Skinny-Dipping at Monster Lake by Bill Wallace

Author:Bill Wallace
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Aladdin

15

Ted produced a rod and reel from behind his back. He told Dad that his father gave it to him for Christmas. “I made Kent promise not to tell anybody that I lost it,” Ted said. “I was afraid my dad would kill me if he found out. Your son gave me his word. I guess he kept it, because he’s still grounded.”

Dad frowned and tilted his head to one side.

“Kent promised he’d help me find it and not tell anybody.”

The way Dad’s forehead wrinkled, I could tell he was thinking on it—only he didn’t quite buy it.

“That’s why you didn’t tell me?”

When Dad looked at me, all I could do was duck my head.

“I probably would have told,” Ted stepped between us. “Your son sure is a man of his word, Mr. Morgan. But now that I’ve found my rod and reel . . . well, it wasn’t his fault. Please don’t be mad at him for something / did.”

It seemed like an eternity that Dad stood there staring at us. Finally he sighed. “I’ll talk to your mom.”

Ted and I held our breath. The second the screen bounced shut, I wheeled on him.

“How did you come up with that one? And how can you lie with such a straight face?”

“It wasn’t a total lie.” Ted smiled. “I told him it was a Christmas present from Dad. It was. I told him I lost it. I did.”

“Huh?”

“Jordan took it, hid it, then we went and found it. So . . . it wasn’t a total lie.”

All I could do was shake my head.

“Once we’re sure you’re not grounded anymore, Jordan and I will call the guys and get everything set for another fishing trip tomorrow night. We’ll stretch the bank poles out so the last one is down where you saw the eyes disappear and . . .”

The screen door opened. Both of us stood there, looking as innocent as could be.

• • •

Being grounded, especially in the summer, was horrible.

Being ungrounded . . . that was great.

• • •

Even though I was getting ready to spend the whole night fishing and watching for the Monster of Cedar Lake, I still got up at six the next morning. Before Mom left to go show some houses, she called Dad at the fire station and reminded him of Samantha Hamilton’s wedding shower the following night. About ten she headed off. Before she left, I reminded her of the fishing trip, and that it was my turn to bring the pop. She promised she’d get some at the store.

I fed Duke and made sure he had fresh water. Then I cleaned out my tackle box and had all my fishing stuff ready and sitting on the front porch before noon. I even wrapped my bathing trunks in a towel to take along. No more of that skinny-dipping stuff for me.

When Mom got home from work she brought us each a hamburger and some fries. She’d also stopped at the store and picked up five six-packs of pop.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.