The North Star by Kat Shepherd

Author:Kat Shepherd [Shepherd Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: little bee books
Published: 2019-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

15

Sophia reached over and pulled out a yellow paper from one of the stacks on his desk. The words NOTICE OF EVICTION were printed across the top in angry red letters. “It says here you’re being evicted from the building because you haven’t paid rent.”

Gideon’s shoulders tensed, and his face tightened. “Oh, that’s just a misunderstanding,” he said. His voice was smooth, but the kids could hear tension behind it. “I have plenty of money. Tons! This is just complicated business stuff; you kids wouldn’t understand. In fact, I closed a deal a few months ago, and there will be millions coming in any day now. Maybe even billions!”

Everyone looked at each other. Finally, Evie spoke. “We saw Abby yesterday. She’s worried about you.”

Gideon’s composure crumbled, and the confidence in his voice collapsed into despair. “I promised Abby the moon, and I’m not going to let her down just because of a few risky business investments. It’s not fair to her. She deserves nothing but the best!”

“What kind of risky investments?” Zach asked.

Gideon sighed. “It was a means of capturing excess human methane to create electrical power. Great for the environment, a hundred percent sustainable, and totally clean. We even had the perfect tagline: ‘The Real Natural Gas!’”

The kids looked at each other. “Let me get this straight,” Vishal said slowly. “You invested in a company that was going to turn people’s farts into fuel?”

Gideon put his head in his hands and moaned. “It was supposed to be the future of energy. I mean, it’s perfect, right?”

The kids shifted uncomfortably in their seats. “Uh, yeah . . . sure.” Zach tried to put some semblance of confident enthusiasm in his voice, but it fell flat. He carefully avoided looking at the others.

Evie struggled to suppress a smile. Her eyes met Vishal’s, and a frantic giggle burbled out of him. He tried to cover it with a cough. Zach’s lips were pressed tightly together. Finally, the three friends could hold it no longer and burst into hysterics. Vishal went as limp as a noodle and slithered out of his chair, his distinctive, high-pitched giggle pushing the twins into even greater convulsions.

Sophia sat stonily in her chair, her back ramrod straight. Finally she let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, grow up! Honestly, I don’t see what’s so funny about making fuel from human gas.”

Evie clutched her stomach, still breathless from laughing. “Everything, Sophia. Literally everything is funny about that.”

Sophia looked sympathetically at Gideon. “Ignore them. They just don’t know a good business opportunity when they see one.”

Gideon shook his head sadly. “No, they’re right. This is exactly what potential investors did during all of our presentations. It was a complete bust.”

Vishal climbed back into his chair, still wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Doheny. That’s a total bummer.”

“But wait, if that’s really the case, then how were you planning to pay for the North Star?” Zach asked.

“I would have figured something out,” Gideon answered, waving his hand vaguely.

“Something like .

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