Far Out! by Anne Bustard

Author:Anne Bustard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2023-04-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The clock beside my bed reads 1:57 a.m. I’ve counted backward from one hundred by sevens and nines, lain on my back with my feet up the wall, and finished my mystery—the unassuming neighbor stole the money. But nothing has helped. I can’t sleep. Mimi is back in jail, and the conversations about her memory problems keep looping in my head.

I swing my legs at the edge of my bed and reach out to touch a window. It’s super cold. I pull two sweatshirts on over my flannel pj’s, grab my flashlight and my heart-shaped rock, and sneak down the stairs. I throw on my scarf, boots, and camel-colored coat; slip my special rock into a pocket for courage; and dart out the back door.

I imagine I’ll be grounded if I’m caught, but so be it.

It’s dark. Real dark. Extra-strength dark. The almost-full moon is hidden by the clouds.

I wrap my green wool scarf around my neck as the wind kicks up, and I scurry to the front yard.

Street and porch lights break up the darkness some, but shadows abound. I speed down the sidewalk, and a crack echoes through the air behind me. A large pecan branch crashes to the pavement. The tip grazes the back of my coat. I stifle my scream and pick up speed.

I take a right on Nueces Street and turn on my flashlight. It’s dead.

I am brave, the dark is not scary, I am not afraid, I repeat over and over. I run by house after house, church after church, only stopping to catch my breath as needed. My school and the junior high come next. I take a left on Totter Street and in a piece pass the high school and the football stadium. If I didn’t know folks were tucked in their homes, I’d say the space aliens came and abducted everyone except my family. I run. Faster.

As the road curves at the edge of town alongside the railroad tracks, I take one last look at the lights and power ahead.

But not so fast that I overshoot Totter and end up a tad farther down the road where there’s a ghost town. I have no interest in seeing it tonight, or any night, for that matter.

Now it’s just me and the starless sky. A short distance later I slow to a walk and enter through the open gates.

I’m in the darkest place I know.

“Grandpa, it’s me, Magnolia Jean,” I say, shivering before his white marble headstone. I sing “Happy Birthday” to him as I reach out and touch the words engraved under his name: Beloved by family, cherished by friends.

“I need someone to talk to, Grandpa, and you’re the best person I could think of.” I pat the top of his headstone and stand to one side. “I don’t know if Mimi has been talking to you, seeing as she went out of town and all. But I figure you know everything that’s happening to us down here, so I was

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