Breaker Boy by Joan Hiatt Harlow

Author:Joan Hiatt Harlow [Harlow, Joan Hiatt]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 2017-10-24T04:00:00+00:00

Later that evening, Mrs. Chudzik recited an old Polish fairy tale for the boys, about pussy willows and how they came to be. She even joined the family singing Polish folk songs.

Corey almost forgot about the boys from the mine and what they might be planning. He would find out soon enough!

23

Hogwash!

Corey could not sleep Sunday night. He tossed and turned, thinking of all the things Mrs. Chudzik said about discovery and wonder, and about bright, creative children—like him! It was hard to imagine himself ever becoming a scientist or an engineer. That meant going to schools and colleges, which was impossible. He would never find the answers to the beginnings of the planet and life and things. His existence would be the same as his Dad’s and both his grandfathers’—in the mines. And that was that!

He was tired and sleepy Monday. When the morning whistle blew, he dragged himself from bed to work.

The older boys at the breaker were acting strange. Charlie, Paddy, and Frank stuck together like glue all day. Once again, they whispered to one another and stole curious looks at Corey.

What is going on? Corey wondered. Whatever they were talking about, or what it was they had done or were about to do, he hoped it had nothing to do with Mrs. Chudzik. Finally, at lunch, once they had finished eating and were outside, Charlie, Frank, and Paddy came over to Corey.

“So, did you get to go out ridin’ around in that fancy car this past weekend?” Charlie asked Corey.

“No, but Mrs. Chudzik came over to our house for supper last night—in her touring car, of course,” Corey offered. He loved to see their amazement that Corey was actually friends with the rich, eccentric, and standoffish widow, and had even ridden in her automobile.

“Aha! Did ya hear that, boys?” Charlie said to his friends. “The lady was over to Corey’s house for Sunday dinner.”

“So that’s where she was. At the kid’s house,” Frank said.

“Were you going to call on Mrs. Chudzik?” Corey asked. “Or are you schemin’ up something to do to her?”

“Naw, course not,” Charlie answered. “We’re just curious.”

“We’ve heard a lot of creepy stories about the lady, not just from you,” Frank said. “Everybody says she’s peculiar. So we decided we would go make a call on her. We hoped she’d invite us into her parlor.”

“We were gonna say we’re good friends of yours,” Paddy added. “Since you and her are such good pals.”

“You are not good friends of mine—and I am not her pal. She saved my life and she’s a nice lady,” Corey stated emphatically. In a softer voice, he asked, “So, what happened at her house?”

“We knocked on the front door like any good neighbor—”

Paddy interrupted Charlie. “That knocker could’ve raised the dead. And maybe it did! ’Cause the next thing we hear is that big wild dog of hers barking and howling at us.”

“Yeah, that howl gave me the creeps,” said Charlie.

“He was inside that door scratchin’ and growlin’,” Frank said.

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