Hunter waved at the Aldens and at Will and Wendy with his one free hand. He was walking at the edge of the ocean. He had a surfboard and a boogie board under his right arm.
Hunter set his things down in the sand. When Benny reached him, he gave Benny a high five. “Ready to ride the waves?” he asked.
“I sure am!” Benny said.
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny waded into the ocean. The water was cold, but it was refreshing on such a hot day.
Hunter held the boogie board still. He showed Benny how to grip the front of the board with his hands and wait for a good wave.
“How about this one?” Benny called over the roar as a big whitecap came crashing toward him.
“Go for it!” Hunter yelled.
The wave pushed under Benny’s boogie board and shot him toward the beach. He had a very long ride. When it was over, he jumped up and splashed back to Hunter.
“Great job, Benny!” Henry said.
After a long swim, everyone rested in the sand. Wendy had brought a blanket and a cooler full of sandwiches and cold drinks. Hunter’s friends joined them.
“Will and Wendy surfed for the first time today,” Hunter told his friends. “And they already can catch waves.”
Wendy smiled. “We had a good teacher,” she said.
“You two should hang out with us,” said a boy named Zach. “We come to the beach a lot. And tonight, I am having friends over to my house. Would you like to join us?”
“That sounds like fun,” said Will. “But we may have to work. We help out at Hanson’s Amusement Pier.”
“You work there?” Zach looked down the beach toward the amusement pier. “I heard that place isn’t safe. They have been having lots of problems since the new owner took over.”
“Who told you that?” asked Jessie.
Zach shrugged. “I don’t know. Just people talking. I suppose they are only rumors.”
“They are only rumors!” Wendy said. “Hanson’s is a great amusement pier. It is very safe.”
“I agree with Wendy and Will,” said Hunter. The pier is safe. And they should know. Their dad is the owner.”
Zach’s face turned red. “I’m sorry,” he said to Wendy and Will. “I didn’t know that your dad was the owner. I didn’t mean to say anything against him.”
“It’s not your fault,” Wendy said. “We know that there are false rumors going around.”
“Someone is trying to ruin Hanson’s,” Jessie said.
“Why would someone do that?” asked Tori.
Just then, the lifeguards stood up in their stands and began to blow their whistles. They began to wave at all the swimmers to get out of the ocean. Everyone jumped up and ran to the water’s edge to see what was going on.
“There’s something in the water!” a woman cried, picking up her toddler.
“Maybe it is a whale!” Benny said.
“It’s big, whatever it is,” said a man. “There are three strong lifeguards dragging it out of the water.”
Suddenly, there were gasps from the crowd. The lifeguards came out of the water and the people all moved out of their way. They were carrying the zombie from the haunted house!
“It’s our zombie!” Benny cried.
“This is yours?” asked a dark-haired lifeguard.
Wendy stepped forward. “It is from Hanson’s amusement pier,” she said. “It belongs to my father.”
“How did it get into the water?” asked the lifeguard. “You cannot dump things you do not want in the ocean. That man over there hurt his ankle banging into your zombie. He could not see it beneath the waves.”
An older man sat on a blanket in the sand. He rubbed his ankle as he talked with one of the lifeguards. “I’m fine,” the man said. “It’s just a little bruise. No need to make a fuss.”
“We’re so sorry that anyone got hurt,” Wendy said. “But we did not dump the zombie in the ocean.”
“Someone stole the zombie from the haunted house!” Benny said. “The thief must have put the zombie in the ocean.”
The lifeguard looked concerned. “A thief? You should call the police,” he said. “They should investigate this.”
“No!” Will said quickly. “We do not need the police.” He looked at Wendy. “I’m sure it was just a prank.”
Wendy nodded. “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” she said. “We will take the zombie back to the haunted house right now. No one else will get hurt.”
Henry, Will, Zach, and Hunter lifted the zombie. Saltwater ran out of holes in his metal shoes and from his eyes.
“It looks like the zombie is crying,” Benny said.
“Yes, it does,” Wendy agreed. “I feel like crying, too. I feel so bad.”
Hunter put his arm around Wendy. “You don’t have anything to feel bad about,” he said. “This is not your fault.”
Wendy looked down at her feet. “In some ways . . .” she began.
“Let’s go!” Will said. “Let’s get this zombie back right away!”
