Boxcar Children 61 - Growling Bear Mystery Read Online Free PDF

the porch overlooking the geyser area. After Old Faithful went off, the children’s parents came back for them.
    “Can you play with us tomorrow?” little Davy asked Violet. “And the day after that, too?”
    “I hope so,” Violet answered.
    The redheaded girl named Lauren pulled on Jessie’s sleeve. “Where are you going with your brothers and sister?”
    Jessie smiled. “Back to our room to change. Then we’re going to meet our grandfather in the dining room and have a great big dinner.”
    The parents of the little ones thanked the Aldens.
    “That was fun,” Violet said as she and her brothers and sister strolled down the dim hallways that led to their room. “I hope we do that job every night—I mean if Sam Jackson is busy.”
    Benny looked up at Violet. “Know what? That was fun, but I’m hungry. I wish we could eat when the parents eat.”
    The older children laughed.
    “Then we wouldn’t be able to work,” Jessie said. “Our jobs come first, then our dinner.”
    Henry unlocked the door. The room was cleaner than they’d left it. Even their suitcases and hiking boots were lined up in neat rows.
    “I guess somebody from Housekeeping came by again,” Jessie said, picking up two pieces of paper lying on the bed. “Oh, somebody dropped off our job schedule. It looks as if we have to be at the laundry area tomorrow afternoon. That gives us time for a morning hike. I’m glad Mrs. Crabtree sent over this floor map, too. The lodge is so big, it would be easy to get lost.”
    “Jessie,” Henry said in a quiet, serious voice. “Speaking of maps, have you seen our copy of Oz’s map?”
    “It was right on the corner of the dresser when we left,” Jessie told Henry.
    Henry checked under the dresser, then under the bed. “Well, it’s not here now.”
    The children searched high and low one more time. But Henry was right. The copy of the Lost Cabin Trails map had vanished.
    “You don’t think Mr. Crabtree would have taken it, do you?” asked Jessie.
    “I don’t know, Jessie,” said Henry. “I don’t know.”

CHAPTER 5
Lost in the Woods
    T he Aldens didn’t need an alarm clock at the Old Faithful Inn the next day.
    Henry pulled the covers over his head. “What’s that spotlight?” he said with a groan.
    Benny hopped out of bed, and pulled back the curtains. “It’s the geyser. Neat!”
    Jessie and Violet crawled out of bed. Sure enough, Old Faithful was faithfully shooting steam into the air. Each time the geyser shot up, it blocked the rising sun like a shadow.
    Violet leaned on her elbows to watch the geyser. “It’s awfully pretty in the morning with the sun coming up and all,” she said.
    After the geyser gurgled back into the ground, the rising sun shone steadily.
    “I smell bacon,” Benny announced soon afterward.
    “First the geyser, now bacon,” Henry said. “I guess it’s time to get up.”
    The children took turns taking hot showers and climbing into their hiking clothes.
    Jessie checked under the bed one more time for the missing copy of Oz’s map. “I sure wanted to hike the Lost Cabin Trails today. I guess we can do some of the other hikes instead.”
    “Look,” Benny said in an excited voice. “I tied my hiking boots by myself.”
    “Shhh.” Jessie put her finger to her lips. “Remember what Grandfather said. The walls are thin. We don’t want to wake up the whole lodge.”
    Quietly, the children filled their water bottles and backpacks with everything they would need on their hike. They were so quiet, they could hear some people whispering in the hallway.
    “Just stay away from them, that’s all I can tell you,” a woman’s voice said. “If anyone finds out, our whole plan will fall apart.”
    Benny put his ear near the keyhole. He heard footsteps fading away. He opened the door, but no one was there.
    “Good morning, Aldens!” Mrs. Crabtree said when the children arrived in the dining room awhile later. “Your grandfather is sitting over by the