Knowing that they must make haste, the girls hurriedly left the tree house. Walking carefully on the slippery steps, they descended single file to the ground.
“Miss Gordon is right!” Connie announced as they started away from the clearing. “It’s certainly going to rain again.”
Miss Gordon was somewhat disturbed to note how swiftly the clouds were moving.
“We must hurry, girls,” she urged. “I think we can make it to the gatehouse at least.”
The Brownies walked as fast as they could, but the trail was muddy. Often they had to make little detours to avoid deep patches of surface water. Mud caked on their galoshes and had to be dug off with sticks. Drippy bushes splattered droplets, dampening their uniforms.
“I feel like an elephant walking!” laughed Veve, lifting up an overshoe encased foot which was heavy with muck. “Here I go! Plop! Plop! Plop!”
“Never mind the comedy,” called Miss Gordon from the head of the line. “If we don’t move faster, the storm will catch us again.”
Made uneasy by the darkening of the trail, the girls heeded their leader’s warning.
Even though they walked fast, they were far from the gatehouse when rain again began to fall. The drops were smaller this time, but they came down steadily.
“Oh, it’s going to rain a long time,” groaned Connie. “We’ll be soaked getting home.”