.â
âMaybe sheâll be in later,â Grandfather said.
Violet shook her head. âDoris said today is her shopping day, and she always comes in first thing.â
âWe said weâd check her cabin,â Henry told them. âBut we wanted to bring the groceries back first.â
âAnd get you two and Watch,â Violet said to Jessie and Benny.
âThat was smart,â Grandfather said. âThereâs safety in numbers. I only wish I could go with you.â
âOh, donât worry, Grandfather,â Henry said. âWeâll be all right.â
Benny shot to his feet. âWell, what are we waiting for?â
The four children hurried along the stream path. Watch yapped at their heels.
Hildyâs cabin looked deserted. The children approached it slowly. At the door, Henry knocked.
No response.
He knocked again. âHildy!â he called. âItâs the Aldens. We have a message from Doris.â
Still no answer.
âTry the door,â Jessie suggested.
Henry turned the knob. The door was unlocked.
Slowly, cautiously, Henry pushed the door. It creaked as it swung open.
A few bars of light from the window fell across the cabin floor. Otherwise, the cabin was dark.
âHildy?â Henry called softly.
He stepped inside the cabin. The others followed. Watch ran around sniffing.
Pointing to a small table under the window, Benny said, âLook! Our missing lantern!â
A battery-powered lantern stood in the center of the table.
Henry took a few steps forward. âIt looks like our lantern all right,â he said.
âThere are lots of lanterns like that,â Violet said.
âBut Hildy had a kerosene lantern,â Benny reminded them.
âAnd it was broken,â Jessie remembered. She went to the table and picked up the lantern. She turned it over. âItâs our lantern, all right,â she said. She showed the others the name Alden scratched on the bottom.
âHildy took it!â Benny concluded. âShe is the one behind everything!â
Henry wasnât convinced. âBut our lantern was missing before we saw Hildy with her broken one.â
âMaybe she already had our lantern here in her cabin,â Violet suggested.
âBut if she had our lantern, why would she be so upset about hers being broken?â Jessie
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