“Queer,” the Den Chief muttered. “The church is empty. But this door shouldn’t have been unlocked. No wonder so much damage was done here. Terry isn’t as careful about looking after the place as he’d have the trustees believe.”
“So long’s the door is unlocked, why not take the freezers down into the basement where they belong?”
“We-ll,” Brad hesitated. “Think we should?”
“It will only take a jiffy. They’ll be a lot safer there than setting outside where anyone coming along could grab ’em.”
“Okay,” Brad consented. “Let’s be quick about it though. I’d hate to have Terry or one of the trustees catch us here. Then they’d really have a complaint.”
With dispatch, the Cubs unloaded the first freezer and carried it between them to the cellar. The main furnace room was damp and musty. A rat scurried past, nearly brushing Dan’s leg.
“Woops!” he exclaimed, shivering. “I don’t like this dark old hole, Brad.”
“Weren’t you the one who wanted to bring the freezers down here?” Brad reminded him with a chuckle. “That old rat won’t hurt you. He was more scared than you are.”
“Who says I’m scared? It just startled me, that’s all.”
The boys carried the freezer into the fruit closet. Nearly all of the long shelves which lined the wall were empty. A few cans of homemade fruit, evidently abandoned when the church was closed, remained. Dan noticed that a can of peaches and one of strawberries had been broken open.