People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau

Author:Jeanne DuPrau
Language: eng
Format: epub

the midst of the workers and stood panting, his little eyes wild. “I heard a thump, thump,

thump, so I snuck up to see, and I did see!”

“Well, then,” said Chugger, “what did you see?”

“I saw who threw the tomatoes! I saw who made that big mess and broke the window!”

He stood with his neck poked forward and his skinny arms held tight to his sides. His

whole body was trembling with excitement. His eyes scanned the group of workers. “It

was him!” he shrieked, pointing straight at Doon. “It was him that did it! I saw him!”

Doon was so shocked he couldn’t make a sound. He stood with his mouth open, staring

at Torren. Around him, a few people spoke up. “He did not!” said someone. “He couldn’t

have! Anyway, he wouldn’t.” “No,” someone else said. “He would never do that.”

But Chugger seized his arm and pulled him roughly aside. “What do you have to say for

yourself? Is this your doing?”

Doon shook his head. “No,” he said. “No. That boy is lying.”

“And why would he do that? Why would he take the trouble to come out here first thing

in the morning to point to you and lie?”

“I don’t know,” said Doon.

Chugger released his arm with a push. “I’ll be keeping a special eye on you from now

on,” he said.

“But why?” said Doon. “I didn’t do this.”

“How do I know that?” said Chugger. “It’s your word against his. And he’s one of us.”

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CHAPTER 15 - A Long, Hot Ride

Lina lay very still—or as still as she could with the jolting of the truck over the rutted

road. Her eyes were at the level of the space between the two lowest slats of the crate, so

she could see out just enough to guess where they were—along the road by the river first,

and then turning to go around the outskirts of the village. Occasionally she heard

someone call a greeting to Caspar, and she heard Caspar’s voice returning it. Maddy

never said anything that Lina could hear.

After a while there were no more voices. The sun beat down on Lina’s back and she

began to get terribly hot and uncomfortable. She thought it might be safe to sit up now.

The sound of the wheels would muffle any sounds she made, and she was far enough

toward the back of the truck so that Caspar and Maddy wouldn’t see her moving. So she

unfolded herself. She peered out and saw emptiness—vast stretches of dry, brown-gold

grass, no people, no houses. It was an enormous space; she had not realized any place

could be so big.

Sometime in the afternoon, because of the heat and the rocking motion of the truck and

because there was nothing else to do, Lina went to sleep. When she awoke, she could tell

right away that it was nearly evening. The air was cooler, and the sun was so low in the

sky that she could no longer see it overhead; its slanting rays came between the slats of

her crate.

A cramp gripped her stomach. It was partly hunger—she hadn’t thought to bring any

food with her. But it was mostly fear.

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