CHAPTER 2 IN QUEST OF A FREEZER

The Carter kitchen was fragrant with the odor of frying bacon as Dan bounced down the stairs next morning for an eight o’clock breakfast. It was Saturday and a beautiful crisp October day. Dan had plans for every hour ahead.

“Mom,” he began, sliding into his usual chair at the foot of the breakfast table. “Do you know where I can get an ice cream freezer?”

Dan’s odd requests long since had ceased to astonish Mrs. Carter. “You mean the old fashioned kind one turns with a crank?” she asked, pouring orange juice into tall glasses.

“We need a couple of large ones,” Dan explained. “Our Den is throwing a big party for the Mothers and Dads. No freezer—no party.”

“My mother had one, but that was long ago. Let me think—oh, I recall the old Christian Church on River Road had several large ones.”

“Think I could borrow ’em, Mom?”

“That depends, Dan. The old church was abandoned about a year ago. When last I heard, the freezers and other kitchen equipment were stored in the basement. I doubt any of them were moved to the new church building.”

Now that his mother mentioned it, Dan recalled that the Christian Church had been boarded up nearly a year. The building had been offered for sale, but so far no buyer had showed interest. Meanwhile, the place was supervised by Terry Treuhaft, an elderly caretaker, who had his own little cottage not far from the river.

“You might talk to Mr. Treuhaft about it,” Mrs. Carter remarked. “If the freezers are still there, I see no reason why the Cubs shouldn’t have them for the party.”

“I’ll round up some of the Cubs and hike out to his cottage,” Dan decided. He buttered a second slice of toast and scooped the last piece of bacon from the platter. “How’s chances for a pack lunch, Mom?”

“Fairly good, I guess,” his mother smiled. “That is, providing you rake the yard first. The leaves have been falling fast.”

“Oh, Mom! That will take an age. How about doing it when I get back?”

“A Cub in hand is worth two on a hike, Dan. Once you get away on such a lovely day as this, I know I’ll never see you again until nightfall. Work before fun, you know.”

“Okay,” Dan gave in with a grin. “I’ll get right at it. First, though, I want to call some of the Cubs to ask them to hike with me to the old church.”

“Don’t forget to invite the new boy,” his mother reminded him. “Charles Weldon—is that his name?”

“We call him Chub. He’s a queer one, Mom. Shy as a mouse. I don’t know if he’d like to hike—”

“At any rate, be sure to invite him,” Mrs. Carter urged.

Dan felt a bit ashamed of not wanting Chub. It wasn’t that he had anything against the new Cub. But somehow, he didn’t feel as well acquainted with him as he did with Chips, Midge, Red, Brad or Fred.

To please his mother, he called Chub’s home first of all. The phone was answered by Mrs. Lornsdale, the widow, with whom the boy lived.

Charles was there, she said, and she was certain he would want to join the group of Cubs. She promised to have him meet the boys at the old church.

In rapid succession, Dan then called all the others except Mack Tibbets who was out of town for two weeks. To his disappointment, Brad Wilber could not go, having work to do at home. Chips, Red and Midge eagerly accepted the invitation.

“Come over to my house as soon as your lunch is packed,” Dan requested. “I have to rake leaves, but I’ll be through before you can snap your bubble gum!”

By eleven o’clock, a huge pile of leaves at the curb attested to the furious pace of Dan’s labors. Nevertheless, a third of the yard remained unraked when Midge and Chips arrived with knapsacks slung over their shoulders.

“Want to help?” Dan suggested hopefully. “I got an extra rake.”

The two Cubs took turns and soon the work was practically finished.

“Where’s Red?” Dan demanded.

Just then he glimpsed the red-headed youngster coming down the walk dribbling a basketball.

“Hey, where’d you get that?” Midge asked with keen interest as the boy joined the group.

“Bought it with my paper money. Here, catch!”

Red made a fast pass, and Midge, not expecting the ball, missed it.

“Gee, you’re awkward,” Red teased. “If you don’t improve, we’ll have to get another forward on our Cub team.”

“Over my dead body!” Recovering the ball, Midge threw it hard at Red, who also missed.

“It looks to me as if we all need more practice in passing,” Dan remarked as he put away the rakes. “Taking the ball with you on the hike, Red?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“Maybe we’ll get a chance to practice a bit after lunch. Bring it along, Red.”

The boys started off for Terry Treuhaft’s cottage, only a block from the old Christian Church. Enjoying the soft, balmy air, they scuffed along a river path, between tall trees which rapidly were shedding their bright-hued leaves.

“Swell day for a roast,” Chips said, blinking in the bright sun. “I wish we’d brought some weiners.”

The boys presently came within view of Terry Treuhaft’s white clapboard cottage. The church caretaker, a bent old man with gnarled hands, was building a fence in the back yard. He scarcely glanced up as the boys halted beside him.

Finally as the hammering went on and on, Dan introduced himself and explained the purpose of the call. He told of the organization’s need of ice cream freezers.

