The next day Amelia Bedelia’s family drove back to the lot. Heather and Holly were already there with their parents, and a pickup truck was parked at the curb.

“We’ll take the refrigerator first,” Heather’s dad said.

The three girls left the grown-ups talking and wandered away, looking at their lot. The grass was still high and the weeds were still everywhere, but it didn’t look quite as messy as it had before.

“Look! There’s a cat!” Holly called out, pointing to a bush.

Amelia Bedelia saw a flash of fluffy gray fur among the leaves.

“We’re going to mow the grass around that bush,” she said. “I hope the cat doesn’t run out and get hurt.”

Heather looked worried.

“Maybe we should get it to go away.”

“How?” Holly asked.

“Here, kitty!” called Heather.

Amelia Bedelia stuck a hand in the bush, trying to reach the cat’s collar. But the cat hissed a warning at her.

Amelia Bedelia grabbed one of the branches. She shook the bush lightly. The cat didn’t move. Then Holly shook the bush, and Heather smacked the bush with a stick, rustling all the leaves. The cat rushed out, darted between Amelia Bedelia’s legs, and scampered away.

“Let’s get started,” Amelia Bedelia’s mom called out. “Girls, that goes for you too. No more beating around the bush.”

“We’re finished,” Amelia Bedelia said. “We were just beating the bush to get a cat to run out.”

“What?” asked her mother. “Never mind. Grab gloves and let’s get to work!”

Heather, Holly, and Amelia Bedelia finished picking up the trash. The three dads made trips to the dump while the three moms mowed the grass and the girls pulled weeds and trimmed bushes.

When the dads returned in the pickup truck, they were very impressed. “This is great,” said Holly’s father. “I think we can call it a day.”

“Why should we call it a day?” asked Amelia Bedelia. “It’s a lot.”

“I know,” he said. “And it looks good.”

“It sure does.” Holly nodded. “We got a lot done.”

“That’s what we came here to do,” Amelia Bedelia agreed happily.

The lot did look great. It would be a wonderful place to build an explorers’ clubhouse. The oak tree rose out of a square of smooth grass. There was no trash to be seen anywhere. There were only a few weeds left to be pulled.

“Let’s come back next weekend and finish weeding,” said Holly. She and Heather and Amelia Bedelia flopped down under the oak tree to rest.

“Girls!” called Holly’s mother. “We’re making one last trip to the dump. Do you want to ride with us or walk home?”

“Walk!” all three girls called back. They relaxed for a while longer, looking up.

Amelia Bedelia wished she could be in the tree right now, swaying back and forth as the wind rocked the strong, thick branches and rustled the dark green leaves. Being in a tree house would really be easy and breezy, she thought. It would be just like being a bird.

“Pretty soon we’ll be able to break ground on our tree house!” said Heather.

“Don’t you mean break branch?” asked Holly, and she giggled.

“But if the branches break, our tree house will fall down!” Amelia Bedelia was worried. “We don’t want that to happen. Like that lullaby where the cradle falls out of the tree. I always think that’s a scary thing to sing to a little baby!”

“Don’t worry, Amelia Bedelia,” Heather said. “I’m sure no cradles really fall out of trees, and I’m sure our tree house will be very safe too. Let’s go get a snack. I’m starving!”

“We can go to Pete’s Diner on the way home,” Amelia Bedelia said.

The girls got up and walked toward Pete’s, thinking of cool milk shakes, hot, crispy french fries, and chocolaty brownies. Amelia Bedelia’s stomach rumbled so loudly that a man walking past on the sidewalk turned to look at her.

“Well, bless my bluebottles, if it isn’t little Miss Amelia Bedelia!” he exclaimed. Amelia Bedelia recognized him right away. It was easy because he was the only person she knew who wore a ten-gallon hat, like a cowboy, everywhere he went. His name was Wild Bill, and he owned a used car lot on the other side of town.

“How are you, Mr. Bill?” she asked politely.

“Mighty fine, little lady. You look like you’ve been hard at work. What have you been up to these days?”

“A lot,” said Amelia Bedelia.

Wild Bill looked alarmed. “Not Lots of Lemons again!” he exclaimed.

Amelia Bedelia remembered the lemonade stand she had set up right outside Wild Bill’s Auto-Rama. Since she squeezed the juice of one whole lemon into every glass, she made a sign that read LOTS OF LEMONS! Wild Bill had not been happy about that. Amelia Bedelia didn’t know that some people used the word “lemon” to mean a used car that didn’t work well!

“No, nothing to do with cars,” she promised Wild Bill. “My friends and I are cleaning up a vacant lot. We’re going to build a clubhouse in a tree.”

Wild Bill shook his head. “If you can pull that off, just the three of you, I’ll eat my hat!”

“I don’t think it would taste very good,” said Amelia Bedelia, but Wild Bill didn’t hear her. He waved good-bye and went on his way, chuckling to himself.

The girls reached Pete’s and stepped into the diner. “Amelia Bedelia!” Pete called out. “Long time no see!”

“That’s terrible!” said Amelia Bedelia. She waved her hand in front of Pete’s face. “What happened to your eyes?”

“My eyes are fine,” said Pete. “Just come in and sit down here at the counter and chew the fat! I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Amelia Bedelia and her friends hopped onto the tall stools at the counter. But Amelia Bedelia hoped that Pete would not actually serve her a plate of fat. Yuck! She’d rather eat french fries any day.

“Milk shakes, please,” said Holly.

“I’d like strawberry,” said Amelia Bedelia.

“Vanilla!” said Heather.

“Chocolate!” said Holly.

Doris, Amelia Bedelia’s favorite waitress, whipped up the milk shakes and brought over three tall glasses. “What have you been up to?” she asked Amelia Bedelia.

“A lot,” said Amelia Bedelia.

“I can imagine,” said Doris. “You’re a good worker. I still remember when you were a waitress in training here. So what’s been keeping you so busy?”

“A whole lot,” said Amelia Bedelia. “We cleaned up the empty lot on Pleasant Street.”

“Good thing you’re cleaning up that place. It’s an eyesore!” Pete called over from the grill.

“You’re right! My eyes got really sore from all the dirt and dust,” said Amelia Bedelia, rubbing them.

Pete shook his head and flipped a hamburger, smiling.

“We’re going to build a tree house,” Holly said.

“And meet in it to talk about what other adventures we’d like to have!” Amelia Bedelia added.

“Like skydiving over the Grand Canyon!” said Heather.

“Or scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef,” said Holly.

“What would be your best adventure, Amelia Bedelia?” Heather asked.

Amelia Bedelia thought about it. What would she do? She would take an airplane anywhere she wanted. Flying on an airplane wasn’t really as easy and breezy as flying like a bird, but she wouldn’t mind. She could pat the nose of the Great Sphinx. She could climb up a zigzaggy pyramid in the jungles of Central America, and swing through the trees with monkeys and macaws. She could ride a scooter through the streets of Rome. Now that would feel easy and breezy.

“Come on, Amelia Bedelia,” Heather urged. “Tell us!”

“I want to go around the world,” Amelia Bedelia said. She sucked up the last of her milk shake, letting her straw make loud slurping noises. “That way I never have to stop exploring!”

Heather and Holly finished up their milk shakes too. “We’d better get going,” Holly said, jumping down. “Our parents will be wondering where we are.”

The girls paid their bill, said good-bye to Pete and Doris, and headed home.