The Colossus of Roads by Christina Uss
Author:Christina Uss [Uss, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2020-05-05T00:00:00+00:00
NOT YOUR ONLY TALENT
BACK OUT ON the sidewalk, Rick collected the sabotaged sign and tucked it under his arm, impatient to restore it again. In fact, once heâd cleaned it up, maybe heâd design a work order to fix this section of Balboa permanently. Itâd be much harder for hee-haws and jerks to rip down road signs fastened with solid Department of Transportation nuts and bolts.
After walking with him and Mila to Miss Diamondâs house, Abuelita decided to go for a stroll and drop in on one of her friends. At Ms. Diamondâs, fewer Girl Scouts than normal had made it, but the ones who were there were painting like mad. Rick and Mila headed toward the double helix where theyâd been working last time. âMaybe we can work together to help fix that poor thing,â Mila said as Rick put down the vandalized sign.
âThanks, but Iâve got it,â he responded.
âOh. Okay,â she said, her voice tinged with disappointment.
âA nice surprise arrived today!â Ms. Diamond announced to the group. âAn extra delivery of freeway signs!â She waved to a stack. None of them approached the dimensions of the grizzly sign, but a few were sizable. Rick knew what would make Mila smile. He hurried over and said, âIâll take two of the biggest ones youâve got.â
âAll yours, chickadee,â she said.
Rick dragged the signs back to Mila and said, âAll yours, mythical-creature painter.â Heâd imagined she would clap her hands with quiet delight. Instead, she was searching around on the floor with a stricken expression.
âWhere are the signs I did last time? And the ones we did together?â A dragon and the two SPEED LIMIT UNICORNS were still there, but the rest of them werenât.
Rick scratched his head. He knew he hadnât listed those signs on any work orders. âMs. Diamond?â he called. âDid you write up plans for more signs to be hung since last week?â
She looked sheepish. âNo, I was waiting for you.â
Milaâs looking so distressed made Rick feel less so. This would be an easy problem to solve. âTheyâre around here somewhere,â he assured her. âIâll help you find them.â
They walked around the room together, until Mila stopped. Rick looked where she was looking. The older girls whoâd taken over the Chompy McChompface sign had finished it with bold white letters at the top: THE SKYâS THE LIMIT. Now theyâd turned their attention to some smaller signs. One girl was starting to spread blue paint across NO PARKING EXCEPT MERMAIDS.
Mila didnât look like she could speak, so Rick did it for her. âStop that!â he said. âWhatâs wrong with you?â No more vandalizing of signs was happening today if he had anything to say about it.
The girls looked up at him in surprise. âWhatâs the problem?â one asked.
âYou canât take my friendâs signs and paint over them. Give those back!â He stomped toward them, and the girls scuttled away from him.
âWe didnât know these werenât up for grabs,â one girl said sulkily.
âYeah, they looked like mistakes,â another said. âSorry.
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