River Magic by Ellen Booraem

Author:Ellen Booraem [Booraem, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2021-04-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Tortilla Chips

We were all ready to head out when we saw Vilma up in her dooryard, probably looking for the birds. There was no way she wasn’t going to see us. Rachel trembled in my arms.

“We have to distract her somehow,” Hillyard said.

“Margily,” I whispered. “Can you do something?”

Yes. Hide yourselves.

We crouched down and waited. Nothing happened at first but then Vilma gave an angry yell and booked it down the hillside steps into my dooryard. She hustled past my house and down to the river.

I told her I have found a way to break our bond and go home without her. A lie, of course. I am learning so much from you. Now run! Hurry!

We ran down our road and hung a right onto Smith Point, where the houses are practically in the river, just below the rapids.

“So we have to see Sarah now.” Hillyard sounded hoarse.

“Get it together, Hillyard.” I wasn’t feeling much better about this than he was. At least Sarah wasn’t Taylor. I led Hillyard to the kitchen door and knocked.

Somebody was crying. We could hear through the door.

Lots of somebodies.

When Sarah opened the door she was a wreck, hair all messy, eyes all red, cheeks all wet. “What do you want?”

“Your parents home?”

“They’re at work. Duh.”

“You said your mom was doing, like, a First Nations thing up north.” Hillyard’s ears turned red, I guess because now we knew he eavesdropped on Sarah at lunch.

“Okay, you’re not creepy at all,” Sarah said. “And it’s not a ‘thing,’ you oaf, it’s called a powwow.”

Hillyard looked like he got a brain freeze.

And then, jeez’m, Taylor came up behind Sarah, also messy and red-eyed. Then Mei Xing. Thirty-three-point-three percent of the girls’ basketball B-team, having a sob-fest.

“Are you guys crying?” I asked. “Why?”

“Why aren’t you?” Taylor said. “Rachel’s disappeared.”

That’s when I realized I didn’t do one bit of planning about how this conversation would go. I looked at Hillyard, he looked at me, and we blurted, “This is Rachel.” I held the chicken out in front of me.

“How dare you?” Mei Xing shoved Sarah out of the way. “Rachel’s not answering her phone and you’re making some stupid joke?”

Rachel gave a long, despairing squawk. Don’t know where I got the courage, but I shoved through the door before Sarah could shut it. I put Rachel down. “Do something they’ll recognize, Rachel.”

She ran to a cupboard and pecked at it till I opened it up. She dragged out this huge bag of tortilla chips.

She pecked at the fridge and then this jar of really gross cheese-jalapeño dip on the bottom rack on the door. “You’re kidding me,” I said, but she stamped her foot so I got it out and opened it for her.

The B-team were frozen like statues.

Rachel dragged the bag of chips over to Sarah and pecked at it. Sarah looked at me all wide-eyed. I said, “Maybe open it and give her a chip?” Sarah put the chip down on the floor next to Rachel, who stamped on it to break it up, used her beak to dip one piece into the cheese.

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