“Hi, Mrs. Grady,” said Mark when their neighbor opened her door. “Would you like us to shovel（铲） your sidewalk and driveway?” Shoveling was Jamie's idea, a way to earn enough money for the new Ocean Kingdom video game that came out the next day.
Mrs. Grady was happy, “That would be wonderful, boys. I think the job is getting to be too much for me.”
“It will cost 10 dollars,” Jamie said. “If that's OK,” Mark added.
“Oh dear,” Mrs. Grady said disappointedly, “I haven't been able to get to the bank. I can offer homemade cookies, but I realize that's not what you had in mind.”
Mark was going to say that Mrs. Grady could pay them another time, but Jamie cut him off. “We'll come back later.”
Mrs. Grady doesn't look like the person who'd come to Mark's rescue last summer when Mr. Dunn's dog Goldie had just wanted to play, but Mark didn't feel comfortable around big dogs. He wanted to call for help, but his tongue seemed locked behind his teeth. Then Mrs. Grady's front door had flown open. She must have seen him from across the street. “Hold on, Mark. I'm coming!” “Goldie” she'd called. As soon as Goldie had turned her head, Mrs. Grady had slipped between Mark and the dog. She wasn't much taller than Mark, but she'd stood firm as a rock in front of him. “Goldie, go home!” Then she'd swept her broom to hurry the dog along. “Get!” Goldie had obeyed.
When Mark showed thanks to Mrs. Grady, Mrs. Grady laughed. “It was nothing. Good neighbors watch out for each other, don't they?”
And now Mrs. Grady needed Mark as much as he'd needed her last summer. He smiled and waved at Mrs. Grady, then his shovel deep into the snow.
“Hey!” Jamie shouted. “What are you doing?” Mark couldn't explain about Goldie and watching out for neighbors. “I like Mrs. Grady's cookies,” he said.