“What’s that?” Mr. Treuhaft asked gruffly. “Ice cream at this time of year? Stuff and nonsense! Fiddle Faddle! Why tell me about it anyhow?”

“The Christian Church has some freezers in the basement,” Chips interposed. “Aren’t you the caretaker?”

“So that’s the angle?” Old Terry hammered a nail which went crooked into the board. He uttered an enraged exclamation. “Drat it! Can’t you boys see you’re bothering me? I’m busy as all get-out. I want to finish this fence before sun down.”

“We do need the freezers,” Dan persisted. “Couldn’t you let us have them?”

“I’m busy,” Old Terry repeated between loud bangs of his hammer. “Busy! I’ve no time to go over to the church now. Come back Monday or later in the week and we’ll talk about it.”

“How about letting us have the key ourselves?” proposed Red. “We could get the freezers and return it.”

“No one gets that key,” Old Terry said with emphasis. “The trustees hold me responsible for everything that is stored in the church. I’m taking no chances on a bunch of kids.”

“We wouldn’t touch anything,” Red insisted, but the caretaker cut him short.

“Move along, boys,” he said crossly. “I said come back next week.”

Thus dismissed, the Cubs trudged off, deeply discouraged. Not even Dan had an idea where another freezer could be obtained. Old Terry’s attitude annoyed the boys, for in Webster City the Den 2 Cubs had earned a reputation for dependability.

On one occasion, the boys had by their quick and efficient work, saved a pheasant raiser from losing his most valuable birds in a flash flood. Even more recently, they had enjoyed adventure in solving a mystery. This story of their encounter with Indians, has been told in the volume entitled, “Dan Carter and the Great Carved Face.”

“We may as well eat our lunch somewhere along the river, and then go home,” Midge proposed glumly. “It’s long past noon.”

“I’m hungry too,” Chips added. “Let’s eat.”

“First, we have to go to the church,” Dan said. “I invited Chub to have lunch with us. He’s been waiting there an age now.”

A little silence greeted Dan’s announcement. But the Cubs were too well trained in sportsmanship to make pointed remarks about the new Den member. Their very silence, though, told Dan that they weren’t too happy about including him in the outing.

“Let’s move along then,” Red said impatiently. “The quicker we find Chub, the quicker we eat.”

A little farther on, the Cubs came within view of the old weatherbeaten Christian Church. The lawn, once a velvety green, now was overgrown with weeds. They were especially high in the old cemetery on the slope leading down to the river.

The church building itself was in need of paint. Roof shingles curled with age, and a tower bell had reddened with rust.

“I don’t see Chub anywhere around here,” Chips declared, looking around the grounds.

“Maybe he’s around back,” Dan said. He shouted Chub’s name several times.

Almost at once the Cubs heard pounding footsteps. Chub came running around the corner of the old church, his hair rumpled by the wind.

“Gee, I’m glad you finally came,” he cried, stammering in his eagerness. “It was sort of scarey waiting here so long.”

“Scarey?” Red demanded. “What is there to be afraid of?”

“The old graveyard does have a spooky look,” Dan said quickly before Chub could answer.

“It doesn’t scare me,” Red boasted. “I wouldn’t be afraid to come here alone at night either, I bet.”

“Want to try it?” Chips caught him up.

Red let the challenge pass. The boys found a grassy site at the rear of the building, and spread out their sandwiches.

Dan discovered that his Mother had packed extra fruit and cookies, so he shared them with Chub who had brought only a peanut butter sandwich and an apple.

Red, a fast eater, finished ahead of the others and restlessly began to wander about. Soon he was peering into the dusty basement windows of the church.

“What do you see?” Dan inquired curiously.

“Not much of anything ’cept an old furnace.”

“Any sign of those ice cream freezers?”

“I can see some cooking junk on one of the shelves. Don’t know if it’s a freezer or not—”

Their interest whetted, the other boys gathered up the loose picnic papers and went to join Red. From another window on the opposite side of the building, Dan obtained a much better view of the cluttered basement interior.

“I do see a freezer!” he reported gleefully. “I’m sure of it!”

“Wow, I wish we could have it,” Red declared. “If we could just get down into the basement—say, maybe we can find an unlocked window!”

“Nothing doing,” Dan said with firmness. “Even if we found one, we couldn’t go into the building after Old Terry told us to wait. Cub honor.”

“Oh, I was only talking,” Red answered with a shrug. “I didn’t really intend to go inside.”

Dan’s window offered a fairly clear view of the church basement, so the other boys crowded about to peer down into the pillared room.

“The place has a lot of boxes,” Midge observed. “Some of ’em look as if they’ve been smashed open. I see some tools too. A coal shovel—”

His voice broke on the last named object and an eerie silence came upon all the Cubs. Was it imagination, or had they heard a strange sound—the faint tap-tap-tap of the overhead church bell?

“What was that?” Midge demanded.

“G-ghosts,” mumbled Chub, his voice choked with fright. In a hushed whisper he added the plea: “Come on, f-fellows, let’s get away from here q-quick!”