Caching In by Kristin Butcher

Author:Kristin Butcher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV028000, JUV032170, JUV039060
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2013-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

When the man and woman are convinced Chris is okay, they scold him for being reckless and make him swear not to do anything stupid like that again. Then they get on their bikes and leave.

Chris doesn’t seem the least bit shook-up. I can’t believe it. If I’d been dangling over the Sooke River on the end of a rope, I would be a wreck.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I tell him. “For a couple of minutes there, I thought you were dead.”

Chris grins. “Nope. Totally alive, as you can see.”

“How can you be so calm? That was really scary. And all for nothing.”

“Not really,” he drawls. He reaches behind him into the waistband of his jeans and pulls out the toy lantern that had been in the bird’s nest.

For a second, I think I’m seeing things. I blink a couple of times. “You got it? But you said it fell into the river.”

Chris shrugs. “I had to say that, or those people would have wanted to look at it. And then they would’ve asked a ton of questions.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agree. I slug him in the arm. “So open it!”

As Chris fumbles with the tiny latch, his hands shake. I’m thinking maybe his hanging over the Sooke River got to him more than he wants to let on.

He shoves the lantern at me. “You open it. My fingers are too big and clumsy.”

I don’t say anything. I just take the lantern.

Opening it is a snap. Digging out the paper that’s inside is a whole different matter. It’s wedged in so tight, it’s hard to get a grip on it.

“Don’t rip it,” Chris says as I twist and tug.

“I’m not,” I snap. “This isn’t easy, you know.”

Chris doesn’t say anything else.

Eventually, I manage to shift the paper enough that I can grab a corner and pull. Chris holds on to the lantern so that I can concentrate on yanking out the paper. Finally, it pops free.

“Open it,” he says. He’s practically breathing down my neck. I’ve never seen him so uptight.

“Relax, will ya? I’m going as fast as I can.”

When I get the paper unfolded, I smooth it out on the picnic table.

The top half is a comic drawing of an eagle in a nest. It’s wearing an army helmet, and it’s sitting on a grenade. The dialogue bubble by the eagle’s head says, Sometimes you gotta go out on a limb. Heh, heh, heh.

“Very funny,” Chris sneers. “This guy is a real comedian.”

I point to the lower half of the paper. “Read the rest.”

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.