The next morning we went rowing on the lake.
Then we played games in the Lake Lounge.
"It's time to pack up and go home," said Mr. Chen after lunch.
Jenny moaned. "Do we have to leave so soon?"
"We've had so much fun here!" said Josh.
I knew how Josh felt.
We'd had a wonderful time at Shadow Lake Lodge.
And there were so many more things I still wanted to do.
"I want to go fishing," I said.
"I want to go swimming in the lake," Molly added.
"It's a little cold to go swimming," said Jenny.
"But I want to collect fall leaves.
We don't have all these trees in the city."
"I'd like to explore the lookout tower again," said Josh.
"Me too," said Caswell.
"Maybe there's a hidden treasure there."
"The hotel also has horses," said Molly.
"We could go horseback riding."
"We've had a lot of fun," said Mr. Chen.
"But it's time to go.
Remember, I have to look for a new job."
Josh's face fell.
"I forgot about that," he said.
I had forgotten too.
Now I felt bad, thinking about Mr. Chen losing his job.
"I hope we don't have to move to Ohio," said Josh.
"That would be awful," I said.
"Let's not think about it," said Jenny.
We went upstairs to pack.
As soon as we opened the door, Bunch started barking at the red curtains.
Everyone else started sniffing the air.
"Something smells funny in here," said Molly.
I nodded. Something did smell weird.
"It smells like something rotten," added Josh.
"Let's find out where it's coming from," Mr. Chen said.
We all started looking.
Jenny and Caswell looked in the closet.
Josh and Mr. Chen searched under the couch.
I looked behind the bathroom door, and Molly looked under her bed.
"Oh my gosh!" she cried. "Look!"
We all went over and looked under the bed.
All of us except Caswell.
He hid in the closet.
Molly pulled out Caswell's teddy bear backpack.
It was filled with wilted and smelly vegetables.
"Those are the missing vegetables from the parade!" said Jenny.
"They don't look very healthy anymore," said Josh.
Mr. Chen shook his head in bewilderment.
"How on earth did they get there?" he asked.
We all looked at the closet where Caswell was hiding.
"Caswell," called Molly. "Come out here!"
Caswell came out of the closet.
He was hanging his head.
"Caswell, did you take these vegetables?" asked Molly.
"I don't like vegetables," said Caswell.
"I was afraid I'd have to eat vegetable soup."
"So you hid them under my bed?" asked Molly.
Caswell nodded.
"Caswell, that was wrong," said Molly.
"He must have taken them yesterday after we went to the lookout tower," said Jenny.
"He did it when I went to get a blanket from the front desk!" added Mr. Chen.
"I was only gone for about ten minutes."
"Should we tell Mr. Scary we found the vegetables?" I asked Mr. Chen.
Before Mr. Chen could answer, Mr. Scary stepped into the room.
"I heard everything!" the hotel manager said.
He pointed to the wilted vegetables.
"I know who took the vegetables!"
I gulped, and so did Molly.
"Caswell didn't mean to spoil the vegetable parade," she said quickly.
"We will be happy to pay for the vegetables," added Mr. Chen.
Mr. Scary's expression didn't change.
He still stared sternly at us.
I closed my eyes, waiting to hear what he was about to say next.