After the older kids had left with the zombie, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny cleaned up the sandwich wrappers and napkins from their picnic and folded the towels.
“I sure could go for some ice cream,” Violet said.
“That’s a great idea, Violet,” Jessie said. The children headed up toward the boardwalk.
“Where shall we go?” asked Benny. “There are so many different places!”
Just then, someone called out to them. “Hey, kids!”
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny turned. Mrs. Reddy was hurrying toward them.
“I heard that Carl Hanson is so upset with the things going on at his amusement pier that he threw his own zombie into the ocean! Isn’t that terrible?”
Violet’s lips were pressed tightly together while Mrs. Reddy spoke. “Mrs. Reddy,” Violet said. “I am sure that Mr. Hanson would not have thrown his own zombie into the ocean.”
“Well then, how did it get there?” she asked. “When I ran the amusement pier, none of the ghosts or zombies from my haunted house ever went missing. And none of my property ever ended up in the ocean! And did you hear that some poor man got hurt by the zombie in the ocean? I heard that a wave threw the zombie on top of the man and he got knocked out. He almost drowned!”
“We were there on the beach,” Henry replied. “The man only banged his ankle into the zombie under the water.”
Mrs. Reddy clicked her tongue. “I don’t know,” she said. “But that is what I heard. Things are getting bad on that amusement pier. Carl Hanson needs my help. You should tell him that.”
Violet looked thoughtful. Mrs. Reddy seemed like a person who liked to be busy and useful.
“Maybe you can help us,” Violet said. “We are looking for some ice cream. Do you have a favorite ice cream stand on the boardwalk? Would you have the time to take us there?”
Mrs. Reddy smiled. “Of course!” She linked her arm through Violet’s. “Come with me!”
The children walked a half block to Kohr’s frozen custard stand. Mrs. Reddy waved to the man behind the counter. “Noah!” she said. “Here are some special guests. These are the Alden children. They have never been to our boardwalk before. I told them that you serve the best ice cream on the whole coast!”
Noah smiled at the compliment. He introduced himself and welcomed the children. While he made their cones, Mrs. Reddy talked nonstop.
“Noah, did you hear that Hanson’s zombie knocked out an old man in the ocean? Poor man almost drowned!”
“I did hear that,” Noah said. “Your friend Karen stopped by earlier. She told me. As a matter of fact, there she is now.” Noah pointed across the boardwalk.
“Oh yes,” Mrs. Reddy said. “I see her. I promised to help her out in her souvenir shop today. Take care, kids. Enjoy your ice cream. And make sure you tell Carl Hanson that he can call me any time he needs advice.” Mrs. Reddy hurried off to join her friend.
The children walked toward a bench to eat their ice cream. Benny’s cone was vanilla dipped in a hard chocolate shell. Violet got a twist of orange crème and vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. Jessie chose strawberry with chocolate sprinkles and Henry had a thick milkshake.
“This is delicious!” Violet said. She watched the people stroll along the boardwalk while she ate her cone. “Look,” she said. “There is the photographer.”
Donna Mancini was snapping photos of a small sandwich shop with a “Grand Opening” banner hanging over the front door. A man in an apron stood under the banner.
“I wonder if that man will get his picture in the paper,” Benny said.
“The picture might be for the paper Benny. But it might be for an advertisement for the new store as well.” Violet was very interested in photography and she enjoyed watching Ms. Mancini work.
As she watched, Violet saw someone familiar pass by. “Isn’t that Bob Cooke?”
Henry, Jessie, and Benny looked across the boardwalk. Mr. Cooke was alone. He was walking quickly. Suddenly, Mrs. Reddy and her friend approached Mr. Cooke. He stopped to talk with them. The children were too far away to hear what he was saying. But Mr. Cooke was smiling.
“What is wrong with Mr. Cooke’s pants?” Benny asked.
“I noticed it, too, Benny,” Violet said.
Mr. Cooke was wearing a pair of long tan pants. But from the knees down, the pants were very dark. The children also noticed that Mr. Cooke’s sneakers left footprints on the boardwalk. It looked as though he had gotten wet somehow.
Mr. Cooke looked up from his conversation with Mrs. Reddy. He saw the Aldens. He looked down at his pants, then quickly hurried away. |