Car Trouble by Jeanne DuPrau

Author:Jeanne DuPrau
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Young Adult
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: 2016-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

DUFF FALLS IN LOVE

Stu drove. Once they got outside Amarillo, he drove at a furious speed, zooming along the highway much faster than you’d expect from someone who’d expressed an interest in scenery. Bonnie sat in front, and Duff sat in back next to Moony’s carrying case. A little way outside the city, they passed a famous attraction—the Stanley Marsh Cadillac Ranch, a line of ten Cadillacs stuck nose first in the ground, as if they’d crash-landed there from a drive through the sky. Stu didn’t want to stop and look at them. “It’s a total waste,” he said. “Those great old cars buried! Old Stanley must have been nuts.”

After that, the scenery was flat and boring. Every now and then, Duff saw a ball of twigs rolling across the ground. A tumbleweed, he decided.

Stu seemed to relax after a while. He slowed down, and he and Bonnie started joking around. “This is UFO territory,” said Stu. “They like these big, flat, empty places. Easier to land.”

“I hope one lands near us,” said Bonnie. “I’ve always wanted to see an alien.”

“That’s easy,” said Stu. “We’ve got one right in the backseat.”

Bonnie turned around and grinned at Duff. “But he isn’t green,” she said.

“No, but he’s definitely from another planet.”

Duff’s bad mood intensified. He was going to have to get himself away from Stu. Stu seemed to bring out the worst in him. Around Stu, he was jealous, irritable, and defensive, and he felt both superior (in brain power) and inferior (in coolness). Also, something about Stu was very fishy, and Duff didn’t want to be associated with it, whatever it was. The trouble was, how could he get away from Stu without leaving Bonnie, too? In fact, how could he get away from Stu at all, since he had no car to get away in?

At least, though, he could stop pretending that he thought Stu was just a nice innocent guy. He was going to have to get some truth out of Stu. Like why did he disappear like that back in Amarillo? Why was he suddenly so keen on taking the scenic route? For his own self-respect, he was going to have to ask these questions, though he disliked confrontations so much that even the thought of one threatened to bring on a headache.

There was a sudden hoarse hacking sound: Kaaagh! Kaaagh! Kaaagh! Engine failure, was Duff’s first thought, but he quickly realized the sound was right next to him. Moony was standing up in his crate, his spine arching, his head stretched forward, his mouth gaping. Uh-oh, thought Duff. He scooched away, but not soon enough. The contents of Moony’s stomach shot through the wire mesh of the crate and landed half on the car seat and half on Duff’s leg.

“Yeeuugh!” cried Duff.

Bonnie whipped around. “Oh, Moony! Oh, poor thing. Stop, Stu.” Stu pulled over. Duff thought “poor thing” should really apply to him as much as Moony, but he helped Bonnie clean up the mess. Stu just sat, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

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