Reading Level 26: Longer passages

The Lighthouse Keeper's Helper

Every summer, Kit stayed with Aunt Lou at the lighthouse on Gull Island. The lighthouse was tall and white, with a red stripe around its middle. At the very top, a huge lamp turned all night long to warn ships away from the rocks. Aunt Lou had looked after the lighthouse for twenty years, and she knew every creak of its winding stairs. She kept a logbook on the kitchen table, where she wrote down the weather, the wind and every ship that passed. Kit loved reading the old pages, which went back to the year she was born. On the first evening, Aunt Lou handed Kit a small brass key. "This opens the lamp room," she said. "Tonight, you can help me." Kit climbed one hundred and twelve steps, counting each one out loud. At the top, the wind whistled through the railing, and the sea stretched out like a dark blue blanket. Aunt Lou showed Kit how to polish the giant glass lens until it sparkled. A clean lens, she explained, made the light shine farther, all the way past the fishing boats. Then she flipped a switch, and the lamp began to turn. A beam of light swept across the water, around and around. Far away, a small boat blinked its own light twice. "That's Captain Ben saying thank you," Aunt Lou said with a smile. Late that night, a thick fog rolled in from the sea. The foghorn began to moan, low and long. Kit could not sleep, so she tiptoed to the window. Through the grey mist, she could still see the beam turning. Kit felt proud. Somewhere out there, sailors were finding their way home because of the light she had helped to clean. In the morning, Aunt Lou found Kit asleep in the armchair by the window, still holding the brass key.