Free Zombie Project by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page B

made it up to bring in the tourists. But I don’t need any folks tromping through the woods looking for zombies.”
    Maude turned and looked at the Aldens. “What I need is some help clearing out the trail to the old fishing lodge. My grandson Jake and his friends won’t be up until after lunchtime. I’d do it myself, but I want to make peach cobbler for lunch.”
    Benny almost jumped out of his chair. “Peach cobbler? I’ll help clear the trail!”
    The Alden children laughed.
    “We’ll all help,” said Henry. He looked at Jessie and Violet. They both smiled.
    “I can film our work,” said Violet. She held up the new camera.
    “It will be fun,” said Jessie.
    “Good,” said Maude. “Now there will be no more talk about zombies.” Maude looked over at Benny and then back at Madison.
    “Okay,” said Madison. “Just a nice, quiet vacation for me.”
    “Quiet?” said Benny. “It’s not quiet here. I heard an owl hooting last night.”
    “We’re in the woods, Benny,” said Henry.
    “And owls live in trees,” said Jessie.
    “Yes, we have lots of owls here at the Winding River Lodge,” said Maude. She patted Benny on the head. “They won’t hurt you.”
    “But it was hooting so loudly, it woke me up,” said Benny.
    “Owls hoot loudly when someone disturbs them,” said Maude.
    “Did the light in the woods bother them?” asked Benny.
    “A light in the woods?” said Maude. “Where did you see that?”
    “In the woods behind our cabin,” said Benny.
    “You can see the stars when it’s dark,” said Violet. “Was that what you saw, Benny?”
    Benny shook his head. “No, it wasn’t stars. It was a light moving in the trees.”
    “Like the flashlight we used to go to our cabin last night?” said Henry.
    “Yes,” said Benny, “but the light was on the other side of the cabin.” He looked at Maude. “Is that path too close to the owl’s nest?”
    Maude’s eye opened wide. “There’s only one path to the cabins. Behind the cabins it’s just woods.” Maude turned and walked back to the kitchen. “Not again,” she whispered.
    Henry looked at Jessie and Violet. What was going on?
    Maude came back out of the kitchen carrying another plate piled high with pancakes. “You’ll all need some more pancakes if you’re going to clear the trail for me this morning.”
    Benny blinked. “More pancakes? I can always eat more pancakes.”

CHAPTER 2
Helping Out
    A fter breakfast, the Aldens followed Maude out of the main lodge. They walked around to the back of the building. “Here is our toolshed,” said Maude. She opened a small wooden door, and they all walked inside. The room was filled with tools. There were shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, and more.
    “Wow!” said Benny. “You have a lot of tools.”
    Maude laughed. “We have a lot of trees! We need all of these tools to keep them tidy.” She shook her head. “I used to have a work crew come and help me every summer. But business has been slow, so I couldn’t hire anyone this summer. And now that it’s fall, everything has grown even bigger.”
    “We can help you,” said Henry.
    “Yes,” said Jessie. “We’ll help you tidy up the trail.”
    Maude smiled. “Your grandfather said you were hard workers.”
    “What do we need to take with us?” asked Henry. He was good with tools.
    “You’ll need a rake and some clipping shears,” said Maude. She lifted a pair of clipping shears off their hook on the back wall of the shed. She put the clipping shears in a wheelbarrow. “We’ll use the wheelbarrow to carry the tools,” said Maude.
    “Let me help,” said Henry. He took three more clipping shears off the back wall and put them in the wheelbarrow.
    Benny pointed at a rake at the back of the toolshed. “That rake is taller than I am,” said Benny. The Aldens laughed.
    “That’s why we use a wheelbarrow to carry all our tools,” said Maude. “The wheel makes it easier to carry large loads.” Maude looked at the