2
The Old Library
H enry unlocked the deserted house and went in first. The sun streamed through the window.
He motioned the others to follow. Slowly they went in. The wooden floor creaked. The first large room had a table with five chairs. A stool sat in the corner by a stone fireplace, and a wood-burning stove was in the center of the room. A huge cobweb stretched across one corner.
âLook!â Jessie exclaimed. âA stove! We can have a fine hot supper.â
Benny smiled. âThatâs good news. But itâs broken.â
âIt will be easy to fix,â Violet said. âOnly the oven door is off its hinges.â
âDonât worry,â said Jessie. âI can push it back in place.â She opened and closed the squeaking cast-iron door.
Next they went into a bedroom. Two bunk beds were against one wall. A sagging string held up a tattered curtain at the window. It was clear Pete had other things on his mind besides keeping house.
âNeat!â Benny shouted. He dashed to the bedsâ ladder and climbed up to the top bunk. He bounced up and down on the mattress, causing the dust to fly. âI want this bed!â he yelled.
âYouâre welcome to it,â Henry said, sitting on the bottom bunk. He coughed. âWhew! Too much dust!â He glanced at Jessie. âWhere shall we begin?â
Jessie nodded. She knew exactly what to do. Sheâd already run upstairs and found two more bunk beds up there. âFirst, we need to clean the two windows in this room and the two in the kitchen. That way we can see outside.â
âWhy?â Henry asked, rubbing off the window grime so that he had a small peephole. âThereâs nothing to see. No one is in this desolate area but us, and there isnât even a phone in the house.â
Violet swallowed. âNo one but us?â she asked in a low voice. âThat gives me the creeps.â
âWeâre safe as we can be,â Henry said. âPeteâs restaurant is only two miles away.â
âI know,â Violet said, but she didnât sound reassured.
âNext,â Jessie said matter-of-factly to show she wasnât nervous and to help Violet, âweâll take the four mattresses outside and whale the daylights out of them.â
âRight!â Henry grinned. âUnless Benny wants to bounce the dust out!â
âNo, no,â Violet said.
âJust teasing,â Henry said. He rolled up his sleeves and lifted a mattress over his shoulder and headed for the door. âCome on, Benny,â he called. âWeâll do one at a time.â
Eagerly Benny scrambled down the ladder.
âViolet,â Jessie said, âletâs tackle the floor. I saw an old broom and a mop by the stove. There was a pail, too.â
âRight,â Violet agreed. âThis floor could use a scrubbing.â
âIt could use two scrubbings,â Jessie said, tying a scarf over her hair. âLetâs get started.â
âWhereâs the water?â Violet questioned.
Jessie pointed out the window. âSee that pump? Weâll have plenty of fresh water, and thereâs a dry sink in the house.â
Jessie fetched a pail of water, bubbling with soap suds because of the detergent sheâd added.
First the girls scrubbed the kitchen, then the bedrooms. The floors began to shine.
The boys went in and out with first one mattress, then another. The four Aldens worked all afternoon. They washed the windows and cleaned the stove.
Benny came in and wiped his forehead, smudging a streak of dirt even further across his face. He dropped into a chair. âWhew! We pounded four mattresses. We washed four windows. Iâm tired and . . .â
âI know,â Violet said with a laugh. âYouâre tired and hungry.â
Benny cocked his head to one side. âHow did you know what I was going to say?â
âWe all know what you were
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