Jackpot by Gordon Korman

Author:Gordon Korman [Korman, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2013-09-10T04:00:00+00:00

Mister, come back!” Griffin called out.

But it was too late. The vehicle was already halfway down the street.

The two boys jumped on their bikes and took off after it, Luthor joining the chase and soon outstripping the cyclists. They lost sight of the van a few times, but the Doberman kept them on the trail. The driver turned onto a side street and slowed down, approaching his destination. The three pursuers fell into line behind the van and pulled up when it turned into the driveway of a small cottage.

The front porch confirmed that they’d indeed found their hoarder. It was clogged with lawn furniture and all manner of outdoor ornaments, from scowling gargoyles to colorful unicorns and patriotic eagles. Pots of varying sizes stood on every open surface, along with garden gnomes and unused walkway lights.

The man got out of the van and began to pick his way through the obstacle course to the front door. Griffin jumped off his bike and nearly wiped out on a pink flamingo camouflaged by tall uncut grass. “Mister, can we talk to you?”

The man’s eyes found Griffin, then Darren, and finally Luthor. “Keep your dog off my lawn.”

“Sure thing.” Griffin clipped the leash around the handlebars of his bike, and he and Darren approached the porch. “Mike sent us — you know, from the convenience store?” He outlined their quest for the missing ticket and their theory that one of the regular lottery customers might have misplaced it.

“It couldn’t have been me,” the man told him. “I check the numbers every week.”

“Maybe you got too busy and forgot one time,” Darren suggested.

The man shook his head. “I’m extremely organized.”

Griffin and Darren took in the wreckage of the porch and the state of the property, which was overgrown and strewn with lawn accessories of all varieties, including two upended plaster lions and a concrete birdbath.

“Just in case, would you mind if we came inside and had a look around?” Griffin requested. “It would be a shame to throw away all that money just because of a little oversight.”

“More than a shame. A personal tragedy … for me,” Darren put in honestly.

The man adjusted the beaded cap and frowned. “I can’t have the dog.”

“Right,” Griffin confirmed. “Just us.”

Leaving Luthor clipped to the bike, they approached the small house and followed their host inside. Luthor rumbled a low complaint. He was used to the Drysdale rules, which stated that animals were entitled to all freedoms and privileges accorded to humans.

The interior made the chaos of the porch seem neat. Griffin had never been to the rain forest, but he’d always imagined it looking like this. Long macramé planters and hangings dangled so low from the ceiling, and random stuff was piled so high on tabletops, that barely any light penetrated from the windows. Every surface was layered with old mail, cash register receipts, used movie tickets, art projects, strange ornaments, candleholders, picture frames with no pictures, and all manner of odds and ends. Valuable antiques stood side by side with cheap plastic junk and toys that could have originated inside Happy Meals.

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.